Author: hps-admin

Introduction

In response to COVID-19, many companies, universities and schools have asked their employees to work remotely. Whilst, only 30% of the UK were working from home in 2019, 2020 has dramatically increased this due to the pandemic. As companies find themselves navigating through this time, we have come up with some great ways to ensure that engagement and productivity is high whilst working remotely.

Challenges of remote working

First, it is good to understand the challenges that employees face when remotely working. As a manager you need to understand the factors that can make remote working especially demanding. These include:

Lack of face-to-face supervision

This can be a challenge for both managers and employees. Supervisors worry that employees may not work as hard or as efficiently. Employees, on the other hand, struggle with a reduce in access to managerial support and communication.

Social Isolation

One of the biggest difficulties in working from home is people can suffer with loneliness. Anyone can miss the informal social interaction of an office setting. It can also make employees feel less ‘belonging’ to their organization, which is why it is important to make sure you keep them social through phone calls and video chats.

Distractions at home

We all know there can be numerous distractions at home. We encourage employers to ensure that their employees have a dedicated workspace allowing them to work remotely. However, even in normal circumstances, family and home demands can impinge on remote work; as a manger you should expect these distractions to be greater during this unplanned work-from-home transition.

How managers can support remote employees

As much challenge remote working brings, there are also quick and inexpensive things that managers can do to ease the transition. They are as follows:

Establish structured daily check-ins

In order to make sure your team is running successfully, establish a daily call with your remote employees. This could either be in the form of one-to-ones calls, or a team call. It is of high importance that these calls are regular and that they are a forum in which employees know they can consult with you, and that any concerns or questions can be answered.

Instead of just asking ‘How are you doing?’ you may want to ask questions that dig deeper and give your team more space to answer you honestly about how they are really doing. Try some of these one-on-one meeting questions:

• What are you currently doing to sustain yourself? Have you been able to take time for yourself, in any way? How can I support you in that? Is there anything we can be doing to support each other?
• How is your level of energy these days? Do you feel drained or worn thin in more ways than usual?
• What fears or trepidation do you have around the team and/or company, if any?
• Are there any tasks or projects lately that feel more like a struggle than usual? Where is the weight coming from?

Providing different types of communication options

Remote workers benefit from having richer technology such as video conferencing, rather than just relying on email. This gives employees the opportunity for visual cues, that they would have if they were face-to-face. Video calling is particularly useful for complex or sensitive conversations as it feels more personal than written or audio-only communication.

Additionally, there are situations when it is needed of direct and quick communication. For this, platforms such as Slack & Microsoft Teams provide mobile-enabled individual messaging. This can be used for simpler, less formal conversations, as well as time-sensitive communication.

Give remote employees as much access to you as possible. When remote working, you can feel distant, so make sure you respond to them as quickly as possible.

Set clear expectations

Everyone has different ideas of what doing something ‘quickly’ or ‘well’ means. To make sure that employees are in line with your expectations, you need to either show examples of what you expect to be done and by what time. You can do this by calendar sharing etc. The more prepared they are, the better they can do their job.

Trust your team

Companies struggle with a remote workforce because they feel there’s an uncertainty about whether or not the work will get completed at the same level as if they were in the office. To combat this belief, make some WFH guidelines such as emails must be responded to within 24hrs. Use text for urgent matters and no calls between certain hours to make sure your employees are not working around the clock.

To avoid unintentionally hurting your team, take off some of that pressure and choose to trust your team. Trust – not tracking – engenders productivity.

Give opportunities for your team members to support each other

You can’t just rely on yourself to do all the supporting – instead, give opportunities for your team to support each other. Bonding together whilst everyone is socially distant is an important part of helping people cope with the transition to remote work.

For example, on a Friday, Highfield hold a Zoom video chat where everyone in the company can jump on and have a good catch up with each other.

Final Thoughts

We understand making sure that your newly remote workforce can be difficult. Hopefully, however, the above advice will act as a springboard for you to establish what works best for you and your teams.

If you have any questions or concerns about hiring in the current climate please contact your Highfield consultant.

What does furlough mean?

The term ‘furloughed worker’ is someone who remains employed but, are not undertaking work. The idea is that this is a temporary arrangement, so that workers will be able to return to their jobs once deemed safe.

The government’s most crucial goal was to avoid mass redundancies across the UK and instead encourage companies to put jobs on hold during the disruption. Therefore, they came up with the ‘Coronavirus Job Retention scheme’, otherwise known as furlough leave. This means that all UK employers, regardless of size, can claim a grant from HMRC to cover
80% of employee wages (up to £2,500 per month) who will not be working, but still kept on Payroll. It is back dated to the 1st March 2020 and is for 3 months, with the intent of extension if necessary.

To qualify for the scheme employees cannot continue to work for the employer.  As a result, you may have your access to work accounts and devices revoked. This is to prevent well-meaning employees from doing anything that could be classified as working.

