As an employer, you have a responsibility to ensure both the physical and mental wellbeing of your staff. All too often, employees are scared to tell their manager about a mental health problem and so the problem can escalate further and further. A recent survey has shown that 1 in 5 people felt they couldn’t tell their boss about being overly stressed at work and less than half of people diagnosed with a mental health problem had told their manager.

So how do you create a welcoming atmosphere for people to come forward? Organisations need to send a clear signal to staff that their mental health matters and being open about it will lead to support, not discrimination. A simple way to communicate this is to explain that mental health will be treated in the same way as physical health.

How to spot a member experiencing a mental health problem

Mental health issues can manifest themselves in many ways but here are a few key things to look for:
• changes in people’s behaviour or mood or how they interact with colleagues
• changes in their work output, motivation levels and focus
• struggling to make decisions, get organised and find solutions to problems
• appearing tired, anxious or withdrawn and losing interest in activities and tasks they
previously enjoyed
• changes in eating habits, appetite and increased smoking and drinking.

How to support someone with a mental health problem

• Be positive – focus on what employees can do, rather than what they can’t.
• Work together and involve people in finding solutions as much as possible.
• Remember people are often the expert when it comes to identifying the support or adjustment they need and how to manage their triggers for poor mental health.

The post Mental Health in the Workplace appeared first on Ambipro.

The largest office transaction that took place was Clyde & Co’s acquisition of 69,000 sq ft in the Royal Exchange. The closest acquisition in terms of size was Simmons & Simmons in Bristol who signed a 12-year lease to occupy 27,000 sq ft at Finzels Reach in Bristol.

But what is making Manchester, and other areas outside of London more attractive to law firms? According to Mark Bamber from Knight Frank Manchester this is because “Manchester has the winning combination of unrivalled city centre amenities and the highest quality office stock, underpinned by the availability of highly skilled workforce, especially undergraduates from the various universities that makes it the perfect location of choice for firms wanting to grow their headquarters or expand their regional markets.”

Jennifer Townsend from Knight Frank also stated that “Continued law firm growth in the UK has been driven by confidence in continued demand for legal services against a backdrop of ongoing economic and political uncertainty.”

Here at Ambipro we are aware of, and understand, the ever-changing legal landscape in Manchester. With increased office space comes increased demand so if your looking to fill roles within your company, please give us a call and one of our recruiters will be happy to discuss your needs.

The post Manchester’s Legal Sector is Expanding appeared first on Ambipro.

Permanent placements continued to grow, however April saw the slowest rise of this year. Anecdotal evidence suggests that growth of placements was underpinned by a further substantial rise in demand for staff and greater job vacancies. After a 13-month low, temp billings have seen a sharp rise but the pace of expansion remained softer than those seen through most of 2017.

With the continued demand for staff, the Report on Jobs Vacancy Index rose from 61.1 in March to signal the strongest upturn in demand for 3 months. Both Temp and Perm roles saw sharp increases, predominantly in the private sector however the public sector also saw continued rates of growth.

Overall, this amounted to a rise of 5.7% in job vacancies in the 3 months to March. Whilst a positive sign, this was down from a 7.1% rise seen in the previous period and shows the slowest growth since mid-2017.

Executive/professional positions, including legal services saw steady growth in it’s need for permanent staff, up to 4th (60.9) from 9th (59.2) the previous year. Temp contracts also saw growth that pushed it up to 7th (56.2) compared to last year’s entry at 10th (54.7).

The increase in positions has not been helped by the decrease in staff availability. The availability of candidates to fill permanent roles continued to decline markedly during April with the sttepest decline occurring in the South of England. Data also indicated that temp availability dropped for the 58th month in a row.

Permanent staff skills that have been reported to be in short supply include Legal, Litigation and Solicitors. Legal also appears in the list of skills shortages in the temp sector as well meaning there will be increased opportunities for legal professionals deciding to enter the job market.

All these factors combined have meant that there has been a rise in average starting salaries for candidates placed into permanent roles. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is a result of candidate shortages and a robust demand for staff. Temporary roles have seen an even steeper increase in pay due to the scarcity of suitably skilled staff.

As a candidate, now is a good time to be considering your next move. Demand for skills are up, as are starting wages and vacancy numbers. Here at Ambipro we are happy to discuss the legal landscape and help you consider the next steps in your career. A quick call to Ambipro is all it takes to get the ball rolling and there has not been a time as good as this to start making that change so it’s best to seize the moment and take that next step.

