Burnout is no longer just a wellbeing issue. It has become a talent retention and recruitment challenge, and organizations that fail to address it risk losing high-performing employees at an increasing rate.

According to Tiger Recruitment’s UK Salary and Benefits Guide 2026, burnout is now almost as influential as salary when employees decide to leave their jobs. In our survey of almost 1000 UK professionals, 15% reported resigning due to exhaustion, only one percentage point behind those who left for a pay increase (16%).

For HR leaders, this signals a shift in the employment landscape: pay alone is no longer enough to retain talent. The ability of managers to protect their teams from unsustainable workloads is becoming a critical differentiator.

One of the most effective ways organizations can respond is by training and upskilling managers to recognize and prevent burnout before it becomes a resignation risk.

Burnout is becoming a structural issue in many workplaces

Several workplace trends are accelerating burnout across professional roles.

Our research shows that 84% of desk-based professionals now work overtime, while 68% regularly work weekends.

At the same time, economic uncertainty has led many businesses to operate with leaner teams. Fewer permanent hires and an increased reliance on temporary staff mean that remaining employees are often absorbing additional responsibilities.

The result is a workforce that is productive but increasingly stretched.

Even when companies respond with salary increases, the effect can be limited. The guide found that 39% of professionals who received a 5–10% pay rise still plan to leave their roles within the next 12 months, demonstrating that financial incentives alone cannot resolve deeper workplace pressures.

For HR teams, this reinforces an important reality: burnout is often driven by management practices, not compensation packages.

The role of managers in preventing burnout

Managers sit at the intersection between company expectations and employee wellbeing. When they are equipped with the right skills, they can identify early warning signs and rebalance workloads before employees reach breaking point.

However, many managers are promoted based on technical expertise rather than leadership capability. Without proper training, they may unintentionally contribute to burnout by:

• Allowing workloads to grow without reassessment
• Failing to prioritize tasks effectively
• Normalizing excessive overtime
• Missing early signs of disengagement or exhaustion
• Struggling to communicate expectations clearly

Our research also highlights that culture and management quality continue to influence resignations, particularly among younger professionals and women.

Developing leadership capability is therefore not just a wellbeing initiative, it is a retention strategy.

What burnout prevention training should include

For HR leaders looking to strengthen their management teams, training programs should focus on practical leadership skills rather than abstract theory.

Key areas include:

1. Workload Management and Prioritization

Managers need to evaluate team capacity realistically and adjust workloads, particularly during hiring freezes or restructuring. This can be achieved by mapping tasks and holding regular check-ins to spot overload early. Reallocating or reprioritizing work using frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix helps ensure teams focus on the most important and urgent tasks without becoming overstretched.

2. Early Identification of Burnout Signals

Recognizing early signs of stress, such as disengagement, mistakes, or presenteeism, allows managers to intervene before issues escalate. Monitoring behavioral changes through short pulse surveys and having structured, low-pressure conversations gives employees the opportunity to raise concerns and receive support promptly.

3. Psychological Safety and Communication

Employees are far more likely to raise workload or wellbeing concerns when they feel heard and safe. Managers can foster psychological safety by leading through example, acknowledging mistakes and demonstrating openness. Establishing regular feedback loops ensures every team member has a chance to be heard and reinforces a culture of trust and collaboration.

4. Managing Hybrid and Flexible Work Effectively

With satisfaction around workplace flexibility falling to 54%, managers must ensure cohesion and productivity while supporting hybrid or flexible arrangements. Setting clear expectations and measurable goals for both remote and in-office work, along with maintaining consistent touchpoints, keeps teams aligned and connected regardless of location.

5. Supporting Mental Health and Absence Management

Empathetic leadership is increasingly important as employees expect better handling of mental health-related absence. Managers can support their teams by holding compassionate, non-judgmental conversations and planning phased returns or workload adjustments to ensure a sustainable recovery. These approaches help build resilient teams that remain engaged and productive even during challenging periods.

Why burnout prevention is also a recruitment strategy

From a hiring perspective, organizations that fail to address burnout risk damaging their employer brand.

Employees are increasingly prioritizing work–life balance when evaluating new roles, with 73% ranking it as one of the most important factors when considering job opportunities.

In a competitive hiring environment, candidates are paying closer attention to leadership quality, team culture and workload expectations.

Companies known for strong leadership and sustainable workloads will naturally have an advantage when attracting top talent.

Building a more sustainable workforce

Burnout cannot be eliminated entirely, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty or organizational change. However, businesses that invest in leadership development can significantly reduce the risk.

For HR teams, the goal should be to ensure managers are equipped not just to deliver results, but to build resilient teams that can perform sustainably over time.

As our latest research shows, employees are willing to leave roles even when salaries increase if the underlying pressures remain unresolved.

Organizations that recognize this shift and act on it by strengthening their management capability will be better positioned to retain their people and attract the next generation of talent.

The post Why training managers to prevent burnout should be a HR priority in 2026 appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

The world of Human Resources (HR) is rapidly evolving, and at the forefront of this transformation are two game-changing technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation. As we venture deeper into the digital age, HR professionals and hiring managers find themselves on the cusp of a revolution that promises to improve processes, elevate candidate experiences, and unlock the full potential of their workforce.

In this article, we’ll explore the insights of two HR experts, Lorenzo Chiozzi, HR Director at Hikvision UK & Ireland, and Tess Hilson-Greener, CEO of AI Capability Ltd, as they share their experiences and visions for the integration of AI and automation in HR. Alongside this, the article looks at the wider HR function and how areas like talent management, administration and onboarding can be developed and improved by HR teams that are willing to embrace AI and automation.

Enhancing HR Processes through AI

OpenAI, the creators of Chat GPT, published a research paper estimating that “80 percent of jobs can incorporate generative AI technology”. In HR, there is great potential for companies to incorporate AI into performance reviews, talent acquisition, evaluating large pools of candidates, administrative tasks, and other repetitive and data-driven functions. A leading thinker of AI shares this view in HR, Josh Bersin, who remarks that much of the data taken by HR is numerically focused, involving surveys, feedback forms, and data” which is then correlated with “business results against various people metrics”. This data-driven approach to HR is one that AI and automation can support, from developing best-practice employee engagement surveys to evaluating large numbers of resumes against the job requirements and a profile of a desired candidate.

In simple terms, AI frees up HR teams to complete business-critical projects by automating administrative tasks. Lorenzo Chiozzi explains, “In recruitment, you can use predictive analysis, interview scheduling, chatbots and candidate sourcing to boost productivity. Reporting has changed with predictive reporting and automated report generation.” These AI-powered applications allow HR teams to work more efficiently, saving valuable time and resources.

Tess Hilson-Greener agrees, emphasizing the diverse applications of AI and automation in HR. “These include talent acquisition and recruitment, employee engagement and performance management, workforce planning and analytics, learning and development, and HR operations and administration”. This showcases the wide range of opportunities that AI presents to HR teams, enabling them to strengthen various aspects of talent management.

Delving deeper, Workable mentions that AI can also help businesses “anticipate and plan for outcomes using predictive analytics and machine learning.” This can be especially useful for small businesses without the resources or expertise to map out detailed HR strategies. Utilizing AI can help HR teams understand best practices and case studies that AI can digest and provide actionable ideas tailored to individual organizations.

Enhancing HR Operations and Administration

AI and automation have instigated a fundamental shift for HR operations and administration, significantly reducing administrative burdens and freeing up valuable time. Lorenzo shares, “I use AI daily in some HR processes, recruitment, and in a variety of different contexts.” Tools like automated applicant tracking systems, chatbots, and virtual assistants streamline candidate interactions and deliver seamless experiences throughout the hiring process.

For those new to AI, Tess recommends starting with “policy management and reporting” and to “use Chat GPT and other AI video/voice solutions.” AI-powered chatbots can answer employees’ frequently asked questions and provide prompt assistance, enhancing employee self-service options and fostering a more efficient HR service delivery.

The efficiency of operational tasks can be improved by using AI, which can help with speeding up the onboarding and acclimatization process for new employees. An article by Oracle, referencing data compiled from 34,000 exit interviews, notes that “40% of new employees quit within the first year of being hired”. While employees choose to leave their jobs for a multitude of reasons, delays and inefficiencies in the onboarding process can lead to employees feeling overwhelmed at work, unsuited to the role, or struggling to adapt to the company’s culture or way of working.

Utilizing AI allows the onboarding process to support employees 24/7.

It can also ease the time-consuming administrative tasks involved. Furthermore, Oracle state that AI can “equip an employee with intelligent suggestions for courses or reading that will aid in day-to-day job duties”, which highlights the value that AI and automation can provide in career development too.

Mitigating Risks and Embracing Opportunities

Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index Annual Report sheds light on employee attitudes towards AI. Whilst 49% of respondents noted that they have concerns about AI replacing their jobs, 70% would be in favor of delegating as much work as possible to AI. HR teams can leverage this curiosity and act as the champions of AI and automation, to upskill employees in its wide-ranging uses.

This view is echoed by Gosia Adamczyk, speaking to HR Magazine, who suggests that HR teams should build confidence, “starting with the acceptance that these tools are here to stay”. Companies and HR teams can jump on the AI revolution and develop programs and initiatives aimed at allowing employees to harness the potential of AI in their work rather than allowing them to see it as a threat.

These initiatives still need to be developed with a degree of caution, and it’s important to remember that with any technological advancement, AI comes with risks and challenges. “It can be very dangerous if the model is trusted, as it can generate manipulation or systematic biases,” cautions Lorenzo. HR teams must ensure transparency, fairness and oversight when using AI algorithms to avoid unintended consequences. Tess adds, “To mitigate risks, organizations should ensure transparency and fairness in AI algorithms, regularly monitor and validate AI outputs, and have appropriate safeguards for data privacy and security.” Embracing opportunities with AI, while being aware of its limitations and risks, is essential to maximizing its use within HR.

Ethical Concerns and DEI

As AI and automation continue to play a more significant role in HR, addressing ethical concerns becomes crucial. Tess reminds HR professionals that, “Human oversight and review are important to catch and correct any potential biases or errors.” Ensuring AI algorithms are transparent, fair, and free from bias is paramount in upholding fairness and equality in HR practices.

Incorporating AI into DEI plans ensures that AI-driven decisions align with organizational values and promote a diverse and inclusive workplace.

By investing in AI-qualified consultants and experts, HR teams can mitigate risks and maximize the value of AI and automation in driving positive outcomes for both employees and the company.

Supporting this, Sameer Maskey remarks in a Forbes article that “AI-powered internal survey assessment tools can help HR teams conduct sentiment analysis and deploy data-driven organization initiatives that focus on employee morale and things today’s workforce considers a priority, such as diversity and sustainability.”

There’s no doubt that AI offers an important, unbiased tool for HR and talent acquisition teams in assessing employee morale and diversity within a company. And for hiring, AI can assess a wide pool of candidates without unconscious bias, not to mention provide a fresh perspective on ideas for employee engagement, for businesses that are ‘set in their ways’.

The Human Touch in HR

While AI improves efficiency, it cannot replace human empathy, creativity, and critical thinking. As Tess explains, “Balancing automation with human interaction and personalized experiences is crucial.” Lorenzo emphasizes the importance of strategic implementation, saying, “AI should be implemented strategically, always considering the human factor. AI can make happen what has always been missing in people management – the ability to read information and analytics in a holistic and meaningful way.”

Josh Bersin remarks that AI can pull together data that can be used to make better hiring decisions and likewise decide “who to promote, who to demote, and who should make it to the very top ranks of the company”. Regarding the internal movement of employees, it’s important not to rely completely on AI to make the decisions but to use human intuition and the insight of managers working with employees to ensure that balanced decisions can be made regarding an employee’s potential, suitability for a promotion, and other factors.

Likewise, AI is not yet advanced enough to accurately grasp the values, feel or culture of a company, and HR teams are best placed to decide whether benefits or initiatives are working well, rather than simply relying on data and figures to cast judgment. Small initiatives can have a large impact on employee engagement and morale, and soft benefits can be crucial in retaining and attracting talent that might be overlooked in a hiring strategy based on ‘hard data’.

The Future of HR

Both experts agree that the progression of AI and automation will have a significant impact on the future of HR. Tess predicts that “There will be new professions, and organizations that manage to crack the AI code for a practical and useful HR approach will prevail.”

The seamless integration of AI and automation will empower HR teams to make data-driven decisions, optimize talent management, and drive employee performance, ultimately ushering in a new era of HR excellence.

As generative AI develops further and becomes widespread in the workforce, new regulations will be developed to ensure that it is safe and beneficial to society. There will be plenty of firsts when it comes to AI, and Jack Aldane, writing for Global Government Forum, mentions that Romania recently “unveiled the world’s first AI government adviser.” The working world will be molded in the coming years to incorporate AI, and HR teams will be at the forefront of harnessing its capabilities while upskilling workers to utilize it fluidly, thereby firmly positioning it as an ally rather than a threat to job security.

Conclusion: A Journey of Progress

AI and automation have transformed the landscape of HR, promising to revolutionize talent acquisition, employee development, workforce planning and HR operations.

As HR professionals and hiring managers navigate this transformative journey, they must strike a balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and preserving the human touch.

Embracing AI strategically, with a keen eye on ethics, transparency and fairness, HR professionals can unlock the true potential of their workforce and create a thriving, future-proof organization.

As businesses embrace the power of AI and automation, HR’s role will evolve into a pivotal one, overseeing the co-existence of human expertise and machine intelligence in companies. Navigating this path with foresight will pave the way for HR to emerge as a strategic driver of business success, steering businesses towards a future of limitless possibilities. The journey towards HR’s AI-powered future has only just begun, and the possibilities are as exciting as they are limitless.

The post AI and Automation: HR’s Evolution into the Future appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Table of Contents

• A seismic shift
• The future is now: AI in HR
• Knowledge management and chatbots
• AI’s role in recruitment
• Improved onboarding and retention
• Data management and privacy concerns
• Leadership development with generative AI
• Tools and technologies in HR
• Future Trends

The post The Future of Artificial Intelligence in HR appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

I hosted a webinar with three mental health specialists based in the UK – Jo Yarker from Affinity Health at Work, Business Psychologist Julie Osborn and Ruth Cooper-Dickson from Champs Consulting – on their tips for employers in improving mental health in the workplace during the pandemic. 

They cover:

• Tips for managers in looking after their mental health
• The importance of wellbeing and social check-ins with employees
• The signs that employees may be suffering from mental ill health
• Tips for future planning

Watch the webinar in full below:

The post Watch: Tips to improve the mental health of employees working remotely appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Table of contents

• What is quiet quitting?
• Hustle culture backlash
• Work-life balance
• How to retain talent
• Quiet firing and quiet quitting, which came first?
• Why you shouldn’t stay silent about quiet quitting

What is quiet quitting?

On the surface, ‘quiet quitting’ may seem to be an overplayed talking point in the echo chamber of social media, but it’s clearly struck a nerve with a lot of people, and so needs to be taken seriously.

To make sense of the phenomenon it’s important to understand where the recent upsurge originated from. Quiet quitting has been thought to be a descendant of the 2021 counterculture protest in China called ‘Tang Ping’, which translates to ‘lie flat’.

