Copy
View this email in your browser

Recruitment Matters International October 2020 Newsletter


Hello from the Recruitment Matters International team!


Here we go again… We’d normally make some pithy observations about the latest Covid regs but, by the time we’ve published this, they’ll probably have changed again, anyway. Let’s just say it’s a mixed and ever-changing picture. What’s clear is it’s not getting any easier yet.
 
However, it has given many of us the chance to review how we have been doing things in the past and perhaps make some significant changes for the future. What have you done to convert your difficulties and challenges into opportunities?
 
One thing that we have done is fine-tune our interactive online training programme and revise our open course pricing structure. In response to the likelihood of continuing tough market conditions and the philosophy that we’re all in this together, starting with Candidate Control, Screening and Interview Techniques on November 3rd, our one day courses are now just £299+VAT and half day courses £179+VAT pp.  See below for information on what we have on offer for you to enjoy in the coming weeks.
 
In Warren’s article this month, he highlights the benefits of receiving complaints and dealing with them constructively.
 
Becky Fox discusses the pros and cons of inbound and outbound marketing – and don’t forget that, as an RMI newsletter subscriber, idealmarketingcompany.co.uk offer you a free marketing consultation.

This month, JMW's Simon Bloch and Grace O'Driscoll take us through the issues related to furlough fraud and the current amnesty.

If you have any requests on what you would like to see covered in future newsletters, do let us know.



Seek out complaints



Contributor: Warren Kemp, CEO and Trainer, Recruitment Matters International. Warren is also a qualified Mental Health First Aider.
 
As much as we don’t like getting complaints, we should be more proactive about asking for them.  If that sounds strange, then perhaps this example will explain a bit more behind the thought.

 
One research survey found that, on average, for every formal complaint made to a company about its products or service, it meant that 1299 other people had also heard of the problem. 
 
The reasoning behind that was this: For every one formal complaint received, there were 25 other people with the same issue who didn’t complain. All 26 people told, on average,10 of their friends, family or colleagues and each of those then passed on what they had heard to another 5. That made a whopping 1300 having received or heard negative and damaging information about the organisation!
 
Now let’s just say right now you don’t believe or agree with the findings. What if it was only 10% accurate? That’s still 130 people with negative thoughts for every one complaint received.  It’s very easy sometimes in recruitment to blame the client. “What quality of candidate did they expect me to send when they are paying such a low salary?”
 
The point, nevertheless, is that their opinion is that you have sent substandard candidates. So there will be others who have thought it but just haven’t voiced their disappointment. So they all tell colleagues, friends and family - and you are building yourself a reputation for sending poor candidates. It might not be fair, but it’s still potentially very damaging.
 
Consider conducting client audits every six months.  Ask them how they rate you on a small number of key components that make up the service you give e.g. speed, accuracy, communication and fees to name just four. Ask them how you compare to your competitors for the same components.
 
Welcome the feedback and act quickly to iron out any actual or potential issues.

 
Warren Kemp is CEO and trainer with Recruitment Matters International. For more tips, advice and information on RMI, visit https://recruitmentmatters.com/  telephone 0800 0749 289/ +44 (0)1529 410375 or email info@recruitmentmatters.com.



Inbound marketing v outbound marketing


 
Contributor: Becky Fox, The Ideal Marketing Company
 
If you’re looking at the best strategies to market your business, then you’re likely to have come across the terms inbound marketing and outbound marketing. Whilst they may just sound like two more marketing buzzwords (we do love a buzzword in the marketing industry!) they actually relate to two rather different styles of marketing
.
 
Inbound marketing aims to draw in potential customers who may be searching for information around your product/ service through valuable content and interactions.
 
Outbound marketing uses more disruptive, sales style techniques to get the marketing message in front of customers.
 
They are often described as having pull and push style. For example, with inbound marketing, a cosmetics company may create a blog post on their website about finding the perfect shade of lipstick to pull in potential customers searching for that information. With outbound marketing, they may run a television ad promoting their new line of lipsticks which is pushed to anyone watching the channel at that time.
 
Both channels offer unique benefits of their own, so to help you work out how they can support your business we’ve put together a short, unbiased guide
.
 
Inbound marketing strategies
Inbound strategies tend to cover marketing created to draw potential customers in. This includes things like:

  • Blog posts and articles
  • Social media
  • Webinars
  • Ebooks
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
Benefits and considerations of inbound marketing
 
Long term strategy
Strategies like building up traffic through articles, or building an audience for your podcast generally take time. If you’re looking for a quicker fix, then inbound may not be the best option. However, if you want to build up an audience of potential customers who are already showing interest in your business or sector, inbound could work wonders.
 
Helps build relationships
Inbound marketing can capture potential customers who are at the earlier stages of the buying process. For example, they may be looking for information about a product or service and comparing the options they have available. By putting out informative and helpful content, you can capture the attention of these individuals and nurture your relationship with them.
 
Non-invasive
In a world of ad-blockers and streaming services, inbound marketing can help to capture customers who simply don’t want to have their lives interrupted by more traditional advertising.
 
Cost-effective
Inbound marketing requires you to create useful content, some of which can remain ‘evergreen’, bringing in potential customers for years to come. Whilst creating well optimised and researched content takes time, the initial investment can continue to pay off, whereas a quicker fix outbound solution may deliver a flurry of leads before drying up completely.

 
Outbound marketing strategies
Outbound marketing covers methods where a business reaches out to people to see if they’re interested in a product or service. This could include things like:
  • Direct mail
  • Radio advertising
  • Television advertising
  • Newspaper advertising
  • Trade shows
  • Telemarketing

Benefits and considerations of outbound marketing
 
Immediate results
Outbound marketing lets you get in front of a large audience quickly. Whilst crafting an eye-catching direct mail campaign or perfectly scripted radio ad takes time initially, you can then instantly pay to have it sent out to a large audience within a matter of days or even hours!

 
High cost
This speed and volume does come with a cost. Getting your message across through the press, radio, television adverts and other forms of media can be extremely expensive. You really need to weigh up how much a customer is worth for your business and if these channels can offer you a cost-effective channel to reach them.
 
Wide net
The other key consideration should be who your message will reach. If you’re marketing a very niche product to a smaller audience base, then a national TV ad will not be the best way to spend your marketing budget. On the other hand, if your service applies to a significant number  people in an area (for example, job-seekers) then local outbound marketing such as a radio ad on your local station could definitely pay off.
 
Which is more effective?
 
This completely depends on your products or service, your customer, and your market. Both inbound and outbound marketing offer benefits and downsides, so you need to carefully consider which methods will be right for reaching and communicating your customer. This may mean creating a marketing mix that relies solely on inbound or outbound techniques, or one that includes both to support different audiences.
 
For a free consultation about your marketing needs, from branding to PR to digital marketing, visit idealmarketingcompany.co.uk  or call 01858 44 55 43.



Interactive online training update - new pricing structure


Following extensive research and your feedback, we have fine-tuned our interactive online open course training programme. All sessions run for a minimum of three hours, usually from 9:30am – 12:30pm, except Mondays when it’s 2:00pm – 5:00pm.
 
Investment cost is now £299+VAT pp for one day courses (run as two half day sessions) and £179+VAT for standalone half day courses.
 
NOTE. Related modules e.g. The Billing Manager: Day One and Day Two are run consecutively, one week apart. Coming up, we have:
 
Candidate Control, Screening and Interview Techniques – one day course (two half day sessions)

  • The importance of candidates
  • Getting the recruitment process right
  • Taking control and quality job specs
  • Prioritising your jobs
  • Grading candidates on paper
  • Structure of a screening call
  • Competency based interviewing – STAR model
  • Likes, dislikes and objectives of interviewing
  • Running a thorough and structured interview
  • Maintaining control, contact levels and offer management
Dates: November 3rd & 10th; December 9th & 16th
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The Billing Manager - One day course (two half day sessions)
  • Evolving as a Team Leader/Manager
  • Communicating your values and vision
  • What do your employees expect from you?
  • Are you a Leader, Manager, Coach or Mentor?
  •  Effective time management
  • The Importance of Motivation and Delegation
  • Building a coaching culture
  • Conducting competency based appraisals
  • Running one to one and team meetings
  • Managing remotely
Dates: November 13th & 20th; January 7th & 14th
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Emotional Intelligence at Work – half day course
  • What are the 5 elements of emotional intelligence?
  • How can you use them to be more effective?
  • What you can do to build your Emotional Intelligence
  • Includes FREE Emotional Intelligence toolkit
Dates: November 17th, February tbc
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Candidate Sourcing – one day course (two half day sessions)
  • Know what and who you’re looking for
  • Choosing your recruitment methodology
  • Online, offline and blended sourcing
  • What to do once you have found the candidate
  • Differentiate yourself from other recruiters
  • How to know if you’ve struck gold
  • Includes FREE Boolean cheat sheet, job ad template & candidate engagement assessment tool

Dates: November 23rd & 30th; January 21st & 28th
 
For more information on all our online courses, please visit Interactive Online Training For Recruiters.


In order to optimise your learning experience, these courses are purposely run with small delegate numbers and are capped at 12. Book now to avoid disappointment!

Call us for an in-house quotation. We can bespoke to your requirements!