See this as a opportunity

First – you’re fortunate enough to have future job security with your current employer, however, with much more unexpected free time – what now?

This is a great way to really utilize this time to finding ways to undertake some form of personal development. It is a great opportunity to study or attain some qualifications online – this can be recreational or professional. After doing a little bit of research, you will realise how many courses there are online to choose from – allowing you to build on an expertise and knowledge you already have. Or, try something new.

And so, whilst life in furlough may currently seem daunting, you can absolutely utilise this time effectively, invest in yourself and help to advance your individual long-term personal and career goals – all from the comfort of your own home!

Training platforms

Future Learn: A great platform is ‘Future Learn’, they provide you with high quality learning wherever you are, with online courses, programs and degrees created by leading universities, business schools and specialist organizations. Whether you want to develop as a professional or discover a new hobby, there is an online course for all.

Routine – lockdown living

The first thing you need to do is get into a routine – which requires discipline. Do the same things, in the same order every day. Creating your own rhythm for the day, you’ll find that the day is more sustainable, bearable and enjoyable. A great way to start your day is with some exercise, whether that be a walk or jog. It releases great endorphins that will carry you throughout the day. In the day time, you could do some learning either in something your already specialize in or learning something new. Keep busy, don’t slouch around. Get up in the morning, get dressed, have a plan. With the world of the internet, you can be doing so many activities to fill your day. Additionally, make the weekends different – you have to differentiate your time.

Make sure you are drawing the distinction between boredom and lethargy – boredom is when there is nothing to do, whereas lethargy is when there is things to do, but you can’t be bothered. Most people suffer with the latter… but they call it the former because it gets them off the hook.

Mental well-being

The threat of a virus is scary for us all, as well as people facing stressful life challenges. Lots of people have lost their jobs or have had their incomes cut. Social distancing and isolating means we cannot see our friends and family and many people are worried about their loved ones. This is of course, having an effect on everyone’s well-being. Here are a few ways to help with this:

First of all, positivity is key! Do not begin the day by rehearsing all that is out of your control. Instead, begin by remembering you’re alive and there are good things still. Taking each day at a time, and not over-whelming yourself. Begin with gratitude at the start of every day, and say out loud the things you are grateful for in your life.

Practise self-care – it is very easy to slip into bad habits such as sleeping late, spending all day in your pyjamas and eating junk food. But, looking after yourself is essential for your mental health. Exercising, is known for significantly boosting your mental health – you can do this at home or under government regulations you are allowed to go outside to exercise once a day.  

One app that we highly recommend is the Calm App. It is free and has many programs that can help you with anything from sleeping to eating healthier. It has great meditation sessions and it so easy to use!

One of the most important points is being kind to yourself. If you don’t feel up to doing anything – that is fine too. It is important to recognise when you need a break. Relaxing and focusing on positive things, knowing that every effort is being made globally to bring this situation to a close, but it will take time.

A review of your performance at work

Here are five questions to help you define your career goals:

1. Would I consider myself a leader of a follower?
2. Am I delivering at work?
3. Are the people around me helping me to move up in my career?
4. Am I achieving a strong work-life balance?
5. Do I love what I do?

Career development goals are important because it helps you to become more evaluative of your performance at work and how you can enhance it. Do you have areas of weakness you can improve on? If you can do a self-evaluation on this it can increase your billing at work as well as your all rounded performance.

How to organise Zoom calls and chat with other furloughed team mates

Whilst in isolation, it is paramount that you try and keep as social as you can. So why not host a video chat with other furloughed team mates? Zoom is a great platform to enable you to do this, here is some simple steps to host a group video chat.

1. Download the Zoom App
2. Open your Zoom app on your desktop and click sign in.
3. Log in using the email and password that you have created, or Google (Gmail), Facebook, or login with SSO.
4. Click the downward arrow and select start with video, then click new meeting to start an instant meeting.

Must Reads

As a recruitment consultant, you need to stay on top of the latest recruitment trends and practises. Whether that involves, preparing for recruiting millennials or changing talent acquisition and assessment practises to suit the most savvy candidates, the recruitment process is dynamic and in need of continuous learning.

We have put together some of the must-read recruitment books. Some of them are working on the mindset of recruiting, whilst others focus on the skills and art of recruiting. Whilst being on furlough, this is a great time to read a few books that can help you develop your skills as a recruiter for when you get back to work.

The Savage Truth – the controversial recruiter Greg Savage tells his story on his stellar career in recruitment and the lessons he learned in: leadership, business and life, over four decades.

Mindset – A book by Dweck, PH. D., discovered a ground-breaking idea of the power of the mindset. She shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts and almost every area of human endeavour can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

On Recruitment – by Mitch Sullivan. The book is a collection of some of the 150 blogs he’s written on recruitment covering areas of the industry such as culture, retained recruitment, assessment, employer branding, job advertising, candidate experience and even employee engagement.

