Category: Advice for Employers

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Flexible Working in 2019; What you need to know

It’s already common knowledge that the traditional, 9-5, sitting behind a desk working day is on the decline.

In fact, many employers have already introduced a new level of flexibility that allows their workers to adapt their hours, work from home, and possibly even work remotely. There’s also been a huge rise in the number of companies employing the skills of freelancers and contractors.

And with this trend of flexible working set to grow in 2019, it’s certainly something you’ll want to keep an eye on.

We’ve highlighted what’s already happening in the world of flexible working and what’s predicted to come for the rest of the year.

The right to flexible working

Although many employees don’t realise it, they do have a right to request flexible work after they have been in a job for 6 months. Although these requests don’t have to be accepted, as an employer, it is your obligation to consider them in a reasonable manner.

As more employees seek a shift in their work life balance and become aware of their rights surrounding flexible working, you may encounter more enquiries about various types of flexible working in the coming months and years.

With benefits on both sides, it’s likely that both you and your employees could profit from a new approach, so take the time to consider any requests you receive carefully.

Government Support

A partnership across government departments, business groups, trade unions and charities called The Flexible Working Task Force launched a new campaign earlier this year to help increase the uptake of flexible working.

As well as encouraging employers to use the strapline “Happy to talk flexible working” in their job advertisements, they have also published guidance on championing flexible working and have been highlighting the business benefits of flexible working.

Becoming a champion of flexible work can drastically improve your employee satisfaction and help to attract the best talent to your company.

Working Smarter

Thanks to advances in technology, there are many ways that your employees can work smarter, and this often feeds into flexible working.

As well as making it a reasonable request for an employee to work from home or work remotely, working smarter may also means that you can adapt the schedules people work too.

An extreme example of this may come if an employee needs to drop down the hours they work. Rather than losing a talented employee altogether, new technology or methods of doing things that can help them work smarter and in a way that convenient, so they can stay with your company and still find the balance they need.

The four day week

The idea of a four day week has been gaining traction on social networking sites after a handful of companies have adopted the new initiatives.

With reports suggesting that those who worked longer hours were actually less productive, some firms believe it well help to improve the way their employees work, as well as increasing their job satisfaction and giving a better work life balance.

While this is a drastic action that’s impractical for many companies, the logic behind it can be implied in more manageable way. An early finish on a friday, for example, or cutting back on overtime, could be ways you try and offer more flexibility to your employees.

Have you seen any major changes to the way your employees want to work recently? Have you got any plans to incorporate a more flexible policy in 2019? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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Tackling the Skills Gap: How to recruit IT talent

tackling

Innovation is critical to the technology industry. But over the past few years, the advancement of technology has faced one major roadblock – the availability of skilled workers. And it’s only set to get more difficult to find the talent you need.

We’re going to be looking at what the skills gap really means, how it may be affecting you and what you can do to protect your teams.

What do we mean when we talk about the ‘Skills Gap’?

Although some form of skills gap has been identified in many sectors, technology is the one area it seems to have had the most impact. This may be down to the fact that its an area that changes rapidly, requires specialist knowledge and hasn’t previously received enough attention in the education system.

Reports from 2017 show that an estimated 1.4 million computing/ engineering jobs would need to be filled by 2020 in the UK, with only 400,000 computer science graduates expected to emerge during that time.

In the US, the Bureau of labour statistics has estimated a need for 100,000 new IT workers every year for the next decade. There are currently only 60,000 entering the workforce every year.

Put simply, the level of skills, experience and expertise of jobseekers does not match the requirements of employers. In fact, job ads have been found to list an average of 16.7 hard skills, with resumes listing only an average of only 9.8.

Skills such as cybersecurity, web development, programming and coding are in short supply. But what has caused these areas to experience such a gap?

What has caused this shortage?

Education

Surveys have shown that 60% of companies are looking for coding skills when hiring entry level graduates for IT positions. And while these skills are now being taught in schools to children as young as 5, this is a fairly new introduction in most UK and US syllabuses.

Training

Due to the speed at which technology develops, skills barely stay current for even a few years. With employers reluctant to invest in training, it can become impossible for workers to maintain the level of expertise they need.

Salaries

Salaries for highly sought after skilled roles are increasing, with the best talent commanding a salary that is out of reach for most small companies. This makes the challenge of finding and retaining talent even greater for SME’s.

Brexit

For the UK, Brexit has already begun to have an impact on the skills gap. Applications for tech positions dropped around 10% in the first quarter of 2017 alone. With negotiations dragging out and the future uncertain, skilled workers from the EU are reluctant to take the risk.

What is the effect of this skill shortage?

On a team level, a skills gap can have a significant impact on your business, from a drop in productivity and innovation, poor customer service or even a full roadblock on a projects completion.

You may also notice that a skills gap will increase the stress on the rest of the team, as they are forced to work harder to cover the missing skills. This could have a knock on effect on your staff retention, workplace environment and overall employee well being.

