SAIPA is aspirational, approachable, relatable and proud.
SAIPA is excited to be APSO's premier business partner in developing future-ready accredited professionals who ethically create client value.



Managers have subordinates, leaders have followers.

That short statement took me many years to learn. When I was young, and thrust into a management role way before I was ready, I thought leadership meant “getting people to do things”. And maybe, in the end, that is what it is. But it’s not by telling, or coercing or bribing. It’s way more subtle than that. And if you are looking to carve out a career in managing a recruitment business, developing your leadership abilities will be key to your success as a manager of recruiters.

Consultants are typically demanding, fickle, selfish even. Merely managing the process won’t be enough for you to build an exceptional business.

The good news is that leadership can be learned. It can be improved.

And it has to be — because creating an environment where people want to do things, rather than feel they have to, is the difference between great and mediocre. And yet leadership is so hard to define and so hard to find in our industry as well.

But perhaps it’s not surprising. Because it is true that many of us in management roles in recruitment have been promoted into leadership positions because we were good recruiters. Or we started our own business, hoping initially to just survive, but our energy and drive finds us now with teams of people to lead. We may, if we are lucky have learned to manage along the way, but who ever taught us about true leadership? What is it? What does a leader do? How does a leader behave?

To really make this point, I am going to pose a question. It’s rhetorical, but it’s directed at anyone reading this who is, or wants to be, a leader.

“Why would anyone want to be led by you”?

It’s a frightening question. And with good reason. You cannot do anything in this business without followers. We know it’s all about the people. And in these “empowered”, Generation Y times, followers are hard to find, right? People don’t follow blindly, and they don’t simply do what they are told – unless they believe. So managers of recruitment businesses had better know what it takes to lead effectively. You must find ways to engage people and rouse their commitment to the company goals.

But first, what are we talking about when we say “leadership”?

Well, there are many definitions. But, in this industry, knowing the psyche of the average recruitment consultant, I believe it’s best encapsulated by two, linked characteristics.

You see, I have come to understand that the people who matter to us most are NOT the ones with the most credentials. People we look up to are not the ones with the most money or the most awards. The people who matter, the ones that we respect and will ultimately follow, are the ones that care and the ones who’ve made a difference in our lives.

That is leadership at the level we should be focused on now. Leaders will be judged by their ability to impact people and make a difference.

Think of your own history in the recruitment business. Is there a person or two who made a difference, taught you things, mentored, and influenced your values? Showed faith when others didn’t. Inspired you through their actions? That’s leadership. And that’s who we have to be for the next wave of recruiters coming through.

So there we have it defined. Leadership is about truly caring and about making a meaningful difference. Leadership is not about talking a good game. It’s not about thumping the table like some deranged half-time football coach. It’s not about dreaming up an esoteric vision statement that no one believes in or acts on.

Leadership is Action

It’s what you do that counts. It’s your behaviour that people will remember and emulate. It’s your example that people will follow.

Leadership is action.
........................................
by Greg Savage



Market disruption is a problem for organizations built on predictability and risk aversion. The current state of talent acquisition is not fluid enough to handle fluctuations in the pendulum between supply and demand of labor. The good news is that RPO can drastically improve the odds of readiness.

Setting the Stage
The last 40+ years have seen a lot of ups and downs in the market that have psychologically pushed organizational leaders to be more risk averse. In Best-in-Class Companies Build Resilience with Learning & Development, Aberdeen called attention to the fact that as the market trudged through these whipsaws, trends in the chosen model for globalization encouraged less corporate risk-taking leading to a profound lack of long-term investment in talent.
Today, talent acquisition (TA) teams are starved of the resources, tools, and actionable insights they need to respond properly to market shifts that impact the way they strategize to attract and retain top talent.

A Faulty TA Setup
Best-in-Class TA teams are 61% more likely than All Others (50% vs. 31%) to find that a lack of data unity significantly hinders their ability to strategize around employee engagement, growth, and retention.

Best-in-Class companies are 61% more likely than All Others to find that a lack of data unity significantly hinders their ability to strategize around employee engagement, growth, and retention.

Download full article >here 




ManpowerGroup interviewed over 34,000 employers in 43 countries and territories to forecast labor market activity* in the third quarter of 2020. All participants were asked, “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of September 2020 as compared to the current quarter?” Interviewing was carried out during the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak. The survey findings for the third quarter of 2020 are likely to reflect the impact of the global health emergency, and the subsequent economic shutdown in many countries.