Grit – This book is a MUST read for anyone striving to succeed. Psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students and business people both seasoned and new that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called grit.

Give yourself some goals to hit

 Setting personal goals for yourself (even if you do not reach them) can enrich your life in a number of ways.

Firstly, it provides direction and destination – they give you something to aim for and direct your efforts to. They help guide you to a place where you ultimately want to be in life. It’s a great way to, instead of wonder through life, you can determine where you want to go.

Your goals give you a clear focus on what you believe is important in life. This means that when you set them, you need to really think about what is important to you personally and what you want to accomplish in life. This will focus your attention and truly reflect your hopes and dreams. If you do not set well thought out goals, you will find yourself spending time doing things that are not important to you.

By setting out these goals, this definitive perspective will help in your decision making process. If you know where you want to go – it will encourage you to make better decisions on how you want to proceed, as you have a clear picture as to what you want to accomplish.

Lastly, setting goals helps you take control of your future. Without goals in life, you will find that people drift aimlessly. If you do not have a plan for where your life is headed, you will just go with the flow. However, by having goals you have more control over where you are headed and what you have to do to get there.

Eat healthily, links to easy recipes

Good nutrition is crucial for health, particularly in times like these. You want your immune system to be as strong as possible. Here are some links to for quick healthy recipes that you can enjoy at home.

BBC Good Food

81 Healthy Dinners

Jamie Oliver Recipes

Tasty

Home workouts

Just because you are in isolation does not mean you can slack on exercise. If anything, this is a great opportunity to build upon your fitness. Exercise is also great for your mental well-being. We have picked out some of the best influencers that strive to inspire and motivate others do up their fitness in the comfort of their homes. Let’s take a look at a few.

1. The Body Coach – Joe Wicks

Joe Wicks is all about healthy eating and exercising regularly to get into top shape. He is famous for his ‘Lean in 15’ workouts and cookbooks, which are quick and easy to follow and get you great results.

• Kayla Itsines

Kayla is a personal trainer from Australia and a significant fitness influencer. She has a great app that you can download, where she shows you everything from 3 meals a day with recipes to workouts suited to your environment. She has a free 7 day trail starting now!

Volunteer for the NHS

Many NHS organisations and charities need you help in fighting the coronavirus. There are volunteer centres across the country, and many NHS trusts have volunteer managers you can contacts if you want to find out about volunteer opportunities.

For more information about volunteering in general and to find local opportunities you can visit or contact your local volunteer centre, or search via  https://do-it.org/. Alternatively, you can visit the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary organisations) web page ‘I want to volunteer’ for everything you need to know to get started or you can also search for

volunteering opportunities in your local area on the Volunteering Matters web pages.

List of TED talks and podcasts

The Secret To Becoming Mentally Strong

How To Stop Your Thoughts From Controlling Your Life

Recruiting Brainfood Podcast

The Social Recruiting Show

Recruitment On The Go  

The Recruitment Roller Coaster Podcast

Linkedinformed Podcast

Recruiting Future  

The Rag Podcast

TRN World

As you can imagine, it has not been an easy month for the data centre industry. As work and schools shift to bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchen tables people are relying on internet services more than ever. Infrastructure teams have been working hard to make sure that those services stay online by expanding bandwidth on their networks and computing muscle in their data centres. And as for data centre engineers and staff, are now deemed critical workers in countries across the globe.

How is it doing?

Well… what they are really trying to avoid is major slowdowns and to ensure 100% uptime. With the internet as a whole seeing major spikes in traffic, data centre operators are working hard to keep things running. You will have heard of big content services such as Netflix and YouTube, who have been reducing video bitrate in parts of the world – this is because they want to relieve some of the strain!

Bevan Slattery of NEXTDC compared data centres to toilet paper in a recent LinkedIn post: ‘If you think people hoarding toilet paper was bad, can you imagine what is going to happen to data centre capacity?!’

Cloud providers have already seen a 50%-100% spike in space requirements and that is forecast to rise to 200% in the near-term future.

Construction Uncertainty

A number of construction projects across the globe have now been stopped or slowed down to ensure the health & safety of all workers on the projects. Facebook moved quickly to stop construction on its major sites in Clonee (Ireland) and Huntsville, Alabama (US).  

Data Centre projects before the pandemic were already under pressure to be completed on time and at a rapid pace. With construction projects being pulled into question – for the data centre industry the demand for these projects has only increased as a result of the pandemic. These projects that are on hold will still have deadlines to hit and it is expected to see construction expedited on projects as well as new projects fast-tracked through planning and into construction.

The stressed supply chain is under more pressure than ever before and it is essential that suppliers are protected to ensure the market can move quickly when the projects are once again operational.