Finding Talent

So what should employers be doing? The first thing employers must do is to look back at their own approach to recruiting technical talent.

As specialists in technical recruitment, we see a trend in the way that employers search for skilled workers. Typically, a hiring manager or HR department will put together a job description, listing skills and the tools they will require the new recruit to use.

However, the huge number of tools and systems available means that finding a highly skilled worker with exactly the right combination of tools and experience becomes incredibly unlikely.

Further to this, for highly specialised roles where the work may be intense but infrequent, many companies create a dual role, making it even more difficult to find an individual with the right mix of skills.

The reality is that a worker with good technology experience and the right attitude will quickly be able to pick up any tools that they haven’t used before, as they’ve likely used something very similar.

A key issue is that HR teams or recruitment firms may not have the depth of knowledge to recognise these similarities, and so may overlook potential candidates due to a missing skill on their CV.

It’s understandable that when employing highly paid tech talent, taking any risks with their skills can be daunting. But a flexible approach to recruitment can pay off in the long run.

As well as providing training for new staff in areas that are essential to you, you can also look at external support solutions to provide a safety net. At ClearHub, this is already built into our offering.

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Our checklist includes five key takeaways you can use to optimise team performance and crush the competition by getting your products to market first.

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It always seems impossible until it’s done, by a ClearHub contractor

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

Finding the right contractor can seem impossible…

Have you been let down by an agency?

Unfortunately it’s not uncommon for agencies to over-promise and underdeliver. If you’ve ever hired a tech professional, you’ll know the average recruiter doesn’t understand their docker from their DevOps.

ClearHub on the other-hand, is responsible for connecting talented individuals to businesses on a global scale.

At ClearHub we specialise in what we know — helping software development teams achieve more

Your mission-critical Atlassian tools matter!

 As the world’s only Atlassian contractor network, we understand that even the most seasoned contractor can hit a roadblock when using advanced development tools. We provide our contractors with 24/7 access to the ClearHub help desk, where they can speak to our Atlassian certified support team.

Did you know? Every contractor we place is tested by an industry expert in the areas most important to you. Vetted for technical ability, cultural fit, and work preferences — our clients get exactly what they ask for in terms of skills and attitude.

Mandela Quote

“A good contractor and a good support network are always a formidable combination.”

ClearHub are the experts in the Atlassian world, for everything from working with ITSM teams who deliver improvement activities to Jira Service Desk (JSD), to migrations, installations, upgrades and integrations.

What if it doesn’t work out?

While we do our best to ensure our contractors are a right fit for you, as Mandela suggests, anything is possible.

That’s why we provide a risk free guarantee. If at any stage you decide, for any reason, that it’s not working out for you, we’ll replace your contractor free of charge.

Make the impossible possible, with ClearHub

Using Confluence and Jira?

Hire top Confluence & Jira contractors to fill your skills gap.

For the best of the best, head over to the ClearHub website now!

Attending Atlassian Summit? Come over to stand 719, our experts would love to talk to you in more detail about our ClearHub services.

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Managing Your Contractors

managing contractors

The beginning of a new year typically brings an influx of resolutions, self-improvement drives and diets as we use the annual milestone to break old habits and form better ones.

YouGov estimates 63% of Brits plan to take out new year’s resolutions. But perhaps rather soberingly, according to a BusinessInsider, a whopping 80% of these are likely to fail by February.

Forbes Magazine reports that only about 8% of New Year resolutions are successful. Deeper analysis shows the two things that typically create success are:

  1. Keep it Simple
  2. Make it Tangible.

With this in mind, and as the new year begins, it’s the perfect time to take a look again at what can be improved in your team or workplace. As with any lasting improvement or change, it typically starts with self-reflection. With this in mind, a few simple questions.

  • Are you getting the most out of your contractors?
  • What are the common pitfalls managers make when working with contractors and freelancers (as well as a few universal ones!)?
  • How can you avoid these mistakes and embrace a more healthy, productive and symbiotic relationship with non-employed staff?
  • How important is managing contractors anyway, can’t they just manage themselves?

You may well think that with all the things you have to do this year, spending time on staff who may only be with you for a few months is not a good use of your energy.  

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Your contract staff often handle highly specialised work. Research suggests, making sure they feel happy and supported in their job will mean higher productivity, higher standards, and a better outcome overall (Forbes found that happy employees are 20% more productive than unhappy employees).

By their nature, many contractors possess hard to resource skills. A positive impression and a good relationship will mean that you can reach out to them again in the future, as and when you need them.

Finally, learning how to create a positive environment for your temporary staff will have a knock-on effect for permanent staff too.

“Employees will care for the company they are working for if they know that they are being looked after. Employees are the best asset of every organisation, and putting effort into employee wellness can encourage better teamwork, increased productivity and reduce sick leave and workplace accidents.” 6Q Blog

So when your staff see you treating contractors fairly, they will have more respect for you, feel more secure in their own jobs, and work better as a team.

