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Pause a moment and think. Social enterprises are no longer charitable endeavours you support out of kindness. They are increasingly commercial ventures, with a profit beyond purpose. In fact research by Social Enterprise UK shows that there are more than 100,000 social enterprises in the UK, between them contributing more than £60bn to the UK economy.

The shift to more socially responsible business is accelerating. Public concern about the behaviour of corporates is increasing. People are not happy that shareholders continue to profit, even at the point of business failure. Even respected operators are being caught out by the dubious accounting of once loved high street brands.

Locally we have some excellent examples of social enterprises large and small. Independence Matters, our County’s largest provider of day care, has shifted from County Council department to a community interest company, investing its profits in those vulnerable people it exists to support. And many of us have enjoyed the excellent food and views to be found at Café Britannia, a vibrant city café that employs men coming to the end of their prison sentence. The Britannia brand is growing across the city, not because they’re a social enterprise, but because they offer fantastic food and service.

But you’re running a business. How can you benefit from this growing social enterprise movement? You want your staff to be motivated, competent and focused on building your venture. Have you or they got time to get involved in the social economy? Do social enterprises deliver what your business needs? Well one, above the rest, stands out as being relevant to nearly every business.

Swarm Apprenticeships CIC is a social enterprise. Founded by Robert Ashton in 2013, Swarm has grown steadily over the past five years, thanks to two rounds of social investment. Swarm has also benefitted from the changing apprenticeship landscape; upskilling people within organisations, across all ages and roles’. You no longer have to be young to be an apprentice.

Pprofits also go back into the educational journey of the learners, as well as the new Futures CIC; set up  to provide the coaching and support many youngsters need to get back on the education and employment ladder. They benefit too from volunteer mentors, often recruited from amongst those going through a Swarm apprenticeship. It’s a good way to see the world outside the bubble of their employment.

So there really is no excuse in 2019 for not doing business with a social enterprise. As a movement it will continue to grow. Why not make this year the year the year you profit by working with a social enterprise?

Reviewing staff resources for the year ahead doesn’t have to mean committing to the cost of recruiting full-time employees. Temporary workers can quickly fill any gaps within teams and bring a wealth of other business benefits too

Gemma Pluck, senior recruitment consultant at professional recruitment specialists Pure, explains some of the reasons why employers should consider hiring temps and the options available to bring temporary talent into an organisation.

Whatever you need, our specialist temp recruitment experience puts us in the best position to support you at every stage of the process, so you can gain the following benefits of professional interim support.

Instant, effective support

A temp can usually start a new role within a matter of days and make an immediate difference. Those who thrive in interim positions are likely to be highly self-motivated individuals, they have cultivated the flexibility and adaptability to hit the ground running and to achieve results in the short term.

Increased morale and reduced sickness absence

If the current workflow is unmanageable, recruiting an interim will boost the morale of your full-time workforce by relieving the team from an excessive workload. This can prevent a potential drop in productivity or increase in sickness absence caused by employees feeling snowed under.

Fresh perspectives

Temps and freelancers are likely to have worked across many different organisations, both in the same industry and outside of it. They can bring experience and knowledge of different systems and processes which could spark ideas you may not even have considered.

Specific skill sets 

By bringing in a professional interim to complete a special project you can gain access to strategic skill sets and experience you may not already have within the organisation.

Avoid potentially costly recruitment mistakes

Temporary employees can not only provide an immediate injection of skills and experience, they can also help to buy you time when you are recruiting for a permanent position. Taking on an interim to manage the workload in the short term could help you to avoid recruiting the wrong hire due to time pressures.

Extended interviews

In some instances, employing temps can also lead to meaningful hires in the long run. Taking on an interim allows you to assess their suitability for the role, team fit and skill set, prior to hiring someone on a permanent contract.

At Pure, we have developed a network of highly experienced temps, freelancers and consultants, which we place with organisations on a short-term basis to provide a temporary injections of skills, resources and specialist knowledge. We support organisations with temporary recruitment solutions across all levels and for a variety of different reasons, whether it is covering employees on leave, planning additional support for particularly busy periods or bringing in additional expertise for a specific project.

Temporary workers can be employed on a fixed term basis, where the employee is contracted for a specific time period and is set up on your own payroll system and subject to the terms and conditions of your organisation’s contract. Alternatively, we can support you to employ a temp as an agency worker who is paid on an hourly or daily rate. In this instance, we will manage the temp’s pay on a weekly basis so there is no need for you to have to administer the payroll, and in most instances both the employer or the temp only need to give one week’s notice to terminate the assignment.

If you would like more information about recruiting temporary workers or to discuss any temporary candidates, contact one of our consultants. www.prs.uk.com

Read how our consultant helped Matt cut his daily commute down by nearly two hours.

About

Crisp Malting Group Ltd is an independently owned malting company which makes and supplies malt to the world’s leading breweries and distilleries. It operates five sites across the UK and is based in Great Ryburgh, which is at the heart of North Norfolk’s premium malting barley growing area. Crisp dates back to the 1870s and its mission is to produce and supply the best possible quality of malt, and to back that up with the customer service, technical experience and support they need to produce great beer.

Challenge

Following an exciting period of continued growth and development, Crisp was looking to recruit a new Group Head of IT. They were looking for an experienced senior IT professional who could cover all aspects of a complex and busy IT function. The chosen candidate would also be part of Crisp’s senior management team, and therefore they also wanted someone who had the vision and experience to drive IT strategy and commercial development, and with an eye for the usability of systems and the ability to simplify and help the end user. 

Solution 

Crisp appointed Pure to help them source a suitable candidate for the role. Ruben Davis met with the team to find out more about the position, and the organisation itself, to ascertain the essential and desirable criteria and culture fit.

Having been instrumental in establishing Pure’s Technology specialism, Ruben was able to use his local and sector-specific experience to implement a recruitment plan which included identifying and headhunting any potentially suitable candidates. During this process, Ruben found Matt Swain, a graduate in Computer Systems Engineering with 15 years IT career experience. Having seen that Matt also lived locally to Crisp, Ruben approached him about the role.

Matt said: “Ruben was fantastic. He guided me successfully through every aspect of the recruitment process, supporting, advising and helping me both in and out of working hours. This ultimately resulted in Crisp offering me the job and my acceptance.”

Benefit

When Ruben approached Matt, he was living in Swaffham but commuting to Huntingdon every day. However, he was looking for a role which was closer to home and which would enable him to spend more time with his young family. The approach from Pure about the Crisp position was very welcome and it has ultimately cut his daily commute down by nearly two hours.

Matt added: “When the call first came in from Ruben, I initially let it ring as it was a number I didn’t recognise. But I did take the call before my voicemail kicked in and I am very glad I did. At the time I was waiting for an offer from another job. Up to that point I had attended multiple interviews and had a verbal offer, but nothing in writing.

“This new position really made a big difference to my life. My youngest one-year-old son has some challenges and Pure’s efforts on my behalf have ensured I’m now home more with the children. Out of all the recruiters I have worked with, both for myself and the positions I have recruited for, Ruben and Pure have provided the best experience.”