Live facilities

Equinix, the world’s largest data centre operator by revenue has cut off nearly all customer and vendor access to its facilities in France, Germany, Italy and Span last week. They only allowed people in who were ‘critical & essential work’. Out of the big providers Equinix measures in Europe have been the most drastic.

According to TechUK competitor providers have been sharing information to ensure they can maintain operational within their facilities. “At operator level, the key priority is to balance staff safety with availability,” said Emma Fryer, Associate Director, techUK

Remote Working / Essential Staff

One of the challenges has been enabling a larger remote work force than ever before. The task is that most companies’ networks have not been set up to give the majority of their employees private, secure network access to corporate networks from their homes. The US saw a 150% increase in the use of VPN’s in week commencing 16^th March.

Cisco has had to ration VPN’s due to the strain of 100000+ users on its network. Bailey Szeto (Vice President of Cisco Customer & Seller) recently:“We had to think about getting ready for 140,000 employees and partners. That meant we had to prepare 130,000 devices and 55,000 BYOD devices, across 498 offices in 94 countries.”

Can they run unmanned?

Since companies like Digital Realty Trust had been informed that individuals have tested positive in three of their data centres across the world – is poses the question of whether data centres can run unmanned?

If it does come to an evacuation situation – of any data centre – can the facility stay online without any staff? Uptime’s Dickerman says, this is depending on the design. A facility that has enough infrastructure redundancy could run for 24 hours unmanaged. However, he said “It is like a little bit like closing your eyes and driving your car on a straight stretch of highway… you don’t want to do it for too long.”

Any facility with a lower level of redundancy would be too risky to leave fully unmanned.

Dickerman then emphasises that there are two general camps. In one camp are organizations that have remote network operations centres, facilities and technicians that have remote access though private network connections. The other camp, are organizations that treat their data centres like ‘fortresses’ and don’t do any remote monitoring as well as not allowing any remote connections.

Whilst both approaches are valid, you will find that organizations in the first group are finding themselves much better prepared for the current crisis that the latter.

Hyperscale Spending

Although the coronavirus is said to be affecting IT spending in data centre products, the world’s leading hyperscale spenders such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, have all said they will continue to spend billions on data centres this year according to Synergy Research Group.

Whilst there is a lot of ‘unknows’, what is clear is that the hyperscale operators generate over 80% of their revenues from cloud, digital services and online activities. These hyperscale firms are ready for the current crisis than most others and we will see an ongoing robust levels of capex. The majority of hyperscale capex goes towards building, expanding and equipping huge data centres. At the end of 2019 it was recorded that there were 512 hyperscale data centres in production and still that number is expected to grow in 2020 according to Synergy.

Big unknowns

According to Dickerman, all data centre operators have mostly taken all the necessary steps to minimize exposure to the virus while ensuring that they are keeping facilities running. However, there are some big unknowns that are concerning. One is the uncertainty is about when the crisis will subside – should operators make plans to operate under the continuous conditions? As well as the unknown plans of the government – what if all this does last a year… can the plans in place sustain a year or more?

Working from home is now the new norm, and for parents across the UK, ‘bring your kids to work day’ is every day! Routine is important for everyone, especially children. With them being used to being entertained for the day – parents are faced with the challenge of juggling tantrums, emotions, and teaching. All within the midst of adjusting their own work lives. Which is why we have put together 5 ways you can work with your kids from home.

1. Structure

Every household is different, but we advise you put a routine in place that suits your family. You don’t have to be a drill sergeant – creating some sort of timetable that your family can stick to will help everyone’s productivity. Involving all your family to help you create this timetable would be a great activity to kick off with. This not only makes the kids feel included but it also shows you how you can balance your time and make it more effective. Additionally, make sure you incorporate; things to look forward to, exercise and family activities.

• Relay & Replay

Next steps – now you have set out your family plans, it’s time to relay it to the team. A great technique after you have relayed the plan is replay. It is set out as follows:

For example, it is time for your kids to do their English work. This means they need their books, pen/pencils and paper. Settle them into a quiet place and read out the task at hand. Make sure there is ways you can track their progress as well as setting benchmarks.

Finally, ask each person to relay what you’ve just said – ask some specific questions to make sure they really understand the task at hand.

• Boundaries

For those parents who are both WFH, you can 50/50 split on care of the kids – it is usually the popular option. One parent does the morning, the other does the afternoon.

Highlighting your times of day where you are most visible for work requirements is a great way to match your own work schedule. If you have young children, a great tip is to match up their nap time with video conferences and meetings.

Here are some ideas to create boundaries:

• Use a timer to help encourage focus or set boundaries of play.
• Get creative with your workspace – take calls in your car if you have to!