 


Furlough Fraud Latest
 

 

Contributors: Simon Bloch, Partner and Grace O'Driscoll, Trainee Solicitor, JMW Solicitors LLP
 
Following our articles earlier in the year in which we discussed the different iterations of the furlough scheme, this month we will be talking you through furlough fraud and the current amnesty, brought into force on 22nd July 2020 when the Finance Act received royal assent. The Amnesty provides employers with an opportunity to declare any mistakes with their furlough calculations, either intentional or otherwise, without the risk of a financial penalty.
 
What are the deadlines for taking part in the Amnesty?
 
If you wish to make a report to HMRC you must notify them by the latest of:
  • 90 days after you received the grant you weren’t entitled to
  • 90 days after you received the grant you were no longer entitled to keep because your circumstances changed
  • 20 October 2020 (90 days after royal assent of the Finance Act).
HMRC has been sending nudge letters to businesses prompting them to review their furlough calculations and the first arrests for furlough fraud have already been made with more anticipated. So it would be advisable for all businesses to review their furlough claims in order to assess whether to take part in the amnesty now, regardless of whether you have been contacted by HMRC.
 
Areas to consider when reviewing your furlough claims
 
Was the employee eligible for furlough?
  • You will need to be able to show:
  • That the employee was furloughed specifically due to the impact of Covid-19
  • That the employee was in employment on 19 March 2020 and on your PAYE system at that date too.
  • You should have evidence that you notified the employee of their furlough in writing and also that the employee agreed to their furlough. Whist there was no specific format which was required for an employee’s agreement to furlough, best practice is to have something in writing which you could present to HMRC if needed.
The three week rule: between the 1st March 2020 and 30th June 2020 all employees had to be furloughed for periods of three consecutive weeks. You should check that you have records of all employee’s periods of furlough so that you can demonstrate you have satisfied this requirement. Where any employees were not furloughed for the full period, you should consider making a report.
 
Flexible Furlough: following 1st July 2020, employers had the option to flexibly furlough employees meaning that employees could work part time and did not have to be off work for a full three week period at a time. However, from the 1st July no new employees could be furloughed who had not been furloughed at some point during the 1st March 2020 – 30th June 2020 period.

 
Furthermore, the maximum number of employees who could be furloughed at any one time from 1st July, could not exceed the total maximum number of people furloughed at any time since 1st March – 30th June. Employers should check their records as to who was furloughed and when in order to ensure that these requirements have been complied with.
 
Employees who have worked whilst furloughed: whilst employers are likely aware that they cannot ask employees to work whilst on furlough, they should also be aware that it will constitute furlough fraud if an employee chose to work of their own volition whilst on furlough. We would suggest that an internal amnesty may also need to be undertaken to establish who may have worked during their period of furlough and that a report should be made in respect of anyone who did undertake work.
 

There are also a number of considerations for employers in respect of the calculations for furlough and tax implications for claims, which would require specific expert tax advice and is outside the scope of this update.
 
HMRC have wide powers to investigate businesses and it will be much easier to act now to review your claims and make notifications that it will be as HMRC carry out audits over the coming years, without the safety net of an amnesty.


This article is for general guidance only and should not be used for any other purpose. It does not constitute, and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
 
This article was prepared by Simon Bloch, who is a Partner at JMW Solicitors LLP and Grace O'Driscoll, Trainee Solicitor. To contact Simon, please email simon.bloch@jmw.co.uk or call 0161 838 2628 to discuss any matter in this article or any recruitment issue at further length.



What's new?

The big news is that, we’ve made a few tweaks to our online open course training programme, including adjusting our prices. One day courses are now just £299+VAT pp and half day courses £179+VAT.

If you have any suggestions on topics that you would particularly like us to cover in our new training programme, please let us know. Remember that we can also Zoom in-house to you.

Don’t forget that we have a FREE pre-recorded online training programme ku.dos to help provide further support for you along the way.
 
If you think that mentoring or consultation via telephone, Skype or video conferencing could work for you, please contact us to discuss your options.


If you are considering adding to your recruitment team, do have a look at our Recruiting For Recruiters package which also includes training support and off-limits protection for current and future training clients. Whether you are an employer or an employee, we promise to pull out all the stops for you. Contact us to find out more. 
                    
For more information on all our courses and our other services and products, visit
www.recruitmentmatters.comemail info@recruitmentmatters.com or call Ken on 0800 0749289 or, if you’re overseas, 0044 1529 410375.
 

Contact us

Sales Office
Recruitment Matters International Ltd
43 Meadowfield
Sleaford
Lincs NG34 7RG
UK
Tel: 0800 0749289 / +44 (0)1529 410375
Email: info@recruitmentmatters.com


 
Copyright © 2020 Recruitment Matters International, All rights reserved.