News & Events

​As we kick off a new month, I can’t help but look back on what has been one of the strangest and most challenging months of my career. As a recruiter and business owner, I spend most of my time talking to people, and there have been times when I’ve been so shocked about the impact COVID-19 is having on people and businesses that even I have been lost for words! While it’s great to see how many of our clients have flourished and pulled out all the stops to keep our nation fed, it’s equally heart-breaking to talk to others who are struggling, to hear stories of plants and flowers having to be destroyed and read estimates of the numbers of growers and food-service operators who could go out of business due to a lack of financial support. You may have seen my recent LinkedIn anniversary notification, which marked 20 years of MorePeople on 5th April. I’m extremely proud of reaching this milestone but, for obvious reasons, we’ve put on hold our plans for any sort of celebrations to mark the occasion. As a Peterborough United season ticket holder, you’d think I’d be used to ups and downs in life, but I can honestly say that this has been one of the hardest situations I’ve ever faced. For anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with me, you’ll know that I thrive on being around people and absolutely hate the idea of having to work from home. Six weeks in and that hasn’t changed! I keep reminding myself of our last big challenge, the recession of 2008, and how well we managed to bounce back after that. We all expect life will look very different post-COVID, but I’m confident we’ll continue to find ways to innovate and be ready to meet the needs of clients and candidates as we all adapt to life operating in the ‘new normal’ – whatever that might be. And once we get there, we’ll celebrate our 20th Birthday in style!............And just to make people chuckle, I thought I would include a picture of Peter and myself at the official launch party of MorePeople....which was only attended by Peter and myself!!!

​In 2019 we carried out a comprehensive salary and benefits survey on behalf of the sectors that we recruit for – Fresh Produce, Food, Agriculture, Horticulture and Garden & Leisure. The findings were incredibly insightful and generated a lot of interest throughout the industries, encouraging us to repeat the survey annually. Last year’s survey highlighted job satisfaction as the number one priority ahead of salary, with other non-financial benefits scoring well, demonstrating a need for businesses to ensure that their employees are well looked after if they are to continue to attract and retain the best talent. After repeating the survey, this message remains the same, although it is perhaps even more important in these volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and deal with Brexit and the after effects of the general election. DOWNLOAD THE REPORTMorag Bailey, Human Resources Director for Ardo UK Ltd, gave us her feedback: “In our fast-moving world it’s invaluable to have succinct information. The MorePeople salary survey gives me clear information on total package not just basic salaries. This has helped us to put together competitive total package offers for some of our positions.” For 2020 we used the same method of data collection and largely the same questions to give us comparable quantitative and qualitative data. A new question sought to uncover the factors that create job satisfaction - good relationships with line or senior managers came out top here. Another variation is that we drilled down into the data by sector this time, instead of by job function, as there was a good spread of data across each one. These are included after the full data in the report or can be viewed individually on our sector pages.Rachel Leech, Group HR Manager for Branston Ltd, commented:“It’s so useful to be able to access salary data specific to our industry! There’s so much generic information out there that benchmarking is often hard work and unfruitful. MorePeople’s salary survey provides trusted data which we can reference with confidence.” We would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey and hope that the findings prove as useful as before. If you have any questions or feedback, please do get in touch as we would be delighted to discuss the report in more detail with you. You can call us on 01780 480530 or email info@morepeople.co.uk.