Tang ping was a resistant movement to the overworking pressures and rat race culture influenced by the 996 model, where employees were working 9am-9pm six days a week. The 72 hour a week pattern, although illegal in China, was largely normalised in the workplace.

Quiet quitting, the successor of the tang ping revolt, has been widely featured in an outbreak of news across many publications, with TikTok at the heart of the noise. Part of the escalation of this trend no doubt comes from the catchy, provocative phrase, but the name quiet quitting is very misleading – as it’s not about employees quitting their jobs.

Quiet quitting is to remain in one’s job without performing above and beyond, while avoiding duties that potentially exceed the realms of their position or job description. Some people, weighing in on the debate around the term, have compared quiet quitting to simply just doing one’s job, while others have correlated quiet quitting with doing the bare minimum.

Hustle culture backlash

The exploitation of employees through overwork and unrealistic expectations is a very real problem, and one that should be tackled head-on. Since the pandemic, workers from all industries have been far more vocal against hustle culture. This has led to some fantastic progress in terms of work-life balance, mental health, and workplace benefits. Such positive change was possible thanks to employees speaking frankly and honestly with their employers, setting boundaries they could both agree on. So why go quiet now?

The silent resistance has opened the gateways on think-piece publications, with many associating quiet quitting with the term ‘acting your wage’. The idea is that people are rejecting the notion to improve their performance or the scope of their role if that exceeds their wage bracket. This turn of phrase has encouraged further conversations around the generation pay gap, where historically those on minimum wage were able to afford a better lifestyle in relation to the cost of living compared to now. With inflation and the current cost of living crisis reaching crisis-level for those on lower wages, the movement has gained more traction and, what appears to be, more followers.

We urge people who feel financially stretched by their current wage to do their research into salaries in similar job positions and to arrange a pay review with their employer. There are several ways you can prepare to ask for a pay rise confidently, easing the fear many associate with this process.

Of course, for some self-confessed quiet quitters, it’s not so much their wage that’s pushed them to reduce their efforts. Rather, they feel burnt out or underappreciated, which has led them to become disconnected from the role itself, no longer feeling engaged or driven to do more than required.

Burnout is a very legitimate issue that often goes unnoticed in the lens of everyday life. Having the available knowledge to prevent burnout is an important part of managing your work-life balance, and is something that you should be mindful of if you work in, or employ those, in high-pressure positions.

There is often an unspoken expectation, particularly for employees in entry to mid-level roles, where exposure to experience and learning somehow negates an increase in pay or overtime. Many have been outspoken on how this ‘something for nothing’ behaviour is an outdated system and no longer puts staff in good stead of a promotion and better salary. With evidence of less promotions and slowed career progression in recent years, due to an unpredictable economic climate, it is not necessarily a shock that some employees might be growing dissatisfied at work.

If you feel like it’s time for a change and new opportunities for growth, it could be time to reignite your career as, after all, being engaged in the workplace makes for much better mental health than battling through an unsatisfying and unstimulating 9-5.

Work-life balance

A healthy work-life balance is something we encourage everyone to seek, but if you do this ‘quietly’, i.e., you don’t express to your employer the boundaries you’ve set for yourself, all they will see is an employee that seems distant or unengaged. They may even believe that this contained approach reflects your maximum output, which puts your job, and any later jobs you may apply for, in a precarious position. For how could a previous employer give a strong reference if they’ve never seen your peak performance?

The rise of quiet quitting has coincided with a wave of ‘self-worth’ information on TikTok. The consensus from these types of posts is that the lines are often blurred between the value you attribute to yourself in your professional life and your personal one. It suggests that by detaching these two identities, you will allow yourself to become content with a mediocre performance in your work life. Even with the strategic aid of mental separation, embracing a lacklustre attitude could be a hinderance to your own progression and self-esteem outside of the office.

Yes, you may give yourself more time for your family, friends and passions, but being apathetic at work is likely to upset your mental wellbeing, and sometimes ease can be a greater threat than hardship. Why not strive for a career that truly engages you and inspires your best work?

Our specialist consultants are experts in matching your skills, experience and interests to your next position. So, if you’re ready to find a job that rekindles your love for work, and leaves you energised for your down-time, submit your details today.

How to retain talent

With the ‘great resignation’ still an ongoing issue, many businesses are rightly concerned by the clamour around quiet quitting. They may be looking at employee productivity, trying to work out if any of their staff have been caught up in the trend, and how they can put a stop to it.

For these employers, it’s crucial that you don’t point fingers or call it laziness, but instead look at how you could improve conditions for your employees. Rise and grind culture is so prevalent that even the most progressive companies can suffer from overworked staff, just by trying to stay competitive.

Disengaged employees tend to be the victim of being overworked without company support and benefits. Benefits don’t have to be a financial strain on the company, and when it comes to retaining employees, they could very well be a deal breaker. You can keep employees happy without spending money with simple techniques that may even improve productivity at work.

That being said, promotions and employee incentives can’t be undervalued. Recognising when an employee is deserving of a promotion is just as paramount to whether an employee decides to quietly quit or quit altogether. Loosing valuable employees may feel like something that can’t be avoided, but by implementing a considered retention strategy you are likely to move closer to a more stable team.

Furthermore, paving the way for positive morale in the workplace not only makes for loyal and committed staff, but also a rise in productivity, as workers feel better connected to colleagues and what they’re collaboratively trying to achieve. As an employer steering the ship in a fast-paced workforce, it can be overwhelming to say the least, but making time for morale boosting exercises is possible without financial implications to the business.

Communication is of course, central to all of these strategies and approaches. By creating an environment where employees feel comfortable voicing their concerns and desires, a business can continually adjust benefits and office conditions to create the perfect culture for top performance. This show of good faith to a workforce is highly likely to be reciprocated, and you’ll find that employees will go above and beyond without even being asked. After all, a happy workforce is a productive one!

It’s always been seen as an implicit rule that to hold a steady job, you’ll need to go the extra mile, often without recognition or increased salary. But as reiterated above, employees are increasingly getting impatient with this concept and are simply calling it outdated and not ‘good enough’. Setting competitive salaries that match industry standards should be your first point of call. You can pre-order Tiger’s 2023 Salary and Benefits Review here.

Quiet quitting is an understandable attempt by some to fight back against what they see as unfair expectations, but by being equally unspoken, they could miss the chance to affect real change. Employers must encourage their employees to engage in conversations about the state of the workplace, without the fear of consequences.

Quiet firing and quiet quitting, which came first?

‘Quiet firing’ is just as misleading as quiet quitting. Employers are not outright firing their staff, just like quiet quitters are not actually quitting their jobs. Instead, employers are intentionally creating a work environment that is hostile enough for an employee to resign.

We strongly discourage employers to quiet fire their staff, as it risks professional reputation and creates a toxic work atmosphere. But unfortunately, it’s more common than people care to admit. It begs the question, why are employers quiet firing?

There are a multitude of possible causes to the problem, but when it comes to quiet firing, it all starts with the hiring process. At Tiger, we emphasise the importance of hiring the right candidate who is not only capable of excelling within the job, but is also the right character and fit for the team and values of the business. Read our employer’s guide to interview and selection.

After you’ve hired a suitable candidate, it’s essential to set realistic expectations of what they can accomplish, which may be heavily reliant on the handover and training process. For those selected for a role with less experience, finding what their interests are and nurturing their talent is just as important as capitalising on their strengths.

Why you shouldn’t stay silent about quiet quitting

With the heavy opinions from all angles around quiet quitting, it can be difficult to break through the noise and to reach a conclusion on how to tackle the issue in the workplace. Although quiet quitting is a new buzzword with varying definitions, it is clear that disengaged or unhappy employees should not remain stagnant in a situation that may be damaging to their own mental health, and which could have a knock-on effect on several levels.

It is clear that the quiet quitting trend is encouraging a divide in the workplace. In fact, the use of the term highlights one of the biggest roadblocks to a good relationship between both employers and employees – communication.

As a bridge between both sides, we’ve seen first-hand, the importance of communication at work from the earliest stages of the hiring process. We’ve seen how open, transparent discussion can lead to excellent workplace cultures and boosted productivity. This latest trend shouldn’t be an excuse for both sides to be at loggerheads, but should be an opportunity to work together towards meaningful change.

The post What is quiet quitting? The quiet trend with a lot of noise appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

If you’re in a personal assistant job, you may have considered moving into a more flexible role. Flexible working has been increasing in popularity for a number of years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the idea of hybrid working to mainstream attention.

It’s not hard to see why the popularity of working from home is on such a sharp rise. Offering additional flexibility, removing the need to commute and higher levels of productivity, it is often a preferred option for many full-time workers. However, just like any endeavor, working virtually presents its own challenges, not least isolation and overworking. Below, we look at the pros and cons of remote working.

Advantages of remote working

An environment to suit you

One of the most commonly noted benefits of remote working is flexibility. It allows you to adapt your working hours based on your schedule and accommodate tasks that require being at home. It also allows you to adapt your working environment to your needs, changing the lighting, temperature, setting and background noise as needed.

More time, more money

Working from home also reduces the need for a commute, saving time and money and increasing morale – after all, who wants to spend hours traveling to and from work? These time savings can also result in a better work/life balance, as you have more time for maintaining your physical and mental health.

Master your to-do list

From a productivity perspective, virtual workers are reported to get more work done, as meetings become more effective and there are less distractions in the form of co-workers. You may also find you take fewer sick days as a remote worker, as you’re less likely to take a day off for a mild illness. Taking less time off makes it easier to stay on top of your workload and deliver outcomes effectively and efficiently.

Build your self-reliance

There are also opportunities for personal and professional development that come from independent working. Being separate from most people within your company and the influence of your colleagues will force you to become more resourceful and solve problems by yourself. For example, you might be able to do a quick Google search to solve a minor IT problem, rather than approaching the IT department as a first port of call. You might even be able to pick up a few additional skills along the way by watching online tutorials, which can help to boost your professional confidence.

Challenges of remote working

Lack of socializing

Working remotely also has its challenges. For starters, working from home is often isolating and can see you not talking to anyone for hours on end. In line with this, maintaining an employee community and connection to your colleagues can prove difficult. With no way to chat over a cup of tea or check in to see how your colleagues are faring, there are fewer opportunities to connect, engage and build a sense of camaraderie. It also reduces your exposure to the overall company mission and values, as you are removed from the office environment.

No more 9 to 5

Virtual working can make switching off difficult, as the boundaries of working hours may become blurred – is it appropriate to be answering emails at 7pm? According to research from Zapier, remote workers are more likely to overwork, as the lack of the office routine makes it harder to disregard tasks outside of business hours.

This is supported by findings from a report from the UN’s International Labor Organisation (ILO), which found that 42% of regular home workers dealt with insomnia, while 41% suffered from stress. This was attributed to the blurring of boundaries between professional and personal lives and the ease of which workers can complete supplemental tasks outside of traditional working hours.

Losing motivation

For some, working from home also introduces the risk of slacking off or getting distracted. Without your team or managers around you to spur you on, it can become harder to stay engaged, or perhaps that quick home task takes longer than expected, or you’re distracted by a visitor. It also restricts performance monitoring and, in some instances, can increase the danger of being overlooked for promotions and career progression.

—

The pros and cons of working from home are highly influenced by personality types; some thrive in a quiet, self-motivated setting, while others work best in the buzz of a busy office. Finding the right balance is important for you to excel in your job and career.

If you’re looking for a remote working role or to transition to a virtual job, Tiger can help, register with us today!

The post The benefits and challenges of working from home appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

It’s been called ‘The Future of Work’ and ‘The Next Great Disruption’, but does hybrid working make sense for your business?

The pandemic forced us all to adapt to new realities, not the least of which was the swift and sometimes stressful shift to remote working for a huge number of employees. While many of us initially saw this as a short-lived solution, as the lockdowns dragged on, it increasingly became a way of life.

With studies last year indicating more than half of employers expect a surge in flexible work requests from their employees after the pandemic, it’s clear the hybrid option needs to be given serious consideration if a company wants to stay at the forefront of their industry. In fact, even before the pandemic, research found that as many as 87% of us wanted more flexibility in our work structure, so it’s no wonder that it has become the preferred way to live and work for a lot of Tiger’s candidates.

However, not every employer is convinced by the new dynamic, and feel that its merits remain unproven. This cautious approach could prove costly in the long run though, as we’re seeing candidates go so far as to turn down roles that require 5 days a week in the office. So, in what ways can flexible working be shown to provide benefits for both parties?

Focus on what’s achieved, not what’s perceived

As we’ve mentioned in a recent Forbes article, the pandemic had a significant effect on the culture of presenteeism and long-hours working. The happy result of the reduced micromanagement was that both employers and employees could stop measuring their worth on sometimes misleading metrics like number of hours worked, and focus instead on what has actually been achieved. Less clock-watching takes a load off employees’ minds and frees up much-needed mental energy for delivering exceptional work.

Lower costs on office space

Post-lockdown studies have shown that, on average, surveyed companies are reducing their office space by 30%. These companies are shifting to flexible work options like hot desks, with fewer staff on-site on a given day. Of course, this can reduce overheads significantly, and a quieter office has its own perks, as we’ll see in the next point.

Empowering all personalities in your workforce

Naturally, working from home isn’t for everybody, and many employees thrive in a busy, fast-paced office. But we often neglect those who hit peak performance in quieter settings. Flexible working gives these employees more control of their environment, so they can maximize their productivity and work to their natural rhythms.

A less stressful commute

With more employees taking up the option of a hybrid work-week, the once ubiquitous morning sight of packed trains, buses and gridlocked traffic isn’t such a sure bet anymore. With fewer nerve-jangling commutes, employees are arriving to offices still brimming with morning energy and raring to go. Companies can also offer commute-easing incentives to encourage employees into the office more regularly, such as cycle-to-work schemes, hot desks in more nearby offices, and flexible start times.

Stay ahead in a competitive talent market

Increased market confidence has put the ball back in the employees’ and jobseekers’ court, and businesses hoping to attract the top talent would do well to keep flexible working at the forefront of their offers. This type of tailored benefit shows respect for employees’ wellbeing, and could give you the edge over your competitors.

Increased job satisfaction

Another welcome effect of increased employee autonomy is a deeper sense of satisfaction in their role. They feel more valued and trusted by their employers, and a greater ownership over the work they’re doing. They are thus much more likely to remain loyal to their company, and are a great advert for attracting further talent.

It’s more and more apparent that flexible, hybrid working is here to stay, and is becoming a key enticement for talent. At Tiger, we can help you find that talent from a wide range of highly skilled candidates around the world. Please get in touch today to find out how we can help you find your next great hire.

The post Reasons to adopt a flexible working policy appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

We sat down with Head of New York, Amy Laiker, to learn about her experience with setting up Tiger’s New York staffing agency, and her advice for UK companies making the same move across to the Big Apple.

Why would a UK business want to move over to the US?

Firstly, it’s a much bigger pool of clients and consumers which means a bigger outreach for your product or service. This allows businesses to increase their growth and maturity. Rather than just operating in London, expanding to the US elevates your business to another level. I’ve found that New York has some of the most critical and creative thinkers in the US, so it’s natural for successful UK businesses to want a piece of the pie.

Is that why Tiger has decided to make a move?