The post Vacancies Are on the Up appeared first on Ambipro.

Whilst it is not illegal to ask about either of these things during an interview, it is illegal to refuse employment to somebody on these grounds. According to the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) 6 in 10 bosses think women should tell a potential employer if she is pregnant. The survey also revealed that 44% believed women should work for an organisation for at least a year before getting pregnant and 46% felt it appropriate to ask if they have young children.

Likewise, recent reports have revealed that some women remove their wedding rings at interviews to avoid these types of questions cropping up. Whilst evidence of wedding ring-based discrimination appears scant, the fear from women is very real, especially when it is so closely linked to maternal issues in which discrimination is well documented.

Whereas the law protects discrimination based on whether a person is pregnant, breastfeeding or has recently given birth, there is nothing in place to protect against a person’s marital status. Likewise, it’s not illegal for an employer to ask about family plans however, it is illegal to use that as a sole justification for not hiring someone.

Many arguments put forward to justify this kind of discrimination include the amount of time off that will be required by the employee (wedding planning, hen party, wedding & honeymoon or in the case of family matters maternity leave, childcare & work-life balance), their commitment to the job and their career and, in the case of a certain high profile recruiter who’s comments have courted controversy, it makes them ‘high maintenance’.

The sad reality for employers is most people, at some point in their lives, are going to either get married or start to begin raising a family. Many executives and employers do have families and are married so the whole argument does have a slight reek of hypocrisy about it.

Excuses aside, there are many benefits these types of people can bring to the table.

• Raising a family or planning a wedding isn’t easy and it takes extreme amounts of patience, time management and multi-tasking ability to pull off. Time is precious, so mothers and brides will know that productivity is important in the time frames available.

• As a result of motherhood, many women’s emotional skills have grown and developed which is fantastic news if she is leading a team. Her ability to nurture talent and manage teams with compassions means a happy workforce, and we all know a happy workforce is a productive workforce.

• The trials and tribulations of motherhood build inner strength, a strength to carry on no matter what. If they can apply that to motherhood, just imagine what they could do applying it to their career.

So in a nutshell, there are no real reasons not to hire women based on their marital or family status, but there certainly are plenty of reasons to do so.

The post Pregnancy and Marriage Should Never Be an Issue When Recruiting appeared first on Ambipro.

In fact, it is quite the opposite.

Numerous studies have shown that lack of sleep has a detrimental effect on our bodies which in turn impairs our ability to function and think properly. Sleep is essential to a person’s health and wellbeing, yet it appears that most people do not get enough of it.

But but…. Thatcher only had 4 hours

We’ve all heard the stories, people like Thatcher, Nikola Tesla & Thomas Edison only requiring 4-5 hours of sleep per night. Whilst these people do exist, they only represent 1-3% of the population classed as the ‘sleepless elite’ who are able to get by happily on just a few hours of sleep.

The reality for most of us is quite different. Experts suggest a good night’s sleep of around 8hrs is required for people to be bright eyed and bushy tailed at work. Sadly, whilst most people acknowledge they need about 7 ½ hours, many workers are only achieving an average of 6 ½ hours.

So how does a lack of sleep effect my work?

Decision-Making – Without sleep you are less likely to think outside of the box or have that eureka moment. Creativity levels also drop and critical thinking is impaired making you more likely to make bad decisions.

Reactions – This can be a big problem both on your way to work as well as whilst you are in work. The risk during commuting could mean taking longer to notice a red light or braking vehicle and in turn, it takes longer to stop due to a decreased reaction time. Likewise, if you work in an environment that requires 100% percent of your attention, slow reaction times could lead to significant accidents or injuries.

Memory – Less sleep means less memory, people will struggle to remember and recall information that is important to the business.

Attention Span – A lack of sleep also affects your ability to focus and concentrate on the task at hand. You’ll find your mind drifting at certain points during the day.

Stress & Irritability – Less sleep increases stress which in turn can make you more irritable. The knock-on effects lead to less energy for socialising and poor motivation.

Your Health – With research demonstrating a relationship between chronic sleep loss and health conditions including cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes, the association between health and sleep is very important.

What can I do to Improve my Sleep?

Caffeine – Caffeine can affect sleep 8-10 hours after you have had it so it’s important to make sure you stop drinking these types of drinks early in the evening. Also note that other items such as chocolate and pain relief also contain caffeine.

