Category: Blog

HR MANAGEMENT, HR RECRUITMENT, HR JOBS

The importance of highlighting HR talent

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Senior HR Recruitment Consultant Sean Thomas discusses how the recent CIPD awards served as a reminder of why businesses of all sizes need great HR talent and management.

A few weeks ago, the Excel Recruitment HR team enjoyed its first outing to the CIPD HR Awards in the iconic Mansion House, to recognise the success of great HR managers and teams across the country.

Attending these awards with some of the best HR teams and talent in Ireland, we saw first-hand the positive impact a HR team can have with the right people in place. Many great companies and organisation were recognised for excellent work in their fields, such as Gillian Collins of the Irish Defence Forces, who was highly commended for her work in Diversity & Inclusion. Other companies such as Applegreen and Musgrave were also very successful on the day.

It was a fascinating learning experience to see how modern HR departments are helping businesses and organisations face modern challenges and move forward successfully. One of the awards that particularly stuck with me, went to DPD Ireland for Excellence in HR leadership. The HR talent put a huge emphasis on recognising and thanking their employees for their extra contribution and hard work during the hectic Black Friday to Christmas period. The HR team led a creative & fun-filled 10 day initiative in the lead up to Christmas. They were able to show their appreciation to the team for their extra efforts and commitment while still ensuring the needs of the business were met. Having worked in retail for over 12 years, I know first-hand the extra demand on staff and management during the lead up to Christmas.

As many will be aware last year due to Excel’s expansion as well as a rise in demand from our clients, Excel’s CEO Barry Whelan and I consolidated all of Excel’s HR recruitment capabilities into a dedicated HR recruitment division. This has been a huge success, allowing us to further support our many clients in retail, hospitality and across other sectors. Throughout my career in retail and recruitment, I have seen the importance of a strong HR function in a business, across any sector. This sparked a fascination with the area and prompted me to complete my HRM qualification in order to learn more about the sector and better understand my client’s requirements.

Overall, the afternoon was a great reminder of the value of great HR team or person and the need to recognise them and to support them, within the wider industry, yes, but perhaps more crucial internally within their own organisation. The job of the HR Manager, Generalist and so on, is wide-ranging and far-reaching and the impact is felt across the business not only short term but for the long term organisations objectives.
A very well done to all finalist and organisations that are constantly evolving and always looking at ways to improve employee working experiences.

To view our current live HR jobs, click here: https://www.excelrecruitment.com/jobs/human-resources

How sustainability is changing the way retail head offices’ recruit

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

With environmental impact firmly in the minds of their customers, retail head offices are looking for the talent to help them get greener. Head Office recruiter Sarah Hurley explains more about sustainability….

Unless you’re actively trying, ‘the green agenda’, and messages around sustainability have become impossible to avoid. From most people using a keep cup or reusable water bottle to ‘Veganuary’ shifting from a personal challenge to a permanent lifestyle for some, what was once niche has become everyday. Social consciousness is not just a marketing buzzword but rather a mainstream mindset. Retailers have made it readily accessible and easy for their customers to become part of this ‘journey’ and from this, social responsibility has become a major consideration in buying offices globally.

Fast-fashion businesses are in the spotlight, as their customers become more aware of issues around sustainability in the fashion industry, whilst still wanting to shop the latest trends. For retailers, in order to stay on top, it is imperative that they both make tangible inroads into a greener way of doing business and then convey these changes to their customers. The goal is to make it easier for customers to shop consciously yet to still offer them great value and choice.

To meet this demand, retailers are interested in the knowledge and insight these people may bring with them when recruiting Buyers, Designers and other key head office employees. They want people with about how best to introduce these necessary changes cross-functionally whilst still managing the bottom line.