Absolutely! In our case, there are more candidates and clients in the New York market than in London, which allows us to take advantage of more opportunities with global businesses. Also, a lot of our clients have their head offices or other outposts in New York. As we already have a presence as recruiters in NYC, it felt like a natural move to set up on the ground out there too.

Do your UK clients have any misconceptions about hiring in the US?

I wouldn’t say clients have misconceptions, but some clients don’t yet understand the landscape over there, because it’s so different! Everything from US culture to company benefits and salaries is foreign to us in the UK. For example, what might seem like a really good salary and benefits package in London doesn’t always translate in the US. This is because candidates in the US can’t access the NHS or statutory pension and the cost of living is often higher, so the package should increase. This is what I’ve found to be the differences personally when coming from the UK and setting up a business in the US!

How are the ways of attracting talent different between the UK and the US?

New York’s market is a lot more competitive than London, from what I’m seeing! There are many more candidates as it’s the business hub of the US. This elevates the competition and makes the quality of talent very high. In terms of attraction, candidates in the US might consider a hard benefits package to be more important than some jobseekers in the UK, as companies don’t offer the statutory requirements that UK candidates take for granted.

For example, in London, softer benefits such as free breakfasts or flexible working options may attract candidates, while a jobseeker in the US might chose a role with a good private healthcare package due to the lack of publicly funded healthcare there. Some candidates are even willing to take a lower salary with better benefits to feel secure in terms of their healthcare and pension.

Are salaries between the two markets different?

From what I’m seeing, New York salaries seem to pay more. For example, a client may pay up to £65K/£70K for a great, senior finance EA in London. By comparison, the same role in New York might offer $120K-$130K (£90K-£110K). This increase translates across all roles in the market, and is something employers should be aware of.

How do benefits differ? What are candidates expecting in the US?

The US doesn’t offer statutory benefits, so it means that the types of benefits offered varies hugely across the board! For example, some companies are only offering five to ten holiday days, whereas tech giants Google and Netflix are offering unlimited holidays. I believe any forward-thinking companies will offer the right benefits, including dental, vision and contributions to employees’ 401K. Candidates may also expect relocation packages if coming from another city or country.

Any other tips for our clients moving to the US in attracting great talent?

You must offer competitive salaries and benefits, as well as do your homework to make sure these are in line with your competitors! Companies may also need to factor in the costs of relocating staff and any legal and tax implications they’ll face when moving. It’s a costly process, but once established, you should reap the benefits pretty quickly.

For me, the number one thing is to successfully emulate their UK company culture in their new US office. The fundamental reason a business has been successful up to this point is the people you’ve employed and the culture you’ve created, so it’s important to maintain this. Many companies find the best way to do this is to send someone from their UK business over to the US.  It takes more time to set the company up this way, but the added value should be worth the wait.

For me, creating the right culture at Tiger New York is at the forefront of my mind. This is particularly important in start-up phase, as the second hire is going to have a significant bearing on how your business grows.

Tiger Recruitment is a secretarial and personal assistant recruitment agency in New York City. If you’re looking to hire business support staff, contact us today!

The post Our tips on moving your UK business over to the US appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Onboarding staff is one of the most integral stages to the recruitment process. As you know, carrying out comprehensive and effective onboarding ensures that your employees will have the best possible chance of successfully integrating into their new role, team and company. Conversely, poor onboarding may impact turnover, staff morale and training which can prove to be a costly exercise.

So, how do employers onboard effectively during a global pandemic?

A guide to onboarding remotely

Coronavirus has forced businesses around the world to transition to working from home, and many are asking for tips for onboarding best practice. The good news is that, with proper planning and guidance, it can be done well.

Throughout the remote onboarding process, it’s important to remember that new starters may feel an increased level of stress and anxiety. While there will be the usual worries around starting a new job, how they will adapt and perform, they may also be processing fears around job security or their health during the pandemic. With this in mind, regular check-ins and extra learning time are all the more important for them to learn the ropes.

If you’ve never onboarded remotely before

If, like many businesses, you’ve never onboarded a new starter remotely, there are a few things to prepare before you start. First, decide who’ll lead the onboarding process – typically this will either be a member of HR or the line manager. Whoever it is, they’ll need to be available to be quite hands-on throughout the first month as they’ll be busy facilitating regular video calls and training sessions. They should also create a realistic four-week agenda for the new starter to help structure the process.

Next, IT will need to facilitate the software or technology needed (including training platforms, video or messaging technology) and the logistics of shipping laptops, computers and other hardware to the employee.

Finally, notify the wider business that you’ll be onboarding remotely and ask for their cooperation and remote onboarding tips. It’s essential to include as many people as possible to the process as this will help create connections and improve your new starters’ integration within the wider team.

Before the new starter starts

Given the uncertainty of the current market, check in with your new starter before their start date to reassure them everything will go ahead as planned, as this will go a long way to alleviate any concerns.

We spoke to one of our personal assistant candidates, Jordan, who was recently onboarded remotely by a global management consultancy firm in London. Jordan explained that, “there’s so much anxiety coming into a new (virtual) workplace at this sort of time, so when HR called to reassure me everything was going ahead and I would have my hardware and agenda by a certain day, it really helped. They really put themselves in my shoes and answered every question that I thought of but was too afraid to ask.”

Sending a starter pack can also go a long way to making new employees feel excited and welcomed. This could include an agenda for the first month, a staff handbook, any applicable handover notes, HR policies, a personalized welcome letter from the owner/CEO/MD, company values and information on annual leave and benefits. If possible, try and be creative – you could include branded merchandise such as a notebook, pen, mug, USB stick and a small pot plant, for example. If you already have a starter pack in place, adapt it to include step-by-step instructions on using the systems and clear contact information for key members of staff.

Download this remote onboarding checklist to help ensure everything is organized before the start date.

First day of remote onboarding

The first day is one of the most important in the remote onboarding process. Start by sending around a company-wide email to introduce the new starter. Next, video call the new starter to run through the agenda for the week. If you’re in the HR team and have set up orientation video calls with the employee’s team and manager, offer to act as a friendly face by sitting in on these initial introductions. These calls should set out the onboarding plan, including training, set expectations and any short- and long-term goals around workload.

Lastly, organize an HR catch up for the first week, which will give them an opportunity to ask about company-specific information like the annual leave policy, benefits, the HR portal and essential contacts for IT and other team members.

First week of remote onboarding

For the rest of the first week, organize training sessions with members of their team. If you’ve organized a work buddy, ask them to talk the new starter through company culture and values (including what to expect when everyone returns to the office).

Later in the week, start introducing other managers/key staff in the company to explain what they do and how they’re likely to work with your new recruit. This will help them understand the structure of the company, especially when they can’t see it in-person at the office.

To help foster a sense of camaraderie, set up 20-minute social calls with members of the team to learn about each other on a personal level. There’s only one rule – they can’t talk about work!

Finally, organize a debrief at the end of the first week. Go over the agenda to ensure everything has been completed and the new starter is happy with their progress.

Jordan found the main challenge of the first week to be “information overload”, as new employees are left to their “own devices to try and make sense of [new information]”. As such, the person responsible for onboarding should make themselves as available as possible to the new starter so they don’t feel overwhelmed.

It’s a good idea to break up video meetings with training sessions and social calls to prevent them from feeling inundated with information. There’s the possibility the onboarding process will take more time than it would normally in the office, so feel free to space out training sessions as necessary.

Download this sample calendar as a remote onboarding plan template for the first four weeks of a new starter’s agenda.

Remote onboarding best practice

The agenda for onboarding a candidate remotely will be different for every business. However, employers should always keep in mind the following best-practice tips to ensure a successful process.

Above all, ensure the new starter feels supported by the business by having access to HR, their manager or their work buddy at all times. In her new company, Jordan was assigned a buddy who called her regularly over the first two weeks. She said they “talked about things outside of work, like what we’re watching on Netflix. This was so important because you’ve lost the social interaction you’d normally have in an office.”

Put time aside to introduce the new starter to the company’s values and culture, as this is something they may not absorb by themselves at home. You can do this by encouraging socializing with virtual coffee dates and team-building activities. Jordan explained that because “more people have reached out now I’m at home than if we were in the office, I feel a lot happier in my role.” As her company has taken time to include her in social activities like “Friday beers via Zoom and company-wide quizzes to meet people,” she’s been left with a positive impression of the workplace and its culture.

While setting out the agenda before the employee starts is essential, a top remote onboarding tip is to review it on a weekly basis via 1:1 check-ins. Listen to feedback and adapt if necessary. There’s no need to put an excessive amount of pressure on someone starting a new role, as this may foster negative feelings. Jordan reiterates that employers should “think in the shoes of the person who has come on remotely. It’s really, really overwhelming so you need to make time to check in!”

For longer-term performance and training/development goals, aim to review on a monthly and quarterly basis. This will reassure your new starter that you’re invested in their growth within the company.

Resources

If you’re looking for an onboarding guide for managers to help you prepare the right tools, below are a few resources that may help.

Essential check-in questions

When conducting regular check-ins, ask the right questions in case you need to adapt the process accordingly. Below are some example questions to ask new starters throughout the onboarding process:

• How has the onboarding process been for you?
• Are you happy in your role?
• What’s your favorite part of the role?
• What are you finding most challenging?
• What do you think of the company culture?
• Is there anything you want me to go over again with you?
• Is there anything I can do to make this experience easier?
• How do you feel about using the system/tech/software?

Virtual training tools

If your company isn’t familiar with virtual training, we’ve compiled a list of tools you can use to onboard the new starter. These include:

• Screen sharing/1:1 learning via video meeting software like Zoom or Skype
• Internal online courses/orientation videos
• External online courses via providers such as New Skills Academy
• Creating simple quizzes via Google forms or Survey Monkey

Tiger Recruitment is working to bring you content that is both interesting and relevant to the current situation. Read our guide on choosing the right candidate for the job for more guidance.

The post A remote onboarding guide for managers appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

While recruitment activity has slowed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still job seekers who are being offered fantastic new positions. If you’re one of them, congratulations! This may well mean that you find yourself in a video call with HR for an exit interview soon.

Volunteering general feedback about your employer can sometimes be an uncomfortable experience, so we’ve provided eight exit interview tips to help you prepare.

What to do in your exit interview

Do: Prepare like you would for any interview

Treat this interview as you would any other and prepare accordingly beforehand. Google some sample exit interview questions that are typically asked and practice answering them. Regardless of why you’ve chosen to leave, it’s important to provide thoughtful answers that will help the company improve in the future.

Do: Act professionally

You should remain professional right through to the very end. It will keep the door open for potential opportunities in the future and won’t diminish your chances of receiving a positive employer reference.

Do: Discuss the positives

Try to highlight the positive aspects of the role you’re leaving, even if it’s been the worst job you’ve ever had. It can be anything from the benefits package to the office facilities. This will help to balance out any negative points that may become apparent during the course of the conversation. It also displays a high level of professionalism and awareness on your part.

Do: Exit on good terms

When all is said and done, the aim is to leave the interview room on good terms. Make it clear that you are thankful for every opportunity the company has provided. Even if there is some resentment on your part, it’s better to leave on a positive note and have a clean slate for your new job.

What not to do in your exit interview

Don’t: Vent with no constructive feedback

Your exit interview is not the time to discuss petty grievances with your colleagues. Avoid discussing colleagues unless you’re specifically asked to do so. If it does come up, stay clear of slander and only provide reasonable examples that support a valid argument.

You can discuss your ‘suggested areas of improvement’ for the company, but it’s important to remain tactful in your approach.

Don’t: Brag about your new role

Your interviewer will probably ask about your reasons for leaving. While you may be jubilant about leaving, it’s important to avoid boasting as it’ll come across as discourteous. Just keep it short and to the point. For example, if you’re excited that this move is a step up in your career (with a considerable salary increase), you could mention that the new position gives you more responsibility than your existing one.

Don’t: Raise issues that the company cannot address

Any good employer will be looking to improve the workplace using your feedback. As such, you’ll want to refrain from expressing sweeping statements with no rational explanation. They’re not actionable and don’t give off the best impression of you. While preparing for your interview, try to come up with suggestions for how certain situations could be improved in the future.

Don’t: Be unresponsive

You’re probably familiar with the term, “if you have nothing good to say, don’t say it at all”? While this may be great advice in general, don’t apply it to your exit interview. Being unreasonably tight-lipped could be viewed as patronizing and won’t help the process. The interviewer will respect your honesty as long as you keep it relevant to the exit survey questions being asked.

If you’re looking for a job, we continue to update our live job listings daily. Make sure to also check out our insights page for helpful resources to help navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author bio: This article was written by Check-a-Salary^[1] . Check-a-Salary provides insight on earnings collated across multiple sources for every position in the UK.

^[1] www.checkasalary.co.uk

The post Do you struggle with exit interviews? Here are eight dos and don’ts to help! appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

With 2020 quite literally around the corner, you may have already started your resolutions list for next year, but did you know only 43%[1] of people will actually keep their resolutions past February? To help you avoid this fate, we’ve put together five career New Year resolution ideas with our tips on how to maintain them!

Learn a new skill

If you’re looking to sharpen your language skills, master a particular software system, or become an expert at a specific aspect of your role, make learning a new skill is your resolution! First step: Get specific. Think about exactly what you want to learn, how you want to learn it and in what timeframe before you write that target down. It may help to stick up a visual reminder around your desk so you can refer to it when you need a reminder or motivation. It’s also important to construct manageable goals within a measurable time, as there’s no use deciding to become fluent in German without giving yourself a time frame. A word to the wise – try to focus on only one goal, as having multiple focuses may throw off your progress!

Network

This is a great resolution if you’re looking for a new job in New York, or hoping to expand your professional circle. One quick Google search will reveal that there are hundreds of networking opportunities every month around the city, so there’s no excuse not to attend regularly. A few places to start include the app Meetup, Eventbrite, or even on social channels like Facebook groups. If you’re looking for PA jobs in New York City, have a goal after every session, like collecting five business cards, or gaining a new connection on LinkedIn. A great way to inspire motivation is to find a buddy to go with you, whether they be a colleague or in your friendship group, as you’re more likely to keep each other accountable. Just ensure that you encourage each other to work the room separately once you’re there!

Find a work mentor

With this New Year resolution, aim to find a role model within your business or elsewhere, that you look up to. Figure out what you need help with, then identify someone who has that skill. For example, if you’d like to progress to a leadership position within the next year, find someone who you get along with and look up to as a good leader. Start by asking your potential mentor for a coffee, and follow up this initial meeting with an email with a few clear goals that you’d like to achieve together. Remember, don’t become disheartened if, over the course of the mentorship, you receive constructive criticism, as it’s all part of the process. Commit to the mentorship with regular, scheduled one-on-one meetings for best results.

Promotion

This resolution sounds great in theory, but it can actually be a lot of work to prepare to ask for a promotion and successfully receive one! A good place to start is by using an appraisal or 1:1 meeting to let your manager know you’re aiming for the next step on the career ladder. This can also offer a great opportunity to discuss your paths to progress, which may include taking on a new project, mentoring someone in the team, or undertaking any necessary training. When it comes time to ask for the promotion, you’ll need to be able to prove how you’ve helped your manager and the company significantly with specific achievements and figures. Remember, a positive attitude at work and determination to do your job well won’t go unnoticed either!

