In the current changing, challenging and chaotic times we are facing there has been a dramatic impact on the way we are working and living. Lotus People are committed to supporting our community of clients and candidates to give an insight into how both businesses and individuals are operating during these times. We recently hosted a webinar addressing ‘The role of recruiters during Covid’, if you didn’t manage to join us here’s a snapshot of what you missed!

Experiences of recruiting in this particular market

Initially, over the first week of this happening there was a real hesitancy from candidates to look outside their current roles making them harder to engage. However, as the economy and working environments have become less secure as the situation has developed, there has been a shift and an increase in the level of interest in vacancies. Clients are now having to pitch to candidates how they are future proofing their businesses to give that level of confidence to secure the right candidate.

Experiences with on-boarding remotely and how to run a recruitment process remotely

One of the main reasons why businesses are reluctant to move forward with recruitment right now is due to the challenges of on-boarding remotely, most companies will have a set on-boarding procedure which they still want to run. One of the main blocks can be enabling shared access to documents and information which everyone needs to work from. It is important to assess what information/technology everyone already has access to and the information you can only access from the server or office. The latter is the one to focus on first and figure out how to innovate during this time, once that has been done you can then work backwards to bridge the gap between the two.

Predictions for hiring and the market for the coming months

Historically, when the economy drops so dramatically it also increases very sharply on the other side. We have seen lots of permanent recruitment being put on hold however this is not necessarily going to be sustainable for businesses. With roles that have been shelved, the duties are usually divided out between current employees, we know from experience this short term solution is not viable for employers and will result in a decrease in moral, motivation and productivity from staff as they feel the strain from the added work load. This is the time to use temporary staff to alleviate some of that pressure, it is a readily available work force that can spring into action and takes the pressure off the team.



It is also the time for businesses to be forward planning and take advantage of the strong talent pool on the market at the moment, when things do start to ramp up again the best candidates are sure to be snapped up quickly so it is beneficial to use this time to secure those candidates now.

How to work together remotely and how to maintain engagement and morale

Keeping employees engaged in a business is one of the most critical challenges of working from home and during tough times, we have established the new normal in terms of technology but most of us will have some element of missing personal connections and face to face communications. There are a number of ways to maintain engagement and productivity starting with being dressed presentably to deal with colleagues and clients, you will show up mentally and feel more prepared for work and the tasks you need to do. Being accountable for your work and adjusting goals to reflect the current market will help with staying on track, rather than having unachievable targets that will make you feel like you are not achieving. As mentioned, social interaction is something we are all missing, having a separate social channel where staff can share selfies, funny memes or daily challenges will keep teams connected and make everyone feel involved.

From a recruiters perspective providing a supportive and consistent service to all your clients is imperative during this period, now is the time to be a true consultant and lead with action.