The Caraires Consultancy

A Unique Recruitment Partner Experience

01788 298040

The Caraires resourcing strategy is a recipe for success

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The new Bake Off series has inspired us to share with you some of our secret ingredients.

Rather than half-baked promises to fill vacancies at the cheapest rates in the shortest timeframes, what we offer is honesty, consistency and flexibility. Our recipe for success means a tasty return on your investment: talented, engaged and committed recruits who gel with the culture and values of your organisation.

Caraires is an independent recruitment consultancy with a family ethos. Very much like the home-baked treats people prefer over a shop-bought gateau, we provide a personal service that caters for the needs of your business and the dynamics of your team. We achieve successful placements on permanent, temporary and temp-to-perm openings.

With Caraires, you can have your cake and eat it.

Temporary workers to aid recovery from the pandemic

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It seems that temporary staff are becoming increasingly important to businesses in their recovery plans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic 6 months ago. During these uncertain times, both employers and employees can find a real benefit from temporary work: on the one hand, it enables companies to create jobs when the future may initially look unclear, and on the other hand it gives people a chance to get back into work, earn some quick money and potentially progress into a permanent role.

According to a recent report by the REC, employers’ intentions to hire temporary agency staff have increased since May to the highest level since October 2019. It should be said that intentions to hire permanent staff have also risen somewhat, which is another sign of gradually returning confidence. For the first time since summer 2018, firms are overall more likely to consider bringing-on temporary staff than they are permanent employees over the next few months. The reasoning behind this seems to be that employers consider agency workers to be important for short-term access to key skills.

Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, said: “A flexible jobs market has always been one of the UK’s great economic assets – keeping employment high in the good times and ensuring people have more options when times are tough. Today’s data show that as lockdown eases and the economy recovers, businesses will use temporary work to start to build back. While the path ahead is still uncertain, temporary work helps firms create jobs sooner, and helps people who need new jobs get back to earning quickly.”

We’re back – and we’re the same reputable recruitment partner we always have been.

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We have certainly experienced an interesting few months since we opened our new premises in February; challenging times that have clouded many industries and business with uncertainty and change. We are pleased to have implemented safety measures within our own building and work practices, so that we can offer our candidates and clients a comfortable, safe and practical recruitment partnership both in-person and online, whilst proudly maintaining the same values and goals as we have always had.

We have set-up interview rooms with screens to protect both candidates and consultants, for those candidates who wish to arrange an appointment at our Lawford Road offices, or we can meet via Skype, Zoom and FaceTime for candidates who still wish to have an honest and professional conversation with an experienced recruitment partner, but from the comfort of their own homes.

Many companies are still not at a point where they are ready to recruit, but some industries are recovering more quickly than others and, while the recruitment landscape may look and feel different for some time, we are the same people we were before, who take pride in delivering an excellent service to both candidates and clients: finding the right individuals for the right opportunities, and making a positive difference to people’s lives.

Why do we tolerate bad employees?

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Disruptive employees can have serious negative effects

It is rare that employees are actually toxic individuals

Whilst a tiny minority of employees simply attempt to undermine others and gain as much as they can without putting in the work themselves, the vast majority of workers whom we consider to be ‘toxic’ are actually just disruptive.

‘Disruptive’ could mean loud, chatty, easily distracted, frequently away from their desk, unprofessional or unproductive…and they could be perfectly nice individuals – they don’t need to be a traditional ‘bad apple’ to be considered a serious issue for team productivity.

As an employee, it’s clear when a colleague is not pulling their weight, which leads to one of two things:

  1. the frustration of committing real effort only to witness someone evading their own workload
  2. others being pulled into the same unproductive behaviour pattern, significantly slowing-down overall progress

Whilst only a small number of employees are actually toxic, the vast majority of workers are not as engaged in their jobs as they should be. According to research by Gallup, 67% are either not engaged enough or actively disengaged altogether.

What does this imply for organisations?

The same study by Gallup found that having a disruptive team member can have significant negative effects on the overall workforce. If your company is in the bottom quartile for worker engagement, the potential effects are:

  • 69% higher rates of absence
  • 39% more shrinkage
  • twice as many safety incidents than a company in the top quartile

So why are they still employed?

The majority of employees are continually frustrated that those not putting in the effort are rarely disciplined for their inactivity and lack of engagement. There are several reasons why this may be the case:

Firstly, some employers are simply not involved enough in the day-to-day running of the businesses to notice that one employee is dragging others down. 50% of employees have given up on hopes that their boss will ever have an interest in their work (and have actually left the company as a result) whilst 60% state that they lack engagement with their boss. Low engagement with the team – and a lack of interest – can easily lead to wrongdoings going unseen.

Secondly, it may be that the boss is actively protecting the disruptive employee. Usually, this individual is bold and talkative; whilst others try not to engage with the boss for fear of being chastised, the misplaced confidence in a disruptive employee’s personality is also what renders them endearing, securing their position as a fixture of the office.

What should leaders do?

For good bosses, the solution should be simple: listening to employees. Regular performance reviews, chats about productivity and anonymous employee surveys empower informed decisions and encourages openness and honesty.

Yes, said ‘disruptive’ employee may be a good person, but are they adding value to the business or are they merely contributing to inactivity?

Ultimately, only you can make that call.

3 signs your team thinks you’re a terrible manager

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It’s never nice to have to accept that you’re the problem. However, there are two different routes you can go down once this becomes clear.

One will help you progress, flourish and ultimately become a better boss, and one will lead you down a path of anxiety and maybe even being fired. You can choose to lead into the criticism that’s floating around about you; you can choose to speak to your boss and your team and work out exactly what the issue is, and then work to overcome it; or you can choose to deny to yourself that there’s any issue at all, ignore what people are obviously saying and pretend it isn’t happening.

Which path do you believe will lead to success?

Yet the first step is to ascertain if there is an issue. One disgruntled employee’s opinion is not law, nor is a grumpy comment uttered when they didn’t think you were within earshot. It may be that you’re simply creating a mutiny out of nothing, so here’s how you tell.

1. You’re ignored