If your New Year’s resolution is to find a new job but you don’t know where to start, we can help! Submit your details online today, or look at our live job listings

[1] https://www.sundried.com/blogs/training/research-shows-43-of-people-expect-to-give-up-their-new-year-s-resolutions-by-february

The post How to keep your career resolutions past the New Year appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Diversity continues to be one of the most salient issues for hiring managers and leadership teams. With very little empirical evidence to suggest a series of best practices, it is a challenge that requires serious investment, with ongoing research, experimentation and feedback.

Table of contents

• What is diversity and inclusion?
• Why is diversity and inclusion important to me?
• How to create a diversity and inclusion plan (webinar)
• How can you raise awareness of diversity, equality and inclusion?
• Effective diversity initiatives
• Diversity in recruitment
• The future of diversity and inclusion practices

What is diversity and inclusion?

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace is the term to describe the complete participation, respect, acknowledgement, acceptance of employees, regardless of their age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or physical abilities.

Why is diversity and inclusion important to me?

The benefits of establishing a diverse workplace are undisputed – a multi-faceted workforce has also been shown to improve engagement and productivity, encourage creativity and lead to a more innovative working environment.

Yet, the current state of play shows there is still plenty to be done. Worldwide Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020 sparked a larger conversation about the state of diversity in every sphere, including business. While this is something that many (particularly those from underrepresented groups) have spoken out about for a long time, it took this global event to be a catalyst for many companies to create better diversity and inclusion practices.

In 2018, the Missing Pieces Report, published by the Alliance for Board Diversity and Deloitte found that 34% of Fortune 500 board seats are held by women and minorities. This falls short of the target of 40% of seats held by those from underrepresented backgrounds by 2020.

When it comes to gender diversity, women made up 25% of executives in Fortune 100 companies and only 22.5% of executive committees at Fortune 500 companies in 2018 [2]. While this is progress on the figures in 2016 (where only 20.2% Fortune 500 sets were held by women), in certain industries, there is more work to be done. For example, Facebook has reported that the number of women working at the company was only 23% in 2019, (up from 15% in 2014) and there has been no increase in the 6% of black technical workers at Apple over five years [3].

How to create a diversity and inclusion plan

In August 2020, Tiger hosted a webinar with three diversity and inclusion specialists, Simon Fanshawe, Partner at Diversity by Design and Co-founder of Stonewall; Holiday Phillips, Founder and Chief Wisdom Officer at KULA; and Sarah Ramsden, a Management Consultant at The Clear Company. They discussed the increased interest in diversity and inclusion and how employers can create a sustainable diversity and inclusion plan for their businesses. Watch the webinar below.

How can you raise awareness of diversity, equality and inclusion?

Raising awareness of diversity, equality and inclusion within the workplace can be difficult. An important place to start is to know your ‘why’ – once you understand your motivation, you can start to target the areas of D&I your business is lacking. A broad, one-size-fits-all policy is not going to be effective in this area. Instead, create measurable metrics that make sense to your business and put in place specific initiatives based on these.

While most businesses are aware of the benefits of diversity, it can continue to be a huge challenge to see positive changes in modern workplaces. There are a few reasons for this:

The first complication lies in the simplification of the concept.

“It’s not enough to want diversity. Every team, office and business needs to decide why diversity is going to help them improve and go from there,” says Simon Fanshawe OBE, co-founder of consultancy, Diversity by Design.

For Aubrey Blanche, Global Head of Diversity and Belonging at software giant Atlassian, the term doesn’t do enough to represent the issue as a whole.

“I’m actually not a fan of the word ‘diversity’. According to Atlassian’s research, people associate the word ‘diversity’ with people who come from underrepresented backgrounds, rather than being about everyone,” she says.

“According to Atlassian’s 2018 State of Global Diversity & Inclusion Report, 68% of tech workers in the UK identify women as an important part of the diversity discussion, but the drop off is steep for other groups (and severe for identities in majority groups).”

This unintended exclusion of certain identities from the conversation is a key contributor to a lack of progress in representation: “Businesses should strive to create teams with a balance of perspectives – which is strongly influenced by our identities and life experience,” says Aubrey.

Simon agrees, noting that organisations need to value the difference people can bring: “Research says high-performing teams work because they have an ability to encompass and embrace difference and set new norms of ways of working,” he says.

In fact, it is these situations that positive diversity results, or diversity dividends, come about. Scott E. Page, a University of Michigan professor in complex systems and political science argues that “when solving problems, diversity may matter as much, or even more than, individual ability.”

Other benefits of diverse hiring include improved employer branding, better hiring management practices, increased employee satisfaction and better business performance.

Effective diversity initiatives

So, what practical steps can businesses take to start their journey of creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace culture?

While successful initiatives will differ depending on the company, size and culture, examples of effective diversity initiatives can include:

• Empathetic leadership – every leader should have a personal interest in creating diversity and be able to promote this in their daily actions
• Facilitate mentor ships, sponsorship, networks and training opportunities for employees from underrepresented backgrounds
• Sustainable, ongoing training programs for diversity and inclusion (rather than a one-off session)
• Implementing flexible working policies, including equal parental leave
• Taking part in external events celebrating underrepresented groups, such as Pride

With these in mind, it’s clear diversity initiatives need to go beyond quotas and broad policies.

“Good intentions are not enough. Leaders have to see the value in the process, but research tells us we can’t re-educate.” Simon says.

“Creating a new norm is fundamentally important to the ways we change our behaviors.”

At Atlassian, the concept is ingrained into their mission, with each employee expected to contribute according to their role. Taking a data-informed approach, they measure, experiment, learn and iterate, and where possible, share these findings with the global tech industry, recognizing that it’s an industry-level problem that requires broad solutions.

“We’ve pioneered a team-level approach to measuring workforce diversity, and have used those insights to drive a greater sense of belonging among our global workforce,” says Aubrey.

Depending on the company and industry, the success of initiatives will vary. The steps to improving diversity in tech startups, for example, will differ compared to a global investment bank.

When it comes to attracting groups like return-to-work parents, initiatives like flexible working are critical. However, without support from management, businesses will be unlikely to retain these talented individuals.

Diversity in recruitment

Diversity in businesses starts with recruitment practices. While some businesses have started to change up their traditional processes in an attempt to minimize bias (by using blind resumes, increasing skills testing and standardized interview questions), others are completely revamping their hiring activities.

One particular win for Atlassian was a growth in technical female hires in entry-level graduate roles to 57% over two years, as well as an increase of overall hiring of women in technical roles to 18%. To do this, Aubrey and her team deployed a number of strategies.

“First, we created branding that appealed to a broader variety of candidates. Our Talent Brand Team updated our careers site to include a more balanced set of Atlassians, and highlighted a more inclusive set of perks and benefits that appealed to people at different points in their life, like career growth opportunities, comprehensive healthcare, and emergency backup childcare,” says Aubrey.

“These changes made most people coming to the site feel like they recognized not only themselves, but the type of activities, social occasions, and work settings they wanted to work in,” she continues.

The second element was to re-examine the requirements of a role.

“According to Hewlett Packard, the majority of women won’t apply for jobs unless they think they meet all the criteria posted. However, most men will apply even if they only meet 60% of listed requirements.”

“We now write job advertisements with requirements as the lowest barrier to entry, instead of a wish list for a magical unicorn,” continues Aubrey.

For Simon, re-designing the recruitment process away from requirements is essential to encouraging diverse mindsets.

“Most diversity work that goes on doesn’t involve enough re-design. When hiring or promoting, businesses need to think very hard about what the team or group is trying to achieve,” he says.

“From there, they need to establish the criteria they want to hire against and question these rigorously. They also need to consider why they are wanting to diversify and what kind of diversity would make their ability to achieve that goal better.”

This process will ensure that potential candidates are chosen on essential criteria alone, rather than any unconscious bias.

One of the other ways businesses can eliminate this bias is through AI. Atlassian has also found success with Textio, an augmented writing platform that helps them identify the highest-impact language in their job ads and highlights subtly gendered works within their copy.

The future of diversity and inclusion practices

With all this in mind, where do businesses go from here? For Simon, it’s not about shifting thinking, but acknowledging that bias exists and creating new norms that remove the need to make decisions that encourage it.

“Research tells us we can’t re-educate out of these decisions but we have to re-design processes.”

He encourages businesses to reject the idea of culture fit and instead bank on individualities: “The new norms come from a combination of difference and that’s where you get the dividends from diversity.”

“The most interesting thing about other people is how they are different from you, not how they are the same,” Simon finishes.

For Aubrey, the objective is simple: “The ultimate goal is to build a balanced team, in terms of skill and ability as well as varied life experiences and knowledge people bring to the table.”

1. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/center-for-board-effectiveness/us-cbe-missing-pieces-report-2018-board-diversity-census.pdf

2. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/center-for-board-effectiveness/us-cbe-missing-pieces-report-2018-board-diversity-census.pdf

3. https://www.wired.com/story/five-years-tech-diversity-reports-little-progress/

The post Re-designing diversity: from shortfalls to success appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Diversity is no longer a buzzword. It’s business-critical.

Most of us would agree that diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a positive thing for the economy, however, it goes without saying that for many, it’s still a highly contentious topic. Hiring with diversity in mind is no easy task: among those businesses who have embraced it, hiring managers continue to struggle with meeting the diversity quotas they’ve been set. Ironically, as executive assistant recruitment consultants, we also find ourselves considering fewer candidates when we know there’s a quota to fulfil.

Despite all this, global thought leaders agree that there are great benefits afforded to businesses who adopt diverse hiring practices, and that those benefits far outweigh the challenges faced in the process.

1. Improved employer branding

Recruiting a range of candidates from various backgrounds is still, unfortunately, an unusual practice. However, the advantages of diverse hiring will position you as a market leader who thinks beyond traditional stereotypes.

For example, it’s a fact that emerging generations like millennials are actively seeking more diverse workplaces; understanding this and their motivations will help you in your recruitment communication; using the right tools to engage them will strengthen your employer branding and position you ahead of your competitors too.

2. It makes you a better hiring manager

We are, sadly, influenced by unconscious and conscious bias daily. Embracing diversity when hiring will encourage you to challenge yourself because you’ll be pushed to stretch traditional boundaries and think outside the square. In doing so you’ll also need to seek new and innovative methods of hiring great talent!

3. It makes our job easier

Culturally, organizations that embrace inclusivity and diversity within the workplace are ones that tend to prize respect and collaborative practices. It goes without saying that when we’re speaking to candidates – whatever their ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or background – if we’re able to speak about those values that are intrinsically embedded into the business culture, it will undoubtedly make you a more attractive employer.

And it’s both attraction and retention of talent that promises to be improved. McKinsey’s Diversity Matters report [1] shows there to be a real correlation between stronger diversity and increased employee satisfaction.

Finally, if we’re opening the doors to more candidates from a range of backgrounds, we’re much more likely to win the war for talent and overcome the hurdles to finding suitable candidates.

4. Good for business

McKinsey’s report explains how ‘companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians’. Put bluntly, if you’re making more money, it’s better for you and better for the economy. Embracing diverse hiring practices means you’ll be working more innovatively too which will also contribute to enhanced company performance.

Recruiting diverse talent future-proofs your businesses as you’ll strengthen your long-term management pipeline. To maintain levels of success, your future leaders will need to develop and equip themselves with the tools required to deal with varied ways of thinking.

If you’d like to speak to us about your next recruitment drive, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

[1] http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters

The post Four reasons why diverse hiring is better for us all appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Diversity in the workplace refers to the inclusion of different genders, nationalities and other underrepresented groups in the office. Across many industries the lack of diversity is alarming and problematic, however, when it comes to diversity numbers in tech startups, the numbers are dismal.

For example, our 2019 research revealed, in a survey of 1000 UK workers, that only 1% of female jobseekers want to work in startups, compared to 8% of male jobseekers.

This is reflected in Tech Nation’s Diversity and Inclusion in UK Tech Companies report[1], which states that 77% of tech director roles are made up of men, while just 23% are women. Compared to the national average of 71% for men and 29% for women, there are clearly barriers in place that are  preventing more women from working in startups.

When we look at wider underrepresented groups, the situation remains the same. According to Tech Nation, just 15% of those working in tech are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.[2] If you think your company lags behind and you’d like to learn how to improve diversity in your startup, find our headline ideas to get started below.

How to increase diversity in tech startup

If you’d like any more advice about how you can diversify your hiring process, please get in touch today.

[1] https://technation.io/insights/diversity-and-inclusion-in-uk-tech-companies/

[2] https://technation.io/news/what-of-people-working-in-tech-are-from-bame-backgrounds/

The post 10 tips to improve diversity in your startup appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Unconscious bias: educating teams towards diverse hiring

The positive impact of diversity in the workplace is not news. For many years we’ve known that business productivity, company culture and employee satisfaction improve with a workplace made up of diverse genders, nationalities, sexualities, ages, ethnicities and educational backgrounds.

Despite all this information, the reality of adopting diversity and inclusion in the workplace is not as easy as simply implementing policy change. Unconscious bias (also known as implicit bias) also plays its part in a well-meaning hiring manager not hiring diversely. Unfortunately, the negative impact of non-diverse hiring falls on the minorities themselves. 40% of LGBTQ+ employees say they are not open with sexuality at work [1],  and  women earn on average 81 cents to every dollar a man earns [2]. It is therefore very clear that bias has long-term consequences.

So, what is it? Unconscious bias is the subconscious prejudice we all have against different groups of people. This can manifest itself in preferencing one candidate over another, purely based on their personal characteristics, rather than their skills and experience. If it goes unexamined, increasing diversity in the workplace will be almost impossible. HR managers, if you’re working with hiring managers who you suspect might be hiring with unconscious bias, consider the following steps to help kick-start a change.

Unconscious bias training

Unconscious bias training has been criticized in the past for not being an effective solution to the problem. In fact, some argue that it may reinforce stereotypes in the workplace, as the training clarifies existing stereotypes and may give people permission to use them in the office[3]. Another problem is that people may become defensive when confronted with their own ability to discriminate against others.

In order to make training effective, it has to be part of a multi-pronged approach that targets specific actions rather than hypothetical situations. It must also be tailored to your company and your hiring manager. Don’t set unrealistic expectations about timing: it is unlikely that there’ll be a major increase in diverse hires immediately. Just focus on making a small change at first.

Revamp job descriptions

A job description may be the first piece of communication a potential hire receives from your company. There are many subtle ways the wording of a job description can either encourage, or completely discourage, different people from applying. Work with your hiring manager to understand that words like ‘dominant’, ‘rock star’, ‘expert’ and ‘superior’ are problematic as they are seen as gendered and can discourage women. In addition, if you want to attract individuals of varying sexualities, nationalities or ages, include a line about your diversity values within the job description. It will imply that you are open to hiring a more diverse range of people.

Change the way you assess resumes

A blind resumes assessment is the easiest way to eliminate bias from the first stage of the selection process, however it may not be enough. It has been found that the types of words used on resumes can actually give the hiring manager an indication of gender, without knowing a person’s name. Using blind resumes alongside other techniques, like an AI software, which is programmed to ignore all demographic information and use data reference points instead. Discuss adopting this change with the head of recruitment at your business, because it does make a monumental difference in the number of minorities considered for the role.