The Pitfalls

First, identify your current approach to contractor management. There are many identified management styles, and we’ve identified 4 styles we often see when it comes to managing contractors.

Chances are your style will be a combination of these, with your own unique nuances. But, categorization can be a useful way of identifying ways you can improve.

MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

The “micro” Manager

You likely spend a lot of extra time with your temporary staff. They don’t know the company, have the experience with the project, or have connections with the rest of the team, so they need a helping hand, right?

On the plus side, your contractors will fully understand the brief, know what you expect from them, and feel like they can come to you for advice. However, if you spend too much time micromanaging, they’ll feel as though you underestimate and dont trust them.

Having you breathing down their neck every 5 minutes will make it impossible for them to get the job done, and bringing in an expert is pointless if you’re going to redo all the work yourself.

The “arms length” manager

Contractors are there to do a job and you’re inclined to view them as a commodity. Chances are you don’t spend too much time with them, don’t want to deal with any problems from them, and generally don’t want to be bothered by them in any way.

Although this leaves the contractor with a lot of space to get their work done, it’s unlikely to lead to a good relationship with them, and they may even come out of the contract feeling under appreciated.

It may also take the contractor longer to grasp what’s expected of them, which can lead to mistakes and delays further down the line.

The “all the same” manager

You handle contractors as you would any other member of staff. You’re the manager, they work for you and you set the rules.

By not treating contractors differently, they may find it easier to blend in to the rest of the team, however you must recognise that your relationship with them is different. In most cases, you need the contractor as much as they need you, and if they aren’t happy they can leave and find another contract without a second thought.

They also have different concerns and desires than an ordinary employee. They have to juggle different demands, such as managing their own taxes and benefits, as well as planning for their next contract.

The “laid back” manager

You take the approach that when a contractor comes in, they’re the expert and will make the right choices for your team. You’re unlikely to question their decisions or double check what they’re doing, and you may find yourself relying on them to direct the project.

While this approach can help you get the most benefit from your contractors knowledge and expertise, you may find yourself losing touch with the project and the rest of your team.

While the majority of contractors are incredibly professional, they are still people and mistakes can happen. It’s important to keep an eye on what they’re doing and maintain authority over the project, so that you’re sure the project gets completed to the highest standard.

Make a Change

Once you’ve recognised your management style (or possibly just identified some of your behaviours) you can begin to make small changes. Our top tips can help you improve your relationship with your contractors.

Understand their Motivators

As you’ll already know from managing regular staff, everybody has different motivators that drive them to do well. Contractors are no different, but their motivators often take on a different form.

They are unlikely to be incentivised by traditional motivators such as stability, corporate perks or office atmosphere/ environment. A contractor will find more value in experience, training and financial remuneration.

That’s not to say that other factors aren’t important, but taking the time to get to know your contractor and discover what they care about will make it much easier to motivate them down the line.

Communicate Clearly

A contractor wants to provide a good service, as this is how they build their reputation. Communicating clearly will not only help them deliver what you need, but can also help prevent future frustration and a breakdown in the relationship.

Make sure you have a clear brief ready for when a new contractor starts, and set aside the time to discuss it in detail with them. After that, you should try and schedule in regular time to check in with them. This can be as formal or informal as you like, but it should be regular enough to allow you to pick up any miscommunications early.

Build a relationship

Although you don’t need to invest the same level of time into a contractor as you would a permanent employee, you should still try and get to know them on a personal level, as this can make it easier to reach out to them in the future.

As well as your own relationship, you should invest some time into making sure they build a relationship with the team. Try to avoid singling them out from the rest of the team. This can be as simple as sitting them with everyone else, inviting them to important meetings and allowing them access to the same onsite perks (free breakfast, gym membership etc).

Don’t micromanage, but do give feedback

Finding the right balance here can be tricky, but try thinking back to what you know about a contractor’s motivators. Their choice to be a contractor means they likely crave autonomy, however, they will also be constantly looking to improve themselves to increase their value.

Give them the space they need to do their work, but be direct and honest with them. If the work is taking too long or isn’t up to standard, let them know in a constructive way, and give them the chance to fix it before jumping in.

Pay fairly

While this is most likely arranged long before you get the contractor in the office, the way you pay your contractors can have a big impact on how you manage them.

As we know, remuneration is important for contractors. You get what you pay for, and if you aren’t willing to offer market rates you’ll struggle to find people with the right level of knowledge. You may also find that you get a bad reputation amongst contractors as a stingy employer.

If you value the work someone does for you, make sure their paycheck reflects that.

Track the Impact

There’s no point putting the work into making a change if you can see its benefit.

Remember the two key requirements for any successful change.

  1. Keep it simple
  2. Make it tangible

In order for something to be tangible, it should have a clear end goal. This will differ depending on your own personal or business goals. It may be that you want to increase contractor retention rates, see an increase in productivity, or improve employee satisfaction.

