Another year came to an end on the E4S student and graduate Recruiter Blog. And 2021 has certainly been a year where each and every article has been written with a constant backdrop – that of the Covid pandemic, of course.
It was a turbulent year, to say the least, for both employers and employees with some sectors affected more than others. And, no doubt, we all hoped that we would arrive at the end of 2021 with the pandemic, if not fully behind us, at least under control and with a roadmap for pushing forward in 2022.
We all know that the Omicron variant has thrown a spanner into the works with regards that roadmap and, for many employers, an already difficult situation has only been exacerbated.
We ended 2021 with the different governments of the United Kingdom implementing their own restrictions with the aim of limiting the spread of Omicron.
For employers, this means you and your staff might have just returned to the office, only to once again be setting up that home office workspace.As well as the adjustments to the daily work routine, this can also have an affect on your mental health as well as that of your staff.
In the hospitality industry, employers have been struggling to recruit staff and are now also dealing with a huge amount of cancellations by customers right at the time when restaurants and pubs should be at their busiest.
The travel industry is once more faced with upheaval and uncertainty. Employers and others within this sector took part in a recent Twitter storm, pressing for government assistance.
Arts and entertainment is also suffering once again as theatre goers and those attending other events cancel tickets and performers and other theatre staff test positive and are forced to isolate. In London alone, almost half of theatres cancelled performances for the weekend before Christmas.
As the New Year approached, Scottish and Welsh governments announced further restrictions to try and slow the spread of Omicron and businesses in England wait to see what, if any, further restrictions will be put into place as we head further into 2022.
With all of this as the backdrop for employers throughout another turbulent year, businesses have done their best to operate through the pandemic and adapt their ways of working to survive and to succeed.
And throughout 2021, we published a series of recruitment articles where, of course, the pandemic was always borne in mind. Recruitment will always be a necessary part of the work life of the employer and our articles offer tips to help make that recruitment a smoother and more successful process.
Let’s take a look back over the last 12 months…
Boost Your Employer Brand For More Efficient & Effective Recruitment
Right back at the beginning of 2021, we kicked the year off with making your recruitment more efficient and effective by boosting your employer brand.
Boosting your employer brand is crucial if you are going to give yourself the best chance of attracting the most talented graduates, Apprentices or part time and seasonal workers to your roles.
This is especially the case if you are a smaller company. Why are young people going to choose to work for you over a larger, more well known company?
This article is full of tips about how to identify what your employer brand is and how you can get the message out there so that young people will have your company in the forefront of their minds when applying for jobs.
How Employers Can Attract Gen Z Employees Post-Pandemic
Perhaps the term ‘post-pandemic’ was a bit optimistic or premature but, if you are an employer looking to attract young people to your roles, this article looked at tips for attracting the Gen Z jobseekers to your vacancies. After all, this generation is the future.
It’s important for employers to treat recruitment for Gen Z differently to that of other generations because this generation has different expectations both from work and life outside of work.
In the article, we look at some specifics as to what Gen Z are looking for from their career and then we look at what you can do to attract Gen Z.
We also take a look at the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on jobs and employment with regards the number of opportunities out there for young people looking to embark on their careers.
What To Look For When Recruiting Young People To Your Hospitality Business Post-Covid
The hospitality sector was very much in the news throughout 2021, not just because of the struggles it faced through lockdowns and other restrictions but also because of recruitment issues.
The hospitality industry struggled to recruit staff to vacant positions once establishments were allowed to reopen. Facing a shortfall of 200,000, employers cited uncertainty caused by the pandemic as one of the reasons for this shortfall.
In this article, we looked at what employers could look for when recruiting young people into hospitality sector jobs. After all, rather than just getting young people to apply for your roles and fill your vacant positions, they will be the face of your hospitality business.
Your young staff need to be good at what they do and you need to be aiming for good staff retention once we are out of the pandemic.
Take a look at these tips for recruiting young people so that you can make sure you employ the best people for the roles you have on offer.
How To Attract The Best Employees To Your Seasonal Jobs
For some employers, depending on the nature of your business, seasonal staff are an integral part of your team. In this article, we looked at how to attract the best employees to your seasonal roles.
Students are often on the lookout for seasonal jobs to give them valuable work experience for the future, for life experiences and, of course, make a bit of extra cash in the process.
There are lots of strategies that employers can put into place so that you attract the best seasonal staff. And when you provide this team of quality seasonal staff with a positive experience of working for you, you can give yourself the best chance of making your recruitment easier in the future.
Staff who enjoy working for your company for the season are more likely to want to return for the following season. They will also recommend your roles to friends.
Take a look at this article for tips on how to best invest in both your recruitment of seasonal staff and how you give them a positive experience so that they return to you over and over again.
How To Help Young People Succeed In Your Workplace Post-Pandemic
Clearly, we are not in a ‘post-pandemic’ state but people are starting to return to the workplace after a long period of time.
At the moment, you might be an employer in the type of industry that lends itself well to your staff being able to work from home. If that is the case, then any staff that did return to the workplace might find they are once more setting up the home office and communicating via Zoom calls.
If you are back in the workplace, however, this article gives tips on how to help your young recruits settle into their role within the workspace and to go on to succeed.
A lot of young people might have been recruited during the pandemic and have worked from home since that time. This means they have been working for your company but could have no knowledge of the workplace buildings or the people who work there.
Whilst your young recruits might have ‘met’ other staff members via video calls, meeting them in person within the workplace is a different scenario. Give your young recruits every opportunity to settle into the workplace culture.
How To Prevent Unconscious Bias In Your Workplace
Unconsciıous bias is a difficult subject to deal with and a difficult thing to identify because it is exactly that – it’s unconscious. It’s not something that humans display on purpose in order to favour someone or something or to discriminate against them.
However, unconscious bias can and does discriminate against certain individuals in particular circumstances and this can affect your recruitment. Discriminating against someone, even when it is unconscious and you might not be aware of it, means your company could be missing out on the best young talent.
Unconscious bias means your company might not be as diverse as it could be and it is often said that a diverse workforce is generally a happier and more productive workforce.
Unconscious bias can be discrimination against someone for their skin colour, gender or religion for example but your unconscious bias can also discriminate against someone for their accent, their weight or what they are wearing to the interview.
This article offers some tips for how to prevent unconscious bias in the workplace so that you get a more diverse team of staff and you are also harnessing the best talent.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget & Spending Review
In this article, we looked at how Chancellor, Rishi Sunak’s autumn budget and spending review would affect you as an employer.
Whilst some announcements about the budget came into effect in 2021, others are set come into during the early part of 2022.
For some of the announcements, your company may already be affected by them whether positively or negatively.
Use this article to give yourself a recap of announcements that were made that could affect employers.
Are You Paying Your Employees Enough?
If you are an employer at a smaller company and you are responsible for deciding how much to pay your staff, then this might seem like a daunting task.
How do you know you are paying a wage or salary that is fair for the job they are doing and for their experience? Are you paying your employees enough?
At the same time, you need to make sure your company is making enough money.
Paying your employees a fair salary means they are more likely to be happier and more productive when working for you.
This article offers some pointers to consider when deciding on a fait salary for your different members of staff.
Into 2022
As we head into early 2022, it’s clear that employers are still going to be facing many challenges as a result of the pandemic and as a result of Brexit.
We’re sure we’re all hoping for a smoother journey as the year unfolds. Young people are still looking for part time work, apprenticeships and graduate careers.
If you have vacancies to advertise, take a look to see how e4s can help you.
