The instability of the last year has caused many candidates to stay in their roles or move during the pandemic, causing an industry wide candidate shortage. As things reopen, FM companies are greatly increasing hiring leading to a candidate driven market, where the number of job openings vastly outnumber the available talent. This has meant organisations are having to market themselves in order to be considered by prospective talent. Candidates are looking for many things from their next employer, including a more democratic approach to procurement.

The Invisible Group

International Pride month has just passed. It’s a time when people talk about and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. This June we talked to LGBTQIA+ people about their experiences and did some research into the challenges LGBTQIA+ people face in the workplace, and how FM organisations are creating more safe and diverse spaces for them to thrive at work.

This month our CEO Paul Connolly was interviewed by the charity Mindful Employer Leeds to allow them to gain insight into how one small business has prioritised staff wellbeing during the pandemic. As a Mindful Employer, it is really important to us to be able to share our knowledge and promote healthy work practices we use to assist other companies in supporting their staff. To find out how we have kept up team morale and ensured everybody’s safety over the past 14 months, please read on.

Having robust and publicised policies on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) will attract new and younger talent to FM companies. Many young people want to work for a company with a great sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and good track record on employing people from all backgrounds. FM companies seem to be recognising this, as according to new research from Sodexo, “[o]rganisations that have inadequate policies on the environment and diversity and inclusion [are] at greatest risk”, of losing business. In fact, “92 percent of those polled said they now vet suppliers on their social values and impact, and 75 percent warn they would be put off by a prospective supplier that did not publish information about their social values”.

Poor equality and diversity in any organisation has been shown to negatively affect the bottom line. Not only can poor diversity affect customer perception and lead to boycotts and negative press or social media [presence] around your brand, it can also put off potential hires, who don’t want to be seen to be working for a homogenous company. People see diverse workplaces as being safer and more welcoming for them, and as a place where they can fit in more readily. 

At 300North we specialise in Facilities Management, Construction and Property Recruitment. We pride ourselves on being able to deliver quality candidates to companies across the industry regardless of the challenges we all collectively face. This year has been particularly challenging, but we have continued to support the needs of the market and have maintained our people focused approach to recruiting. The FM sector has had a vital role to play during the pandemic and thus a continued need to recruit both temporary and permanent staff. We have seen a noticeable increase in clients looking for short term temporary staff to cover employees having to isolate for two weeks, particularly across the healthcare sector; and given it’s currently a busy time for FM post a second national lockdown and with businesses and workplaces continuing to reopen, this has led to some tight turnarounds for our team who have risen to the challenge!

In the current climate, where advice and guidelines change on a weekly basis and every other sentence begins with the phrase “in these uncertain times”, it’s more difficult than ever to anticipate and adapt to the changes that many of us will be experiencing in our professional lives. For some, this means something as simple as a reorganised office or a temperature check upon arrival. For others, it could mean redundancy.

The Best Ways to Cope

The current challenges around Covid-19 have limited the chances of having face to face interactions, meaning LinkedIn is more relevant than ever. With millions of professional profiles, LinkedIn is a great tool for networking, researching companies and jobs, and for gaining exposure to potential opportunities.

If you are looking to present yourself in the best way to potential employers and recruiters, here are a few tips to help enhance your LinkedIn profile:

You’ve spent weeks advertising, cv sifting, interviewing (all through a pandemic!) and have finally found the person you want on your team! You may think your job as the hiring manager is done, but onboarding your new staff member is a vital step to their first impressions of the business and how well they will fit into the team. Get it wrong, and you could be recruiting all over again in a few months!

The last few months has seen a huge number of recruitment failures, excellent candidates starting roles and leaving within the first 3 months. Almost all of these mentioned poor onboard/first impressions as one of the main reasons for their departure. With Covid-19 being at the forefront of everyone’s minds, new starters have not been given the tools they need to succeed and feel valued and this has resulted in them exiting the business.

Follow our tips below to give your new team member a brilliant induction and let them spread the word about how fantastic their new workplace is.

Since lockdown, video interviews have grown in popularity and are set to be a part of society moving forward; quick, convenient and with no commuting required – they’re here to stay.

As a new trend, many are unsure of the associated protocol and etiquette, so we’ve put together our ‘300 North Top 5 Tips’ for a successful video interview: