Eloise’s October 2019 News – Brexit Plan, Teamwork, Recruitment Outlook, Women in Business and How Not to Mess Up Your HR
Hello and welcome to October
As the rain sets in and hurricane Lorenzo heads for our shores, we really know autumn has arrived! October is set to be a big month for all of us.
Essential actions for Brexit
The Government is planning for us to leave the EU on 31st October. What that will bring with it in terms of a ‘deal or no deal’ is still unclear. Your business will be mainly impacted from November onwards if you export or import goods to or from the EU. Or, if you are part of a supply chain with customers and service providers in the EU. Or you employ EU nationals.
There are things we can be doing to prepare, even though a lot of what is to come is so uncertain at this stage. Here is a guide we’ve sourced that explains ‘Importing & Exporting Products in a no-deal Brexit:
20 essential actions businesses should take’.
Teamwork and what we can learn from the Rugby World Cup
There is so much going on in politics and the overwhelming theme I get is that there is no common aim. Everyone is pulling in different directions and not all for the greater good. There is very little teamwork and lots of self-promotion and hidden agendas. If we all ran our businesses or teams in this way, we certainly wouldn’t be in business for very long.
In total contrast and somewhere we can look for inspiration, is the Rugby World Cup.
Playing out in Japan, each team is focused and bonded. All striving together and working towards one shared goal. Driven by strong leaders and team culture. With shared patriotism, they are playing for something bigger than themselves. It’s not just playing rugby, it’s national pride surging through their veins.
At a time like now, it is unfortunately not our politicians we should be looking to for inspiration and hope but our world cup teams on the other side of the world.
We have a fair few local heroes playing in the England team, Market Harborough based Leicester Tigers player Jonny May is one we’re backing here at Vanilla. And of course, I must mention the Welsh side to appease my husband!
The recruitment outlook for the rest of 2019
You might think with all the Brexit uncertainty the recruitment market would have slowed. In the KPMG monthly report, that tracks the jobs market, they are painting that picture. The stats show the market had dropped month on month for the past three months. However, this is not what we are experiencing locally.
We have had a buoyant September, with lots of businesses gearing up for Christmas staffing and New Year planning. And in even better news, lots of new job seekers are coming to the market looking to secure a new role as we head towards the end of the year.
We have a lot of great permanent jobs on our books and as the KPMG report also found, the temporary recruitment market is also seeing growth.
To talk through your Christmas recruitment needs or New Year 2020 recruitment plans, get in touch.
Women in business and ‘The Diversity Practice’ study
As a woman in business, I was delighted to read an article this week in Recruitment Buzz on the new rise in UK leaders who are ‘female, ethnically diverse and full of ambition’.
They were reporting on a study by The Diversity Practice. It’s a global study looking at the working lives and experiences of Black, Asian and ethnically diverse women leading and working in the UK, US and the Middle East. The full study was last run in 2007, so it was hugely interesting to see the changes in the results since then.
Here is a snapshot of some of their findings:
- 57% of the study group of women said they are “confident they will fulfil their potential and make a significant difference to their organisation, communities and the economic and social wellbeing of the UK in the next decade”
- 70% of Black, Asian and ethnic minority women feel ‘grounded in their identity, values, beliefs and cultural heritage’. This is considered to be the key to their success. “They feel this gives them confidence, compassion and ambition, and vital 21st century leadership skills to build authentic relationships across the boundaries of race, gender and culture”
- Alarmingly though, over 85% felt that race and gender are still a double disadvantage in the workplace, a 20% increase on the women surveyed over 10-years ago.
The study results have been overwhelmingly positive and considered to be a ‘clear step forward’. However, there are still some horrific barriers women feel are still true in today’s workplaces. I find it saddening to read that the majority of women surveyed, nine in ten, felt that ‘white women are still more positively perceived in the workplace’. It was noted that ‘gender isn’t a unifying factor among women’.
Change for women in the workplace, a step towards gender equality and the rise of ‘fempowerment’ has been a long time coming. The train is in motion. But this report highlights that we still have a long way to go.
As employers and businesspeople, we have to play our part in levelling the playing field for everyone.
How to not mess up your HR
We are delighted to be working with our partners at Gateway HR to be able to offer you a heavily discounted training course for whoever has HR responsibilities within your business.
It is a one-day immersive course held at Gateway HR’s facilities in Corby, Northamptonshire, and normally at a cost of £99 (+VAT) per person, BUT for Vanilla clients it’s only £75 (+VAT) when you use ‘VANILLA’ as a coupon code at the checkout area.
Their courses are always informative, interesting and tailored to real-life situations and scenarios. Click here to find out more and book your place.
That’s it for another month.
I have a feeling that although October is one of our longer months in terms of working weeks, it is going to fly past in the blink of an eye with everything that is going on!
If you need any recruitment help, advice or guidance then as usual please feel free to get in touch.
Best wishes for a great October!
We recruit throughout the East Midlands covering Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and the surrounding areas, especially Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Leicester, Corby and Kettering. We help people find their perfect job and match suitable jobseekers with businesses looking to hire the best candidates across our five specialisms – Sales, Marketing, Accountancy & Finance, HR and Office.