More focus on skills tests

For some positions, a skills test is integral to hiring successfully. But what if the only candidates that progressed to that stage were selected through a biased process? Talk to your hiring manager about re-examining their recruitment practice to put more emphasis on skills tests. Once the results come in, take the people with the best scores through to interview stage as a non-negotiable, regardless of who they are.

If you’re looking for your next great hire, contact our team today!

[1] https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/inclusive-cultures-must-follow-new-lgbtq-workforce

[2] https://www.payscale.com/data/gender-pay-gap

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-04/implicit-bias-training-isn-t-improving-corporate-diversity

The post HR managers, how are you educating your staff about unconscious bias? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

What is unlimited PTO?

The concept of unlimited paid time off (PTO) may sound too good to be true for many US workers. The idea is that employees can choose when and how often they take their vacation time, without limits imposed by the company. In a world where, according to Forbes, over half of US employees want increased flexible working options^[1], could this be the solution?

Alongside a handful of other companies, tech giant Netflix pioneered the concept back in 2004. Since then, it has moved well beyond Silicon Valley, with many other companies following suit, including Sony Electronics, Hubspot, Dropbox, Workday, Glassdoor, Stitchfix…the list goes on. At Tiger, we’re beginning to see our clients in different sectors considering unlimited PTO. The question is, is it the right policy for your company?

How does unlimited PTO actually work in practice?

While it seems almost too-good-to-be-true on paper, unlimited PTO usually comes with guidelines or expectations in reality. These will vary wildly between companies and rely on mutual trust between employees and employers. Guidelines may specify a minimum number of days an employee must take per year, provide scope around when an employee can take time off, or how many people in a team can be on holidays at once.

When a company implements unlimited PTO, they may also ask employees to give their manager and team a notice period before going on a long vacation. This aids in the management of their workload and any handover needed to ensure the business continues to run smoothly. Companies may also implement training to help others take over work from those on leave.

If these guidelines aren’t in place, an employee could take advantage of an unlimited PTO policy, to an employer’s detriment. For example, they could leave the company in a situation where they’re understaffed and unable to complete the work needed. This may also be the case if holidays overlap within one team, leaving the remaining team members unable to work effectively.

Ideally, there would be a system in place to ensure any abuse of the unlimited PTO system is minimized. Whether through performance management or disciplinary action, this should be clearly outlined in the policy itself.

A policy which recognizes employees are human

An overarching benefit of unlimited PTO is that it allows employees to use their vacation time to suit their lifestyle. Every employee is different, therefore they require a different amount of leave. While one person may only wish to take a two-week vacation once a year, another may care for young children or an elderly relative and need more time off.

In the US, there remains no nation-wide requirement for companies to offer paid sick or carer’s leave.

If an employee works at a company where this type of paid leave isn’t available, they may choose to take their paid time off days to care for themselves or family members. An unlimited PTO policy would allow these workers to have the flexibility they need, without worrying about the consequences of taking too much time off, or having to take unpaid vacation time.

Another aspect of the policy worth mentioning is that it empowers workers to take control of their own PTO, boosting employee morale and instilling a sense of trust in the company culture. If an employee knows their PTO days aren’t being monitored, they feel a sense of responsibility which they may not experience in another company. A positive aspect of this environment can be an improvement to company retention rates, as workers may not want to give this up by moving to a new role.

Is unlimited PTO the answer to burnout and presenteeism?

While they’re slightly different, both burnout and presenteeism are issues plaguing the modern workplace. According to a Gallup poll, 23% of full-time employees report feeling burnt out at work often^[2], while presenteeism costs employers three months per year in lost productivity^[3].If an employee knows they have unlimited PTO days, they may choose to stay at home when they need a break or are sick, knowing they aren’t ‘wasting’ their set paid time off.

On the other hand, critics of unlimited PTO say it actually discourages employees from taking more leave. According to HR company Mammoth, moving to an unlimited PTO system meant the number of vacation days employees took on average remained the same^[4]. This sentiment was echoed by a study by Namely, which found employees with unlimited PTO took an average of 13 vacation days, compared to 15 days for their fixed PTO counterparts^[5].

Therefore, if there are no set guidelines, or the communication around them isn’t clear, employees may feel guilty about taking holidays^[6]. This may be exacerbated if management isn’t seen to also take advantage of the policy. In addition, by not having a set number of vacation days, employees may not know what’s ‘acceptable’ in the workplace. This may result in them taking little to no holidays at all, thereby negating the benefits of PTO entirely.

Benefits of unlimited PTO for employers

Unlimited PTO may be considered by some as the ultimate benefit – which means it can be used by the company to attract the best staff.

If an employee is looking for a role that will allow them to have an increased flexibility, they’re likely to consider a role which lists unlimited PTO over one with limited vacation days.

In addition, as there are no longer set vacation days accrued by employees, employers are often not contractually obligated to pay out PTO days if that employee leaves the company. This can result in employers saving money from implementing the policy.

Will unlimited PTO work for your business?

Considering 41% of US workers don’t take any time off at all^[7], unlimited PTO can be a great policy if it’s implemented and managed properly – but it will only work successfully in a company which recognizes the importance of taking leave and encourages its employees to do so.

In some companies with an unlimited PTO policy, unlimited PTO isn’t available for all employees. This may be because the company wants to use it as an incentive for those striving for higher positions, or they’re unable to implement it across all divisions within the business. If this is the case, it can create resentment and unhappiness within the company, leading to internal conflict.

Unlimited PTO is not a policy that will work in every workplace – but it certainly has its benefits, particularly around talent attraction and employer branding. Contact us today to find out how we can help you attract fantastic staff.

^[1] www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2018/07/10/what-employees-really-want-at-work/#57296e5e5ad3

^[2] www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2019/06/02/the-burnout-club-now-considered-a-disease-with-a-membership-price-you-dont-want-to-pay-for-success/#2603590037ab

^[3] www.ehstoday.com/safety-leadership/article/21918281/presenteeism-costs-business-10-times-more-than-absenteeism

^[4] www.fastcompany.com/3052926/we-offered-unlimited-vacation-for-one-year-heres-what-we-learned

^[5] library.namely.com/hr-mythbusters-2017

^[6] www.thecut.com/2018/06/why-does-unlimited-vacation-time-make-me-feel-guilty.html

^[7] skift.com/2016/01/18/no-vacation-nation-41-of-americans-didnt-take-a-day-off-in-2015

The post Unlimited paid time off: the reality appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Every year, Tiger Recruitment releases a Salary and Benefits Review. This year, information was extracted from roles placed, rather than candidates interviewed, and is reflective of the impact that COVID-19 has had on our lives.

What’s included in the report?

Within the report, you’ll find guidance on salary ranges and trends for roles within the business support, private, hospitality and HR sectors. Alongside this, we’ve outlined the benefits offered to employees this year and shared how employee priorities have changed following the pandemic. It also includes commentary from our management team.

How the report can benefit your business

A high quality, independent salary survey is a key component in your compensation strategy and will help you stay on target to attract and retain the best talent in your industry.

Having access to a comprehensive data set ensures that your HR team stay abreast of changes in the employment market and has a thorough understanding of pay rates and trends, helping you to maintain your competitive position.

The report provides valuable statistical insights into the markets in which your business competes for talent and serves as a benchmarking tool enabling your business to make informed remuneration decisions.

Referring to credible survey data can also help to increase employee motivation as it will be clear that diligent decisions have been made around compensation.

Highlights of this year’s survey

The results of this year’s survey highlight what employees and jobseekers want and to what extent they feel their expectations are being met. A selection of the major findings in this year’s review include:

• With the US’ restrictions on travel continuing to ease, the talent shortage should ease in kind, as foreign candidates return over the coming 12 months
• With the increased confidence of the second half of 2021, the market has swung back in favor of candidates, creating fierce competition for talent amongst businesses
• The Great Resignation continues unabated, and employers must work on more innovative and effective strategies to retain talent
• While salary remains the most important factor for employees and jobseekers, there’s growing awareness of the need for employers to offer personalized benefits, chief among them being flexible working options
• Many employees are seeking more support from their employers, including provisions for mental health and practical support for remote working.

Request your copy of the Salary and Benefits Review here.

We hope you find the document useful. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The post Tiger Recruitment’s Salary Survey 2022 has arrived! appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

With the current situation forcing us to work differently, you may now find yourself carrying out your daily tasks in new ways, like participating in video meetings. Instead of all gathering together in the office for daily or weekly check-ins, most of us are now using this medium to stay connected while working remotely.

If you’re new to the art of the video call and not sure of video meeting etiquette, we’re here to help. With our top 10 tips for video conference meetings, you can make sure you get it right next time you log on to Zoom.

1. Get ready on time

While we know it’s standard with any meeting to be on time and ready to go when the session is scheduled to start, it’s even more important for a video conference. This is because you will need time to set up the technology and connect your video and audio. If you jump in late, you can’t just slip in the back of the room – everyone will be able to see you, which is very distracting for the person speaking.

2. No backgrounds

Find a tidy and professional space at home where you can sit in front of a plain wall or background. Wallpaper or artwork with busy and distracting patterns is a no-go, as well as using a video background. Remember, this is a professional Zoom video meeting, so there’s no need to impress everyone with your decor or tech skills.

3. Frame yourself properly

There may be times when you find yourself staring at the forehead or nostrils of a co-worker during a video meeting – you don’t want to be that person! Before joining the call, take a few seconds to ensure your face is in the frame at a straight angle. If you’re using Zoom, there is an opportunity to check this while waiting to enter a conference call.

4. Find a quiet place

As is the case with the current situation, many of us find ourselves working from home with our partners, housemates, children and pets. While we know this doesn’t make for the quietest of offices, you will need to choose a place with no distractions to attend the video meeting. Go into a separate room if possible and make sure there are no other noises, like the TV or voices. If there’s someone else working from home with you, try to plan your meeting times to be at staggered time slots to avoid two video calls in the same space.

5. Make sure you’re well lit

Poor lighting will make the video quality poor and grainy – this is video meeting 101. Try to make sure the space you’re using has enough light so you are seen clearly. If you have a window, position your laptop or webcam in front of it so you’re naturally lit. If not, try to ensure the room’s walls are bright and use multiple light sources where you can.

6. Wear work clothes

It’s definitely tempting to hang out in your comfy clothes now you find yourself at home all day. However, if you have a Zoom video meeting scheduled, you should wear work-appropriate clothing. It will not only look more professional, but it will help you get into the right mindset for the meeting.

7. Mute yourself when not speaking

Even if you’ve found a quiet space for the video meeting, you’d be surprised by what the microphone can still pick up! Turning yourself on mute when you’re not talking will remove any distractions or annoying noises for other participants. This is especially important for conference calls with many participants, as the sounds from everyone’s homes can create quite the cacophony.

8. Look into the camera when you speak

Very important on our list of video meeting etiquette! Looking into the camera when you’re speaking is the equivalent of looking into someone’s eyes in person, so it’s an essential practice. If you’re looking elsewhere as you talk, it can look unprofessional and be distracting, even if you don’t mean to be. Remember, your face is clearly visible for everyone to see, so the group will notice things they can’t pick up in person.

9. Don’t stare at yourself when someone else is speaking

It can be tempting to look at your camera feed during the meeting, especially to check how you’re presenting to everyone else in the meeting. However, if you’re staring at yourself when someone else is speaking, it can seem like you’re not paying attention. If you find it’s impossible to stop staring at yourself, put a post-it note on the screen where your face is shown to eliminate the distraction.

10. Pay attention

You may think you’re great at multitasking and are able to check emails or work during a video meeting, but the other participants will know. Give all your attention to the meeting, as you may miss out on any important information shared as well as come across as rude or inconsiderate.

If you’re looking to recruit new members for your team or now find yourself looking for a new job, contact Tiger Recruitment today. We are a leading recruitment agency for matching individuals and businesses in temp jobs and permanent roles.

The post 10 top tips for video meeting etiquette appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a long-lasting impact on working lives, with many employees having to navigate new ways of working or downshift their careers, as well as adapt to changing circumstances in their personal lives.

As businesses strive to meet the challenges posed by a global pandemic and a serious economic crisis, employee wellness has never been more important to address. If you want to improve retention, lower rates of absenteeism, increase performance and create a collaborative and rewarding working environment, you must prioritize the health and wellbeing of your workforce.

Here are some of the key benefits of cultivating a wellbeing culture:

• Create a happy workplace in which people thrive
• Boost motivation, productivity, and engagement
• Attract and retain the best talent
• Reduce absenteeism
• Reduce work-related stress and enhance wellbeing
• Increase job satisfaction
• Build and sustain high employee morale
• Create sustainable success for your organization

A quality employee wellness program could include:

• Health benefits such as access to wellbeing apps, counseling, gym membership, health insurance and personal well-being days
• Leisure benefits such as travel insurance, access to event season tickets and paid flights
• Financial benefits such as an annual work from home stipend, corporate retail discounts, financial bonuses, and referral schemes
• Flexible working
• Social activities such as team-building events, book clubs and sports

If you are interested in learning more about the innovative benefits organizations are currently offering, order a copy of our 2022 salary and benefits review here.

Click here to view 10 companies who are getting workplace wellbeing right.

How to build an effective employee wellness program

To drive your mental health and wellbeing strategy forward, there are several steps you need to take:

• Seek approval from the executive/management team and ensure they are willing to participate and actively promote the initiative within the organization
• Be clear about the company-wide objectives of implementing the program and communicate these to company leaders and employees
• Set definable goals
• Adapt an employee-centric view of workplace wellness by surveying staff to gain actionable insights and determine which initiatives will be most popular
• Regularly review your wellness policy and adapt it to reflect the evolving needs of your workforce

In building an effective employee wellness program, you are demonstrating your company’s commitment to taking care of its people, and if you take care of your people, your business will thrive. We hope that this post will help you to jump-start your employee wellness initiative and ensure your employees stay healthy, happy, and productive.

If you’re interested in talking to our team about how we could help you develop a winning employee wellness strategy, or how we could help you meet your staffing needs this year, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us here.

The post Why your organization needs to prioritize employee wellness now more than ever appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Are you an HR professional looking for guidance when it comes to creating your return-to-office plan post-COVID 19? Our Head of Marketing and Communications, Coralie Fernando, interviewed Erin Taheny, Head of HR and Operations here at Tiger, on how we’re planning for Tiger’s return to the office in London.

Erin started at Tiger mere weeks before London went into lockdown, so her experience has been incredibly unique! In the interview, they discussed how Tiger is approaching the return to the post-COVID office. They discuss the main concerns for our employees, the importance of conducting employee feedback surveys and risk assessments and how important communication has been throughout the process. Listen to the podcast and read the full transcription below.

The post LISTEN: Everything you need to know about creating your return to the office plan appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

High-Profile Executive Assistant

Just as the responsibilities of senior business leaders will differ significantly from the junior staff in their organization, executive assistants will face different expectations based on the unique requirements and status of their principal.

A high-profile executive assistant, often called an executive assistant, works with professionals in top-level positions and holds a similarly high-pressure role. Here, we’ll explore what their day-to-day responsibilities include, and the skills and character traits the best executive assistants possess.

Defining the Role of a High-profile Executive Assistant

Chief executives, senior managers, and business leaders of every stripe are under constant demand for their time, expertise, and guidance. It’s the role of an executive assistant or executive assistant to shield their principal from any unnecessary distractions and disruptions.