• Reward Good behaviour

Establishing boundaries is one thing – but you also need to make sure you’re acknowledging and rewarding good behaviour. A good example of this if you have young kids that require a lot of attention, before you start a meeting let them know what’s happening and that you can’t be interrupted. Get them to start a quiet puzzle or a colouring project. Here are some activities you might want to try:

• CBEEBIES for arts, crafts and online games. 
• Unleash the old-school boardgames. Monopoly, Game of Life, Scrabble, BattleShips, Who’s in the bag, and Dobble.

• Mindset

The key, if you can, is to ‘stress less’. If we cannot change our circumstances, we must change our way of thinking and adapting. During ‘normal’ times you may monitor screen time – but working from home during an emergency is different. Whilst you don’t want them attached to a screen for weeks on end.. there is nothing wrong with letting them have a little more screen time than usual.

Additionally, whilst it is an uncomfortable and difficult time, keep in mind that working from home right now – even as hard as it is with kids – can be the difference that keeps millions of people safe. Remember, it’s worth the challenge, and we are all in this together.

As we all deal with this unprecedented global pandemic, people will be working from home now, more than ever.  However, this does not mean the world has stopped and neither should your hiring process. Fortuitously, businesses across the world have been remotely on-boarding for years. Whether it’s a chat app or great HR and training software, we have included some useful links for you to facilitate a successful on-boarding process.

During the first few days, the process can be frustrating and confusing – for both employers and new employees. But the great news is that there are many resources that will help new employees learn and grow accustomed to their new role quickly.

As we enter unchartered territory, we want to help you as much as we can. Therefore, we have created a step-by-step process to help you remotely on-board new employees successfully.

Paperwork

Once you have managed to successfully find someone through video-interview, you will need to ensure that contacts are signed so they are ready to start.  Online platforms that can support you with this process are:

Signable – allows you to create legally binding documents to send to your employee’s new work inbox so that they can be signed easily and electronically via their PC. 

It is important to ensure that any of your regular materials are adapted into a digital format so the new starter can easily access it. Obie.ai is a great learning software that can be integrated with popular business applications such as Google Docs, Dropbox and Slack. Your new employees can access the responsive chatbot (Obie) to help answer any or all their questions. Obie can highlight specific steps and pages in process documents and it can even help them identify and access company assets i.e. your logo font.

Kin HR is a human resource app that has an on-boarding feature built in that creates a personalized process for each new employee. It is great for weekly check-ins, which is key when your part of a distributed team. Similarly, Gusto is another great app that helps you manage time off, payroll and even lets you initiate employee surveys and track key engagement metrics directly through the app. It also helps to navigate new employees through the process of direct deposit forms and tax documents.

Equipment

One of the greatest things about the internet is that you can practically order anything, including new equipment, online. The equipment that you would normally get if you were in an office can be delivered direct to sites or homes.

Introductions and Meeting the Team

The hardest part of remote on-boarding is meeting the team – although this too can be done through ‘virtual’ team meetings.  In the first week, make sure you book some time into the diary for a video conference call so your new starter can meet other vital members of the team.  The structure of the meeting can be tailored to your business but we would suggest you start by asking each member to introduce themselves and then briefly explain what they do and how they might be working with them. Having digital face-to-face time with each other ensures that your new started feels connected, engaged and part of the team!

Video conference done, you need to factor in how you aim to manage your virtual employees. A good remote team management software is Scoro – this allows you to manage a remote team from just about anywhere! It provides instant overviews of teams and allows you to keep track of progress on projects (by using a real-time tracking report) and flexibility to manage an unlimited number of projects.

Initial Training

You think this is where it gets tricky? This may seem like one of the biggest tasks but training can transfer easily to the digital world.  It is also an opportunity for the employee to work through on-line training more autonomously! Highfield PS use platforms such as Zoom or Google Hangouts which are great for video team meetings. Slack is good for quick, easy and direct communication with your employees. It enables you to text your co-workers as well as launching informal video conferences so you can get those much-needed visual cues. Remote working has never felt so personal!

In terms of teaching Lessonly provides resources for you to be able to transform important work knowledge into lessons that teach new employees everything they need to know. It’s designed so that new staff can get up to speed quicker and any updates to lessons can be done within minutes.

Assigning them internal ‘mentors’ is a great way to support your new starters. Especially within the first weeks when they will have more questions and you may not always be available to answer them.  It’s a good idea to nominate someone from their team to be ‘on-call’ for any questions in the first instance.

First 1-3 months

There are three easy steps you should use:

1. Communication – frequent contact is vital during the initial stages! As the weeks go on you can decrease the 1-1’s from daily to weekly, as staff settle in.
2. Day Planning – this is not only great for organising someone’s time and productivity but helps the new starter have a clear written structure of what is being asked of them.
3. Team meetings – make sure you are getting them involved in video calls so they can get used to participating and becoming a valuable member of the team.

