2016 On The E4S Recruiter Blog - A Year In Review

It’s December. This is the time of year where many writers, bloggers, vloggers, TV presenters and radio presenters put a break on the charge forward. It is the time of year where a moment is taken to just pause for a while to take a look back and what has happened in the year gone by. Well, it is no different on the E4S Recruiter blog. A new year always begins with fresh optimism and predictions for the year ahead. As the year progresses, government initiatives and legislation come into force that have direct implications for employers and, obviously, the aim is always for these initiatives to bring about a positive change. It has been a busy year in the world of recruitment and this has had an impact on the employment of students, school leavers and graduates. There was a drive to get more young school leavers into meaningful apprenticeship positions in a bid to narrow the skills gap being faced in the UK. And 2016 was also the year that the EU referendum resulted in a vote for Brexit. Let’s take a look at what other issues were addressed on the Recruiter blog throughout the last 12 months.

January 2016 - Culture Fit As A Recruitment Strategy

Do you take culture fit into consideration when you are recruiting new staff to your vacancies? What is your preference? As well as relevant experience, skills and qualifications, do you recruit young people whose outlook on work and life matches that of the rest of your existing team? Or, are you the type of employer who feels your company benefits from having a bit of diversity in the workplace? Lots of larger companies are now putting greater emphasis on cultural fit because they see it as a win win situation. New young recruits benefit because they feel more comfortable with their new team and with the methods used in the workplace. This benefits the employer because it can boost productivity and reduce the ‘settling in’ period for the new recruit. In our article about cultural fit, we came to the conclusion that it could be a valuable recruitment strategy if used in conjunction with other strategies. After all, there’s also the saying of ‘opposites attract.’

February 2016 - National Apprenticeship Week

As well as recruiting students to your vacant positions via E4S, you can also advertise your graduate roles and apprenticeship programmes. In February 2016 we told you about the upcoming NAW 2016 (National Apprenticeship Week) in the March. National Apprenticeship Week is a great showcase, highlighting the benefits of apprenticeships for both young people and employers and, as an employer, you can get involved, too. Our article about National Apprenticeship Week highlighted some of the challenges faced by apprenticeships in 2016. What are your thoughts? Do you think perceptions have changed or do you think apprenticeships still have a way to go to improve their image?

March 2016 - Job Interviews: What does your candidate want from you?

Recruitment is all about finding the best people to fill your vacancies. If you are looking to hook the best students, apprentices and graduates, rather than only thinking about what you want from them, this article in March flipped things around and considered what your candidate might be looking for from you when in interview. Putting yourself in the place of your candidate when planning your job interviews can really boost your staff retention. Your candidate can decide if you are the right company for them from the questions you ask and the honest information you give to them.

April 2016 - A Lot Happened In April

Yes, April was a busy month on the Recruiter blog. In April 2016, the National Living Wage went live. Depending on the type of company you own or work for, this could have had a direct effect on you as an employer. In line with the government’s aim to highlight the benefits of Apprenticeships throughout 2016, we wrote an article giving employers different - fantastic - reasons to hire an apprentice. E4S receives many thousands of visitors to its dedicated Apprenticeships section on the website and, as a result, employers receive many applications for their programmes. Apprenticeships are cost effective for employers and also give you a great chance at attracting some of the best young talent in the UK. And it didn’t end there. April was also the month where we took a look at the Brexit build up and its impact on recruitment in the UK. Although the referendum only took place in June, many companies were choosing to hang fire with their recruitment drives untiğl they had more concrete evidence about how they would be affected by a remain/exit vote. For some employers, this was your big chance to jump in there and snap up some young talent for your firm. As we all know, the vote was a Brexit vote and we will no doubt be discussing how this is affecting recruitment - good or bad - in the future.

