Sourcing labour from Eastern Europe
The impression you get from some newspapers when it comes to the issue of migrant workers is that they’re flooding over here, taking our jobs and swamping our communities.
The reality, of course, is more complex. In February it was revealed that Tesco was hiring Polish workers to work in its stores and drive lorries because it could not fill vacancies.
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) has found almost one in three employers are planning to recruit workers from overseas. With the recent expansion of the European Union, more and more employers are looking to eastern Europe - with its pool of often skilled and educated, but also relatively cheap labour - to plug their vacancies.
The attraction is two-way, it appears, too. A poll by recruitment firm totaljobs.com has reported that 69% of its candidates from eastern Europe said the UK was where they wanted to work.
For HR professionals looking to tap into this market, the first practical issue to address, said totaljobs.com commercial director Keith Robinson, is simply how to locate people, as there is little in the way of recruitment infrastructure in the region.
“There are not hundreds of newspapers that carry recruitment ads. Then when you do find people you have to think about how you are going to set up interviews and assess them,” he said.
It can be a good idea to set up an office in the country you are targeting - not only will this give you eyes and ears on the ground but it will give you extra credibility with the local populace.
Alternatively, appointing a partner locally to source, channel and hire candidates can be a good idea, he suggested.
Once the worker is in the UK there are, of course, other issues. First, it’s vital to get the paperwork right.
It will also be important to address any educational needs. Is extra training required to do the job and is language training needed?
CIPD chief economist, John Philpott, said: “This can be the case if you are hiring someone for a front-line service delivery position."
Even if the language and technical skills are already in place, it can be wise to offer cultural induction training and help with things such as accommodation, he said.
While the majority of eastern European workers tend to be young, single and mobile or older workers sending money home to families, some workers may require assistance for families or children, for instance in accessing school places.
“You do have to be a bit paternalistic,” agreed David Price, managing director of Anglo-Polish, a recruitment agency that specialises in hiring Polish workers for the construction industry.
Crucially, you may also need to spend time educating your domestic workforce, both on what to expect and why you have taken the decision to hire from abroad in the first place.
“Most workers we find are very welcoming of migrants, but there is still a vocal minority who are not. But the vast majority welcome the fact that they are hard working people who want to do a decent job for decent pay,” said Price.
In fact, one possible cloud on the horizon is what effect the increasingly bitter political battles over immigration, with each party trying to “out tough” the other, are likely to have on the UK’s traditionally welcoming and tolerant image among potential job seekers.
“A lot of the Polish media, for instance, are now warning people not to come over unless they already have work,” he said.
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COMMENTS
Despite what people may think about migrant workers taking "our jobs" the stark reality is they are taking jobs that UK employers find it increasing difficult to recruit for locally or nationally.
I recruit 750 seasonal workers every year in a variety of areas, such as catering, accommodation and leisure. Year on year this task grows increasingly difficult. Workshy Brits stay away - favouring the comfy benefits system on offer or simply sitting back waiting for that dream job as the head of corporate entertainment at Virgin.
I’ve often turned my recruitment attention to other countries such as France, Spain and Germany as there always appears to be a large pool of people looking for work in the UK to improve their English or get a better life experience.
OK, not great I hear you say if you are looking for customer-facing roles, but my experience has shown that providing your job descriptions and adverts are accurate in terms of the required level of English, you’re likely to attract some pretty fluent speakers.
In the article, Keith Robinson talks about the issues of “how to locate the talent”. The key is using a reputable agent who understands your needs and doesn’t simply hand over staff and then magically disappears when things go wrong.
If you are anything like me, you’ll have noticed a huge surge in the amount of emails hitting your inbox from overseas recruitment agencies promising to put you in touch with large pools of excellent candidates, offering their services for free.
Yes – they will make a “set up” or “placement” charge to the individual, which is why they don’t need to charge the employer. I don’t have an issue with this providing it is a fair fee and the worker is not exploited.
Just be aware, that some less reputable agents out there will be keen to get as many bums on seats as possible and will promise the candidates the earth – leaving the employer to pick up the pieces, having to explain why caviar isn’t served for lunch every day or that, despite what the agents told them, helping themselves to as mush stock as they like isn’t part of the contract!
So, how do you aviod such agents? Learning from my own mistakes, my golden rules would be:
1) Don’t put all your eggs in 1 basket . Some agents fail to deliver the staff when expected/promised, thus spread the risk where possible.
2) Ensure that all your terms and conditions of employment are specifically laid out to avoid any confusion / over-selling on the agent's part. Where possible, contract the
individuals direct prior to them travelling to the UK.
3) Never commit to working with an agency without meeting them face to face first. Reputable agencies will take the time and effort to come and meet with you, or will arrange for you to be flown out to meet with them.
4) Ensure that your agents fully understand your requirements and that they have an intimate knowledge of the relevant work permit/visa processes.
5) Insist that the agents not only obtain suitable references and police checks (if required) but that they get these documents translated into English.
For large-scale recruitment needs, there are now bridging agents. These will organise recruitment fairs in various countries and will act as the go-between, selecting suitable “local” agents to advertise your roles and arrange overseas recruitment fairs.
The fairs give you the opportunity to interview the candidates face to face, tell them first hand about the jobs available and understand more about their drive and motivation for wanting to work in the UK.
Again, as agents make their money on a bums-on-seats basis, they will happily pay for you and your recruitment team to fly out to foreign parts, put you up in a hotel and wine and dine you if at the end of a fair you’ve offered roles to a number of their “clients”.
I’ve recently been to fairs in Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic and the benefits of meeting staff face to face prior to making an offer is invaluable. Most of the staff recruited are now fully inducted and are part of the team and despite a few teething problems with banks not wanting their business it has been a roaring success.
The standard of work is excellent, the drive is unquestionable and their desire for extra hours and longer shifts has certainly shaken up our existing workforce.
As long as UK workers remain too idle or too precious to consider working in a kitchen or cleaning rooms – I’ll certainly continue to cast my talent net wide across Europe recruiting good, honest and hard working people who are willing to do a fair day's work for a fair day's pay!
Darren Mclean, 3D Education
Darren Mclean
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