Redundancy matters at top of briefing agenda

We’ve put redundancy at the top of the agenda for this year’s Employment Law Breakfast Briefing and, not surprisingly, it’s proved a big pull.

We have almost 200 people – HR professionals and business people from the Greater Peterborough area - who have signed up for the event on Tuesday – September 22.

Partners in Hegarty LLP Solicitors Martin Bloom and Tim Thompson will be the speakers, as usual. They’re going to be covering redundancy and fair selection – unfortunately still very relevant topics in the current climate.

The briefing is taking place at the Cambridge Suite, at the East of England Showground and includes breakfast.

I’ll be there bright and early to introduce the event. Thankfully that’s all I need to do – Tim and Martin are the experts!

There will be quite a few of the Anne Corder Recruitment team there too – it’s a good opportunity to catch up with clients and contacts.

We’ve still got room for a few more people so do feel free to get in touch if you’re interested in coming along - info@annecorder.co.uk

Back to Business

If I can see some real benefit in a recruitment-related initiative – to individuals, companies or the area as a whole - I’m always happy to lend a hand if required. So I was delighted to accept the invitation to be involved in The Back To Business Club which has been launched by the Greater Peterborough Partnership.

The club is aimed at professionals who have been made redundant and who are keen to get back to work or explore alternatives such as setting up on their own. It is hoped the club will help maintain the confidence and motivation of the jobseekers who attend by keeping them in touch with similar-minded people in the same situation.
We regularly deal with the kind of professionals the club is aimed at so it made perfect sense for us to be involved.

Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson opened the first session which saw about 30 people through the door.

What we don’t want is the club to be seen as ‘exclusive’. At the same time people are recognising that, in the current climate, there is a need for a service specifically targeted at managers and professionals, many of whom may not have been out of work before.

‘Job clubs’ aren’t for everyone and I understand why some people may feel reticent to attend. But as a word of encouragement having met some of the attendees at the first session, if nothing else I think the networking opportunities it offers are worth exploring.

If you want any more information you can click on the link Back to Business or pop along to a session – held every Thursday from 2pm to 5pm at Peterborough College of Adult Education.

Signs of recovery

A media frenzy has greeted the August Report on Jobs – a regular report published by our governing body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG. It suggests the labour market is showing signs of recovery – so it’s hardly surprising the newspapers, tv and radio stations have been quick to pick up on it!

We submit data to that report and our findings are in line with the overall picture the key points of which are:
• marginal increases in both permanent and temporary staff appointments
• candidate availability rose at weaker pace
• permanent and temporary staff pay fell at slower rates

The REC’s chief executive Kevin Green told the BBC that employers are becoming ‘more confident in their hiring decisions’. Again, that’s something we would agree with. After many months of clients hanging back from making long term decisions about taking on permanent staff, we are now seeing movement in that market.
The good thing is those now actively seeking staff have a very definite need - companies aren’t just trawling the labour market on spec.

Kevin said: ‘For the first time in 17 months, this month’s report shows signs that the UK jobs market is improving. There has been an increase in permanent recruitment and growth in temporary placements for the first time in over a year.”

And that, as everyone in recruitment and HR would agree, is very welcome – and very good – news.

How green are we?!

Eighteen months ago we came up with the concept of a paperless working environment. Looking round our office in Park Road the idea was almost laughable. We had dozens of filing cabinets, hundreds of paper files and thousands of pieces of paper. Our only concessions were the banning of Post-It notes and the shredding and recycling of used paper.

But… not only have we achieved it – WE’VE WON AN AWARD FOR IT!
We’ve scored a Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice run by The Green Organisation.

The awards have been going for 15 years so are well established as one of the major environmental recognition schemes not just in the UK but internationally too. The Green Organisation supports the work of other environmental groups that play the role of environmental watchdog while concentrating more on the positive aspects of environmental endeavour – they describe it as looking at the carrot as well as the stick!

Our entry described how The Paperless Office Project required a substantial financial and time investment but how the benefits across the board have already exceeded expectations.