Smoking – As with caffeine, nicotine can affect your ability to sleep so try to avoid smoking before you go to bed or if you wake up in the night.

Alcohol – It probably seems like a good idea, after all, a little tipple helps you relax. Unfortunately, alcohol, like nicotine and caffeine, disrupt your bodies sleeping pattern.

Noise, Light & Temperature – Our bodies natural clock is designed to react to light to help us wake up. This is known as our circadian rhythm but what happens during summer when it’s lighter? Blackout blinds would help to reduce light in the bedroom and closing doors and windows will help reduce noise. Ensuring that your bedroom isn’t too hot or cold also helps.

Exercise – People who exercise regularly sleep better at night and feel less sleepy during the day. Regular exercise also improves the symptoms of insomnia and sleep apnoea and increases the amount of time you spend in the deep, restorative stages of sleep.

Relaxation – Worrying about what has happened that day or what needs to be done tomorrow can make it difficult to sleep. Try clearing your head before bed and writing down any pressing thoughts so they can be dealt with the following day. Deep breathing exercises, meditation and other relaxation techniques will help wind your body down ready for sleep.

Consistency Get a regular sleep pattern, this way your circadian rhythm becomes regulated. Choose a bed time when you normally feel tired, so that you don’t toss and turn. If you’re getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm. If you need an alarm clock, you may need an earlier bedtime.

And finally, how can I stay alert at work?

Bright Light – We don’t mean blinding yourself with a lamp here. Indoor light is ok but natural light has a stronger alerting effect on your body. Take a walk outside before you sit down at your desk and make sure all the blinds are open to make the office a naturally light as possible.

Nap Time – If you can squeeze a nap in during your break, do it. A power nap can restore alertness.

Caffeine – Probably best for the morning times as caffeine can affect your body for hours after it is drunk so don’t overdo it.

Regular Movement – Sitting still can increase tiredness so make sure you break away for your desk every few hours for a small walk or activity.

Drink Water – A hydrated person is more alert than a dehydrated one.

Music – Stick on some energising music like rock or pop to help increase your energy levels.

The post Sleeping Your Way to Success appeared first on Ambipro.

This kind of disparity isn’t confined to the boardroom either, it also manifests itself in what has come to be known as the ‘gender pay gap’. Of the 860,000 people who earned over £100,000 in 2015-16, only 179,000 were women. This reflects the fact that there are 4 times more men in Britain’s highest paying jobs than women. The gap isn’t just confined to the boardroom either, pay disparity across the board averaged out at 9% last year.

Conservative MP Justine Greening said: “These stark figures show how far our country still has to go on closing our gender pay gap. It represents not only a loss of career earnings for women, it also represents a loss of talent for employers.” The cost of gender and ethnic minority discrimination in the UK is estimated to cost the economy £125 billion.

One major concern about attempts to close the gap are women or minorities being placed into ‘token’ roles based on their gender/race as opposed to their talents. This in turn could cause resentment amongst other employees who will always be asking ‘Did you get that promotion on merit alone or were other factors involved?’

The only way to break down these types of barriers and suspicion is to get women and minorities into executive positions and allow them to showcase their talents. Other considerations could include better management of women in the office, breaking down gender bias and assigning appropriate role models to inspire and educate staff.

Another idea to help deal with the issue is transparency. By April this year the government expects all businesses, public and private, with over 250 employees to report their gender pay gap information along with any justifications for any disparities.

Many employees agree with this idea, A recent CIPD report shows that 72% of employees would like to see more pay transparency their company although 60% acknowledged that CEO pay levels in the UK can be demoralising.

Whilst we have a long way to go before the gap is plugged, employers should see this as an opportunity rather than a hindrance. Fixing the gap doesn’t only make economic sense but is good for British Business overall.

The post The Male/Female Balance appeared first on Ambipro.

Up until now, recruiters have built an industry around ‘the human touch’ of recruiting. Relying on their face to face capabilities and their ‘gut feeling’ to match clients and candidates alike but there’s a new player in town that threatens to disrupt the whole process.

Depending who you ask, Computer learning & AI have the potential to either; improve a recruiters’ placement rate by taking the long, time-consuming processes out of their day or, completely replace them via the use of algorithms that allows the AI to match candidates and clients perfectly.

