With many businesses finding recruitment processes being placed on hold in light of the Covid-19 breakout, Lewis Bantin spoke to Unquote about ECI’s approach in the current market.
The piece by Greg Gille from Unquote acknowledges that recruitment in the private industry at large is slowing down but not stopping, something that is reflected by ECI’s two recent hires, William Ip into the commercial team and Fiona Evans to head up marketing.
There are many technical alternatives to in-person recruitment processes, with video calls now becoming de rigueur for those who are remote working. However it is undeniably more difficult not to do things face to face, and there is a particular challenge around onboarding new team members. Lewis discusses how it was imperative to urgently set up all the technical requirements for William, who joined at the end of March, to work from home. There are not just logistical challenges, it is also important to make sure new team members are connected to the rest of the company and understand the culture. Lewis states, “It will of course require a period of adjustment, but we are maintaining regular contact in the team, via a business-wide call every Monday as well as more regular catch-ups throughout the week within the different teams. And we are gearing up for our first virtual pub quiz too!”
Across ECI people have also been completing an employee wellbeing survey to check in with how people are finding remote working and what areas people might need the most help with, whether in relation to work or just the general stresses of home-working. This is now something that is being shared across the portfolio as a useful tool to easily find out the pain points for your staff when it comes to remote working. From informal social events to these more structured reviews, it demonstrates how when it comes to existing or new team members, the methods might change but the importance of looking after your people remains as intrinsic as ever.
William Ip, Commercial Team