They will handle time-consuming admin, travel booking, and diary management, and be the gatekeeper for communications. They may also take on tasks relating to their principal’s executive life.

They allow the principal to stay focused on the important tasks and, as a result, help keep the wheels of the business turning.

Qualities of an Exceptional High-profile Executive Assistant

As they work with powerful businesspeople in a high-stakes environment, executive assistants need to have a particular set of qualities for them to thrive in the role. the most valuable of these include:

• Calm temperament – whether it’s answering phone calls from frustrated colleagues, partners, and clients, or dealing with a principal at boiling point, the best EAs need a cool head.
• Discretion – working for c-suite executives and senior management means handling sensitive data and being party to important business discussions. a high-profile executive assistant will need to stay tight-lipped about any information picked up during their working day.
• Organization – senior managers have more meetings, more calls, and more travel, and they need to be able to rely on their assistants to stay on top of this schedule. organization and time-management skills are a must-have.
• Communication – as the point-of-contact for their principal, the best assistants need excellent written and verbal communication, with an understanding of the correct tone to use with each correspondent. They also need to be able to relay information to their principal in a clear and concise manner.

Administrative Duties of a High-profile Executive Assistant

Like their more junior executive assistant counterparts, high-profile executive assistants will take on a lot of the admin tasks relating to their principal. Below, we’ll look at the most common tasks.

Managing Busy Schedules and Appointments

The diaries of senior managers will be handled by their executive assistants. This means the assistant will have a complete understanding of where their principal needs to be at any given time of the day, and what they will be doing. This could be a client meeting, giving a speech at a conference, or even attending their child’s school play.

Travel Arrangements and Itinerary Management

As well as knowing where their principal should be at a given time, a high-profile executive assistant will often be in charge of getting them there. Booking taxis, trains, planes, hotels, and restaurants is all within the assistant’s remit, and they will need to have the quick-thinking to make adjustments to these bookings, should anything go wrong.

Email and Communication Management

Certain senior staff may require their executive assistant to take full responsibility for their email inbox and phone calls. If this is the case, the assistant will need a strong grasp of the language and tone they should use in every interaction.

Document Organization and Filing

A high-profile executive assistant will be in charge of organizing and storing their principal’s physical and digital documents. many of these documents will contain sensitive information, and will likely be needed in the future, so an assistant needs a good organizational head, and an understanding of physical and digital security.

Executive Support and Concierge Services

As well as performing a range of business-related tasks for their principal, high-profile executive assistants will often offer support for executive matters. The extent of this crossover into the executive side will be up to the principal, but typically executive assistants may be expected to handle the following.

Shopping and Gift Procurement

During busy business hours, executive assistants may be asked to run shopping errands. it could be taking a suit to a tailor, picking it up from the dry cleaners, or purchasing a birthday gift for a family member.

Event Planning and Coordination

With their excellent organizational and diary management skills, high-profile executive assistants are a great help when planning executive events. From booking a function room for an anniversary party to finding a day in the diary for a picnic with the family, the responsibility is often passed on to an executive assistant.

Family Support and Household Management

Alongside handling their principal’s diary, executive assistants may be required to oversee a family schedule too. This could include children’s after-school and weekend activities, family holidays and more. Many high-profile executive assistants manage junior executive assistants within the business, and so are a natural choice to help manage their principal’s household staff. They may be expected to handle household staff rotas, payment, and hiring.

Confidentiality and Discretion

Due to the seniority of their principal, high-profile executive assistants will be entrusted with a lot of sensitive information. Whether it’s information in the reports they compile, or private discussions with clients and other senior colleagues, the assistant must treat everything they encounter with complete discretion.

The Importance of Confidentiality

leaked information can have a huge negative impact on every aspect of a business. The company’s public image, consumer confidence, profits, and employee morale can all be affected, so any executive assistant who is a party to confidential information should have a proven track record as a trustworthy employee.

Building Professional Relationships

More than any other assistant, a high-profile executive assistant will have direct relationships with clients, senior management, and even their principal’s family. Therefore, it’s important that they have a naturally sociable and polite manner.

Effective Communication with Employers and Colleagues

in many day-to-day situations, a high-profile executive assistant will be the voice of their principal – answering emails, phone calls, and talking with colleagues in the office. they should be able to communicate clearly to avoid any misunderstandings and diffuse potential issues from both clients and colleagues.

Collaborating with Other Support Staff

Although the high-profile executive assistant role may be very one-to-one, it also requires a knack for teamwork. most businesses will have more than one senior manager and so more than a high-level assistant. Just as the managers must constantly work together to best direct the business, so will their executive assistants need to coordinate on a daily basis.

Read some of our most frequently asked questions on the responsibilities of a high-profile executive assistant below.

If you’re looking to hire a high-profile executive assistant or other support staff, get in touch with your requirements today.

The post Responsibilities of a High-Profile Personal Assistant appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Onboarding can make or break an employee’s experience when starting a new role. Research by Gallup found that only 12% of “employees strongly agree their workplace does a great job of onboarding new employees.” [1]

Considering a great onboarding experience can improve employee retention rates by 82%, neglecting these process can be both costly and time consuming in the long run. [2]

This is especially relevant when hiring for graduate jobs in NYC, as they often have little experience in corporate environments. Graduate recruitment in New York is a competitive market, so you don’t want to be losing your new employees just a few days in because of onboarding issues. So, how do you onboard graduates?

Here are four things to consider when welcoming graduates to your team:

1. Preparation is key

No new employee wants to arrive on their first day to no desk and a colleague that’s flustered at their arrival. It’s essential you take the time to get organized a few days before they begin, printing off or filling out paperwork, installing all software and hardware, setting up entry passes and computer logins and anything else that’s required. While notice periods are part and parcel of recruitment, it’s worth moving quickly – leaving too much time between accepting an offer and starting a new role opens you up for potential problems. If onboarding remotely, ensure hardware has been sent to the employee’s house well in advance, and they have been in touch with IT to support them through the setup.

2. Invest in video

Millennials are the video generation, with the average personal watching 1.5 hours of video a day [3]. So, invest in creating an orientation video, covering your company’s history, current structure and culture, as well as office instructions and tips and tricks for their first few weeks – maybe a suggestion of where to grab lunch? This means you won’t have to repeat yourself with every new starter and it ensures the messaging is consistent. It also allows the graduate to take notes in their own time, pausing where needed, and frees you up to focus on other things.

3. Show them the way

According to Statista, 100% of young women in the millennial category choose companies to work for based on the opportunity for professional skill development[4]. Therefore, the onboarding process should also include a clear directive on where graduates can expect to be in three, six and twelve months’ time. Objectives should be clearly established and training avenues should be actively promoted and acted upon in order to encourage growth. This way, those taking on New York City graduate jobs (or elsewhere) can see just how they’ll be using their hard-earned knowledge.

4. Implement a mentoring program

Starting a new role is daunting at the best of times, but for graduates, it can be even more so. Providing a mentor for those first few months during the graduate onboarding process can go a long way in helping new grads settle into the workplace, giving them a person that can answer ‘dumb questions’ that they might not be comfortable asking their direct manager.
Mentorship can also encourage a sense of community, helping to welcome new members to the team. A familiar face can go a long way in making a work environment more comfortable.

—

Tiger is one of NYC’s leading graduate recruitment agencies. If you’re looking to hire a graduate or looking at jobs for graduates in New York, we can help! Get in touch today. If you’re looking for more hiring advice, read our interview guide for the best candidate selection.

1.https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238085/state-american-workplace-report-2017.aspx
2. https://b2b-assets.glassdoor.com/the-true-cost-of-a-bad-hire.pdf
3. https://www.rev.com/blog/how-gen-z-and-millennials-consume-video-content-what-that-means-for-production-teams
4. https://whattobecome.com/blog/millennials-in-the-workplace/

The post Four things you should be including in your graduate onboarding process appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Tiger’s Managing Director, Rebecca Siciliano, shares her insights on how Tiger’s London office has transitioned to remote working. She talks through:

• How remote working has been set up
• Why communication and support for your employees must be your number one priority
• Practical suggestions on connecting to your team while remote working

The post Remote Working in a Changing Landscape appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Our Head of the Permanent Division in our London office and Tessa Cooper, Founder of Collaborative Future, talk about ways employers can support their remote teams through this period. With an emphasis on practical tips to encourage collaboration, this webinar is aimed at managers and team leaders who are managing a remote workforce for the first time.

The post LISTEN – Motivating and Managing Remote Teams appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

You’ve worked hard to put together the perfect team, but the newest member has opted to work from home. And now others are snapping up the company’s flexible working offer, leaving you as the manager staring at a half-empty office and managing a remote team.

This is a common problem in the modern workplace, but the secrets to encouraging collaborative working in a remote team still boil down to five simple concepts.

• Regular communication
• Shared routines
• Respecting boundaries
• Clear expectations
• Socializing

More than ever, employees want to choose when and how they work, and there are many reasons for employers to adopt flexible working too. But equally this comes with its managerial challenges, not the least of which is encouraging collaborative working in a remote team.

You may by worried that your close-knit team will be undone by this individual way of working, so we’ve put together the best actionable tips on how to manage a remote team.

Communication is key

We often take for granted how much information is picked up in an office through general conversation, whiteboards and non-verbal cues. So how can you replicate that easy back-and-forth between a team in an online situation?

The first step is to ensure that everyone, especially yourself as the manager, is easily reachable via computer or phone during work hours. Depending on your budget, you may even want to invest in work phones and laptops to ensure everyone is on a level playing field in terms of hardware capabilities.

From there you can explore the many options for group messaging and calls. The list is endless, but we recommend:

• Microsoft Teams
• Slack
• WhatsApp
• Zoom

These services help create the open-plan office feeling, with whole-company group chats and video calls, down to smaller teams and one-to-ones. Encourage your team to be active in these chats, asking questions, sharing useful links, and celebrating each other’s wins. This virtual ‘water-cooler’ will keep the group tight even when they’re miles apart.

Build routines and respect boundaries

Clear and accessible lines of communication between all members of the team will help everyone’s work flow smoothly. However, when everyone is easily contactable, there’s a risk of blurring the lines between working hours and personal time. When managing remote teams, setting clear schedules of when people are expected to start and end their work day helps everyone stay coordinated, and feel respected.

Part of this scheduling should be designed to protect your time as a manager. To avoid being constantly bombarded with messages and phone calls from team members looking for guidance, block out regular times in the week to have one-to-one video calls.

Use shared online tools

Group chats are a great start, but shared virtual spaces go so much further than that. There’s intuitive, easy-to-use software for sharing calendars, project timelines, spreadsheets and more.

Teammates can plan for when their colleagues are on annual leave and help keep each other on target for deadlines, while you as a manager can efficiently monitor progress across all ongoing work. Some of the best shareable calendar and project management tools available include:

• Trello
• Calendly
• Monday
• Asana
• Google Calendar

Onboard correctly to create a sense of engagement

For new starters, joining a remote team can be especially stressful. Without face-to-face interaction, new team members can feel they aren’t gelling with colleagues, and the much-needed collaborative environment will suffer.

Managers need to take great care when onboarding these staff to ensure they feel welcomed, understand what’s expected of them, how they can reach you with any questions, and when they will receive feedback. Read our comprehensive guide to onboarding staff remotely for a crash course in this integral part of managing remote teams.

Facilitate team learning

What better way to help your remote team see eye-to-eye than by giving them the chance to learn skills that are new to them all? Not only will the challenge bring them closer as a team, but the skills acquired will boost performance as well as future-proof the company with the latest tech and industry best-practice.

If you, as manager, have knowledge you can pass on, why not organize a video call workshop for the whole team? Or throw yourself into the classroom with them through online learning platforms, such as our partners New Skills Academy. Other platforms we recommend are:

• Future Learn
• EdX
• LinkedIn Learning

Don’t forget the fun!

It may not be the first thing on your mind when considering how to manage a remote team, but the fun and social side of work can bridge the geographical divide between colleagues.

Encouraging remote team-mates to keep in touch through group chats or with a quick video call is the simplest way to ensure they don’t miss out on the social side of work. But if you want to take things a bit further, why not try some of these ideas:

• Bingo/trivia game on a Friday afternoon (keep an ongoing scoreboard to really get the team engaged!)
• Daily wellbeing email from someone in the team
• A virtual exercise/yoga class at lunchtime
• Virtual team away days – companies like Wildgoose host games where your team can compete against each other

—

Transitioning a strong team dynamic from the office space to online is no walk in the park, but when done with care and attention, it can be achieved successfully. With the above guidance, you can give your staff the autonomy to work in the way that they feel comfortable, while also maintaining the camaraderie and support base that a great team offers.

If you’re ready to add more exceptional members to your remote or in-office team, get in touch with our consultants today!

The post Six Tips on managing remote teams appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Each year, Tiger Recruitment releases a Salary and Benefits Review. Our 2023 version is a powerful sounding board that you can use to elevate your hiring strategies.

What’s included in the report?

This detailed report includes data collated through a comprehensive survey and Tiger’s wealth of experience in recruitment and hiring. For the 2023 edition, we surveyed over 800 professionals working in New York City across the Business Support, Private Household, Finance and Accounting, and HR sectors. It includes valuable statistical information on the priorities and attitudes of jobseekers and NYC employees.

How the report can benefit your business

It is vital for a modern business to stay on top of the desires of employees and to be able to offer cutting-edge packages. This will be crucial in attracting new talent, as well as keeping your existing staff happy and motivated.

This report offers data-driven insight into the minds of NYC professionals and a valuable tool that you can use to define your own hiring strategies.

Following the unpredictability of last year, when a record number of employees left their jobs and asked for increased salaries, use our report to discover what your target employees are looking for now.

Highlights of this year’s salary survey

• Almost half (41%) of respondents stated that ‘wanting a salary increase’ was the primary reason for leaving their last job, where 32% answered ‘wanting more flexible working’
• Intriguingly, 57% of jobseekers answered that benefits are their top priority in a job, more important than salary that was the main priority for 48%. Only 1/5th of respondents said they’re happy with their current benefits package, meaning that this is an area where employers have everything to gain in prioritizing
• Values alignment is more critical than ever, with 89% of respondents unwilling to work for an employer that doesn’t uphold their own values
• After a year of economic uncertainty, 44% of respondents said that recessionary fears prompt them to stay in their current role
• An employer’s DEI commitment remains high on the agenda, with jobseekers voting it as the 4th most important priority (37%) after benefits, salary and job security
• The vast majority (92%) of those surveyed agreed that employers should be paying a premium to work full-time in the office. Hybrid working remains the preferred mode of working and jobseekers are unlikely to budge on this demand

Request your copy of the Salary and Benefits Review here.

We hope you find the document useful. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The post Salary and Benefits Review 2023 appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Never has there been a time when employee mental health has held such weight in workplace conversation. And with good reason – such is the extent of worker burnout, depression, and disengagement that, according to the World Health Organization, 12 billion working days are lost globally each year due to mental health-related sick leave.

However, while the COVID-19 pandemic is the main cause of this crisis and subsequent widespread mental health concerns, it also brought the topic of mental health to the fore.

