This is a guest post from Phil Scott, Managing Director of Exec Recruit Group, as part of our Recruiting Weekly Series.
With the COVID-19 crisis causing severe disruption to businesses across the UK, most recruitment agencies have been forced to allow their recruiters to work from home during this period.
This experience may have left many employers wondering if they should allow their recruiters to work from home after the lockdown period ends and what factors they need to consider to do this.
With five years’ experience running a remote working recruitment agency, Phil Scott gives his top tips and considerations for adopting a remote working model.
Is your recruiter profile and company culture suited to remote working?
Firstly, you must consider the profile of your typical recruiter. If the majority of your recruiters are trainees who need micro-managing working remotely could prove challenging.
You must also consider your company culture. Moving to a remote agency model may be a huge culture shock if your recruiters regularly attend social events, such as team drinks on a Friday. In fact, if your company actively fuels the social life of your recruiters, moving to a remote-based agency may be akin to ripping the heart out of the business.
Conversely, if your recruiters have outside interests, such as spending time with their children, or if they have a hobby and secretly hate being forced to stay late for social events, it may work out better than you might imagine.
Are you using a scientific method in your hiring process?
Testing a recruiter’s emotional intelligence and verbal reasoning skills is even more important if they are to work under their own steam.
Can they cope in periods of isolation? Can they think for themselves without a manager sat 3 feet away from them to ask the ‘how do I do this question?’
These critical elements should be explored rigorously during the interview process to avoid heartache further down the line.
Are your recruiters motivated to work from home?
Working from home could be a dream job for your recruiters, or it could be their worst nightmare.
They must have something that motivates them so that any negatives of working from home can easily be reconciled in their minds.
For example, this may include the ability to do a school run and flex their workload. Or a sporting interest or hobby that means they need to be at certain locations at differing times.
If these outside interests are their lifelong passion, then being able to satisfy this passion could be the deciding factor in making home working a success.
Does your business provide your recruiters with the right equipment?
To run a remote-based recruitment agency, you will need secure systems and technology. You may consider providing your recruiters with a laptop, mobile and desk phone.
This includes details such as providing an appropriate level of antivirus and a firewall, as well as providing them with a shredder, so they do not leave confidential information lying around unattended.
What is your working from home policy?
Your employee handbook must have a working from home policy, documenting the dos and don’ts of what you expect from them. It must include how they are expected to perform their duties in a safe and comfortable environment.
In order to protect your business from a claim in the workplace (their home), you must ensure you have the right health and safety policies and appropriate levels of insurance.
Does the recruiter have an appropriate workspace with the right infrastructure?
Your recruiters will need a workspace that is free from distraction. While working from the kitchen table is fine as a short-term solution, it’s probably not conducive to long term success.
If your systems rely on the cloud, a stable high-speed internet connection is paramount and will probably need to be able to sustain a VoIP telephone system – not all home broadband providers support this.
Further considerations…
1. Onboarding new hires
The loss of desk-side training will mean your onboarding process may need adapting slightly.
- You can construct a video library of how to run the system using applications like Loom.
- Screensharing has become commonplace through applications like Zoom and Skype.
- Most modern phones systems have listening-in modes for call training, as well as call recording and playback to access a recruiter’s phone call quality.
2. Auditing of work
In order to ensure the quality of work doesn’t slip, you need to audit the work being performed regularly. Whether this is listening to recordings of your recruiters calls or simply auditing to ensure they are using the systems correctly, check the situation regularly.
3. KPIs
Your KPIs shouldn’t require much alteration and the formula of activity should be similar. Some agencies may be affected by not having wallboards to show how many calls recruiters have made throughout the day. However, you may end up moving to KPIs built around quality rather than quantity.
4. Staff Incentives
It goes without saying that the after-work team drinks will probably be a thing of the past. However., you can still keep most of the other incentives that will drive them to succeed. Your incentives should always be appropriate for the type of recruiter you hire.
5. Staff engagement
The face-to-face Monday morning meetings may be history, but they can always be done online. After all, your staff members still need to feel a part of the business, so communication is paramount. Without this, they may not feel driven to work for the business and may start seeking another job.
6. Wellbeing & Morale
Some employees may be working in complete isolation and may be prone to mental health issues or dips in morale. To keep your recruiters motivated and happy, there are steps you can take as an employer.
1. Share reputable sources – Follow the advice from Public Health England, Health Protection Scotland and Public Health Wales. It is best to stick to reliable sources for official communications.
2. Talk to your recruiters – Keep in regular, possibly daily contact with your people – both your general employees and with managers and supervisors.
3. Encourage personal planning and self-care – Advise them to keep up a routine, by setting clear tasks for the day, having a proper lunch break, getting dressed as usual etc.
4. Promote access to support – Offer support such as Employee Assistance Programmes. If they have ongoing mental health issues, providing additional support may be useful.
5. Use technology – Encourage the use of IT and technology to keep people engaging with colleagues and clients through video and phone conversations.
6. Encourage communication with other team members – Keeping up the formal and social flow of work is essential to ensure they feel a sense of belonging. Perhaps operate a buddy system where they have a colleague to pick the brains of and have regular interaction with to ensure they do not feel they are working in solitude.
Is working from home right for your business?
Working remotely is not always the correct option for every recruitment firm. You must decide if it is right for your organisation.
Ultimately, staff members need to understand that recruitment is a results-driven business, so it is their job to do what it takes to be successful irrespective of the location where they operate from.
Author, Phil Scott – MD of Exec Recruit Group
Phil set up the Exec Recruit Group of companies in 2013 with a long-term view of building a company where like-minded and experienced recruiters could work together to form a group of recruitment brands, offering a high level of service that he felt was essential for professional services recruitment business. Phil has also worked for several established financial recruitment agencies.
Exec Recruit Group is made up of 5 brands – FD Recruit, HR Recruit, Accountancy Recruit, Interim Recruit and Executive Recruit, all operating UK-wide. For more information, visit www.execrecruitgroup.com