We’ve reduced costs and waste, streamlined office procedures, freed up valuable staff time and future proofed the office. And we’ve become quite evangelical about it all – talking to clients and other companies we network with about the benefits in the hope we can encourage them to adopt at least some of our proven methods.

We’re off to London in November to pick up our award.
Well done us!

Results: what next? The dilemma

It's results week - remember that? I do. The fear, the uncertainty, holding that envelope in your hand knowing it could shape your future.

Back then, I had a good idea what I wanted to do, how to achieve it - and most importantly - I knew there were opportunities out there.

The results students of 2009 have no less ambition or drive - but their opportunities are limited, through no fault of their own, because we're in the middle of a recession. Even graduates are struggling to find the level of position they're qualified for. One recent report revealed 45 university leavers are applying for every graduate position.

The figures are worrying: the highest unemployment level for 15 years - nearly a million of them in the 18-24 year old age group. School leavers facing the worst conditions since 1929.

But there are alternatives to job hunting. There is, of course, the increasingly popular gap year which offers - quite literally - a whole world of possibilities.

There is the option of looking at further study and that doesn't have to mean academic study. Vocational courses could be a valuable option, arming you for the world of work while giving you the skills to elevate you above the usual entry level.

We have been involved in sponsorship of business, secretarial and administrative based courses at local colleges in and around Peterborough. They've suffered from a lack of students applying for them. But the skills taught on them are universal leaving students in good stead for securing any number of roles.

It's about exploring all the options available, taking the market conditions into account and making the decision that'll best work for you.

That's what I did too!

http://www.recruitmenttoday.net/News/Story/?title=School%20leavers%20face%20worst%20conditions%20since%201929&storyid=678&type=news_features
http://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk
http://www.gapyear.com

ACR’s light in the gloom

The headline national unemployment figure doesn’t look good – 2.4 million with predictions it could reach three million by the end of the year.
Our consultant Kerry Tanner was interviewed on the radio, shortly after the government released the numbers, and asked for our – local – take on the national figures.

And that’s where we can knock the doom and gloom on the head – or at least shine a little light into it.

Because at ACR, after – and we’d be the first to admit it - a very slow start to the year, things have begun looking up in the last three months.

As Kerry told the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire interviewer: ”We have found the job market very different from that of last year – but we have found an interesting trend.

“From the end of March to July we have seen a steady increase in roles coming into the business – permanent, temporary and contract.
“There has been a vast difference in the volume this year compared to last year as you’d expect in the economic doom and gloom but there does seem to be more movement in the local market than in the national market.”

Her comments are based on genuine figures and, while we don’t want to over egg the situation and say everything is fine when clearly it’s not, it does seem that Peterborough is a bit of a hotspot of employment.

And that can only be a good thing for those of us living and working here.

MP Stewart Jackson pledges support

We believe passionately in what we do and in providing the very best service to our clients and candidates.

That’s why we’ve taken a stand against the new Agency Workers Directive – well before it reached – and was passed in – Europe.

And we’re delighted to say that we have the full backing of our MP Stewart Jackson.
On the surface the directive is a positive step – offering temporary workers equal treatment to their permanent counterparts.
In reality it could prove the death knell for a range of temporary roles in companies, charities and groups across the region as they struggle to meet the estimated 20 per cent increase in the cost of using temporary workers and to cover the administratve burden.

Unfortunately, the legislation is now set to be introduced – despite the best efforts of us, our trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and other agencies like us – with just the date to be fixed.

We’re asking it be pushed back until the last possible moment – October 2011.
Mr Jackson agrees.

We invited him to our office to discuss the directive and to urge him to support us.
After listening to our arguments he agreed the directive appeared ‘unworkable’ and said ‘we need to keep the pressure on the Government’.
He hinted that if the Conservatives were to win the next election, he would push for the directive to be ‘killed off – or least watered down’.

We’d be delighted if that were to happen though we feel it’s probably more realistic to fight for delaying the introduction of the legislation.

We’ve asked Mr Jackson to be in Parliament on the day it’s discussed to fight our corner.
I’ll keep you posted on future developments.