As these retailers source and sell globally, they produce tens of thousands of garments and transport them by land, sea and air to fulfil their customer’s demands. So retailers’ issues aren’t as straight forward as ditching plastic hangers or using paper over plastic bags. From the bigger issues around supply chain and sourcing to less obvious matters around card types used for labels and packaging, retailers want to ensure their green strategy and message is conveyed at every level and function in their business. This means they are seeking out individuals that possess a knowledge of a product’s life cycle (from factory to shop floor) and its environmental impact, as actions in one function of the business can have a negative knock-on effect on another.

Some retailers are creating specific roles dedicated to analysing the business and make significant greener changes, such as Sustainability Managers/Officers or Sustainable Packaging Managers. Others are adding additional requirements to Buyers and Designers’ existing briefs.

So what can job seekers do to tap into this demand from employers and diversify their experience? As this is a relatively new function within Irish retailers, they aren’t looking for the employees who are the finished article but instead individuals who have perhaps done projects in sustainability in their current role or can demonstrate excellent knowledge or a keen interest in this area. What retailers want is candidates that hold with the skills of a Buyer or Designer etc. such as trend forecasting, sourcing, negotiating, and analytical abilities, coupled with an innate interest in environmental issues and a commitment to work hand-in-hand with external stakeholders to drive sustainability across the broader business.

Barry Whelan, CEO Excel Recruitment

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS EVERY EMPLOYER SHOULD MAKE

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

January is flying by but it’s never too late (or too early!) for employers to reflect on how to make their workplace a better one. The beginning of the year, and of a new decade, is the perfect time for employers to implement tangible resolutions to help retain staff members who may be thinking ‘new year, new career?’ CEO of Excel Recruitment Barry Whelan explains how ….

Let employees be off when they are off

With modern technology, we are always connected to the workplace through our smartphones. This brings with it an expectation of an immediate response to issues and problems, which in turn leads to a trend of expecting employees to always be on and available. While some jobs do require this, most don’t. Employers need to get serious about limiting their intrusions into their employee’s time off. Employees want to leave their work in the office. Ideas for resolutions include recognising the importance of proper time off which attracts and retains great employees.

Give out the benefits and perks based on merit not request

As the old saying goes, ‘he who shouts the loudest gets heard’. Often management distributes the ‘extras’ such as better projects, professional development or indeed higher raises and better perks to the employees that ask the most as opposed to those who deserve it. The allocation of work, rewards and benefits should only be made on merit. Ask yourself ‘Do your most outspoken employees get a disproportionate share of resource?’ Make a point of examining how perks and benefits are distributed are resolutions for employers. Resist the easy path of giving more based on who speaks first or negotiates the best package.

Make feedback a habit

Articulating the areas in which you’d like to see an employee improve or describing what you’d like to see done differently can go a long way towards keeping employees motivated and engaged. Simple and positive feedback will generally keep people motivated and displaying the behaviours that were the reason for the praise in the first place. Resolutions employers should implement are to push managers to make feedback a regular part of their conversations with staff members. For example, they could set aside time for it in weekly check-ins. Many managers don’t give enough feedback to their staff members, even though feedback is one of the strongest tools managers have for getting better results from their teams.

Spend more on training and developing staff

The desire for training and development is incredibly high amongst employees at the moment and employers are beginning to listen, but often balk at actually devoting time and resources to training. Employees will get frustrated they’re expected to produce results and stay up to date on current trends without getting much training and professional development. Make this the year that you see your employees development as a long-term investment in your organisation.

Don’t procrastinate performance problems

Instead of taking credit for the high achievers in their teams, managers should measure their own performance by the lowest performers on their teams. This is the real measure of how they are performing, how they handle people who are struggling. Too often, managers shy away from the tough conversations, coaching work and accountability that’s crucial to a high-performing team. Procrastination needs to be done away with and issues tackled head-on.

Give thanks to great employees

If you want to retain your best people, ensure that their contributions are recognised – both through open praise and by compensation that reflects their worth to your organization and gives them a reason to stay. Employers often underestimate the impact of making sure that great employees hear that they are valued.

