Be safe, be supported

Well, what an intense time it's been for so many. We hope everyone who reads this is ok!

We have spent the last few weeks absorbing every piece of information we can, to be able to make the most informed decisions possible. We wanted to get in touch and show our support, and detail how we plan to work and also help our clients get back to business quickly, as well as businesses who don't yet work with us.  Once it is appropriate and safe to do so, we have some specific initiatives and we’ve detailed these further down the page.

Although there are differing opinions on the subject, we are still taking confidence from a lot of people we have spoken to that, when it happens, there will be a fairly quick and steep bounce back. We hope that as many businesses as possible can manage this 'pause', to then be able to thrive and continue with their business plans. There's no doubt that some sectors have taken a much harder hit than others, and to those businesses that have had to close their doors, or make redundancies, we are so very sorry that circumstances beyond your control have affected you so harshly.

Here at Beyond The Book, the majority of our client’s recruitment is on hold, with their intention to pick back up as soon as it is financially possible. Of course, no one has a crystal ball, but we have decided to align our decisions and plans with that positive intention. As such, we are doing everything in our power to stay open for business, while at the same time managing the sharp drop in income for as long as we need to.

We made the decision to furlough our consulting and support team. We want to keep hold of such a special, knowledgeable and dedicated team and the furlough scheme (as well as extremely supportive suppliers who have reacted quickly and generously to help us) has been our saviour. For at least the next 4 weeks, I will be our contact for any consultation and/or recruiting needs (freelance or perm) and can be contacted day or evening on email, 01789 451510 or 07787 430403.

By way of a reminder, I’ve personally remained hands-on consulting for 12 years across all roles (creative, digital, PR, marketing), so our service and standards will not be compromised by the
decisions we have made.

We will be using this time to also make plans to help the industry both manage this isolation period as best as possible, and to get back on its feet, quickly. Many businesses will want to make up for lost time in delivering on their annual plans, and lengthy searches for people to hire may not be desirable, as well as potential issues around cash flow.

Below are just some of the ways we intend to support such businesses:

• We are currently using our network of over 35,000 first line contacts on social media, to gain valuable ‘lock down’ insight for businesses to benefit from.  We are running a daily campaign, called ‘remotely interested?’, to encourage as many employees as possible, within the Creative and Marketing industry, to offer insight as to how their employers are currently managing employee engagement, socials, new starter onboarding and more.  We shall publish the findings on our website, via LinkedIn and email, once results are robust and meaningful.

• We are currently very busy working on a new platform that will be able to offer businesses the opportunity to hire again, quickly and at significantly lower fees, until the market recovers. We plan to review this on a monthly basis, with a soft launch of the platform in a couple of weeks.

• For any clients who intend to make an offer of permanent employment to a BTB candidate, we will be offering split payments of the fee (for those that need it), in recognition that their business may have had to take a real cash flow hit.

• For any clients who intend to make an offer of permanent employment to a BTB candidate, we will be reducing our fees by up to 20% (on a case by case basis), for existing and new clients, until we feel the market has recovered significantly. We will be reviewing this on a monthly basis.

• As standard, we are offering all businesses 1:1 advice about how to plan for their future recruitment needs and get it right. Just ask!

Please also note that we have an excellent freelance service, and can provide trusted and brilliant freelancers, should you need to turn projects around quickly, on or offsite.

We hope that the above measures will make it a little bit easier for us all to get back to where we need to be, as soon as possible.

We wish you and your teams all the very best. Keep safe.

Anna