May 2016 - How To Get Those Top Students Applying For Your Jobs

If you do see the benefit of recruiting students and young people to your roles, then that’s great. However, you might find yourself facing a challenge with this - how do you go about attracting all that young talent to apply for your roles? Why should school leavers, students or graduates choose to apply for jobs at your company over another one? This article gives some top tips about how to hook those students at the application stage.

June 2016 - Should Employers Give Staff Time Off For Sporting Events

The UK has played host to some huge sporting events of late and, of course, there are many annual sporting events that attract thousands of spectators and millions of TV viewers. It’s an issue that comes up for many employers so it’s good to have clear policies in place so that employees know where they stand. This article looks at the issues that can crop up during sports tournaments and options employers could take into consideration. Employees can feel happier in the workplace, and are therefore more productive, if they feel they are being listened to and their employer is trying to meet their needs. For this reason, allowing time off can be beneficial for both parties. However, it needs to be fair for everyone. Not all of your employees love to watch the Wimbledon final.

July 2016 - Should Employees Be Part Of The Boardroom?

What is the situation in your company? Have you got employee representatives in your boardroom at meetings? Do they attend all board meetings or just certain ones that are relevant to them? Companies can fall into two camps. There are those who see a real benefit in having employees in the boardroom and then there are those who keep board meetings purely for board members. What do you think? Could you see the benefit of having members of staff present at such meetings? This article looks looks at the pros and cons of having employees in the boardroom.

August 2016 - Offering Work Experience Opportunities To Young People Can Be Beneficial To Employers

Do you have work experience programmes in place in your company? Who are they geared towards? Are you looking to attract school leavers who might want to take on Apprenticeships? Are you offering ‘taster weeks’ to students and graduates; giving them the opportunity to get a feel of the world of work - the world outside of their classroom? This article, from August, looked at how offering work experience to young people can be beneficial to you as an employer. If you are an employer considering the pros and cons of taking young people into your workplace to give them the benefit of a bit of work experience, take a look at this article to see how you, too, stand to benefit from implementing this.

September 2016 - Good Business Practice With Young Recruits - How This Benefits Your Business

Well, this one should go without saying shouldn’t it. If you look after your young school leavers, students and graduates, they should look after you. In terms of staff retention and productivity, these should improve and that surely benefits any business. Good business practice is also about taking a critical look at your firm. How well do you know your firm, its culture, your competition and your customer base? Analysing all of these and more can benefit your company. It can create a happier staff. If you have a New Year’s Resolution of taking a good look at your company and how it functions, take a look at this article on good business practice.

October 2016 - Benefits For Employers Of Offering Internships

Are you the type of company that is in a position to offer internships to students and graduates? If so - and if you are not already running internship programmes - there could be many benefits for your company in taking interns. Effective internship programmes can be a win win situation both for you, as an employer, and for the intern. They get valuable experience of the workplace and you get a sneak peek at the talent of your intern. If you think they are going to be valuable to the future of your company, you could offer them a full time role upon completion of their degree. In this October 2015 article about the benefits of offering internships to employers, there are ten great advantages listed. What are your experiences, if any, of working with interns? Have you come across any further advantages that are not in this list?

November 2016 - How Offering Flexible Working Hours Benefits Employers

Particularly in some industries, it can be a challenge for employers to offer flexible working hours for their employees. However, some companies have completely embraced this way of working. Whilst there is a law in place for employees who want to request flexible working, you will be aware that this type of working can take on different forms. This post from November ended 2016 on a positive note by looking at the advantages for employers if they choose to adopt a flexible working culture in the workplace. Especially for SMEs, it can be seen a as good way of attracting applications from students and graduates who are increasingly looking for more balance between work and life outside of that. Are you part of a company with a flexible working culture? Do you find it beneficial to your company?

December 2016

So that just leaves me to wish everyone a happy new year and thank you for reading throughout 2016. If you are interested in employing apprentices, students, interns and graduates, why not take a look at the different advertising options with E4S? Here’s to a successful recruitment year in 2017.