Work against racial, age, social and gender bias in your company

In our ever-changing work environment, it is important that we recruit, reward and recognise people for skills, experience and contribution as opposed to bias in either a positive or negative way. Educate managers to find ways to combat unconscious bias, such as evaluating candidates against a clear list of must-haves, not factors that don’t truly correlate with success on the job, factors such as rapport with the interviewer or their address. Train managers to use evidence-based methods to evaluate candidates, such as job-related exercises and simulations, and even remove identifying details from applications so that managers can assess candidates without knowing their race or gender.

Nikki Murran, Excel Recruitment's Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment

The Premium Problem

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

Excel’s Director of Grocery Retail Nikki Murran reflects on one of our clients’ biggest headaches, spiralling insurance costs and asks what can be done about them?

One of my favourite parts of my jobs is catching up with our retailers. The last 9 months have been particularly enjoyable as there seems to be so much optimism across the grocery retail sector at the moment. A lot of clients are investing in their stores while others are opening brand new sites. I was invited out to the new store opening of Dunnes Stores and James Whelan’s Butchers in Naas a while back and it was such a treat to see grocery retailing at it’s best and the excitement that comes with new store openings!

However, despite the overall pattern of optimism, there is one issue looming heavy on the minds of retailers: rising insurance costs. It is not only smaller independent retailers being crippled, spiralling insurance rates are also having a heavy impact on all retailers across the country.

The Response from Retailers

Retailers are reacting; many have invested in staff training, improved store layouts and incident reporting policies, which have led to a decrease in the number of claims made in stores. Despite this work, the average insurance premium has seen a rise of between 5% and 10% a year! This is a substantial cost to any retailer – especially when they are actively doing everything in their power to reduce the risk.

These increases are the burden of the retailers, not because they are at fault or have failed to act, but because of a wider culture of claims which despite media coverage and public outcry, is growing. Compounding this culture of blaming and claiming, there exist no clear judicial guidelines for compensation and worst of all – a lack of resources to follow up an insurance fraud. Since the legislation around this was enacted in 2004 to tackle the issue there has been ONE – yes only one – prosecution for insurance fraud! How is that possible?

The Numbers

Ireland’s average whiplash injury compensation in €17,338, vs the UK’s average of €3,798 or Canada’s of €2,215. Australia and Sweden are unlikely to offer any compensation at all for the same soft tissue injury. Such dramatic differences surely raise serious questions about how we are coming up with these monetary values for awards? It is the premiums of ordinary people and the premiums of retailers up and down the country that are paying for these bloated, inconsistent pay-outs!

In an article by Charlie Weston earlier this year he states that “Retailers estimate that on average, for every €1 allocated to an insurance claim, a business must make €100 in sales to recoup this outlay.” (The Irish Independent, May 2019) That is an incredible burden to put on any retailer!

So, what can we do?

The Alliance for Insurance reform have some excellent resources available to tackle this epidemic on their website – https://insurancereform.ie/what-we-want/

They are striving for:

Prevention of exaggerated claims

Consistency in the calculation of awards

Transparency in how premiums are calculated

And really, the most shocking part of this mandate is that these measures are not in place already.

Aislinn Lea, Head of Fashion & Non-Food, Excel Recruitment

Retail University

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty | Leave a Comment on Retail University

Excel’s Fashion and Non-Food Director Aislinn Lea on why a retail career is the one for anyone looking to learn and the world of opportunities retail jobs offer

The term university I believe comes from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium which roughly means “an association of teachers and scholars” which to me, is exactly what the retailing world is. A retail career is a world of opportunity. It is an ever changing world of diversity, excitement, pace, people, leadership and growth. I struggle to think of another industry or career path that can offer you the diversity of skills and experiences that retail can. Depending on your skills and interests, retail offers you the opportunity to:

