Post-Brexit: Managing temporary recruitment

We’ve all now had a little time to breathe Post-Brexit vote. Organisations up and down the country are assessing the vote impact on their businesses, so are we all clearer on the future?

The short answer is, not really.

Let’s look at big business announcements – there have been at least 3 differing positions:

1. Ford – pessimistically warned it is considering closing factories and raising prices in the UK and continental Europe following Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
2. Renault-Nissan[1] is more optimistic that the UK will be an important partner with the European Union, despite its vote to leave.
3. The most upbeat example is from a UK based company, GlaxoSmithKline, investing £275m to expand its UK manufacturing sites, saying the country remains “an attractive location” because of the skilled workforce and competitive tax system despite Brexit.

Brexit impact on recruitment

It’s probably too soon to tell; we won’t see official job figures from the ONS over enough months for a trend until the autumn, and there’s the seasonal impact of summer to consider. In the short term period of uncertainty between vote and new prime minister, permanent roles plummeted[2] whilst temporary roles rose. [3]

As Michael Page reported[4], during uncertainty, temporary workers become an essential resource. That’s great for flexibility, but can be challenging for integration, teamwork and communication. How do you help temp staff feel motivated and bridge the divide?

Integrating temporary staff post Brexit

1. Ensure everyone they will be working with knows who they are and what their role is
2. Introduce your temporary contract to their co-workers and inform them who everyone is and how their role will fit into the working dynamic of the existing team.
3. Make sure that all temporary and contract workers have access to training and development – a key step to ensuring they feel needed and valued.
4. Treat them like you would a permanent employee – praise, support, manage, consider all aspects of employee engagement for them to perform
5. Talk to all staff – contact and permanent, about the impact of Brexit for your organisation. Apparently, 72% of employees have not yet been talked to about impact of Brexit by their employer[5]. Even if you don’t have all the answers, maintaining a dialogue and the opportunity to ask questions is a must.

References

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36981182
[2] The Report on Jobs, produced monthly by IHS Markit, collects data from 400 UK recruitment and employment firms.
[3] https://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2016/08/05/employers-opt-for-temporary-staff-as-permanent-recruitment-plummets.aspx
[4] https://mag.hrgrapevine.com/HR-Aug-2016/?page=26&utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=40715-165043-HRM+-+04%2F08%2F2016
[5] https://www.onrec.com/news/statistics-and-trends/44-of-uk-businesses-say-brexit-wont-affect-the-number-of-people-they-hire. Totaljobs surveyed 2,211 jobseekers and 252 recruiters between 13 and 21 July 2016.