Employers in 35 of the 43 countries and territories surveyed by ManpowerGroup for the third quarter of 2020 expect to reduce payrolls in the period up to the end of September 2020, while payroll gains are expected in seven countries and a flat labor market is anticipated in one.

In a comparison with the second quarter of 2020, hiring prospects weaken in 42 of the 43 countries and territories, while no change is reported in one. Employers in all 43 countries and territories report weaker hiring sentiment when compared with this time one year ago. The strongest hiring pace is anticipated in Japan, India, the United States, China and Taiwan, while employers in Singapore, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and South Africa forecast the weakest labor markets.

In 24 of the 26 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region countries, employers expect to trim payrolls during the forthcoming quarter, although limited workforce gains are expected in both Croatia and Germany. Hiring plans weaken in all 26 EMEA countries in comparison with both the prior quarter and last year at this time. The strongest labor markets are anticipated in Croatia and Germany, while the weakest are expected by employers in South Africa, Slovakia and Romania.

In four of the seven Asia Pacific countries and territories surveyed, employers anticipate an increase in payrolls during the next three months, while a dip in workforce levels is expected in two and flat hiring activity in one. When compared with the second quarter of 2020, hiring plans weaken in six countries and territories, but are unchanged in one, while employers report weaker hiring intentions in all seven when compared with this time one year ago. Japanese and Indian employers anticipate the strongest labor markets in the region, while the weakest hiring activity is expected in Singapore and Australia.

Workforce reductions are forecast for nine of the 10 Americas countries during the July to September period, with employers in the tenth – the United States – anticipating limited job gains. Hiring sentiment weakens in all 10 Americas countries in comparison with both the second quarter of 2020 and third quarter of 2019. With United States employers expecting the strongest hiring pace, the weakest labor markets are forecast in Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru.

Full survey results for each of the 43 countries and territories included in this quarter’s survey, plus regional and global comparisons, can be found here




The outbreak and acceleration of the COVID-19 pandemic is severely impacting people, labour markets and economies around the world. The situation is no less critical in the temporary agency work sector with the number of workers being cut down by 50% to 70% across Europe. 

Building on a long-standing tradition of social dialogue, the World Employment Confederation-Europe and UNI-Europa, representing EU Sectoral Social Partners for temporary agency work, decided to address this unprecedented challenge together and issued joint recommendations to both mitigate the immediate impact of the crisis and prepare for the recovery of the labour market and the economy.

The primary, common goal of the sectoral social partners is to protect the health and safety of temporary agency workers, to keep people at work in a safe environment and support businesses through these difficult times. The contribution of temporary work agencies to keeping the labour market fluent and functioning is essential during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the phase of the economic recovery.

A constructive sectoral social dialogue is a vital part of this contribution. Since the outbreak of the crisis, temporary work agencies and trade unions have been active informing workers and companies on the management of health and safety risks and have been in contact with governments to secure equal access to support measures for agency workers (e.g. paid sick leave, short time work).

The joint recommendations build on those actions already undertaken and call on temporary work agencies and user undertakings to ensure adequate health and safety protection equipment and training tailored to COVID-19 specificities. Temporary work agencies should commit to strengthen reallocation of workers from sectors in decline to sectors in urgent need of workers such as healthcare, logistics, education, agriculture & food production and supply. Such practices are already implemented in countries like the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Belgium. 

The recommendations also target national policy makers whose role should be to ensure that temporary agency workers are guaranteed access to universal healthcare, maintain their income and have a minimum right to social protection. Short-time working schemes that have been introduced in many European countries and which are now reinforced in the current COVID-19 crisis via the EU “SURE” initiative can be an effective tool to keep people in employment while providing income support.

Once on the path to economic recovery, the temporary agency work will continue to play a key role, providing labour market access and transitions and in improving the skills and employability of workers. The sector can build on its expertise in health and safety to create a safe and quick pathway back to work. As the joint recommendations underline, the sector can also rely on the solutions already put in place by sectoral social partners at national level for skilling and re-skilling in order to ensure that temporary agency workers have access to training/retraining.

The World Employment Confederation-Europe and UNI-Europa call on policy makers to ensure that the sector has access to support programmes and to strengthen the cooperation between public and private employment services. The sectoral social partners also remind that reforms to ensure effective access to skilling and social protection across diverse forms of work must be accelerated.

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging our industry, our economy, the way we work and our society. We have a unique opportunity to reinvent the ways of working, learning and providing social protection to the benefit of all workers, regardless of their employment contract.