  • Be a decision maker: insight of managing and leading a business like it is your own
  • Be a teacher: instrumental in training, motivating and encouragement
  • Be a financial wizard: managing controllable costs, analysing your trading reports improve sales growth and create a profitable store / business
  • Be a magician and juggler- learn the art of multi-tasking and managing the needs of the business, of your customers and your team without breaking a sweat
  • Be creative – to allow for change by understanding your people, your customer, company culture
  • Be everything to everyone – a leader, a manager, a friend, a personal shopper, a coach, an inspiration and ultimately to be part of the art in delivering the ultimate shopping experience

I recently received an email from a candidate that I placed in a new management role letting me know how he was finding his new job. In it, he described his new company as a “University of Retail” which struck me firstly, as a fantastic compliment for our client. Secondly, it highlighted just how unique retail is as an industry for precisely this reason: in retail, every day’s a school day.

Retail management is one of the most progressive careers in the market, an industry where the opportunities and careers available are as ever-changing as the products we sell and customers we serve. To a hardworking and passionate individual pursuing a retail career the doors that open are endless and a result, exciting, challenging and rewarding. From Management, Head Office or Buying to HR, Marketing, E-Tailing and Visual Merchandising there are exciting career opportunities and career paths across Grocery, Fashion and Non-Food retailing along with countless chances to learn, meet new people, try new things, and see new places. On top of this, it’s an extremely fast-paced industry, constantly innovating and evolving, which provides anybody who wants to embrace new ideas and technologies the opportunity to really make their mark.

Retail is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry employing over 280,000 people and accounting for a large contribution to the Irish economy. Its also one of the fastest evolving industries there is. As retail continues to grow, we need to continue to attract new talent and new leaders into the world of retail. Equally we need to hold on to our current talent, our scholars in retail who can mentor, train and develop the new recruits, the new team, the new leaders.

Why Retail Needs Great HR Managers

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty | Leave a Comment on Why Retail Needs Great HR Managers

Excel Recruitment has established a dedicated HR recruitment department to further support our client’s needs. Head of HR Recruitment Sean Thomas breaks down just some of the reasons why great HR talent is a necessity not a bonus for retail businesses.

With
only 4 months left in 2019, we’re continuing to see excellent growth in the
economy and the market shift towards full-employment. We are seeing people
prosper, building sites all over with new homes being built, banks’ lending again
and young couples finally becoming homeowners. Excellent right? While retailers
across the country have reaped the benefits from all of this positive growth,
such a buoyant employment market is causing headaches for retailers of all
sizes when it comes to recruitment.  An
experienced HR Manager can support owners and organisations in all industries
but below are just a few reasons why retail in particular should make HR a priority.

The customer is key

To
state the obvious, exceptional customer service is at the centre of any
successful retail business. The key to this is the front-line employees, the
people who are in direct contact with customers both instore and online. They
are the public face of the company and often, what customers remember most
about their experience of a brand. They are essentially ambassadors of the
brand and key to achieving customer service goals. This means making sure that
the workforce is properly trained in the appropriate skills and happy and
motivated to deliver exemplary service. This is where a solid HR team can
shine, not only in devising, co-ordinating and implementing complete 360
training for in-store teams but also in terms of ensuring employee engagement
and motivation, devising incentives for rewarding and recognising key staff or
planning team bonding exercises.

Turnover

Retail
can have a high rate of employee turnover due to seasonal demand, employing
high numbers of students who work part-time and then move on or people working
their way up the business quickly. High staff turnover can be time consuming
and expensive for businesses and can impact customer loyalty if customers keep
seeing a new face every time they enter your store. A solid HR management team
can keep turnover to a minimum by managing the interviewing process, asking the
right questions to ascertain how a potential hire will fit in with the existing
team and communicating the role and its responsibilities and requirements fully
to candidates being interviewed.  This way, there’s no surprises when the
candidate starts a job, for either them or the employer.

Seasonal Demand

Retailers
often experience fluctuations in staff numbers, such as needing to add
temporary staff in the run up to Christmas or summer to cope with increased
footfall. This can be stressful for businesses without sufficient HR support
trying to recruit large volumes of people quickly and for full-time workers who
may have to assist new colleagues thrown into the thick of it. Again, a
specialist and dedicated HR manager is the best person to manage this process,
highlighting to permanent staff what’s expected of them and onboarding
temporary workers successfully.