The post-pandemic landscape

While it was very welcome, the shift in focus to employee mental wellbeing during the pandemic was in many ways out of necessity. Now, three years on, priorities are inevitably shifting once again, sometimes with mental health slipping off the agenda.

Health coach Michelle Flynn of Michelle Flynn Coaching has seen this first-hand. She explains that some companies have taken the view that, “we’re just back to normal so we can stop worrying about supporting people’s mental health”. Sadly, however, this means cuts in resources for mental health initiatives: “Due to world economics some companies have had to make to decision to reallocate budgets to other things.”

Ruth Cooper-Dickson of Champs Consulting has also seen companies scale back their mental health focus: “There are organizations that have the attitude of ‘we did wellbeing and mental health in 2020, 2021 and 2022…’”, believing that the necessary work has been done. This is despite the fact that “we’re starting to see the real ripple effect of the pandemic now”, with recent studies from Asana showing that 70% of workers have experienced burnout.

It’s not all negative though – at the other extreme, some companies are doubling down on employee mental health services. These businesses have seen the benefits that initiatives brought during lockdown and, as Michelle explains, have realized that they “need to continue to support people in the long term, because happy people make businesses more money.” In fact, studies have shown that investment in employee wellbeing raises productivity by up to 5%.

Clearly, we’re still living in the long shadow of COVID, and one of the most noticeable holdovers is hybrid working.

The pros and cons of hybrid working

One of the biggest complicating factors of the post-pandemic working world is the divisive nature of hybrid and remote working arrangements. For some, the enforced remote working during lockdown sparked severe work-related stress; Ruth explains how “people were working from their bedrooms; not everyone has the luxury of an office space at home”. Michelle adds that the isolation was also a factor: “Loneliness is one of the biggest causes of depression and is one of the reasons why people’s mental health was a challenge during lockdown”.

On the other hand, working from home was a revelation for some, particularly those who relished the autonomy and found a new level of efficiency, alongside a better work/life balance. Michelle points to “the convenience of it, the saving of money, being able to be around your children. Lots of people have seen their kids take their first steps when they never would have had that opportunity before.” For her, “the hybrid model is a really great sweet spot”.

However, not all employers agree that hybrid working works; the challenge is finding a balance that keeps productivity high, while offering employees an arrangement that works for their mental health.

Encouragingly, many innovative businesses are doing their part to develop new ways of remotely managing employees and their wellbeing.

Adapting for the future

As employees’ work arrangements become more individualized, full teams may only be in the office together once a week, or not at all. This has given rise to managers scheduling regular team meetings via video calls – an effective alternative for the team’s work management, but less so for their personal wellbeing. As Michelle observes, “When you’re on the phone or when you’re on video, you don’t necessarily spot the warning signs”.

So, how can managers keep on top of the team’s wellbeing remotely? For Ruth, general wellbeing catch-up calls with remote workers are a must, but it’s also about effective time management and avoiding “back-to-back Zoom meetings” that disrupt workflow and pile on stress. For hybrid workers, it’s important to ensure that they don’t bring the isolated mindset to their in-office days: “Are they actually doing that connecting work rather than just sitting at a desk and working in silos?”

It can be hard for us to leave our working-from-home habits at the door when we enter the office; both Michelle and Ruth advise employers to encourage a collaborative atmosphere on days when teams are in the office. They note several proactive companies that are continuing the positive mental health spirit of the pandemic with initiatives such as wellbeing talks, breathwork events, and yoga sessions. These function as enticements to return to the office, opportunities for staff to socialize and, of course, offer beneficial mental health workouts.

Finding the balance

The need for a better work/life balance had topped the mental health agenda for many years pre-pandemic, but 2020 brought its importance into stark relief. As we all became more reliant on technology, so we became used to being able to reach each other at any time, from anywhere. This blurring of personal and work time is an ongoing issue, as Ruth has found: “Those boundaries aren’t necessarily respected around evening work, evening emails, weekends, holidays, or vacation time. People stay online because it’s easier than having to come back to an inbox full of emails”.

Michelle agrees: “I talked to some people in customer service who are working from their kitchen and dealing with difficult customer services calls and have no separation between their kitchen and what’s happening at work.” For some, it’s bleak: “Now, it’s not working from home; we are living at work”.

While such a lifestyle is certainly not sustainable, thankfully it hasn’t gone unnoticed by attentive employers. Ruth works with companies who are taking steps to firm up those boundaries: “I’ve seen some organizations that have quite clear strategies and policies for managers to consider when they’re contacting their teams”. Michelle relates: There are “companies who are putting in times in the day that you cannot book any meetings”, and who are training managers to use email scheduling to send emails within work hours, rather than out-of-hours when the thought occurs. Another of her clients has implemented a rule that, “every Friday morning everyone starts work an hour later and you’re meant to use that hour to go for a walk”.

The financial benefits of change

The silver lining of the COVID cloud reveals an increased willingness by employers to listen to employee concerns. Many more business leaders are realizing that employee mental health must be prioritized: It doesn’t come at the expense of profits and productivity because the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term costs.

This is exemplified by staff retention. In fact, employees struggling with work-related mental health issues are nearly twice as likely to change jobs compared to those whose wellbeing is prioritized.

Employer brand also sees a boost when wellbeing initiatives are front and center. Ruth can attest to this: “Gallup have proven that the number one requirement for millennials and Gen Z is wellbeing”.

The financial benefits of investing in employee wellbeing are clear: businesses stand to lose up to $340 per day from mental health-related sick leave. Weighed against the cost of initiatives like hybrid working, flexible hours and management training, the decision to set aside time and resources for a healthy team is an easy one.

Growing pains are inevitable when making changes from within, but you need only look at the increasing millennial and Gen Z demographic in the workforce to see where the future lies. These younger employees, as Ruth observes, are “able to talk about feelings to be able to be open about how they feel”, and – in the process – are de-stigmatizing the topic of mental health. As their voices inevitably become louder, the best businesses will strive to get ahead of the curve, creating a more adaptable working life that empowers and invigorates employees, to everyone’s benefit.

The post New attitudes, old challenges: employee wellbeing in the post-pandemic world appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Employee Turnover

Employee turnover and retention is a significant priority for businesses, with high turnover rates leading to increased costs, reduced productivity, and decreased morale.

That’s why having a successful retention strategy in place is just as important as finding top talent. So, how can an employer implement strategies on how to reduce employee turnover?

Employee Turnover Meaning

Employee turnover, in technical terms, refers to the rate at which employees leave an organization and are replaced by new hires. It’s an important metric that is prioritized by HR teams because it reflects the happiness and productivity of its staff, which in turn indicates the stability and long-term sustainability of a company’s workplace.

Employee Turnover Calculation

Calculating the turnover rate involves first taking a measure of how many employees leave a company in a given period, usually a year. Turnover is then calculated by dividing the number of employees who left in that period by the average number of employees in that time. When you have that figure, multiply it by 100 to show the percentage.

Employee Turnover and Retention

Employee turnover rate and retention both play a crucial role in shaping the success of an organization. By prioritizing staff retention, HR teams can build a loyal workplace with increased productivity and a positive impact on the company’s overall performance. It’s important to make sure there’s a balance between managing the turnover and implementing successful retention initiatives. When the balance is right, employers can expect productive, thriving employees who are fulfilled and excited about contributing to the long-term success of the business.

How To Reduce Employee Turnover

Reducing employee turnover requires a proactive approach that supports the longevity of your employees.

1. Source the Right Talent

Candidate Sourcing is a crucial process for an organization looking to build a high-performing workplace.

Finding the right employees starts with clearly defining the job requirements, writing a comprehensive job description that outlines the necessary qualifications, skills and experience needed for the role, and posting an attractive job advert that appeals to a diverse range of people.

Having a job description that is as detailed as possible will go a long way to managing the expectations of your potential hire, to ensure that they don’t later realize that the role is different from what they had anticipated.

2. Successful Onboarding

A successful onboarding process is vital for ensuring new employees feel welcomed during what can be an uncertain time. Successful onboarding goes much further than administrative tasks and paperwork, to ensure that the new employee is given as positive start as possible.

If you don’t have an HR team or dedicated person who can help with this, use your office manager to help with onboarding. The process should start before their first day and can include a welcome message alongside a pack on what they can expect in their first week or month. Supporting the social aspect of your company ahead of their start date can be beneficial. For example, a coffee or drinks could be organized with your new hire and the rest of the team so that they see some familiar faces on their first day.

Throughout the onboarding period, ongoing training and support should be provided to help the employee grow within their role in the first few months. Setting the foundation early will go a long way to supporting their long-term success and positive contribution to the business. 

3. Recognition For Employees

Employee recognition supports fostering a positive and motivated workplace, which involves recognizing employees for their hard work and achievements. Recognition can take various forms, whether it’s simply verbal praises, or more formal awards and incentives. Additionally, public recognition will be well-received by some, such as acknowledgment during team and companywide meetings.

When people feel valued for their hard work and can see how it fits into the bigger picture of the business’ success, they are more likely to continue their enthusiasm for the role in the long term.

4. Clear Career Paths

In our latest Salary and Benefits Review, which surveyed over 800 professionals, a lack of career progression was cited as the reason a third (31%) of people left their previous roles. Having a clear career path is beneficial for employees as it provides a sense of direction, purpose and growth. When people have a clear understanding of the potential career growth plan within the organization, they will be more motivated and engaged in their roles.

5. Encourage Healthy Work-Life Balance 

Encouraging employees’ work-life balance goes a long way to supporting their wellbeing and overall happiness. From the top down, by promoting a culture that values the importance of personal time, employers and leadership teams will find that that staff are more energized and productive when at work.

There are a number of ways that HR teams can implement this, with one of the easiest being flexible arrangements such as remote work options and flexi-hours. Importantly, managers should also set realistic workload expectations to avoid excessive overtime and prevent burnout.

Leading by example and promoting self-care, offering resources for stress management and wellbeing initiatives will further demonstrate the business’ commitment to supporting a healthy balance between work and personal life.

6. Learning and Development Programs

Tiger Recruitment’s above-mentioned salary survey revealed that the third most common (21%) reason people leave their jobs can be attributed to a lack of training and development. Having personal development initiatives in place provides employees with the necessary knowledge and support to excel in their role. By investing in continuous learning opportunities, employers are demonstrating the ways that they value their staff, prioritize their growth and offer opportunities for career advancement.

Looking To Hire?

If you’re looking to recruit or looking for support on reducing employee turnover, get in touch with us today.

The post How to Reduce Employee Turnover appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

The post Inclusive Workplaces: A Guide For HR Teams appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Tackling limiting attitudes to gender
• Combatting burnout
• Addressing the pay gap
• Supporting return-to-work mothers
• Women in STEM
• Promoting women in leadership
• Women’s health
• Summary

The post Embracing Gender Equity At Work appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, many team leaders have found themselves managing a remote team for the first time. This brings with it different challenges and opportunities, but above all, it’s essential to encourage collaboration within your team – especially in times of uncertainty.

Tiger’s Head of the Permanent Division in the West End, Missy Shutt-Vine, recently hosted a webinar with Tessa Cooper, Founder of Collaborative Future[1], HR and collaboration specialist. During the session, she offered practical tips for managers on how to foster a collaborative environment while working remotely.

Ten Tips to Encourage Collaboration Remotely

Be open with your anxieties

Tessa says managers need to be “able to share the things they’re going through themselves, what’s new to them and what they’re struggling with”. In the current climate, many people are worried about supporting a team in a situation where no one knows how long it will last or its future implications. If this is you, communicate openly and transparently with your team, as this will allow them to really understand your situation. You can’t “have all the answers for everyone all the time”, she says.

Managers need to be “able to share the things they’re going through themselves, what’s new to them and what they’re struggling with”.

This also sets an example in communicating the way you’re working. Whether that’s “signalling to your team when you’re coming online or when you’re leaving for lunch. Or it could be on a much larger scale, [such as] how you set…flexibility…for yourself [due to] children at home…or caring responsibilities. You may also be suffering from anxieties and stress, so ask for the flexibility you need from your team to demonstrate to them that it’s OK to ask for [the same from you]”, Tess explains.

Missy adds that, “In this situation, communication is key! Despite not being able to be face-to-face with your remote team, constantly stay in touch so you can empathize with their challenges on both the work and personal side.”

Change the focus

While this is an uncertain period for everyone and may bring with it high stress and anxiety, it’s important to try to, “see this as an opportunity to take a pause as a team. Your routine [and the way you communicate] might have changed, [so] talk about what your expectations are of one another and how this change can be best managed together”, Tessa explains.

If you and your team now have the space and time to work on things you’ve never had the chance to before, take advantage of it! Tessa says that could include “a whole host of things – a new strategy, team-building, learning new skills together [or working on] personal development.” It will allow the team to feel involved in the plan of action over the next few weeks, motivating them to dive head-first into this new focus.

Let your team know if your workload has changed

If you and your team are now working from home, it may feel like you get to the end of the day and realize you’ve not ticked one thing off your to-do list due to the never-ending stream of phone calls and video meetings! If this is you, Tessa suggests that you “should feel comfortable sharing with [your] teams that it’s having a knock-on effect on [your] work. A lot of people don’t realize that their managers have a lot of other things to focus on, so we really need to work on being a lot more open with our teams and sharing the pressures on us.” Communication and collaboration go hand in hand!

A practical solution may be a shift in thinking with our calendars. Instead of “blocking out time [where] we need to focus on one particular thing”, Tessa has seen it work much more effectively if “you can block out time that people can proactively make appointments with you. That way, [your team] knows…there’s a section of time in the day or week where you are having one-to-one conversations.” She says this has other benefits too, as it “will also help you with task switching, which is another difficult thing when you’re jumping on and off calls: It’s really hard to sit down for the 20 minutes you have between calls to crack on with something else.”

Managers also may be able to use this time to start to implement more of a coaching mindset with their team, to allow them the scope and ability to come up with ideas and make decisions for themselves. “That’s a much longer-term thing around how you ensure people are much more self-sufficient”, Tessa explains, but it may allow the pressure to be released slightly on a manager whose team constantly looks to them for guidance.

Think mindfully about company announcements

In times of crises, managers and business leaders need to balance internal communication very carefully. Tessa says that “there’s a real risk of under-communicating now you’re not based in an office together and [are] potentially working different hours from one another.” However, keep in mind that “people are already feeling a heightened sense of stress in all sorts of ways, so businesses need to tread a careful line between the types of communication they send out [and] how regularly [they are sent].”

Also, think about the timing of these messages. For example, don’t send anything that may provoke anxiety or questions “late at night, when people are about to log off and go spend time with their families – that is unhelpful as it is going to cause them stress overnight and won’t allow them to talk to their managers about it”, Tess says. This may cause negative feelings within a remote team, hindering an open and collaborative environment.

Manage your own stress

Alongside worrying about your team’s health and well being, you’re probably also feeling uncertain and anxious about the current situation. Tessa has seen that, “one of the challenges is about how you manage your own stress, worries and fears so they don’t have a knock-on effect for people who are also experiencing [the same thing].”

Whether it’s “stress to do with the coronavirus outbreak, using new technology and ways of working, [or] feeling like you may be judged for your ability to manage this sort of change, [realize] that everyone is in the same situation.” It’s unprecedented and there isn’t a guide book to follow – so you’re allowed to make mistakes!