Benefits of Remote On-Boarding

Employees

• Enables employees to monitor project milestones, manage bid tendering and collaborate with subcontractors, colleagues and management wherever they are.
• 70% of managers’ report that remote working results in increased productivity.
• Work flexibility – reducing sick days and increasing staff retention.
• Increase in efficiency – for example employees can spend their time working on projects and completing data entry immediately, rather than having to return to the office at the end of the day.

Employers

• Employees will feel more satisfied in their role and more willing to engage with your processes.
• Nine out of ten companies say that offering flexible working arrangements is an effective way of improving employee morale.
• Remote working can be used as a recruitment tool to bring your construction company together.
• Offering flexible technology attracts Generation Z to your business.
• With staff retention becoming an increasing problem in the industry, it’s important to keep your employees happy.

Remote on-boarding can ‘appear’ difficult, but with the technology we have today it is much easier than you think. There is no doubt that if you follow our simple steps and implement some of these excellent tools, teams can successfully on-board a new starter without meeting them face-to-face!

Many people worry about video interviews for many reasons, here are a few:

 I don’t understand how to set it up?

What if I have technical issues?

However, we have put together 10 tips that will ensure you won’t be caught off guard and instead show your skills as a candidate ready for the job at hand.

Firstly, let’s start with the day before preparation:

1. Video Call Environment

An interview conducted anywhere still needs to be professional, which means you need to think about what room in your house meets these requirements. The interviewer will see what’s behind you, so you need to make sure there are no distractions that could move their focus from you. It is also key to have good lighting as you don’t want your interviewer to struggle to see you – first impressions matter! Once you have chosen your room and set up – make sure you have discussed with your family that there will be an interview taking place at a certain time and therefore you need them not to walk in and keep any noise down.

2. Test the Process

The day before, it is paramount to test the video on the platform you are using whether it’s Skype or Zoom. You can do this with a friend or family member and video call them so you can become more confident in using the platform. Make sure your sound and microphone are working, as well as your camera and get your friend/family member to run through some interview questions. The most important thing to ask them for is FEEDBACK, not just on your interview answers but also; can they hear you… clearly? Is the picture quality ok? Is there any delay? This run-through will familiarize yourself and also give you time to make any adjustments.

3. Is your account professional?

As we said before, first impressions matter! For platforms like Google Hangouts or Zoom, the majority of the time if you are a first time user they will use your first and last name. However, if you have been asked by the interviewer to call via Skype. Make sure, especially if you are using an old Skype account that the username and profile picture is professional and appropriate. You could even consider making a new account, specifically for work.

4. Write down any notes to prompt yourself and have questions to ask!

Like you would if you went to a face-to-face interview, print off your CV and have it ready as the interviewer may ask you some questions based on it. Everyone forgets the points they are going to make… its only human. But you can write down prompts that remind you how you want to answer questions about yourself, as well as some questions you would like to ask them.

Remember…

Try not to look down at your notes too often – you want to remain good eye contact with them to show you are engaged.

On the Day….

5. Set up with plenty of time

You wouldn’t go to a face-to-face interview and not prepare for it – this is no different! 15 minutes before your interview, log onto the platform and make sure everything is ready to go. This ensures that when the interviewer calls, you are ready to accept and start. The last thing you would want is to miss the call, as it may leave a bad impression on the interviewer with assumptions that you cannot manage your time or you are disorganized.

6. Dress to Impress

We’ve heard so many stories about people getting ‘half’ ready and looking smart on their top half, but wearing tracksuit bottoms on their bottom half. Whilst predominately the interviewer will not see all of you – it is best that you still dress as you would for a face-to-face interview! 

7. Body Language

We know it seems harder to build a good rapport over video call – but it is not impossible! Make sure you are clear and looking directly as the webcam (eye-contact) when you speak. This will ensure the interviewer that you are engaged in the process. Don’t forget to smile throughout and maintain and good posture as this shows you are confident and ready to answer anything that comes your way.

8. Engagement

When the interviewer is talking make sure you are acting as you would if you were there. Nodding, gestures and animating your face are all key signs of engagement in the process.

9. Technical Issues

With technology, comes issues. Your or their Wi-Fi may be slow and you may lose connection, or there is a massive delay when speaking. These issues could arise, but the important thing is to stay calm when this happens. You can even turn it into an opportunity to show your potential employer that you have the ability to stay calm and deal with the situation proactively.

10. Follow Up

Once the interview is over it is a great idea to send an email via your recruiter to say you enjoyed meeting them and learning about the role. As well as, asking them for any feedback.

The video interviewing process may be new to you, but by following these simple steps, we have no doubt it will be a success!

For a number of years, International Women’s Day has been a key date in Highfield’s calendar. We come together each year to recognise the contributions women have had to our business. This increases awareness of our diversity and inclusion, as well as renewing the energy for gender parity.

This year’s theme is #EachforEqual whereby we are all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. This involves challenging stereotypes, fighting biases, broadening perceptions and celebrating women’s achievements. Let’s all be #EachforEqual.