Try and decide on a way to measure progress towards your goal early. It may be as simple as monitoring your average contract length, or it may be more in-depth.

For example, a weekly NPS score for those involved in the project. This simple measurement (skewed 1-10) will give a great litmus test to how people rate the contractor’s progress.

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I’d love to hear how you go about managing contractors within your team, and if you want anymore advice about managing your teams, you can download our free ebook, How to Increase the Value of Any Contractor: Get More for Less.

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Recruitment and AI

recruitment and AI

Business and personal solutions involving the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are emerging across nearly all industry sectors. But what does this mean for recruitment? As it turns out, a huge amount, and whether you are a hiring manager, a recruiter or simply a happily employed worker it’s likely to directly affect your life in one way or another over the next few years.  

AI vs Machine Learning

The terms ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘machine learning’ are often used interchangeably, but if you really want to get your head around emerging technologies it’s important to understand the difference. According to Bernard Marr:

The most exciting new developments are  focused on machine learning. That is, software designed to read and interpret past data (and the decisions made around it) and to use that knowledge to make or shape decisions for the future.

A simple example can be found in your own inbox. If you frequently mark emails of a certain type or from a certain sender as spam, the system will learn this behaviour and begin to do it automatically.

Machine Learning can lead to software making predictions based on correlated data. For example, forecasted bad weather may cause a spike in sales of winter coats, which is particularly useful if you are a clothing retailer.

Machine learning can also provide entirely new ways of doing things such as automatically generating personality profiles based on an individual’s social media posts (as opposed to relying on questionnaire results). Finally, machine learning can share big data, where thousands (or millions) of inputs help to create accurate predictions by responding to different stimuli. This is how Google’s algorthims can now predict what you are trying to write when you have only just started typing a sentence.

Applications in Recruitment

There is a huge amount to consider, when investigating the potential of AI in recruitment (for example video interview platforms that can automatically assess voice quality, energy levels, body language as well as the answers given to tricky questions) but, we want to focus on what is currently available, and already being used by  recruiters.

Sourcing Applicants

AI is increasingly used in the sourcing of applicants, with the development of software that scans the internet for online profiles. These tools read and interpret the profile information to identify matches against a predefined job description. As well as software reviewing ‘active’ information such as job boards, the latest developments in AI can now look at ‘passive’ information such as Linkedin pages, facebook and twitter feeds, about.me profiles, blogs, personal websites and so on, to build a comprehensive profile of a candidate who may well not be looking for a new role.

Software that identifies passive candidates (people who are likely to move but not actively seeking new employment) and estimates how attractive they might find the new company can actively learn from human feedback. For example, if the system matches someone who is not a suitable match, it will ask for an explanation to avoid doing the same thing again.  

This can be incredibly useful for recruiters trying to find highly specialised or difficult to source candidates.  

Screening Applicants

Once a selection of candidates have been sourced, one of the most time-consuming tasks can be to screen them all. Not only is this a laborious and administrative heavy task but when you have a large number of CV’s to get through human error or bias often means that strong candidates are missed.

Software can use machine learning to scan through CV’s and match specific skills and experience to the job description by pulling out keywords, dates, job titles and time in roles. Once candidates have been shortlisted, automated assistants or chatbots (like Recruitment Bot) can be used to carry out the initial stages of interview screening, by gathering key information such as an applicants right to work in certain areas, clarifying key skills, or even just checking their availability for an interview.  

As far as this technology goes, many large recruiters are already using some version of chatbots, and both employers and job seekers alike seem to find it effective, with responses that sound human and the ability to recognise the answers needed.

AI creation

Engaging Applicants

Various AI functionality has also been created to help recruiters engage talent. So, once AI has highlighted the right candidates and assessed their likelihood to engage with an opportunity, AI systems can also handle the initial contact. This intial approcah can be combined with answering simple questions the candidate might have and keeping candidates engaged with a role anytime of day.

AI systems will often be able to synchronise across multiple systems, such as email, chatbots on your website and even facebook messenger. The AI will be constantly finding the best ways to communicate with your clients.

Want to know what your potential applicants will make of AI tools? Check out this great article on the candidate’s perspective.

What are the risks?

Like with any new technology, there are risks that come with AI solutions.

The first thing to note is that with a lot of this new technology, there’s a good chance that it may not work exactly as you imagined it.

Learned Behaviour

The very concept of machine learning means that it adapts its behaviours based on what it learns from the data provided, so one thing to be aware of (especially with chatbot services) is that the users will influence the behaviour of the technology.

I’m sure many of you will have heard of “Tay” the AI Twitter bot created by Microsoft in 2016. Soon after it’s release, interactions with other Twitter users caused the bot to start producing racist and sexually charged tweets, leading to it being suspended.

Although ‘Tay’ was just an experiment, it also provides a valuable lesson in the potential pitfalls of machine learning bots and the importance of monitoring the information that is fed to them.