Tessa suggests that “managers [should take] time to think of ways to release their stress, [including] taking breaks from work when they need it [or] doing things outside of work [they enjoy]. [This means] when they are working with people and are relied upon to answer difficult questions, they are not projecting that stress and anxiety onto other people.”

Understand that every team within the business is different

“Teams within businesses have all been affected very differently,” Tessa explains. “Up until now, a lot of businesses think that being fair is about treating everyone equally. [However], the reality is that this situation is impacting people a lot differently.” For example, some front-line teams may find their workload has significantly decreased due to the pandemic, whereas others, like operations, may find they’re busier than before. Missy adds, “I think the only thing that everyone has in common at the moment is that things are uncertain. We’re all trying to change and adapt to work out the next steps forward as best we can.”

“So,” Tessa continues, “it’s really important that managers take time to understand what each individual in their team needs and how they can best be supported through this time.” It’s also a good idea to encourage your remote team to take this into account when collaborating with others within the company.

Future-proof your team

“The most important thing a manager can do right now is really seeing this as an opportunity to future-proof your team and business,” Tessa says. “I don’t think there’s any going back to normal or the way things were. Some people are going to now [expect] more flexibility because they can actually see that it’s helped them to do their job. Other people are going to continue to be affected by the last few weeks, even after the situation has passed.”

“So, I think making time to actually work out what’s important as a company and as a team [is a good idea].” Experiment with new ways of working, like implementing flexible hours, upgrading remote systems, or trying new ways to collaborate with online programs such as Trello[2] or Monday[3].

Tessa says that “while the tools we use are important, most important are the people you’re working with. Without those people, you can’t do the work that you need to do, [which means] you don’t have a business. Now is an important time to make sure we’re really looking after our people in one way or another and giving them the support they need. In terms of those needs, [managers should be flexible]…to help those people in the best way that suits them.”

Focus on what’s certain

Tessa explains that “the other thing I’ve been encouraging teams to do is focus on what they do know is certain.” Identify these things first, whether it be your company mission, your customer base or your commitment to your staff and use these as a way to motivate your remote team. It’s “just [about] reiterating the basic things that aren’t going to falter in one way or another.” They will find this comforting and “be able to hold onto that” when carrying out their work and communicating with others.

Facilitate team learning

There are a few things you can do to facilitate team collaboration beyond the company-wide meeting. Tessa shares that she’s “seen lots of teams learning or [taking] online courses together and sharing the [lessons]. [For example, they can] self-organize workshops using Zoom, [or try out] an online learning platform [where the team] can all come together to learn, [such as] Future Learn[4] or EdX[5]”.

Don’t forget the fun!

It may not be the first thing on your mind when encouraging your team to collaborate remotely, but the fun and social side of work can bridge the geographical divide between colleagues. Missy explains that, “at Tiger, keeping up our social interaction has been really important while we’re remote working. One of the initiatives we’ve put in place is a weekly running competition on Strava. This week, we’ve challenged our team to draw the funniest-looking GPS track on their daily run. This is just one of the ways we’re trying to get the business to all come together while we’re apart.”

The fun and social side of work can bridge the geographical divide between colleagues.

Tessa suggests that “just having remote cups of tea and things like that [help], as you don’t get to stop off at the kitchen and chat with people [anymore].” Other ideas include:

• Bingo/trivia game on a Friday afternoon
• Daily well being email from someone in the team
• A virtual exercise/yoga class at lunchtime

Trying these is a great way to promote team bonding, considering technology offers us so many opportunities to stay connected while online.

[1] HTTPS://WWW.COLLABORATIVEFUTURE.CO.UK/

[2] HTTPS://TRELLO.COM/

[3] HTTPS://MONDAY.COM/

[4] HTTPS://WWW.FUTURELEARN.COM/

[5] HTTPS://WWW.EDX.ORG/

The post Remote team management – 10 tips to encourage collaboration appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

When it comes to onboarding new staff, the office manager’s job description isn’t just about setting up a new starter’s computer, phone and official documents. As you’re in the unique position of working across all departments, you can also play an integral role in the successful onboarding of new employees through more informal means. We recommend partnering with the HR department to ensure everyone understands their roles and that all aspects of the process are covered.

We’ve outlined three ways you can play a crucial role in settling in a new starter.

Talk to their team

One important thing to do beforehand is prepare the team for the new hire. You can do this by encouraging them to invite the new hire out to after-work drinks, organizing a team lunch or setting up a team-building activity for the first few weeks they’ll be at the company. Depending on the role, HR may have organized a person to act as a mentor for them, or they may be receiving a hand over from their predecessor. Check this person has all of the materials and information they need to start this process. If the previous person wasn’t in the role and you hired a temp to fill the gap, ensure the temp has at least a few days’ handover with the new hire as well.

Talk to management

The new starter’s manager will be overseeing their workload. If they are experienced, they will know the best way to introduce information is slowly, with regular check-ins, to make sure their new hire is coping with their new role. But what about their interactions with other departments? Take the initiative and chat to each manager about a time they will be available to have a 1:1 introduction with the new starter. Once confirmed, make sure you remember to pop it in their dairies so they don’t let it fall to the wayside. This way, it’s guaranteed that the new employee will get some face time with the people they’ll have to work with, and it gives them an opportunity to find out how their role will interact with the rest of the office. This also encourages co-working and collaboration in the office, beneficial for productivity and ideas.

Talk to them

A new starter’s first day is daunting to say the least, so try to make your interactions with them as friendly as possible. It’s usually HR or the line manager’s role to go over company policies and make introductions, so sit back and wait until they have absorbed this information. Catch them within their first few days to reinforce anything they’re unsure with! Learn about them and make sure they’re aware of any benefits that may be of interest to them. This might be the company’s flexible working policies or social nights out. If you’re working remotely, it’s still important to set up a meeting a few days into their job so you can check in with them.

Above all, it’s important to work with the existing staff so this transition is as easy as possible for your newbie! You’re a natural conduit between HR, management and the new starter’s team; by ensuring everyone is aware of their responsibilities during this time, you’re proving yourself (yet again) to be an invaluable part of the business’ success.

Check out our other workplace insights to keep up with our latest tips and office trends, or read our guide to help with other remote onboarding resources.

The post Three ways an office manager can help onboard new employees appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Festivities are starting to take shape across the US – the Christmas lights have been switched on and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You is defrosting as we speak.

The festive season also means that the classic Secret Santa gift swap is upon us once again. Gifting presents to co-workers can contribute to positive morale in the office and add an extra bit of excitement alongside any workplace benefits you might already be offering employees at this time of year.

However, though there are many positives to the concept, there can also be some drawbacks. A recent study found that 58% of Americans are planning to forego spending money on gifts for their colleagues this year.[1] With consumer pressures and the rising cost-of-living; it’s easy to understand why some employees are less than enthusiastic about the gift giving traditions at the office.

There is also some debate about how much employees would like to spend. Many employees will no doubt have different expectations of what the cost might be, and may feel anxious if the price point is more than expected. According to research, the average employee spends $25 for co-workers and $30 on a gift for the boss.[2]

So if you are going to kick off the festive season with a gift-giving initiative, it’s important to take the right approach.

Here are some tips to ensure your Secret Santa efforts are as successful as can be:

Don’t make it compulsory

Making activities like these compulsory can add unwanted stress to a co-workers schedule and trigger office politics. While every employee should be invited to participate, making opting out easy and anonymous will mean there’s no pressure if individuals decide it’s not for them. It also means no-one ends up with a dud gift as everyone has voluntarily chosen to take part and isn’t left grasping at straws at the last minute.

Set a budget

Keep things streamlined with a budget ensures there’s not an imbalance in spending and employees don’t feel excluded. It’s worth ensuring the designated amount is achievable for all participants as well – setting the budget too high could make things awkward.

Consider a wish list or questionnaire

In larger organisations, knowing what to buy for a co-worker can be daunting. Offering the option of filling out a short questionnaire or nominating a wish list can take the stress out of gifting and ensure the allocated budget isn’t wasted on a present that the receiver doesn’t like or use. It’s also worth reminding all employees that gifts could be opened publicly and as such, should be appropriately chosen.

Don’t leave it to the last minute

December is notoriously busy in workplaces, so it’s best to get in early. Consider sending out the initial invite in November, leaving plenty of time for withdrawals, the drawing of names and gift sourcing.

It’s also worth scheduling reminders as you inch closer to the exchange date to make sure no-one is left behind. Sending out an email or company-wide message two weeks, a week and then a few days before will hopefully reduce any frantic last-minute purchases.

Get some help

There are plenty of free programs that can make a gift exchange easier. Drawnames.co.uk, Secret Santa Organiser, Elfster and Sneaky Santa are all free online resources that can automatically arrange the distribution of names amongst offices. Just enter the email addresses of the participants and let the automated programs work their magic. Some programs also include the possibility of adding wish lists and gift suggestions, making the entire process even easier.

[1] https://www.worklife.news/culture/gift-giving-work/

[2] https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/12/survey-employees-typically-spend-25-on-coworker.html?page=all

The post Five tips for a successful Secret Santa appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Are you looking to plan the future of your workplace post-COVID-19? I recently hosted a webinar with three UK-based experts to try and provide guidance and support surrounding the future of work. Bruce Daisley, host of Eat Sleep Work Repeat podcast; Dr Heejung Chung from the University of Kent in England; and CIPD (the UK’s association for human resource management professionals) Director David D’Souza shared their thoughts on:

• The post-COVID-19 office
• The future of flexible working practices
• How the HR community has responded to COVID-19
• The importance of employees’ mental and emotional wellbeing
• The impact of working from home on employees, employers and businesses
• The potential impact of COVID-19 on office culture
• The disparity of remote-working options offered to male and female employees
• Qualities employees need to adapt to the changing workplace
• Their predictions for the next five years

The post WATCH: The future of work demystified by three workplace experts appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Coralie Fernando, Head of Marketing and Communication at Tiger, sits down with Tiger Private, to talk through how private household staff recruitment has changed during COVID-19. They discuss the high-quality candidate pool available, the popularity of certain household positions, consolidation of roles and how virtual technologies are speeding up the recruitment process. Listen to the podcast below.

You can find out more about private household recruitment here or email Laura directly for more info.

The post LISTEN: How private household staffing has changed during COVID-19 appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

For many business owners and managers, there may come a time in their career when they’re forced to consider making someone redundant. It’s never a decision to make lightly, however, in times of changing markets, some businesses may find themselves speeding through the redundancy process. This is usually because they want to turn their finances around as quickly as possible.

While this is understandable, it’s important not to lose sight of the need to restructure correctly. When planning how to make someone redundant in the way that causes the least pain and uncertainty, there are three key areas to consider:

• Process — this relates to the procedure you’ll follow, project timelines, the scope of the consultation and your legal obligations.
• Operational aspects — this is the delivery of the program and includes carrying out the consultations, identifying roles for redundancy and notifying the post-holders, setting up mail forwarding for closed offices and paying off/closing down accounts.
• Managing human aspects — behind each role is a human being with feelings and financial commitments, who may well be feeling anxious about the future.

Of these, the third is the one that has the most potential to go wrong (and has the biggest impact when it does), yet is very often overlooked or considered as an afterthought. When we fail to manage the emotional journey of our employees, we risk the workforce being overtaken by fear, doubt and disillusionment.

When that happens, productivity can take a hit and you could even lose talented employees who aren’t part of the redundancy program. Further, this could damage your brand if the stories of mismanaged redundancies make it out into the public domain.

We’ve identified three potential pitfalls that come up time and again for organisations planning redundancies — rushing the process, putting process before people and getting the communications wrong. So, here’s our best advice on avoiding these mistakes when making someone redundant, ensuring a smooth change for your employees and business.

Three pitfalls of the redundancy process

Don’t rush

Once the decision has been made, it can be tempting to just crack on — ending people’s uncertainty has to be a good thing, right? Well, not necessarily — being too keen to announce or letting process dictate the pace can lead people to rush the process, which is how mistakes happen. It can also give the impression that you haven’t properly planned things, or that the business is in trouble. While it’s likely you’re making redundancies in a post-COVID world because it’s essential for the future success of the business, this hasty action can lead those people you wanted to retain to start looking for jobs elsewhere.

To avoid these kinds of issues:

• Take the time to prepare properly. Printing out key details five minutes before a meeting looks disrespectful and sets a poor tone for conversations with people. Instead, devise a plan well in advance and stick to it.
• Look for creative ways to save time instead of rushing. For instance, it’s a common misconception that you need lots of time for consultations, but with the right conversations and effective planning, you can do things pretty quickly.

Put people before process

It’s not uncommon to put emotions aside when striving to reach challenging business goals. In fact, sometimes, it can be a good thing to take an objective approach. When planning to make someone redundant, however, this can lead to difficulties and complications that could have been avoided.

For example, not everyone will want to stay with your organisation, so having the right conversations with those individuals can help them to leave with good grace and reduce the number of compulsory redundancies you need to make. If those conversations don’t happen, or don’t go well, those people may dig their heels in and cause complications.

To get it right:

• Think about the outcome, rather than the process. Although we advocate as much advanced planning as possible, you need to be able to tweak it as you go along to accommodate people’s needs. As long as you keep the ultimate business goal in sight, this shouldn’t be a problem.
• Tailor the support you give to people’s individual needs. Who do you need to reassure? Who do you want to support into another role somewhere else? For people transitioning out of the company, consider offering outplacement support[1] to help ease the journey and make their next step the right one.

Be prepared to have difficult conversations. To provide genuine leadership at times of change, you need to be present and willing to face challenges with your team. This is definitely not a time to sit back and let a process run its course.

Fine-tune your redundancy and change management communications

If you allow the process to take over, resulting in putting people’s lives second, you risk generating resentment and defensive behavior among your employees. If the restructuring is due to COVID-19’s effects, steer clear of blaming employees (either consciously or subconsciously) for poor sales or decreased profits. That can be hugely damaging and make an already bad situation worse.

To avoid communication issues and misunderstandings:

• Remember you’re talking to people — know your people and demonstrate emotional intelligence. Sometimes just acknowledging how bad a situation is will go a long way and help demonstrate empathy.
• Think about your messaging. It’s worth giving this as much thought as you would if you were planning a marketing campaign. Planning your messaging in advance can help make sure everyone is on the same page, avoid bad feelings and protect your employer brand.
• Plan what you want to communicate and when. It’s admirable to want to keep everyone in the loop, but too much information too soon can cause upset and worry. On the other hand, taking too long risks the circulation of leaks and misinformation.

There is no ‘right’ answer to the question, “how do I make someone redundant?” This process needs to be planned just as carefully as any other business project, with a view to achieving maximum efficiency and value for money, as well as meeting legal/regulatory obligations.

However, it will be more important than ever that your change management plans address human factors and that the people delivering them are emotionally intelligent. Get it right and your restructuring program could be a win for your business and employees — even the ones who are leaving.

Author bio: Tom Griffiths is a Head of Organisational Change, Internal HR and Business Partnering in the UK based outplacement company Connor[2]. His role is to design the technical solution and resource plan to meet clients’ outplacement requirements.

[1] https://connor.co.uk/outplacement/outplacement-for-your-organisation/
[2] https://connor.co.uk/outplacement/

The post Three mistakes to avoid when making someone redundant appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.