​Following the Government’s introduction of strict measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak, anyone who is not considered a key worker is now working from home in social isolation. But what about new starters who are due to start the next step in their career over the coming weeks? How are businesses adapting their onboarding plans to ensure that nothing gets put on hold?We spoke to AM Fresh, a world leader in fresh, natural and healthy food about how they are managing onboarding for new starters joining the team in April.For them, as with the vast majority of businesses, this is an unprecedented situation and virtual onboarding is not something that they’ve had to consider before. As such there is limited help and guidance out there on how to go about it, especially as every business is so unique. At AM Fresh the team worked together to come up with a range of processes that would help ensure that new employees could still start their roles and feel both engaged and prepared. Some of the measures they have introduced or planned include:A welcome letter to update all new starters about virtual onboarding and provide reassuranceUse of a video link to provide a virtual site inductionE-learning courses that cover Health & Safety and food safety issuesPaperwork that can be signed electronicallyDelivery of a laptop and any other equipment required Twice daily video calls scheduled with line managers for catch-ups, setting tasks and talking through learning materials. Jemma Mastrocristino, Talent Acquisition Manager for AM Fresh, explained:“These times are unprecedented and have been extremely challenging for all our teams, as a HR Team we are working hard to ensure we adapt as needed to ensure our people are supported wherever necessary.” It’s great to see the creativity that businesses in our sector are using to keep everything running as close to normal as possible during these challenging times. If you have any success stories around virtual onboarding that you would like to share, we would love to hear from you. In this period of uncertainty, collaboration is more important than ever.

​With much of the population having to adapt very quickly to working from home, we’ve put together our top five tips to help you make it work: 1. Spend some time creating your office environmentNot everybody has the luxury of a home office to transfer everything to, so create yourself a designated working from home area where you will be most able to work productively. Try to remove any distractions from your immediate surroundings and make sure you’ve got everything you need where you need it – e.g. power sockets, chargers, stationery. Are you near a window? Seeing Spring start to arrive in the coming weeks will be a positive mood booster. 2. Try to stick to a daily routineWe recently introduced structured day plans for the team at MorePeople and now, more than ever, these are important to help you get through the day. Losing the daily commute means that we can hopefully all get more sleep into our lives, but still make sure that you are getting up in time to get showered, dressed and fed before arriving at your desk at the usual time. Taking a lunch break at the same time as you would normally will help to keep some routine for when we come out of the other side. You should also have a short break in the morning and afternoon, but try not to get distracted by housework or what’s on the telly. Plenty of time for those later! 3. Make sure you do some sort of movement every dayWith uncertainty about how long we’ll be away from the office, it’s important that you stay active. Get out for a daily walk or run (on your own) or take part in some of the many online workouts that are everywhere right now, anything from gentle yoga to a full on HIIT circuit. Exercise is a great way to support your mental health and, let’s face it, we should be able to find time for it now. Maybe it could replace your usual commute home from the office? 4. Keep talkingVideo conferencing and group chats are fantastic, but you still can’t beat a one-to-one conversation with your colleagues. Office banter might be limited for the time being, but be sure to keep-in-touch, particularly with the colleagues that you perhaps don’t have to speak to in order to do your day job. Why not make it your aim to speak to somebody different from the team each day? Everybody will be dealing with this situation differently, some calmly taking it in their stride and others just putting on a brave face. It’s important that you’re open about your feelings, but this is less likely to happen over a group video call.5. Don’t let the emergency biscuits take over!Finally, we all need some comfort in our lives right now and I’m sure we’ll need to reach for the biscuit tin from time to time, but try to make sure you’ve got healthy snacks in the cupboard as well. Fresh fruit, nuts and cereal bars are much better for both your health and productivity levels. Having said that, we just heard a great tip for finishing your working week with a smile – set up an online meeting for last thing on a Friday afternoon and use the time for virtual team drinks and a chat!