For
both head office roles and on the floor in the stores, we are seeing exactly
how important it is having a strong HR manager with expertise in reward,
L&D and recruitment.

A strong
L&D leader can develop talented members of the team, giving them the
confidence to take the reins in the business or take up specific support roles
in other areas of the business. They can also assist a business in motivating
and retaining their top performers, leading to internal promotions and
increasing harmony within the store.

If you have any HR recruitment requirements or are an HR
professional on the lookout for a new move, get in touch with Sean today
at sean@excelrecruitment.com or call 01-8148747

 

Laurence Rogers- Excel Recruitment Senior Hospitality Consultant

Why Chefs Should Use LinkedIn More

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Senior Hospitality Consultant Laurence Rogers on why chefs need to be making the most of their LinkedIn profiles and his top tips for getting started…

 

I spend quite a lot of my time as a Recruiter on LinkedIn and it always surprises me how hospitality people, and especially Chefs, seem to put the bare minimum into their profiles on the platform. Funnily enough, the content that I enjoy the most comes from Chefs who do use LinkedIn to their advantage and showcase the foods, brands, and concepts that they are currently working on. It helps me keep in touch with culinary trends both nationally and internationally while putting industry experts as well as up and coming talent on my radar. But why do I recommend LinkedIn over other social media platforms….

Online Community

For one, LinkedIn gives you access to an online community of likeminded people working in your industry. You can join groups, build a network of professional chefs, swap ideas, pictures, recipes, techniques, projects… the list goes on! You get an opportunity to interact with industry experts and peers as well as the chance to become a mentor and influencer and build your own personal brand. LinkedIn is the only platform that allows you to engage with your industry on a professional level.

Find Jobs

This is a fantastic way to find a new job as LinkedIn is like an interactive jobs board! Not only can you see what jobs are available, you can also see who is already working there, what kind of food they produce and what kind projects they are working on. You no longer have to use a job advert to try and work out what the company would be like to work for, you can just pop on to their company page and do all your research on LinkedIn.

Career progression

LinkedIn will, without doubt, give you access as a professional to a lot more opportunities. If you can get your talent and experience across on your LinkedIn profile, it will open all sorts of doors for you. The best profiles will get noticed first but how do you make sure that your profile gets noticed…

Profile Tips

  1. Profile picture – keep it professional, make sure your chef whites are spotless and make sure you are smiling or at least look happy!
  2. Keep your dates of employment up to date – this is essential, we know chefs are not known for their amazing CVs so this is a great way around it.
  3. Add specific skills and interests – Cooking techniques, pastry skills, butchery, zero waste… the list goes on! Let people know what makes you stand out.
  4. Content, content, content… – Like posts from other Chefs, post links to videos and articles, post pictures of your own dishes, share recipes… The more active you are online, the more doors it will open for you.
Brian Shane Excel RecruitmentKorea 2019

South Korea: Key to Solving the Chef Crisis?

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty | Leave a Comment on South Korea: Key to Solving the Chef Crisis?

 

It’s a continuous loop: hospitality businesses cry out for chefs, everyone points to different causes and solutions, nothing really happens and businesses remain in desperate need with the chef crisis.

While there are many proposed long-term action plans from governments, industry experts and think groups about how to solve the chef crisis going forward, none of these will put chefs in the kitchens of under-pressure businesses now. Last year, I was delighted to be asked to head to South Korea with the Restaurants Association of Ireland on a specialist chef recruitment drive. The trip turned out to be hugely successful we recruited fantastic chefs for own temporary chef team who over the past year have worked across Dublin for many of our clients. They have settled in nicely to life in Ireland and feedback from our clients regarding their work ethic and skill level has been fantastic. All of our client’s teams have loved the opportunity to learn from them about different techniques and about South Korean and other Asian cuisines.