The latter of those two scenarios is admittedly quite a long way off, if it ever materialises at all. But what impact could AI have on the industry? Chances are many recruiters are already using some element of AI in their day to day recruitment activities anyway.

The prime example of this would be LinkedIn Recruiter. This platform uses algorithms to sift through a database of 7m candidates who have signalled they are open to new opportunities. This allows the platform to offer suggestions based on previous search patterns that have led to successful searches before. Every time you make a successful search, the system learns from it and replicates it to help assist with your future searches.

So how does AI fit in exactly?

It’s more the machine learning aspect of AI that recruiters stand to benefit from. Machine learning will help improve the process of matching clients and candidates and improve the search process in general. AI will also help remove menial or time-consuming tasks that can weigh a recruiter down, this would include tasks such as CV screening and marking test papers.

AI would also be able to help provide consistency in the recruitment process and help to eradicate unconscious biases. All recruiters are going to have differing qualifiers when searching through CV’s and applications which can lead to one recruiters considering a candidate whilst another overlooks them. AI has the ability to ensure that all CV’s are given the same fair standard of scrutiny which would help to ensure a fair process and reduce errors when hiring new talent.

AI would also have the ability to find those hidden gems, a candidate you would have possibly never considered before but the computers see something you’ve missed or overlooked. A good example of this is Helena, a self-teaching robot developed by Woo, that uses sophisticated machine learning to become better at matching candidates to vacancies. The machine was originally trained via top-flight recruiters and head hunters but eventually began to learn from the information.

Helena is now used alongside a human team and they have ended up learning from each other. Due to the standards of the Ai and its inability to unconsciously bias a candidate, the human team have seen Helena pick candidates they would never have dreamed of. However, on average, 52% of Helena’s candidates are accepted for interview, compared to the average human placement rate of 20% so we are already seeing a positive impact.

And the Future?

Whilst early indications don’t yet point to all recruiters being replaced by robots and programs, it looks safe to say that they are going to revolutionise how we approach recruitment. It’s going to allow recruiters to concentrate on areas of the business that help to bring value and strategic benefits as opposed to administrative work and menial tasks that do nothing more but eat into a recruiters’ day.

Helena’s creators are a little more futuristic in their predictions, believing that future recruitment could eventually be simplified to the point where you can literally ask a computer for a job in Manchester paying £30,000 per year and the response it gives is ‘you’ll be starting here on Monday morning!’. Whilst that may be a long way off yet, their argument is that the algorithms and machine learning will become so good that companies will rely on that conclusion from the computer more than they would a recruiter and so eradicate the vast majority of the recruitment process, including the interview.

More likely however, is that recruiters are going to have to adapt to the new avenues available to them and learn how to maximise their returns. Our best advice would be to embrace the change and learn how it can benefit you. We live in a fast moving world and if you don’t evolve and develop with it, you’ll get left behind, using old techniques that will eventually, like most things in life, become nothing more than a part of history.

The post Rise of the Robot Recruiters? appeared first on Ambipro.

Overall employer confidence in the economy remains low with 33% of employers believing the economic conditions in the country, as a whole, are getting worse. However, despite this, 31% have confidence in hiring and investment decisions getting better.

This is reflected by employer confidence in increasing their permanent headcount in the short-term (92%) and mid-term (89%). The bulk of this confidence appears to lie with medium sized businesses. Workforce planning statistics also back this up with 40% of respondents stating that they would not have the resources to cope with an upturn in demand and another 40% stating they only have a little spare resource to cope, both groups most likely needing to hire additional staff to cope with the demand.

For workers, this is arguably good news as this should help increase the number of opportunities available to them. In further good news, 58% of respondents also stated that they have increased pay/earnings for staff in the last 3 months. This is spread evenly across both the private & public sectors.

What does this mean for Recruiters?

With 44% of respondents stating they would use recruiters for permanent roles and 38% for temporary roles, recruiters will still play an important part in ensuring employers have the right levels of staffing during peak times.

40% of employers also anticipate a temp shortage for the roles they are trying to fill with 21% saying that over half of their temps will be offered permanent contracts in the future.
The criteria being used by employers to decide which agencies to source temporary workers from include Quality of Service (89%), Agency Expertise (78%) and Price (73%). With many employers expecting to hold or possibly increase the number of temps they require, now is the time for recruiters to be at the top of their game in sourcing workers for employers.