This concept of social innovation is at the heart of a joint project that the World Employment Confederation-Europe and UNI-Europa are currently conducting, and which will be concluded in early 2021. As our strong tradition of social dialogue has shown, it is only in close cooperation and mutual respect that we can ensure that the economic recovery means a return to inclusive growth.

..........................................

Michael Freytag

World Employment Confederation-Europe Public Affairs Manager


The labour market crisis prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic has not only created wide-scale unemployment and threatened business continuity, but it has also exposed the gaps in safety nets for workers around the world.

Now that many countries are embarking on the road to recovery, it is important to leverage the lessons learned from the actions of governments and businesses in response to the crisis. We need to create new frameworks that will be able to better mitigate economic disruption and cushion the impact for all workers – regardless of their employment contract or status.

Agency work is a bellwether for labour markets. One of the first sectors hit in times of crisis, it is also one of the first to be able to adapt and jump back into action when the economy revives. Many governments identified the key role that private employment services played in the first weeks of the Covid-19 crisis through reallocating displaced workers to sectors with immediate labour demand – even loosening previous restrictions in order to speed-up that demand. Several jurisdictions classified the agency work sector as ‘essential’ to ensure that staffing agencies could continue to operate in lockdown and provide employment in critical sectors such as healthcare, transport & logistics, retail and private security.

Globally, some 50 million people find work each year through the private employment services sector and its 2.4 million career and recruitment specialists working through 160,000 agencies. The sector can support society and speed the recovery through increased labour market participation, efficient matching of supply and demand for workers, career guidance and skilling.

We do this working with business and worker organisations and through social dialogue and private-public engagement. Our sector is ready to play its part, but the cooperation of all labour markets actors will be essential to shape the Road to Recovery in the wake of the pandemic.

In ‘Covid-19: The Road to Recovery’, the World Employment Confederation calls for some key policy actions to enable the global private employment services industry to play its part in supporting the revival. 

Firstly, we need a framework for activation and transition, ensuring agency work and other diverse forms of work to support job growth. Labour institutions need to support this agility, promote partnerships between public and private employment services and lift any unjustified restrictions on agency work. Public resources also need to be allocated towards skilling.

Next, safety nets need to be reformed to ensure that all workers have access to effective transition and income support as they take cautious steps back into the labour market. This crisis has shown us that basic minimum protections need to be available to people, irrespective of how they engage with work.

We must also speed up Social Innovation to ensure this access to minimum levels of protection. A key lesson learned from the crisis is that schemes such as those for unemployment, sick-leave and reducing working time are inadequately available and are not tailored to that majority of global workers who work outside of an open-ended full-time contract. Fixing this has been ‘work in progress’ for far too long.

Now is the time to accept that diverse work forms sustain employment for all and that the benefits, costs and risks must be shared proportionately. The agency sector experience offers inspiration for the reform of social protection schemes. Across the world the private employment services industry has put in place specific protections for agency workers. These mechanisms have tailored their support to a group of workers that inherently work across various sectors, jobs, and businesses.

Finally, future policy frameworks should also integrate lessons learned regarding the operational and digital conditions enacted for safe working and re-allocation across the labour market. This means maintaining and increasing digital infrastructure and flexible solutions that allow for remote working, matching and skilling such as Online Training, eSignatures, online identification, and skill checks.

As the first signs of recovery start to appear, so businesses will turn to agency work to support them in navigating ongoing uncertainty. The private employment services industry is prepared and stands ready to seize the opportunity, support our economies and deliver innovative approaches that will get global labour markets up and running again.

...............................................

Denis Pennel

Managing Director, World Employment Confederation



The national lockdown has had a severe impact on Gender Based Violence related cases in South Africa.

"Pandemics compound existing gender inequalities and vulnerabilities, increasing risks of abuse. In times of crisis such as the COVID19, women and girls are at higher risk, for example, of intimate partner violence and other forms of domestic violence due to heightened tensions in the household. They also face increased risks of other forms of gender- based violence including sexual exploitation and abuse in these situations." - Ms. Beatrice Mutali, UNFPA Representative.

Worldwide, a number of countries including as France, Northern Ireland and others have recorded up to 33% increase in GBV related cases. Different countries around the world have been met with an increased demand for shelters and places of safety for victims of violence.

In South Africa, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that the South African Police Service (SAPS) received a total of 2320 GBV related cases in just the first week of the lockdown at the of March. According to media sources, this is higher than the weekly average of domestic violence cases reported the previous year. Sadly, these statistics come as no shock as South Africa is the rape capital of the world where GBV cases are already high.