AI office

Saving time/ resources

Although many people may see AI technology as a fantastic way to save time, in the early stages this may not be the case. With the technology in its early days, you may find that you spend as much time monitoring and maintaining the software as you save with the job.

Even when the software is running as intended, it is fairly clear that we are not yet at a stage where AI can fully replace human recruiters. So while you may save time for the recruiters and hopefully improve their efficiency with these tools, it will still be important to value the significance of a human touch point.

Next Steps

Whether or not you choose to implement AI software into your current recruitment process should depend on what level your recruitment is at currently.

If you already have a large in-house recruitment team (or are a recruitment agency) and you’re looking for software that can help you automate certain process and improve your efficiency, there are some great solutions that involve machine learning that can benefit you.

If your recruitment team is made up of only one or two people, there may still be some solutions you could introduce slowly, but it’s important to make sure that you’re not creating more work for your team. For a recruitment team of this size, you may also find a lot of the new software to be outside of your teams budget.

If you currently outsource your recruitment and were hoping AI might be a solution to bring it back in-house, the reality is that the tools are not at this stage yet, and even as they develop they will require a lot of attention and maintenance.

Overall, there are a variety of different tools that you may find useful but it is also incredibly important to make sure this software is monitored, as the effect of ‘bad learning’ could have wide spreading consequences (here’s another example regarding Amazons recruiting tool).

For most teams, it’s probably still best left to established recruiting companies to use the software to help find the best people for your team, as they will be able to pair the software with the experience to make sure you get the best candidate, every time.

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5 ways smart recruiters find the right agile resource

5 ways smart recruiters

 As part of our Future of Work series we’re looking at what it takes to find, manage and retain agile talent. The following is from our comprehensive deep dive on building agile teams, which you can download for free here.

These days, those involved in recruitment need to look at what a person can bring to the organisation, regardless of their qualifications and experience. This is especially important for an agile team. Hiring managers also need to ensure their offer is attractive as possible, and that goes beyond money.

ClearHub spoke with Talent Acquisition Partner for Shop Direct, Simon Halkyard, to get some insight on hiring the best tech talent. Here are five ways in which this can be done:

1. Defining the job, not the skills needed to do the job.

Before beginning the sourcing process, have a session with the people who will be involved in the hiring process to identify the actual job requirements. This should include at least five objectives — actual deliverables that need to be achieved. Skills shouldn’t be ignored of course, especially for technical roles. The tool-specific skills (e.g. Jira, AWS, Java) of the ideal candidate should be considered.

2. Experimenting with different hiring methods and tactics.

Unless outsourcing to a service like ClearHub, whose resourcers already do this kind of activity, there are numerous tactics to consider as part of the hiring process. Due to high competition, organisations have to appeal to passive candidates, as well as active job seekers. Here are some examples of tactics:

  • Pay to post the role on a relevant job board or aggregator site
  • Headhunt candidates using LinkedIn (paid options offer more access) and other platforms
  • Use an internal referral scheme
  • Attend job fairs
  • Network at IT events
  • Participate in forums and other online channels
  • Paid digital advertising (e.g. Google, social media)
  • Offline advertising (e.g. billboards, tube, print media)
  • Email marketing and direct mail

3. Focusing on mindset and values.

For an agile team, recruiters look beyond a person’s CV and are careful that the CV doesn’t limit them from meeting great candidates. This should also be factored into the interview process.

The key here is emotional intelligence (or EQ). EQ is the capacity of an individual to recognize emotions – their own and those of others. Teamwork and communication is essential for an agile team, and a key component of productivity, so questions that unlock such information should be considered. Organisations often use personality profiling for existing teams, and in their hiring process, to ensure a good fit.

4. Give the candidate what they want!

A simple, yet often overlooked aspect of hiring that is especially important for tech roles. If someone is the right fit, smart recruiters make sure they sell the role.

As Simon explains, offering flexible working is a no-brainer when trying to attract the right talent: “Candidates are not asking for flexible working, they are demanding it. In a candidate driven sector such as tech you nullify a huge amount of candidates if you dismiss this as a fad or temporary. Flexible working is here to stay and just like we do with customers we need to listen and adapt to the needs of candidates if we are to hire the best ones.”

5. Being open and honest.

Hiring the wrong person is expensive (ClearHub discovered as much in a recent study) so ensuring the hiring process is a dialogue, rather than a one way conversation, is important. Being open about the organisation’s culture, team structure, any upcoming changes, expectations and the frequency of change, for example, will avoid any future disruption.

 

Want to learn more about building an agile team? Download our free ebook: The future of work: building the agile team of tomorrow. 

In it you’ll learn:

  • Tangible advice on hiring the right people for your agile team.
  • Insight on how to ensure your team can collaborate better, while maintaining agility, regardless of their location.
  • A hot take on distributed teams and how you can utilise the human cloud to hire specialist talent, with expert advice from Atlassian.
 

