Office and Business Support

It’s a year for legislative changes for employers and employees, but how much do you know about them? There are potentially 12 changes coming in throughout this year, some of which will have more impact than others, and as a business if you are unaware, you open yourself up to a variety of issues and possibly large fines. As an employee, it’s also important to know your rights and to make sure that you are being treated fairly.

We are undeniably in a never-before-seen place in our professional lives where the ‘norms’ and what we once knew and accepted have transformed into a more agile, flexible model of working. This means that many of life’s everyday issues when it comes to work have now become more manageable and predictable. For many, gone are the days of commuting full-time to the office, buying lunch out on a daily basis or wearing formal attire. Not only have these more obvious examples of by-products of office-based working become less of a demand, but working from home has provided the ability to balance work and home life.

What will the biggest challenge for hiring managers and recruiters be in 2024? Whilst it’s hard to predict, on a recent recruitment webinar, 47% of attendees felt overcoming skills shortages would be the greatest obstacle, with an increase in employees moving roles and a shortage of experienced individuals fitting hiring budgets.

It’s sort of an unwritten part of Christmas that somewhere along the line, we will receive an unwanted gift of some description. Not unwanted stemming from being ungrateful; more that it is not useful or might not be to our taste, although it may be a very nice item, nevertheless.

As midnight struck on 31 December 2022 and we entered 2023, I remember looking at my children and wondering what new and exciting journeys the new year would hold for us. Little did I know that I would be going on one of the most exhilarating and life changing adventures I had ever had the good fortune of experiencing!

Does your business have leaders of the future? Or are you a potential leader of the future? Leaders of the future are those who are equipped to guide and shape the modern workplace. They understand current technological advances, have a passion for getting to know the business and the people within it and understand the need for corporate social responsibility within their organisations; they truly care. Employers need to be adaptable and forward-thinking when it comes to recruiting the right kind of talent who can bring a new level of strategic vision and creativity into their organisations.

This summer, West Ham United replaced Declan Rice, which many considered an impossible task. He was their best and most pivotal player, leaving a hole which goes beyond playing ability. He was the team’s captain, the morale-builder, emotional core and key person within the team. He pushed his team mates to new levels when they played alongside him.

The hottest topic in our house at the moment is…will Declan Rice be signing for Arsenal?

The recruitment process has evolved significantly over the past two decades, where technology has played a big role in transforming and improving how businesses find new employees and candidates find new jobs. So how has recruitment has changed since the year 2000 and what advantages and challenges has this brought?

How many of us created our social media profiles, maybe aside from LinkedIn, to interact socially? And how often do you look back at your profile to check if it is still a relevant representation of yourself? With increasing cross-over between online between work and home life, especially via social media platforms, it is important to ensure that the content is suitable - professional enough for a potential employer to be satisfied, as well as giving insights into our personality and interests. Employers often check out potential employees either before offering an interview or once an interview is organised. This will include reviewing their social media accounts. There are lots of positives to this, your profile can give a real insight into your hobbies and personality, bringing your CV to life instantly. The key is to ensure that your profiles are current and suitable for business as well as for your personal contacts. So how do we create the right online image for ourselves to ensure that it is appropriate for us socially as well as when we apply for jobs?

There’s a huge amount of information out there with regards to CVs, so we have created a step-by-step guide to help you create your perfect CV.

Over the past few years, it’s been difficult to assess recruitment trends in the UK, with recruitment shrinking dramatically during 2020, followed by a surge of job vacancies, paired with an extreme shortage of candidates. Whilst this turbulent period seems to be coming to an end and evening out again, as some may have predicted, hiring the right talent for key roles within businesses is still proving a challenge for many. As members of the REC, we have summarised their most recent Jobs Outlook, focusing on permanent recruitment for the short and medium term across the private sector.