West Oxfordshire's Award-Winning Recruitment Agency
Working with OxLEP Skills as Enterprise Advisors over the last year has been really rewarding and we would encourage any business that wants to engage with the community and especially with local schools and colleges to get in touch.
We are excited to announce that The Burford Recruitment Company have created a Recruitment Team Administrator position as part of the Kickstart Scheme.
Sarah Owens started a 6 month placement in March 2021 and has immediately hit the ground running, bringing a positive enthusiastic attitude to all the tasks she is set, and a desire to learn and contribute to the team.
The Kickstart Scheme supports employers who are able offer a six month work placement for young people. Importantly, these placements must provide regular paid work which is of value, and which will help young people to develop transferrable skills for their future career. The purpose of the scheme is to improve employability, and the chances of sustained employment for those particularly at risk of long term unemployment (16-24-year-old age group).
This is achieved through the creation of new jobs that might not otherwise exist, providing work which incentivises positive behaviours to make young people more attractive to future employers and improve their readiness to transition into long term employment, giving them the confidence and competence to succeed.
Sarah will receive on-the-job training in a busy office environment, developing soft skills such as communication and teamwork. She will receive mentoring, careers advice and support with CV and interview preparation, and if it is not possible to extend the placement at the end of six months, we will also be best placed to ensure that she receives expert support in finding her next role.
All employers can now apply for the Kickstart scheme and we would definitely recommend it!
As we approach the end of the year, we have asked our clients to tell us how their businesses have been affected, about employee wellbeing and productivity, and how they feel about the support they have received to date.
Our clients are predominantly from West Oxfordshire and the surrounding areas, and while we are in an area that thankfully has not felt the worst effects of COVID-19, local businesses have had to endure the same economic difficulties as the rest of the country during the national lockdowns.
The survey found that local businesses have adapted where they can, with 88% telling us that their employees have been working from home at some point. While most businesses found that they achieved the same output from their workforce during this time, nearly 1 in 5 businesses (19%) said that productivity was negatively affected.
The survey also shows that home working is not necessarily better for employee’s mental health. 50% of employers noticed no difference in the mental health of their employees, however more than twice as many employers reported the mental health had declined in comparison to those that reported it had improved. One employer commented that having had 15 employees return to work after Lockdown 1.0, only two took up the option to return to home working again in Lockdown 2.0.
Before giving the results here, it is important to clarify that we do not specialise in either retail or hospitality and so this particular survey does not include these sectors.
In terms of revenue and personal income, responses to the survey showed that just as many businesses had improved fortunes compared to those whose results were negatively affected, although we do not know by how much (a 5% increase for Company A does not offset a 50% reduction for Company B).
Over 2/3 of businesses surveyed made use of the furlough scheme and 1/3 had planned or made redundancies. Conversely 2/3 of businesses reported that they recruited new employees and over 3/4 of businesses said that they had not put off recruiting a planned role, something which is a surprise given the reduction in advertised vacancies during that period.
The Government will be pleased to hear, that 5 times as many businesses said that they were positive regarding the overall financial support they had received to date compared to those who gave a negative response.
Interestingly however, more businesses reported being unhappy with the introduction of Lockdown 2.0 indicating that further restrictions and pain for business would not be received well in the region.
Beware falling into the “new normal” trap, and assuming that your employees are happier at home. Many will be lonely and will miss the camaraderie and friendships that come with working in a busy office or workplace.
Working from home does not suit everyone (or even most people). Spending less time commuting, and reducing expenses is great, but reducing social interaction and exercise can have negative consequences for many, not to mention working with young children and pets in the house can be very stressful and distracting.
Instead focus on a more fluid approach to flexible working. Give your employees the option to work at home when they want / need to in order to make their lives easier e.g. Home working during school holidays, flexible start and finish times around core hours to help with the school run, or a day at home if your Field Sales Rep has just done a 200-mile round trip. And if you do have people working from home, make sure you check in with them regularly (not just on their productivity but also their wellbeing).
The West Oxfordshire business community is strong and adaptable, and many companies (35%) have managed to improve their results during this very difficult time. That said, 40% have suffered financially during this period and would benefit from the local business community coming together to support them and rebuild our local economy.
While much of what the Government has done has been applauded, overwhelmingly the biggest complaint / criticism has been the “lasting uncertainty”, and “confused communication” that has resulted in unnecessary damage being done. It seems both anecdotally and through the results of the survey that additional lockdowns will not be supported to the same extent by our business community.