The national Gender-Based Violence Command Centre said the number of calls had tripled during the lockdown period. With the ban of alcohol sales lifted, a further upsurge in GBV related cases can already be seen as expected, indicating a clear need for GBV support. One of the ways to assist in reducing domestic violence during the lockdown is for SAPS to enhance its availability in high-risk areas and quicker responses to cases reported. South Africans can also reported cases of violence via the Community Constituency Covid-19 Front's web application, Thusa Sechaba on www.thusasechaba.org.za. This will connect them to local NGOs who offer support to victims of violence, especially domestic and intimate partner violence.

Rape culture amongst young people
South Africa has a toxic rape culture and records the highest rates of rape and femicide globally. According to the latest statistics, Statistics South Africa reports that one in five South African adult women have experienced physical violence. This figure rises to one third in poorer communities. The same report found that young women are particularly vulnerable to GBV, with almost a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds reporting that they had been physically abused by an intimate partner in the last year. Rape culture thrives in South Africa, deeply anchored in a complex system of patriarchy tied to cultural norms and gendered power dynamics, which create a social context that normalizes and approves of sexual violence. Victim blaming, the liberty with which perpetrators operate and the protection they are afforded by an ailing judicial system that continually fails victims, all threaten the ability to end this scourge. Furthermore, the trivial manner which rape and sexual assault are treated on social media platforms speaks to a global social problem.

Young women missing
In the last three years South Africa has seen over 4000 women reported missing, 80% of which were Black women. Statistics revealed that most of the cases involved women under 30, and there was a high incidence of cases involving 18-year-olds. Within just a few days into June, we are seeing daily headlines with young women missing and most of them being found murdered in the most gruesome ways.
 
 
Sexual assault in universities and schools
South African university students across the country have taken to the streets several times to raise awareness about violence against women on South African university campuses. Dr. Siphokazi Magadla, a politics professor at Rhodes University in South Africa who has done extensive research on gender-related topics says part of the reason is that many universities have no formal sexual violence protocols to follow.

Sexual violence remains rife in South African campuses because of a culture steeped in patriarchy and because little to no support is offered to survivors of rape. Most sexual assault cases at institutions of higher learning go unreported because sexual violence is normalized and survivors are often not believed. South African universities have a long way to go in combatting gender-based violence.

At the moment, women who choose to report instances of sexual misconduct in universities are likely to be met with not much aside from further suffering.
 
Get in touch with us:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Published on June 24, 2020
.............................................................

“Doveryai, no proveryai” – Trust, but verify (Russian Proverb)

Perhaps a fitting ideology to consider during the hiring process, with unemployment in South Africa expected to rise to 50 percent in the next few months (and that’s an optimistic figure).

Adding to injury, any 5yr, 3yr, 12 month, 6 month (what the heck), even a 30-day plan has been swiftly obliterated by a tiny little virus called Covid-19. The gigantic effect of this global pandemic will plague our business environment for many years to come. Cashflows are strained beyond reprieve, and up till now, most businesses were either in a holding pattern or regrettably closed up shop for good.

Time is a major player in navigating the future of any enterprise during COVID-19. At present, Epidemiologists are rushing to predict its spread, governments shuffling to slow its progression and pharmaceuticals working around the clock to develop a vaccine. In response, businesses are forced to make rushed decisions, ditch long-term growth strategies, and generate reactionary plans at the drop of a hat, without the luxury of time on their side.

The Screening Landscape

Today, arguably the biggest crisis in South Africa, exacerbated by the government’s response to COVID-19, is joblessness. The soaring rate of unemployment has opened up an unprecedented conundrum regarding screening practices such as identity verification and criminal checks.

Companies are contemplating downscaling headcounts or, by now, have already retrenched staff in the hope that they will be able to rehire them when lockdown levels are lifted, and consumer demand escalates once again.

On the other hand, certain industries for example healthcare, sanitation and essential services require a quick uptick of worker numbers, resulting in mass hiring and onboarding taking place in record time in anticipation of new market demand.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

A significant consideration is, of course, managing cash flow and budgets, with concerted efforts being made in cutting expenses down to the bare minimum, to ensure survival over the medium term regardless of downscaling or upscaling.

Two scenarios are at play here:

1.    Companies are paying for a background screening service and contemplating cancelling the subscription

2.    Companies not currently subscribed for background screening solutions are avoiding adding extra expenses to the budget at this point

Unfortunately, these cost-cutting trends seem to be penny wise but pound foolish, where screening and verification expenses are perceived as non-essential but may very well be the worst business decision during these desperate times.