The IWD 2020 campaign theme is drawn from a notion of ‘Collective Individualism’ whereby we are all parts of a whole. Our individual actions, behaviours, and mind-sets all have an impact on our society as a whole. Which is why collectively we can make a change happen.

As you can see in the picture above the woman is demonstrating the #EachforEqual pose. The reasoning behind this is to motivate others, so put your arms out and STRIKE the pose!

Kay Fadden is our People & Performance Manager, who has been successful in her role here at Highfield. She works part-time and is a mum of three whilst continuing to further her career. We asked her a few questions in relation to #IWD2020:

As someone who was recently promoted to a managerial role, describe 3 characteristics about yourself that you believe led to your success in the workplace? 

Real – “Seems a bit ‘odd’ but of one the things I learned early on working in customer service and management was to be real and be YOU. If you pretend to be someone you are not or make comparisons to everyone else, you’ll always overthink and lose the best bits about yourself. Focus on the strengths and you’ll make an impact.”

Honest – “Honest conversations are something as a basis for work and life. I think it’s so important for relationships good or bad to be assertive and honest.”

Kind – “A no brainer really working in a people role. Being part of a support team and driving change and improvement is constant – you need to support people through change. I’ve always enjoyed supporting others and try and do the right thing! Have a giggle and build strong relationships – it’s the crux!

As a mum of three, how do you balance your work/life/career?

“A daily juggling act! I talk with my children all the time about what’s important in life. This keeps me focused. Reminding myself also, about what I can and can’t control. Again, I think it comes back to the above… if you’re honest, real and kind when the dark stuff hits the fan – you’ll pull through together. It’s give and take, and that’s how I get by.”

Kirsty Lockyear is a Principle Recruitment Consultant here at Highfield, she is also known as ‘Superwomen’. Why? Kirsty works part-time, a mum of two and one of our top billers. We also asked her how she continues to be so successful in her role:

What is your secret to being a mum, working part-time and being one of the top billers in your company?

‘I am massively OCD! I plan everything weeks in advance and cannot live without my lists!! I also have a very rigid process that I follow for each aspect of my role, this enables me to ensure I am efficient in the short amount of time I have in the office.’

Kirsty has been at Highfield for over four years and continues to bill constantly high. This has got her onto the ‘top performer’s weekend away’. This involves an all-expenses-paid holiday courtesy of Highfield. To become part of this weekend, you have to bill a certain amount which involves a lot of hard work and determination!

How did it feel to get a place on the top performer’s weekend away?

‘Amazing!!! It is hard to maintain a place within the top 10 performers in the office when I only work half the hours that everyone else does. So to consistently achieve that and be rewarded for it is really motivating. Roll on Palma!!!’

 #IWD2020 is put in place to celebrate the achievements of women across the world, and for us, we feel privileged to have women role models like Kay & Kirsty. They continue to show their success both in the workplace and at home. For International Women’s Day 2020 and beyond, we support, how will you? #EachforEqual

Enjoy our International Women’s Day blog? Check out our piece on STEM blog 2019 and find out about young people going into the industry.

STEM is an acronym (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) introduced in the US by scientific administrators of the National Science Foundation. It was revealed that students in America were underachieving dramatically in STEM-related disciplines compared to other countries. However, since then, these programmes have been acquired by countries all over the world such as China, France, Australia, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

The charity has a vision of young people from all backgrounds having the ability to have the knowledge and skills to thrive when progressing into STEM related careers. As well as, improving the general awareness of these subjects and partnering with other charities such as WISE to encourage women to be in roles such as engineering and science.

According to the US department of Commerce STEM occupations are growing at 17% in relation to other occupations at 9.8%. Additionally, STEM degree holders have a higher income even in non-STEM careers. Careers in Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are ones that are a key component in sustained growth and also the stability of the economy. Educating in these topics is so important to young students, and here are some reasons why:

• Science and technology is everywhere around us and continuously expanding
• Engineering is the basic designs of roads and bridges as well as tackling the challenges of the changing global weather and environmentally friendly changes.
• Mathematics is in every occupation and every activity we do in our lives.

As a recruitment agency that are experts in the engineering industry, it is important to us that we support STEM learning. Our directors take visits (see picture below) to our local schools to make donations of robots in support of the promotion of engineering in younger generations. These robots are used in the schools STEM department.

This learning is something that is very close to us, as we aim to drive and inspire young people from all backgrounds into these sectors. We care about our applicants and want to advise as well as support them to help them to achieve their dream job. With a proven track record of supplying expert consultants in STEM disciplines, it is a partner you can trust. Helping raise awareness for STEM has so much significance to us and we try to contribute as much as possible, as it can have a great difference on the pathway that young people take. 

By celebrating the day, it encourages younger generations to pursue an interest in STEM. Talking about the opportunities that STEM related careers can provide could help someone decided their future.

