Recruitment = People.

Your business is all about people and relationships, but how do you manage, lead and monitor your people to maximise their output?

It is a well-known fact that the recruitment sector is fast-paced and highly competitive, and with that comes the risk of being left behind if your people can’t keep up.

Without reliable people management, you run the risk of poor sales performance, weak client delivery and, ultimately, your reputation at threat.

How do changes in the ‘new working world’ impact my ability to manage my people?

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only around 5% of the UK’s workforce was working from home, so if managing your remote workforce over the last few months has proved a daunting task you won’t have been alone.  Failing to effectively manage your staff can have harmful consequences; if deadlines are missed, emails go unchecked and processes aren’t undertaken in a diligent and timely manner your business’ reputation and professional standing could suffer.

‘People management’ is a broad topic that encompasses a wide range of individual issues but in essence, it is about knowing ‘who is doing what and when.’

Firstly, you have to establish ‘visibility.’ This means ensuring you have the tools to effectively check-in on your team throughout the working day.  It’s not about being intrusive, it’s just about ensuring that the right communication channels are open when you need them. 

Then, you ought to consider the structure of the working day.  Working from home presents a host of challenges and distractions not present in the office; home-schooling and childcare may be an issue for some staff and other distractions of the home may necessitate the need for flexible scheduling of the working day.  While it’s helpful to be amenable to the challenges of home working, it’s also important to ensure a degree of separation between ‘work-time’ and ‘leisure-time.’ Establishing set working hours while allowing for a little flexibility will enable you to plan workflows and schedule virtual meetings.

Where do I begin to identify the strengths & weaknesses of my people management?

It’s an uncertain time for recruiters, your clients and candidates alike, so keeping people focused and engaged will help your business survive and thrive on the back of this crisis.

Start thinking about the following where your people management is concerned:

• Do I know what my team are doing?
• Can I keep track of their work output?
• Do I have the ability to monitor the time spent in different applications?
• Are they doing what I need and when?

If you can’t confidently and comprehensively answer any of these questions positively – you need assistance in getting back control of your people.

There is a way forward

Urban Network has years of experience in deploying efficient modern workplace solutions, which are tailored to your working practices and have security best practice built-in by design.

To learn more about tackling your challenges, please get your free copy of our ‘Adapt. Survive. Thrive.’ guide tailored to businesses in the recruitment sector.

We welcome the opportunity to provide you with a free, no-obligation discovery call – in which we’ll offer guidance in helping you answer the questions contained within this article, and map-out solutions to tackle those challenges, quickly, before they become an issue.