Needless to say, when the opportunity arose again, I jumped at the chance. This time along with myself and RAI CEO Adrian Cummins, Excel’s very own Brian Nixon also made the trip. Brian has become something of an expert in recruiting chefs from abroad and the visa process over the last year, handling the administrative process for both our own chefs’ visas from start to finish. There are a number of steps to getting chefs over from Korea and into Irish kitchens, but Brian is the number 1 expert in Ireland for chef work permits and knows the minute details of each part of the process.

We again attended the World Job+ Recruitment Fair to meet and interview chefs who are interested in coming to Ireland on the Chef Work Permit scheme. As most people know, new regulations came into effect in March of last year, removing some chef grades from the ineligible occupations list and making it easier to recruit chefs from outside the EU. There is an overall quota of 610 employment permits available each year. Alongside meeting with the chefs themselves. Since returning from Korea, we have already placed nearly all the chefs we met in Korea with clients nationwide but we have a few really great candidates left and are in the process of matching them with potential employers.

Brian and myself also met with a number of Korean officials, including Chang Gyun Jaegal, the head of the leader in the Korean food services industry, a major group with over 400,000 restaurants to discuss the further cooperation and commitment between Irish businesses and Korean jobseekers.

If you are struggling to hire Chefs or retain them for long periods and want to find out about how Excel Recruitment can help you through the work permit process please do not hesitate to contact me for more details.

Shane McLave Chef

Excel Recruitment’s Director Shane McLave feels the heat back in the kitchen

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty | Leave a Comment on Excel Recruitment’s Director Shane McLave feels the heat back in the kitchen

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane McLave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years

It’s been 12 years since I was last in the kitchen myself but as all chefs and ex-chefs will agree, your love of food never dies. So this April as I embarked on a culinary tour through Italy, Switzerland and France, when the opportunity to spend some time working in a professional European kitchen presented itself, I obviously couldn’t resist.

.

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years
Excel’s Shane McLave with Chef Nicolas Mekkaoui before service

This opportunity was something I’d always wanted to do while working in hotels and catering- but the schedule never allowed. It came via my old colleague and one of my best ever temp chefs as a recruiter- Nicolas Mekkaoui. One of the greatest perks for me of working in hotels and restaurants is the ability to meet and form lasting friendships with people from all over the world. Almost all the people I count as close friends, I met while working in Temple Bar for 12 years.

In my life as a recruiter, I’ve had the same conversation many times with chefs returning to the kitchen after a long spell away, one where I always tell them it’s just like riding a bike and all those usual platitudes. But I have to admit when it came to my turn to step back into the kitchen, the nerves most definitely kicked in when donning my apron again. The challenge for the day was catering a busy wedding in a small chateau in the French Alps near Annecy. The task at hand was a menu of traditional French fare with fresh, local ingredients. Working with such classic flavours meant the stakes were high, any mistakes I made would be easily noticed.

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years

 

Just like back when I was working on the temp circuit, it takes a few moments to orientate yourself: opening and closing and reopening fridge doors, hunting for the secret spring you need to light the range, speed-reading the menus looking for things that you like doing or maybe want to pass on. After a minute – and a few deep breaths – you realise it’s all the same dance, regardless of location and time passed. You make your list of what mise en place is needed, check numbers and meal timings and get cracking.

 

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years
Excel Recruitment’s Shane McLave on chef duty

The experience was definitely a challenge but hugely rewarding, along the way rediscovering something I had forgotten. You can’t mess with a recipe in France or Italy without risking being taken out the back door and possibly shot, and more importantly- why would you want to anyway?