Not having it, when you need it

In crises such as recessions, market crashes or pandemics, risk-mitigating products are usually the first to go. Let us consider insurance products for example, disability cover, temporary dreaded disease, medical aid, armed response, or general insurance.

It is a well-known fact that recessions, war conflicts, market volatility and pandemics prompt, immediate changes in spending behaviours, where risk products are typically the first to be scrapped off the budget to increase cash flow for other items deemed “more” essential.

Screening and vetting solutions are often viewed as a nice to have as opposed to a crucial risk management expense. Saving costs by unsubscribing to verification services now, may come back biting in the future.

Imagine a situation where the safety of employees is in jeopardy due to a worker succumbing to workplace violence and sexual harassment. Or, an instance where the company’s financial longevity is compromised by an individual committing fraud. Even consider having the company’s reputation in tatters, because someone posted unsavoury commentary that ended up going viral in the social media universe.

The costs of lawsuits, workplace liability claims, fixing reputational damage or recouping funds from fraud or white-collar crime, outweigh the costs of verifications and screening checks exponentially. To place this in perspective: a lawsuit may amount to millions versus a comprehensive verification check usually costing few hundred rand. You do the math.

Why is proper vetting and screening even more crucial right now?

Taking Shortcuts, is Taking Risks

The economy is opening up, and businesses are picking themselves up by the bootstraps. Some are already pivoting in terms of product lines and service solutions gravitating towards current in-demand services and products. For example, textile factories are producing masks, gloves and protective clothing, engineering manufacturers venture into medicinally aligned products like testing equipment or mobile clinics, and automotive manufacturers moved from producing cars to making ventilators. Such strategic pivots may require mass hiring directives in the short to medium term.

With lockdown regulations being downscaled to Level 3 as from June, the majority of South African organisations would be able to operate, subject to increased health and safety regulations.

You may not have the funds right now to offer permanent contracts, but hiring remote workers, contract workers, and temporary workers to satiate the customer demand may be a viable strategy to follow.  To limit the risk to your company and employees, you need to know whom you are hiring – aka KYC (know your candidate).

It is tempting to circumvent a comprehensive screening process and hire workers without conducting background screening or before receiving the results of verification requests. However, it is crucial to recognise that the cost of a bad hire, could impose irreparable damage to your company, employees, customers and the broader community. This is particularly relevant to staff that work directly with the general public and vulnerable populations.

Employers are legally bound to ensure that prospective employees do not present a danger to their clients, employees, or company viability. Therefore, skipping, or diluting screening strategies during times of adversity is not an option.

Screening Checkpoints

The three primary reasons for conducting robust background screening are as follows:

·      Safety – Avoid harm or legal liabilities from becoming to internal or external parties of the company ecosystem, for example actions like workplace violence, sexual harassments, negligent driving, financial fraud, cybercrime, and corporate espionage.

·      Productivity – Past performance is indicative of future performance in terms of productivity, skills, knowledge, and professionalism. Proper vetting assists in distinguishing between high achievers and posers

·      Data Integrity – Verifying personal particulars, academic credentials, and employment history, provide insight to a candidate’s reliability, integrity, and motivation. A report by HireRight uncovered that 85% of employers discovered misrepresented or inflated information on applicant’s resumes as a result of screening activities. For South Africa specifically, this is a statistic to take note of, considering our spiking unemployment rates will be causing candidates to become increasingly desperate and willing to do whatever it takes to secure a job (including providing false information).

All of these considerations underscore the need for companies to adopt quick, thorough background checks, especially during a crisis and under challenging circumstances. 

Desperate Times, call for Desperate Measures (or does it?)

Background screening and biometrics (fingerprint capturing) service providers have been operating since April under Level 4 Lockdown Regulations and allowed to service any company who can trade under the relevant alert level.

With most industries returning to operations in June, vetting and checking should rank high on the hiring ‘’to-do list”. In an environment where each transaction, project, tender or subscription is crucial to business survival, cutting corners when hiring is, well, a risky business regardless of how promising a candidate may seem.

While COVID-19 has transformed the way employers execute hiring strategies, employers should not be dissuaded by time-to-hire from ensuring the safety and security of their workforce and preserving the validity of their businesses. Desperation breeds innovation, and in this age of the #newnormal, adapting to challenges is essential for enterprise sustainability.

Avoid abandoning screening practices and in the process sacrificing Employer Branding, Employer Value Proposition and Company Reputation perceptions in the process.