 

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Hire for Attitude: Train on Skill

hire

Recruiting used to be interrogation-style: Candidates would send in a CV, get invited for interview and, (if they were lucky!) offered the job.

It’s point was to find the most skilled person, fit for the role.

But, today there are missing elements to this method. Over the last few years, ‘hiring manager’ friends I’ve spoken to have all started to say the same thing:

“I prefer to hire for attitude, rather than skill.”

Thanks to the gig economy a greater focus on attitude, and the impact of new technologies on the younger workforce, your recruitment needs are changing – fast.

That’s true if you work at big corporations, (like I have for 15 years) – or if you work for smaller companies – like some of the businesses we’ve helped here at ClearHub.

And I can see why: Only 19 percent of your new hires will succeed in the long term. And of those – a full 89 percent – will lose their job due to their attitude or personality.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not suggesting that you should ignore a candidate’s experience. But if you are looking to hire, it’s in your best interest to put as much focus on their attitude as you do skill.

Imagine how many more business goals your software development team will meet if you increase team retention rates by 10%, or even 20% – simply because they all get along.

Of course, this raises questions:

What if you find a candidate that is culturally perfect – but, who is  lacking in a specific skills?

Or – worse still – what if your mission-critical project calls for no time to onboard, upskill and train them?

The good news is: I’ve found a solution.

Mobile

Great teams thrive on trust

We all know that the best companies are made up of great teams.

But what you might not know is that hiring someone who’s not an ideal cultural match for your team, is the number one reason why recruitment managers are changing their mindsets.

A couple of years back, I read this Google survey on team effectiveness.

The researchers found that what really matters for your teams to work effectively, is less about who is on it, and more about how they work together, instead.

As you can see, teams that feel safe to take risks around their team members (without fear of peer judgement, or ridicule) perform the best.

That’s also why 84% of employees agree that meeting the team, is one of the most important parts of the onboarding process.

In fact, happy employees are also up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees,

So it only makes sense that you should prioritise attitude.

If you’ve already got a happy and motivated team, why would you risk losing them by putting all of your effort into hiring someone who is the wrong fit?

Especially when there are now so many candidates to choose from.

Mobile

The gig economy is changing everything

The gig economy isn’t just a buzzword – it’s changing the way your teams get their work done.

And those changes are here to stay. By 2020, it’s estimated that freelance workers will exceed 40% of the workforce.

In addition to helping increase the speed of your project work and plugging specific skills gaps in your teams, the gig economy can help you find a team member with the right attitude.

Ask yourself this:

How often do you hire a contractor that fits seamlessly into the team?

I’m guessing that it’s not very often.

But, if you had access to a smart profiling system, with communication tips and preferences,  as we’ve developed at ClearHub, you’d have the ability to do this.

Plus, the better the fit, the greater the chances of your team wanting them to return for  future projects.

Mobile

Candidate attitude is key

You just need to find someone who seems to fit with your team and has a willingness to learn some new things.

Easy, right?

Apparently not: The complication  most recruiting managers have with hiring for attitude is that it’s pretty ambiguous.

Ask yourself:

What type of personality do I need in my team?

In ClearHub, having energy, compassion and creativity are all key markers of success; as we’re focused on finding the right IT contractors for our clients.

When you identify the right attitude in your next hire, you’re identifying what your team needs to meet their goals, first.

You might find that’s a necessary change in pace, and a reinforcement of what’s already been working is all you need.  Either way, your hire will be filling the gap, as intended.

Plus, by making your team happy, you will increase your productivity.

Conclusion

When I hire people, I’m not hiring a job description.

I focus on attitude, and it almost always get me a hire who fits in with my current team. Better yet, it usually means I’ve found someone who is ready to jump in and learn the skills that will help my product grow. In return, I cultivate their passions and applaud their experimentation.

With the high costs of staff turnover, you need to focus on cost-effective recruitment methods. Hiring on attitude, as well as skill, is the best way to do this.

First you need to focus on making your current team feel safe and happy. Next, you’ll have to come up with a way  for them to feel included in the hiring process.

If you adopt this idea, you’ll see a happier, more motivated team, and a new hire that will need very little time to settle in.

What are you doing to make sure you hire the right candidates for your team?

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The Cost of the Skills Gap – and How You Can Solve It

There is a skills gap in the UK economy that costs companies over £2 billion a year.

The Open University study highlighted that, due to this, employers plan to change the training they offer.

Most significantly with more apprenticeships.

Yet, in the first quarter of 2018, growth in the British economy slowed to just 0.1 percent – and employers are being warned that the skills gap may be to blame…

Skills-Gap-In-UK-Was-Costing-Companies-Over-2Billion-A-Year
Find-a-contractor-who-fits-your-organisation

It is Far Harder to Find the Right Candidate Now

The skills gap is the gap between the roles and skills that employers are looking to hire, and the skills of people looking for jobs.