On Thursday the 17^th of October, we attended the annual South Coast Business awards 2019. We were finalists in the ‘SME of the year award’. We are delighted to say that we won the “SME of the year” award and it is a great achievement for us and we would like to thank all our employees as this is a result of their hard work.

We were very grateful for the judges’ comments which were “We were impressed by the company’s huge commitment to its workforce, with initiatives ranging from clearly defined career paths underpinned by solid training and ownership reward, to simply creating a truly first-class workplace environment. This has resulted in a strong and fast-growing business which is a significant contributor to the local community and economy. They have a passion for their business, which is second to none and an ability to shape the future of their industry.”

The team had a wonderful evening in which we would like to thank the sponsors of the event which include: KPMG, NatWest, BDB Pitmans, James Cowper Kreston, Taylor Made Computer Solutions – A Peach Technologies Company, RoyaleLife, Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Oberon Solutions and media partner Lee Peck Media.

We were really impressed with our fellow competition and we loved learning and networking from all of the other businesses in our category. As winners of last year’s’ Outstanding Contribution to the South Coast Region’, it is important for us to be able to add another award to our companies reputation. All awards that we win now and in the future are very purposeful to us as it represents the hard work and achievements of all our employees as well as their contribution to the success of the company.

We love to celebrate our successes together and on Friday, the day after the awards we received bacon rolls and dominos as a thank you. It’s gestures like this that really makes Highfield a great place to work. No work goes unrecognized, and our directors are constantly showing us how much they value us in our teams as well as individuals.

We are always looking to progress our company and create as many opportunities for our employees as we can. Highfield are an ambitious, rapidly growing, modern and entrepreneurial organisation driven forward by a hard-working team. We have belief in our values and the confidence they give our candidates and clients.

We refuse to set a limit on our achievements and are determined to continue to improve ourselves and the services we provide, addressing the skills gap in the Technical Engineering Sector by growing our diverse global engineering community.

If you would like to keep up to date with our social story follow us on:

Instagram @highfieldrec

LinkedIn @Highfield Professional Solutions Ltd

Facebook @Highfield Professional Solutions

Twitter @HighfieldREC

If you are a hiring manager looking for a recruitment partner, visit our client’s page to find out more about the solutions we can offer.

If you are a candidate looking for your next role, take a look at our latest live vacancies.

The growth in technology in the last decade has been massive, and AI is slowly becoming a very recognizable part of our daily lives. There are many scare stories about AI taking work away from humans, but in reality, it will take years for any serious adoption of this. However, it does not mean to say that AI has no influence. Recruiting is about interacting with other humans and AI is revolutionizing these connections.

The adoption levels for AI in recruiting is still relatively low, due to the traditional industry. Bullhorn statistics show that only 27% of recruiters are prioritizing investment in digital transformation to improve overall operations. Here at Highfield, we are constantly investing in software’s and platforms that makes recruiting for our consultants faster, more effective and specialised.

Here are just a few of the platforms that we are currently using to improve our recruiting process:

Bullhorn: We currently use bullhorn as our CRM system, where we store our data on clients and candidates that we work with. We also integrate it with Gmail and outlook which allows consultants to easily parse in CV’s, notes, as well as being able to create new tasks and appointments from candidate emails. It enables recruiters to be more productive with their time, and it manages the entire recruitment and applicant management process from a single, easy-to-use interface.

Cloud Call: We use cloud call to improve our communications, making them easier, quicker and more powerful. This software integrates with our CRM and our consultants can manage their communications in the same space as their data.

Hubspot: Is a platform that provides us with the tools for all our inbound marketing such as; social media marketing, content management, web analytics, landing pages, customer support and finally search engine optimization. We also use it as another CRM system for our internal recruiting so we can attract and qualify people to work in our very own business. Its online ecosystem helps our inbound marketers put out the right content to our audience through easy to use tools. For example, we use Chatbots on our website which helps automate replies to customers visiting our website. It allows a consistent feedback loop, whereby the robot has pre-written answers that can deal with requests as well as qualifying candidates.

But for us it isn’t just about the AI platforms that help our business run better, we also use it to target the best candidate in our industry. For example we run regular training for our recruitment consultants on advert training. This is presented by our marketing team who show the consultants how to use good job description formats that help to resonate better with candidates. Using specific words and phrases that are pinpointed for optimum SEO results improve our engagement and overall outcomes.

Is AI the future of recruiting?

AI plays will play a massive part in the future of recruiting because it is constantly trying to simplify the process. It ultimately allows recruiters to work more effectively and provide them with better use of their time and data. It is important that recruiting professionals are not resistant to the change, but instead use it as a tool to allow them to be even better at their job.

To apply to one of our fantastic job roles available please email Kay on [email protected] or click on the link below to apply:

https://careers.highfieldps.co.uk/apply-now