For more information please contact us:

www.HURU.co.za

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Devin Ashman

Devin Ashman

Co-Founder & Director at Encapsulate Consulting | Co-Owner & Director at Huru Technologies
 
 


While at times it may seem impossible, it's more important to your productivity than ever to make sure you build buffer time into your schedule.

BY JUSTIN BARISO, AUTHOR, 

As CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner has unique insight into how the world of work is transforming right before our eyes because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Weiner has long been a proponent of scheduling buffer time, for maximum productivity. Buffer time is blocks of time in your schedule that serve as buffers between meetings or other high-concentration work that allow you to catch up on the industry news, take a walk, or simply to think. 

But Weiner took to his company's platform recently to highlight an important point a colleague recently shared with him: It is especially difficult to establish buffers in your schedule when you work from home.

As Weiner puts it:

"Free" time in between video calls is increasingly being absorbed by taking care of kids, caring for dependents, doing household chores, and myriad other ways in which people are jumping from one task to the next. Combined with all the uncertainty related to physical and economic well being, it can take a toll. Make sure to carve out real buffer time: to catch your breath, get some exercise, or whatever you enjoy doing that helps put your mind at ease. It not only benefits you, it will benefit all of the people that count on you as well.

In just over 24 hours, Weiner's post has garnered 30,000 reactions and almost 1,000 comments. 

Part of this is because of the sudden boom of people working from home. And as my Inc. colleague Suzanne Lucas recently pointed out, it's not your imagination that Zoom meetings can be especially exhausting.

But while at times it may seem impossible, it's more important to your productivity than ever to make sure you build buffer time into your schedule. 

Here's how to do it.

1. Schedule it.

When working from home, especially if you have kids, the potential for distractions is limitless. 

But just as you'd try your best to guard your attention when attending a very important meeting, you can also do so with buffer time. Put it in your calendar and treat it as an unmissable appointment. 

Of course, for that to work, you also have to ...

2. Keep everyone busy.

Your 5-year-old doesn't care about your schedule. So make sure to give them something to do: a fun activity, or even a cartoon to watch--to make sure they won't be coming to you every two minutes.

If you have even smaller children, or other responsibilities, your window for buffer time may be smaller--but in most cases, you can still fit it in. For example, try taking advantage of your child's naptime. You may need to use that slot for an important meeting, but make clear that you have a hard stop that allows you at least an extra 15 minutes for yourself before you need to check back on the kids or move on to the next task. 

3. Know what you want to do.

Once your scheduled buffer time rolls around, you may be tempted to fill it in with another meeting that's sprung up, or an extra task that you forgot about.

Don't do it.

"The most important reason to schedule buffers is to just catch your breath," wrote Weiner once in a LinkedIn blog post. "There is no faster way to feel as though your day is not your own, and that you are no longer in control, than scheduling meetings back to back from the minute you arrive at the office until the moment you leave. I've felt the effects of this and seen it with colleagues. Not only is it not fun to feel this way, it's not sustainable."

When you know what you want to use your buffer time for, you can get into it right away. As mentioned, your buffer time is your time. It may be a quick walk around the block, or it may simply be sitting and enjoying the silence.

Remember, there will always be more to do. But if you understand how important those buffer time moments are for your sanity, you'll respect them.

"Whatever you do," says Weiner, "just make sure you make that time for yourself--everyday and in a systematic way--and don't leave unscheduled moments to chance."

 

by Greg Savage 

.............................................

These are the toughest of times.

I have been through many recessions, but this is different because of the health and isolation factors.

We can’t meet clients or candidates face to face, they can’t meet each other, and most recruiters are working from home, in some cases mandated by the government.

But we must be adaptable. And we must find a way to squeeze what we can out of what’s available. And one thing that is available right now for many of us, is ‘time‘. So I am kicking off a discussion on how to be productive in this environment.

I love a structured approach to a problem, so I have broken it into seven segments. My ideas, and tips I gleaned from other recruiters this week.

If you have ideas to add, please do in the comments section. This is just a start.

1. Work ‘in play’.

These are our current open orders. Of course. It’s obvious, but we need intense attention to this right now. If the client is hiring, we must find candidates and arrange video interviewing. It’s all new to all of us, so you need to be the ‘encourager’ and the facilitator.

Feedback from New Zealand, where the country is in lock-down, is that offers are being made, but start dates can’t be confirmed, because no one is at work. That’s OK. Work with the new normal. Never has the role of the recruiter as ‘consultant’ and ‘influencer’ been more needed. Talk all parties through this. The world does not stop. We can interview, we can second interview, we can reference-check, and we can deliver an offer.