There are several factors that contribute to the misalignment of open positions with available, skilled workers.

The first is that the UK currently has its lowest unemployment rates in over ten years – so, there are less people out of work.

Secondly, those in your employment may be reluctant to leave: Due to uncertainty from Brexit – also a deterrent for EU nationals – who may have looked to work in the UK.

It Takes Longer to Fill Job Roles

75% of employers say that filling job roles has become a problem for them.

Companies are losing money through recruiting fees and the cost of temporary staff.

In addition, some skills are in more demand now then they were; particularly in highly specialised areas; such as technology and software development.

Of course, candidates with these skills are in high demand – and command a higher salary.

For both your businesses and the economy, the skills gap could lead to a lack of productivity, innovation and growth – as more jobs and industries become heavily dependant on digital skills that are in low supply.

“In order to navigate this changing landscape, you will need people who possess the right skills to maximise on digital resources. Unfortunately these individuals are paradoxically both in short supply and in incredibly high demand, creating an expensive and difficult dilemma for employers.”  

Onrec: 2018

The Steps Needed to Help Your Business

It may seem as though the skills gap is a problem to tackle.

Your business will be the first to feel the effects – so you should be proactive in becoming part of the solution.

“Government must lead the way on this, but it will be up to both the businesses and the academic institutions across all levels to show commitment and support for government efforts to narrow the skills gap.”

 Uktech: 2018

An important step you should be taking is to assess the skills in your teams – to identify any gaps early. Once you have, you’ll know what to start focusing on.

Need any help identifying your skills gaps? Check out our free, quick and easy 5-step checklist to help you do just that!

Many businesses are already taking steps to building the skills they need for the future. With apprenticeships and internal training to help fill the gaps.

Admittedly, these provide a slightly more long term solution.

What should you do if you’re already feeling the effects of the skills gap in your business?

More People than Ever are Freelancing

Due to the growing ‘Gig Economy’, more and more highly skilled professionals are turning to freelance work.

“The new modern way of working for British industry is the answer to this problem. Employers are increasingly turning to contractors and freelancers to deliver the skills they need and that means there are a wealth of opportunities for self-employed people.”

DANBRO: 2018

Evidence shows that you’ll have a better chance increasing the speed of production by finding a contractor who fits your organisation than you will by up-skilling a full time employee. Here’s why:

  • Contract length – you set the contract to fit you and your projects.
  • High motivation – as their next job will depend on good reviews, contractors are often highly motivated.
  • Fast onboarding – contractors are used to coming into new organisations.
  • Reskilling – they’ll be self-driven to learn and sharpen their skills
  • In-house expert – working with together, contractors can help advance the skills of your existing teams.
  • Cost effective – the perceived cost risk of hiring contractors over permanent staff is slim (once you factor in benefits, pension schemes, holidays and so on).

By using contractors you are also giving these professionals the chance to build experience in their skills, and so encouraging them to grow and develop skills that are high in demand.

“Most high-demand careers need only minimal formal schooling to begin entry-level freelancing, and the portfolio of work and recommendations gained from working in the gig economy are at least as valuable as a degree or job training program.”

Quartz at Work: 2018

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Match Your Team and Your Culture

At ClearHub, we have a global network of technical contractors.

When we match you, we look at the skills you need, and then use Smart Profiling to make sure they’re a powerful cultural fit for your team too.

Get Ahead of Your Competitors

Being aware of the skills gap, and being proactive about it early, gets you ahead of your competitors – by getting your products to market – fast!

But, it can also help to future-proof the growth of the economy.

With World Youth Skills Day coming up (July 15), this topic is more relevant than ever.

It is up to us as employers to help encourage young professionals to follow the career paths that will help our economy to grow.

And, by offering them the opportunities to learn – through work experience, apprenticeships, and freelance work – you can guarantee your company’s future alongside theirs.

Do you currently use technical contractors to fill your skills gaps? Leave a comment below –  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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What Everybody Ought to Know About The Real Cost of Employment [Infographic]

Many modern businesses underestimate the true cost of their workforce.

And, I’m not just talking about the direct cost of staff employment. It includes wages, training, tax and benefits.

But – are you overlooking the indirect costs?

The financial burden, the impact of bad hires, poor leadership, reduced productivity cycles and lost management time could open a door to employment alternatives you may previously have thought expensive.

After all, the rise of the global workforce, virtual assistants, artificial intelligence, collaboration tools, agency contractors and freelance workers mean that hiring managers have never before had so many alternatives available to them.

The Future of Work Belongs to the Freelancer

Do you assume that contractors are highly-skilled specialists, used for short-term bursts of focused work – whereas employees are loyal, tend to have more transferable skills and are less expensive?

So did I.

I realised that as the contractor market continues to grow, and entire sectors are disrupted by gig economy workers, the lines between employment and contracting are harder to see.

The arguments between choosing one over another were not as simple as I first thought!