For businesses that are struggling with the effects of recent months, local support, guidance and advice on whether or not your business is eligible for additional support can be gained at OxLEP and GOV.UK
The Burford Recruitment Company are very proud to share with you that our two Directors, Chris and Jodie have completed their DBA checks and safeguarding training and are now officially Enterprise Advisors. They will both be working with the careers teams at Abingdon & Witney College (and other secondary schools), as well as OxLEP Skills and The Careers & Enterprise Company to link schools and colleges to employers and help them to deliver world class careers support for all young people by:
1. Building Networks
2. Supporting Careers Leaders
3. Backing the Gatsby Benchmarks
The Enterprise Adviser Network matches schools and colleges with senior business volunteers to help create powerful, lasting partnerships between schools, colleges, employers and careers programme providers and we are excited to be part of it!
The Careers & Enterprise Company’s Enterprise Adviser Network matches schools and colleges with senior business volunteers to help create powerful, lasting partnerships between schools, colleges, employers and careers programme providers. As an Enterprise Adviser, you will take your passion for raising aspirations of young people and combine it with your skills and strategic thinking.
An Enterprise Adviser is a volunteer from business who works closely with the headteacher or Senior Leadership Team of a school or college to provide strategic support. An Enterprise Adviser uses their business experience and professional networks to help develop and implement an effective careers strategy that puts opportunities with local employers at the heart of a young person’s education. Over 2,500 individual senior business volunteers now support the new workforce of Careers Leaders in schools and colleges. A recent survey of Enterprise Advisers indicated that 82% of Enterprise Advisers intend to continue next year with their role, and 92% believe they have built a new skill through the work with schools and colleges.
Research shows that performance against the Gatsby Benchmarks, a framework of eight guidelines that define the best careers provision, is stronger in schools and colleges who are in the Enterprise Adviser Network and working with an Enterprise Adviser, than whose who receive no support.
An Enterprise Adviser adds value by:
Our Enterprise Advisers come from different industry sectors and professional backgrounds, be that employed, self-employed or recently retired. As an Enterprise Adviser you can use your unique business experience to inspire young people and prepare them for when they leave education. Careers education is improving everywhere – research from The Careers & Enterprise Company’s State of the Nation 2019 report shows that 2 million secondary aged children are now engaging with employers regularly in 3,800 participating schools and colleges. Ofsted has reported improvements: “The current picture is much more encouraging than has been the case in the past...We saw evidence of integrated, coherent and effective careers strategies in more schools.” Your input could help shape the careers education strategy in your local school or college, better preparing young people for the world of work.
You’ll gain new skills working with the senior leadership in a school and use your network to bring the right people together. The typical time commitment is circa 8 hours per month, over the academic year.
You will be supported throughout the journey by a local Enterprise Coordinator, who will help to build the relationships with local schools and colleges.
If you would like to help support your local school or college in delivering world class careers guidance to students, getting involved is simple – to register your interest, click here.
I am sure that we have all heard the expression "we are all in the same boat" when it comes to Covid-19 but that just isn't the case! We may all be bobbing about in the same storm, but each boat is a different shape and size, with a different cargo and crew...
Whatever the size and shape of your business, it is likely that the economic consequences of the lockdown have impacted in some way, and with the economy likely to take some time to recover, businesses are going to need to to be agile in order to maximise their opportunities and not only survive but thrive!
With this in mind, we have developed a number of flexible recruitment models designed to make it easy for our clients to increase their headcount when they need to, whilst minimising any risk...
Like any business, we too want to reduce our risk in the current times, so in addition to our standard terms for contingent recruitment services (competition with other agencies), we are introducing 2 new models that provide outstanding value for money and a win win for ourselves and our clients...
The Partnership Model - Our partnership terms provide a significantly reduced fee %, as well as monthly payment options (at 0% interest), helping minimise cost and cash flow concerns). They also include an extended rebate scheme, in exchange for exclusivity on vacancies for an agreed period.
The Retained Model - For companies needing more support in the overall recruitment process, clients can choose the retained model, and have access to their own internal recruitment team from as little as £250 a month. Your dedicated Recruitment Partner can assist you or your Hiring Managers with job description creation and salary bench marking as well as creating and managing recruitment campaigns, and supporting the interview and offer process, making recruiting the perfect addition to your team easy.
To assist those clients who require additional cover, but do not know how long that might be for, or perhaps just want to try before they buy, we are now able to support our clients with a full temporary recruitment service on a weekly or monthly time-sheet/invoice basis. Our Office & Professional, Marketing & Creative, and Accountancy & Finance specialists will ensure that they find you the right fit for your team, even if you only require them for a week.
For more information on any of the products and to see if we can help you visit our client services page or contact us on info@burfordrecruitment.co.uk
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