Let’s negotiate a ‘conditional start date’. (I don’t know how employment law plays into this. Find out). So it’s an offer made and an offer accepted, and a ‘conditional start date’ of 1st June (for example) agreed. Both parties accept this may change. But tie it all in. Maybe negotiate a small part payment with your clients. Refundable if the person does not start. But the work has been done, has it not?

2. Pump the pipe.

So job-openings are in free-fall, and all we read about is job losses. Can’t hide from that. But companies are hiring. Seek in Australia still has ads going up for new vacancies.

A quick scout around my client base and a bit of crowd-sourcing on the topic created a summary of industries where my clients have picked up fresh orders this week.

Call Centre, Logistics and Transport, Healthcare, Mining (Queensland), IT Support, FMCG (NZ), Insurance. Other people jumped in on this post and mentioned Tech and SaaS companies, Health, E-commerce, Defence, Agriculture, Pharmaceuticals and Insurance.

This is just a thought-starter. A great topic for your next Zoom hook-up with colleagues. “Let’s go on a job-hunt”. If ever there was a time for ‘proactive hunting‘, this is it. We must track down where the need is and present our case.

Whatever you do, talk to clients.

Call clients to see if you can assist with ideas about how to manage the crisis. Not as a health expert. But how other clients are managing the workforce.

Start a conversation about when the recovery comes. OK, they are not hiring now, but this will pass. What skills will they need then? Offer to build a pipeline of talent for that day. They may even pay you to do it. But at least you are keeping engaged and when the wheel turns and they do need to hire, you will have a bank of pre-qualified talent to place there.

3. Offer what’s needed.

Remember too that the employment dynamic has changed. Typically from a candidate-short one to one where more people are available. Indeed, some hirers might get flooded if they recruit now.

Think of service offerings you have not offered before.

  • Maybe a screening service.
  • Maybe a reference-checking offering.
  • Maybe managing the application process, including candidate communication.
  • Maybe the ‘pipeline build’ I mentioned above.

Some recruiters have talked about lowering fees and even free placements. I am not convinced. Look, do what you must, but maybe different payment terms is a better idea, where you get your fee upfront, but the client pays in five instalments. This might be attractive to a hesitant client. That very product is being offered in Australia and New Zealand now.

4. Now is the candidate hour!

I know you don’t need candidates now. But they need you!

  • Call candidates, whose options have dried up overnight, to reassure them they will not be forgotten when things recover.
  • Offer candidates a free, no-obligation, resume review, career planning or salary benchmarking chat. You are at home; they are at home. Why not?
  • Call every person on your ATS, that you have met or spoken with, and reconnect. Maybe start with the simple question, “Are you OK?”
  • Offer your candidates help to use any downtime to improve and work on their online brand. Writing content, tidying up profiles.

5. Goodwill equity.

Everyone is scared, and many have lost jobs. Be generous. Not only out of pure humanity, but trust me, people will remember those recruiters who reached out when the chips were down.

  • Whenever you talk or email, whoever you talk to – spread calm. Be the voice of hope. “This too shall pass”.
  • Invite someone to a ‘virtual lunch‘. You and your sandwich, them with theirs. Skype or similar. Add wine if appropriate ?
  • Share ideas. Be visible.
  • Return messages. Try to help. At least offer a supportive word.

6. Brengagement

The summary of all my tips regarding outgoing candidate and client contact can be summed up with my hybrid word ‘Brengagement’. Build your brand by useful and generous engagement. Even if the rewards are not there for now.

7. Tidy shit up

You know how you were always too busy to do that thing? Do it now.

  • Invest in client and candidate research, ATS data cleansing, online learning.
  • Prepare marketing ideas for the recovery.
  • Write 10 blogs.
  • Fix up and maximise your social footprint.(LinkedIn profile etc)
  • Update files and clean out your drawers.
  • Improve your systems and processes.
  • Get that long-promised training material finished.
  • Clean up the CRM and your blog subscriber lists.
  • Check you are on top of all compliance in all areas.
  • You will have better ideas than this, but there is much we can do.

All these ideas are just the beginning. They are just my half-baked ideas from my desk on a Sunday afternoon. You can do better and be more targeted to your business and your market.

However, staying productive will be critical for business success, taking advantage of an eventual recovery, and your sanity right now.

Please join in and share your ideas in the comments below.

Above all, be kind. Do the generous thing.

