Hillier's Headlines
My light hearted take on the week gone by and the week ahead.
Now I’m going to try and keep it brief this week as we are all geared up for Recruitment Agency Expo at Olympia and I’m a little stretched for time!
Industry updates
I think everyone in our sector is focused very much on the Recruitment Agency Expo so a lot of the news delivered to my inbox has been around this. We’ll be on stand E4 and offering the chance to win two tickets to Ladies Day at Royal Ascot with ￡200 spending money thrown in for good measure. Come and say hello and meet the team if you are attending.
Are you ready for the taskforce?
Something which has been on my mind for quite a while now is the new government task force which is being set up to enforce employment rights. Following the Taylor Review on modern working practices back in 2018, there have been many consultations looking at creating the new central government (arm’s length) body. Two of the key new areas that will fall under their remit are umbrella companies and holiday pay. Overall there will be much more scrutiny on gig economy/contingent worker rights.
While a lot of recruitment agencies and businesses don’t have these items high on their daily agenda, there are some key areas where they’ll need to take notice. For instance, come April this year, each and every assignment undertaken by a worker must have a Key Information Document (KID) which outlines the specific details of that assignment, with an emphasis on clarity of pay. Other areas to consider are ensuring National Living and Minimum Wage are being met on each assignment, one area where the task force I hear will be very proactive.
For agency owners, I understand they’ll have many priorities and plans for their business into 2020 and beyond, they just need to make sure they understand the implications of constantly changing legislation. Either that, or work with a supplier/partner who does.
Colleague power!
HR Magazine published an article last week discussing results of the Institute of Leadership and Management’s (ILM) report entitled New Decade, New Direction which looked at why employees consider changing their job in the New Year. The report discussed employee satisfaction factors which help to keep workers in their job. Some of the stats include: 75% of respondents were satisfied at work, with 68% stating that access to training is important and 66% stating that being trusted with additional responsibility was also important. Naturally, factors that make employees unsatisfied were often the reverse, e.g. lack of access to training and lack of responsibility.
Interestingly, negative company culture was one of the factors that increased dissatisfaction. Kate Cooper, head of research, policy and standards at ILM said: “… get the social aspects of work right from the beginning: it is such an important investment because what we’re essentially investing in is retaining our talent.”
We see a lot of our customers building company culture around some of the key areas this report focuses on. Flexible working, great employee benefits, team building and swanky tech enabled offices.
In our offices we encourage staff to participate in communal activities which do really help to build good work relationships, which when you speak to staff is definitely a big factor in why they enjoy their job.
With our contractors it is slightly different in that we can’t offer them a place of work. However, we do our best to offer the most comprehensive range of contractor benefits to make work more rewarding for them.
So in response to this podcast/article (Which I was going to talk about in more detail, but now don’t have the time!): Should workplace chat be banned?
No definitely not.
Around the office
New brochure
The new brochure is now available! If you want a hard copy get in touch but you can view it here for now.
Minimum rates
We are finalising our minimum rates sheets for agencies this week and should start sending them out from the beginning of next week. The minimum rates ensure that after all deductions, the pay rate achieves NMW/NLW.
The collection – Continued…
How many people do you know have a life sized version of Han Solo frozen in carbonite in their office? Not many. This is one of my favourite pieces as it’s not that easy to get hold of. We’ve moved him in to the dedicated Star Wars room for now, but he used to be on display in the office, and we used to get lots of comments. And who's that dark figure in the corner?
Han Solo facts
- In George Lucas’s original script, Han Solo was a member of an alien race called Ureallians. The very green and swamp like creature was supposed to be the best pilot in the galaxy.
- Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Sylvester Stallone, and Kurt Russell were either offered or auditioned for the part of Han Solo.
- The First Marvel Star Wars Comic Story Was About Han Solo! Featuring a Magnificent Seven-type plot structure, the story followed the incredibly strange adventures of Han Solo and Chewbacca as they traipse across the universe.
Well, after saying I’d keep it short this week I think it’s probably the longest so far. Just ask any of the team, I do like to talk!
Have a good week all and don’t forget to come and say hi at the Expo.
Terry Hillier, CEO People Group Services