For me the biggest difference between kitchens here and kitchens in Italy and France is the focus. Here we seem to try and do a bit of everything and in many cases end up with nothing special. In stark contrast, touring restaurants in and around Lake Como it was really simple, when you want pizzoccherri go, go to the pizzoccherri place. When you wanted lake fish, you go the lake fish place. Many of the spots we visited did not even have a menu. If it was not for my guide and old pal Francesco, I would have had no clue what food would be arriving when I sat down at each venue. Good food does not have to be complicated as long as the focus is on freshness, flavour and quality. In fact, perhaps the star meal of the trip was a dinner of freshly baked bread with fresh burrato and parma ham bought directly from the farmers and assembled on a hilltop overlooking the lake.

Excel Recruitment’s Director and ex-chef Shane Mclave discusses donning his chef whites for the first time in 12 years

 

Most chefs start out their careers because of an insatiable love of food. Over the years, it is easy for this to dim due to the stresses and strains involved in working in the industry, leading to many eventually straying completely as a result of the pressures on personal lives etc.. If you are a Chef and have been out of the kitchen for a while and are interested in coming back, why not call in and have a chat with our dedicated Chef consultant, Emma Conlon. We offer the ability to work more sociable hours and can help you achieve the right work/life balance for you, while also giving you the opportunity to work in great kitchens with passionate chefs. It might just be the thing to rekindle the love of food that brought you into this industry in the first place.

To get in touch with Shane call 01-8717676 or email Emma Conlon at emma@excelrecruitment.com to discuss joining our temporary chef team.

Agency Healthcare Jobs Benefit

Working for an Agency: Top 5 Benefits for Healthcare Staff

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

It’s 2019, and there’s never been more opportunities out there for healthcare staff to gain experience, try new disciplines and expand their skill set. Joining an agency could be the best way to do just that. Healthcare Consultant Joseph Dunleavy on 5 reasons that you should be considering agency work:

Varied work

It’s a great way to try out different facilities and settings in order to see what you enjoy the most. Most agencies will have a variety of different clients with varying needs. From geriatric care, to psychiatric and acute care, you will often be able to gain valuable insight into what it takes to work in each specific setting. Nursing homes, hospitals, residential care and rehabilitation are some of the options that could be open for exploration. You will pick up valuable skills along the way which will undoubtedly stand to you if/when you decide to apply for full-time employment.

Equal pay opportunities for all staff

Due to the AWD Act 2012, all agency staff must be paid at least equally to permanent staff in the facility they’re working. In fact, agency staff can sometimes be paid a higher rate than the permanent staff depending on the agency’s agreement with the client. So, you can rest easy knowing that you will be fairly compensated for your hard work, regardless of where you work.

Flexible hours

With agency work, you are not required to work a set number of hours per week. You simply let your consultant know your availability, and they will be in touch when they have shifts on your chosen days/nights. This means that even if you are already in full-time employment, you have the option of working with an agency to supplement your current income. Many agency staff who are not employed full-time, end up working ongoing in their favourite client, but with the added benefit of knowing they can choose their own availability. This is particularly useful for people with family commitments or student nurses with limited availability.

Potential permanent job

Working with an agency also opens the door for permanent employment with one of the agencies clients’. If you find yourself looking for a more concrete roster and have been working well within a specific client, there is always the possibility that the client will offer you a permanent contract. This has the added benefit of essentially being a trial run for both the client and the candidate, so there are no surprises for either side when you begin your permanent job. This also serves as a valuable networking experience as you meet large number of healthcare professionals in various settings.

Weekly payments and holiday pay

Often employers have monthly payroll which means you’re waiting 4 weeks for your next pay-check. Agencies generally pay weekly, meaning you don’t have to wait for the money you’ve earned. You’re also entitled to holiday pay, which is accrued depending on how much you work. And you’re free to take your holidays whenever you want – provided you give the notice stipulated in your contract.

While there can be certain downsides to agency work, such as the lack of guaranteed hours (shift availability depends on client demand/need), it’s very clear that there are a lot of attractive benefits that will appeal to a large number of healthcare staff. Even if already in full-time employment, agency work can be an added bonus with many positives. If the above sounds appealing, feel free to get in touch with any of our fantastic healthcare recruiters for more information and to set up an interview.