#StayStrong #ThisTooShallPass

 


OPINION PIECE

The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is an unprecedented global & economic crisis and it is once again reinventing the way we work. Denis Pennel, WEC Managing Director, analyses the new trends the crisis is creating, from remote work to work-life integration, new forms of management, freelancing, mobility and productivity.

Published on 16th April 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented, global health crisis which has had a swift and devastating impact on the economy and labour market. The various containment measures adopted around the world have affected not only supply – the production of goods and services, but also demand – consumption and investment, threatening businesses’ viability and putting millions into unemployment.

The good news is that most governments were quick to adopt measures to mitigate the immediate negative impacts of Covid-19 and are already working on what other mechanisms should be put in place to enable economic recovery.

The private employment services sector, connecting people with work and supporting businesses in finding the workforce they need, is at the forefront of the crisis. This position also affords us a unique perspective, allowing us to observe the ways in which the Covid-19 crisis is likely to affect labour markets and the way we work in a more structural, long-term way.

Firstly, comes the issue of teleworking. Organisations have realised how important it is to be able to implement continuity plans and to set in place remote work solutions. The crisis provided a good opportunity to equip workers with IT equipment (laptop, cloud, videoconferencing) allowing them to remain connected to their colleagues and continue to work. However, working from home for one or two days a week by choice is very different from being constrained at home for several weeks in a row, surrounded by distractions  – be they your family, your pet or Netflix! It reveals that we need good conditions to be productive at home e.g. a dedicated, ergonomic working space rather than the dining table, a good wifi connection, the kids being taken care of properly. In Japan, a recent survey of 21,000 people found that 13% of company employees were teleworking but respondents cited a lack of systems and infrastructure to support them in this. Working from home can also be challenging for those who crave social interaction. The use of coworking spaces was already an answer to this situation and it is likely that their use will increase in the future.

The more widespread use of teleworking also has consequences for management models. Many managers are struggling to coordinate and motivate a remote and dispersed team. Not being able to see and interact face-to-face with colleagues is disturbing and requires new management models, based on trust, more result-oriented work organisation, new performance assessment tools and on-line social interaction.

Working from home also increases the porosity between our private and professional lives. Most workers already faced that situation to some degree – checking emails after official working hours, taking conference calls during holiday time, etc. But teleworking on a full-time basis has further emphasised the need to take personal constraints into consideration when organising work. In the future, flexible working hours (part time work, non-standard working hours) – and the necessary support systems such as flexible childcare that go with them – should be developed further to reflect this need for customised working arrangements.

Covid-19 is also changing the freelance landscape. Economic downturns usually see an increase in self-employment. High levels of unemployment prompt people to create their own business units in order to maintain some financial revenue. But the current crisis underlines that self-employed workers also lack protection against economic downturns. From an individual perspective, people might realise that being your own boss includes a lower level of social protection and a higher risk of losing revenues – and some people might be tempted to get back into wage employment. From the point of view of organisations, the situation might be quite the reverse. Faced with cost reductions and recruitment freezes, they will be turning to freelancers to secure access to the talents they need when the economy turns a corner and the recovery begins.

There will also be an impact on mobility and travelling. The Covid-19 crisis will have at least one positive impact as the lockdown has improved air quality and reduced pollution. It is a long time since the sky has been so clear and blue thanks to air travel usage having plummeted and commuters staying at home. The increased use of videoconferencing has also made us realise that not all meetings demand that we jump on a plane to attend a four-hour discussion miles away.

Ultimately, this crisis questions productivity at work. On the one hand, the rise in remote working could dramatically increase productivity – reducing all the unproductive time and costs associated with airports, planes, hotels and taxis. But on the other hand, many people feel disoriented working from home.  They have difficulty in adjusting to this new style of work and miss the social interaction of the traditional workplace. There is a danger that it might lead to a decline in customer service and the client experience and a fall in morale and overall team performance. In short, these new work trends will require us to think differently about how we define and assess productivity.

The post-Covid-19 world of work could be one where remote work forms an integral part of regular work practice. It may not necessarily be a solitary experience either, as workers have easier access to collaborative spaces – whether they are virtual coffee breaks, physical coworking places or annual corporates retreats. It could be a world where managers empower their employees, trusting them to reach their goals and offering them the flexibility to manage their time and workload in line with their personal commitments. It could be a world where leaders build-in the adaptability and resilience needed to face future shocks. This crisis is certainly not the first, nor will it be the last. However, it presents a whole new opportunity to reinvent the world of work.

First published in TALiNT international, 15 April 2020

 

Page 33 of 37

Back to Top