Recruitment Advice

I was talking to my friend the other day who is working for a very large organisation who are in the retail sector. The company have decided that the staff at head office are not receiving salary increases this year but there has been a increase in staff events to keep morale and productivity high.

Organised events like cinema Friday, local fares, sporting events and mixed martial arts have all been on the agenda. It seems like it has had a really positive effect on people, staff members that were talking about leaving or that were not happy seem to have changed there minds and the employee is reaping the benefitsof high employee engagemnet.

Employee engagement makes employees want to do their best work, or ‘go the extra mile’. Employees want good work, jobs that are worthwhile. More and more organisations are looking for a win-win solution that meets their needs and those of their employees. What they increasingly say they are looking for is an engaged workforce.

What sort of employee engagement have your employer got you involved in and has it worked? have you seen a improvement in your own work? What other small cost events would you like to see implemented within the company you work for?

Once you have been offered the role for your new job, you will then have the difficult conversation of reaching an agreed salary amount. The employer will have a set budget in mind so reading between the lines and reaching the top end of the budget is difficult.

You must:

• Research the market rates before you attend the interview,  research similar roles within the same sector and size of business.

• Know you bottom line, what is the minimum figure you will accept don’t just give one figure, give a pay range. A good way to do this is to look at your current salary and add 10% - 15%.

• Consider the whole package not just the salary, benefits such as holiday pay, sick leave, pension, life insurance and health insurance all lead into the hundreds of pounds on top of your basic salary.

• Try to ask for a early pay review, make sure that before settling on a figure for your salary you ask for a date for when your salary will be reviewed.

• Get all of the above in writing, if your employer agrees all your terms and conditions must request this in writing.