First, I addressed the issue of ‘up-front’ cost:

The average cost of a software developer with ten years experience in the UK is £42,000 a year.

The average cost of a software developer contractor in the UK (excluding London) is £385 a day.

Average UK employees work 229 days a year.

So – if we take the contractor day rate of £385 and times it by 229 days – we create our opening position:

Simple Price Comparison for a Software Developer 

  • Employee (annual salary) = £42,000
  • Contractor (for a year) = £88,165  

On first inspection, the maths shows a stark difference: Contractors are more than twice as expensive as permanent staff.

However this crude comparison does not even start to tell the whole story.

The Hidden Costs of Employment

You must consider the full cost of employing staff versus the real cost of contracting.

Let’s group everything included in the cost of employment – and compare that to everything included in the cost of contracting.

Additional costs typically include bonus payments, employee benefit packages, tax contributions and admin support.

Average Employee Costs UK

Recruitment Costs (employee premium)£3,000
Bonus and KPI (contractors N/A)£2,000
NI Contributions (contractors N/A)£5,000
Pension (contractors N/A)£1,000
Training (employee premium)£1,000
Overhead Costs£5,000
Absence/Sickness/Holidays (Employee only)£4,000
HR/Benefits and Other (Employee only)£4,000
Total Cost£25,000
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Mobile

You can see that by adding the associated additional costs of employment, the gap between the two is hugely narrowed:

  • Employee (salary plus costs) = £67,000
  • Contractor (for a year) = £88,165   

Research shows the calculations do not stop there…

The average time to recruit in-house or through an agency for a full-time person is 11 weeks, according to QUARSH.

If you use a contractor matching service, such as ClearHub, this can be as low as two to three weeks…

…and you musn’t forget another massive hidden cost.

Business Impact Cost

Quarsh estimates that the cost of lost productivity is £7,800 on average, across all industries.

As software developers are paid almost twice the average national wage, it is fair for us to assume this cost is also higher. 

Cost of New hire (impact on business)

Average Interview Cost£1,000
Average Onboarding Cost (not inc training)£1,000
Management Time£2,600
Productivity Lost (speed Vs Contracting)£7,800
Sub Total£12,400
Adjustment vs Average (55%)£6,820
Total cost of new software developer hire£19,220
  • Employee (salary plus costs, plus new hire costs) = £86,220
  • Contractor (for a year) = £88,165   

Now we have reached a true price balance.

Once you add all the costs of employment AND take into consideration the impact of hiring on the business, the cost savings do not exist.  

But – this is based on both the contractor and the employee being hired successfully.

That’s quite an assumption!

The Cost of Unsuccessful Recruitment

As many as two in five new recruits are later deemed not right for the role, according to Collingwood.

Most good technical contractor providers (such as ClearHub), offer a free ‘switch out’ service if your contractor fails to fit your need.

The same can not be said for your employed staff.   

The figures for the UK are pretty alarming:

  • 62% of employers reported a bad hire [within the last 12 months]
  • 27% of companies say a bad hiring decision cost them over £50,000
  • 23% of employers reported a loss of productivity
  • 22% negative effect on morale
  • 16% negative effect on customer relations
  • 12% reported fewer sales

You can see how extremely difficult it is to estimate the costs of bad hires.

UK businesses are failing to hire the right person for two out of five roles – and that’s despite the significant financial costs of making mistakes.

And the negative impact of ‘bad hires’ affects employee morale, client relationships, sales, IT and productivity.

So, how do you factor the cost of this?

One fifth of all employees fail to pass their probation periods according to The Telegraph.

If we add the average cost of recruitment to the impact of new hires on business we end up with a total of £22,220 – one fifth of this is £4,444.

  • Employee (plus costs, plus new hire cost, plus re-hire costs) = £90,664
  • Contractor (for a year) = £88,165
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(At this point, I feel that it’s important to say that this is not just a UK trend. Here’s a similar comparison for the US market.)

What do these costs mean for your business?

Of course, this doesn’t mean your traditional employees are the wrong choice for your business. You must still consider your individual circumstance.

But – once you understand price balance – you can consider the full benefits of both contracting and employment to your company. And make the best decision.

Full comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of recruitment versus consultancy

Whilst I know that plenty of assumptions in this article can be challenged, the overriding theme is conclusive:

Most business drastically underestimate the cost of recruitment and significantly overstate the cost of consultancy.

This is a BIG mistake as it forces poor management choices based on flawed budgets.

In reality, vetted and qualified contractors can provide your team with a major knowledge and skills lift.

If you currently work in an office then up until now you may have been fairly insulated from the disruptive forces of the gig economy.

But, disruption in your industry is coming.

And it will be sooner and have a deeper impact than you probably imagine.

Discover more about how digital disruption is fueling the rising gig economy, or Click the image below to download the full “Hidden Costs of Employment” infographic.

Click to download your free infographic!

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