Overall, 53% of respondents were fairly satisfied (17% were very satisfied) with agencies and 10% providing a dissatisfactory service. This was very similar to the satisfaction they found in the candidates provided by agencies (16% very satisfied, 53% satisfied and 9% dissatisfied). Whilst the statistics show a generally positive attitude towards agencies, there is still room for improvement.

How Can Ambipro Help?

With years of experience in recruiting for the legal sector, Ambipro’s expertise in hiring highly skilled workers will ensure that if your company does require experienced professionals for any of your legal roles, we can fulfil your requirements to the highest quality and at a reasonable price.
If you do require staff, or would like to speak to us about your potential needs in 2018 then don’t wait until the new year, call us now on 0161 850 0846 to speak to a member of our recruitment team.

The post Winter is Coming – Recruitment Outlook for Winter appeared first on Ambipro.

Whilst this blog post doesn’t aim to look into the how’s and why’s of why this came about, our aim today is to help clarify what constitutes sexual harassment and what you can do about it. After all, what appears to be one of the issues with people coming forward about incidents like these are the lack of information and support offered by the very companies that they work for and where the harassment is taking place. Admittedly there are other factors that have also kept victims quiet however, if we, as a society, can help break down these individual factors piece by piece then it should make for a better work environment for all staff, and a better world for everybody.

What is sexual harassment?

The Equality Act 2010 defines sexual harassment as behaviour that is either meant to, or has the effect of:

• Violating your dignity, or
• creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment

this would include unwanted touching, requests for sexual favours, suggestive remarks and the dissemination of pornography.

Many people have argued about the ambiguity of the law, stating that one persons ‘banter’ is another person’s ‘harassment’ but more often than not, it is quite clear. If your comment or action is going to denigrate the victims character and imply their only value to the company is their looks, it’s harassment, irrespective of whether it was tongue in cheek or serious. The same also applies, as it appears in the case of Harvey Weinstein, if you were to offer job perks, positions, promotions or bonuses in return for sexual acts and favours, it’s harassment. If your sending emails or displaying pictures/photos of a sexual nature and refuse to stop/remove them when asked, it’s harassment.

What can I do if I’m being sexually harassed?

If you are being harassed by a work colleague or superior, there are a few steps that you can take to report the situation:

• Collect evidence of the harassment. This could be in the form of a diary, documenting all instances of any harassment you receive.
• Advise your manager or HR department (consult your company’s sexual harassment policy) and ensure the issue is raised in writing (for your records). If you do make a verbal complaint, write a follow up letter confirming your conversation and your expectancy that the matter will be dealt with appropriately. If you have been a victim of a crime, i.e. physically attacked, then inform the police as well as the relevant department.
• If the harassment continues or the perpetrator retaliates, the company will now be liable if they do not get them to stop. Advise your appropriate department again about the continued harassment (in writing)
• If your employer fails to act and stop the harassment or the employer/employees/perp begin to treat you badly or less favourably as a result of your accusations, you can begin to consider taking them to an Employment Tribunal.
• Prior to a tribunal, it would be a good idea to seek legal advice as tribunals must be made within certain time periods from the date of the offence occurring. Your legal advisor will be able to confirm these timeframes for you.
• Prior to a tribunal, you will need to submit an Acas Early Conciliation Notification Form. This notifies your employer of your intent to take the matter to court and also offers the opportunity to deal with the matter without a costly court process.

If you do feel you have been the victim of harassment at work and would like to speak to someone you can do so by contacting the EASS (Equality Advisory Support Service).

Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)

FREEPOST

Equality Advisory Support Service

FPN4431

Telephone: 0808 800 0082

Textphone: 0808 800 0084

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm – Saturday, 10am to 2pm

Website: www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

The post Sexual Harassment in the Workplace appeared first on Ambipro.

The legal market is also going through some dramatic changes -North Shoring and AI are just two.

So, what are you doing as a professional within the sector doing to adapt?  It’s a fact that there are less training contracts being offered, more support roles than ever before and more and more law firms reviewing the number of associate to partner appointments. So where does that leave you now? Perhaps more importantly where does that leave your career over the next five to ten years and beyond? Dynasty to Dinosaur doesn’t take as long as you think.

If you would like a confidential discussion about the changes you can make, the decisions you can take and why your thoughts maybe need a shake then call me.

 
By Runo Ahmed

Senior Legal Recruitment Specialist at Ambipro

The post The Legal Landscape is Changing – are you “Career Proof”? appeared first on Ambipro.