​As businesses around the world start taking steps to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, many are making the decision to limit on-site meetings. At the same time, nobody wants to put their recruitment on hold, particularly with the uncertainty of how long the outbreak is expected to last. We're lucky that technologies such as Skype, Google Hangouts and FaceTime exist, making video interviews a very easy and effective solution. So, if you're preparing for a video interview, whether as the interviewer or candidate, here are some top tips to help it run as smoothly as possible:1. Test the technologyEven if you consider yourself as 'tech-savvy', don't just wait for the scheduled interview time and expect everything to work. Test everything in advance to make sure your equipment is working correctly and you have all of the apps or plug-ins that you need. Does your camera/microphone work? How good is the internet connection in the room that you plan to use? The best way to check these is to carry out a trial run with somebody external, maybe a friend or family member. Remember to turn off any message and social media notifications as these may appear on screen during the interview. 2. Tailor your surroundingsWhilst the technology is incredible, it can easily be let down by distractions, so minimise these before you start. Choose a room that's quiet and away from potential background noise. Hang a 'do not disturb' sign on the door, including if you're at home to prevent any interruptions from the doorbell. Look at what's behind you - you want your background to be as clear and clutter free as possible. Lighting is also important so position yourself in the part of the room that benefits from natural lighting if this is possible. 3. What to wearJust because you're not having a physical meeting, it doesn't mean that the dress code should be any different. Dress exactly as you would for a traditional face-to-face interview as this will showcase a professional attitude and create the right mindset. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that you'll only be seen from the waist up as we've all seen the disasters on YouTube when the unexpected happens and you need to leave your seat to deal with it!4. On the deskAs in a face-to-face interview, it's normal to have a printed CV and the job description in front of you to refer to. It's also perfectly acceptable to have pen and paper available for writing notes, although if you can't see these on camera then be sure to explain any silences as you're writing something down. Have a glass of water to hand as well, but eating is a no-no!5. Maintain eye contactWhen the person you're talking to isn't in the room, it presents more of a challenge in knowing where to look and stopping your eyes from wandering. Try to maintain eye contact by looking directly into the camera as opposed to at your photo in the corner of the screen. Make sure that your face is well centred and then try not to move around. Good posture is important and will help with voice projection, so concentrate on sitting with a straight back with your feet on the ground. Less body language information is transmitted in a video interview, but you'll still be building up an impression with non-verbal communication.6. Voice projectionAs well as sitting up straight, remember to smile and speak clearly. This is another reason why testing the technology first is so important as there's nothing worse than trying to tweak volume controls mid-conversation or being too polite to say anything so that you are straining to hear the other person. It's also easier to talk over each other when you're not in the same room, so try not to let this frustrate you and make a point of pausing more to ensure that the other person has finished what they are saying. 7. Closing the interviewAs with any interview, end by thanking the other person for their time and outline what the next steps will be. This should also be followed up by email within 24 hours to ensure clarity. Video interviews take away any stress of travel logistics and are usually quicker and easier to organise than a face-to-face interview, but there are still lots of things to think about to ensure that they are an effective alternative. Take note of the tips above and there's no reason why you can't keep calm and carry on interviewing![Download this guide]

​MorePeople hosted an industry dinner at The George in Stamford on 3rd March, which was attended by around twenty senior leaders from within the industry. As well as enjoying an exquisite dinner and great company, the guests also had the invaluable opportunity of hearing from the Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, before she steps down from the role in June after seven successful years in post. Christine highlighted how important face-to-face interactions with suppliers have been throughout her time as GCA. These have allowed her to really build a picture of the key challenges faced by suppliers when dealing with supermarkets, enabling her to feed this back collectively and encourage self-regulation. The annual GCA survey demonstrates significant improvements for suppliers over the seven years and Christine believes that collaboration and taking a blame free approach have been key to this positive trend. The final survey while Christine is in the role is now live and she is keen to encourage as many suppliers as possible to take part. You can complete the survey on the YouGov website between now and 29 March. Another key message was that all suppliers need to be trained on the code to help ensure that supermarket behaviours continue to change for the better. Andrew Fitzmaurice, Managing Director of MorePeople and host for the evening, said afterwards: "We have hosted several of these industry dinners now and each time they prove valuable to everyone in the room. By keeping them intimate, you have the chance to engage with all of the guests and get a real insight into the day-to-day challenges that our industry is facing.""Christine is always an excellent speaker and I know she equally values the opportunity to hear first hand about experiences from business leaders in a relaxed atmosphere. We were delighted to be able to facilitate the discussions and look forward to hosting similar events in the future."