Blog

Why Flexible Working Rocks by Rebecca Foster

People normally associate Recruitment Consultants as the obnoxious individuals who see their candidates and clients as commodities and not people; all sharp tongues, and selling the dream clichés.

This makes me cringe…as I couldn’t be further from that image.

Being a Mum of two beautiful girls (ages 5 & 2), I was nervous about coming back to Recruitment after a period away, working with Apprenticeships and Training in less aggressive industry. I know how ‘cut throat’ it can be from personal experience, and anyone not willing to put the hours in ultimately comes up short.

However, by having an employer who can offer the flexibility I need has helped me succeed both as a recruiter and as a parent.

My first quarter back in recruitment from the adventure of being a mum, I hit target; even with competition being fierce inside and outside the school playground, beginning once again from nothing.

I find it helps tremendously with candidate empathy and control being able to talk first-hand about my experiences, challenges, and struggles, and whether I am talking to a Head of Business, Sales Executive, Host, or Technician; we all ultimately want to enjoy our job and families.

I think more employers should evaluate their flexibility. Without my current situation at George Jax I couldn’t do it, a job I love and I am good at, both of being a Mum and Recruiter.

I can still put in enough hours in the office, hit my targets, do the school runs, pack lunches, after school activities and family dinners!

Employers out there don’t overlook the ‘back to work mum’ or ‘reduced hours dad’ – you may be missing a fantastic addition to your business.

Rebecca Foster

Sales Manager & Awesome Mum

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-foster-01a7b5107/

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Our HGV Division is Growing 

We have expanded our HGV Division!  Alex Gathercole joins us as our newest consultant to drive further development and growth from our HGV Sector.

Alex has a background in HGV having previously worked for Volvo Truck & Bus East Anglia as a technician.  Alex already has 10 jobs on during his 1st 2 weeks of induction training.  Alex will be working alongside David Wells in the pursuit of quality recruitment in the HGV world.  Good luck chaps!

Check Alex out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-gathercole-7719b4151/

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We have expanded our East Anglian Passenger Car Sector! 

Yes! More good news! We're pleased to announce that Sarah Pilgrim joins us to drive further development and growth from our Northern Anglia/East Midlands locations.

Sarah’s background includes retail multiples and internal recruitment from a large building product supplier.  Sarah has already been on site to one of our customer to deliver a recruitment day that has delivered result in the appointment of a new sales person.  This consultative recruitment approach is now being mirrored with a number of other clients.

Check out Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-pilgrim-9a9185150/

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Parent and Child Parking Spaces: A Personal Blog by Richard Lilley

I’m happy to tell you that I’m family man. One that has a wife and three young children. I’m also the first to admit that we are a family of shopaholics and love nothing more than visiting our local city centre in Norwich most weekends ready to do our bit for the local economy (or any other justifications for buying lots of stuff).

As part of our weekly ritual, we bundle into the car as the sun rises and the birds are brewing their first coffee; with the sole aim of getting to the Intu Chapelfield Norwich Shopping Centre car park as early as possible, purely to gain one of the rare and coveted parent & child parking spaces on offer. Herein lies my stress. 

Is there anyone else out there who has a love/hate relationship with parent child spaces? 

I love them because, with my large family, they not only make total sense to me, but reduce hassle hugely. Or they should.

I hate them because other motorists, and yes, those ones without children (ducks under parapet) take advantage of these spaces, thus forcing anger upon me - which isn't fair on a weekend; and anxiety because the whole journey to the mall is dominated by the must get my favourite space obsession and the attached feeling of impending doom should the aforementioned people be hogging said spaces. 

One encounter I had involved a driver who turned to me only to tell me; “I have no children and I don’t care”. And they very evidently didn’t care, whereas I very much did, after my trip involving that increasing dread for exactly this reason. Anyway, I kept my reply to a very polite suggestion that Karma will pay a visit to them soon enough.

Is this the new road rage for families?
I've had a number of encounters with the losers who take advantage. And what do I do?

If I engage with them, I run the fear of repercussions in the form of damage to my car, my face or even a volley of verbal abuse or even physical violence towards myself and my family. It’s just not on.

For the record, the rule of thumb between Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda is that parents qualify to use these spaces if their child is under the age of 12. Aldi don't enforce the regulations whereas Tesco have strict rules, which could see childless motorists fined.

Wherever we go the issue seems always to be there – multi-storey car parks, supermarkets, shops, the high street, the fiery pits of Hades...everywhere.

In each car park throughout the land, is there a perpetual Lord of the Flies style battle raging over parent & child spaces?

More to the point, is this a reflection of wider society?

What do you think? I’d really love to know.

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George Jax Good Team News

At George Jax we’re always striving to be better, to be open to change. Part of that is ensuring that our team is cohesive, enjoying work, feeling valued and have the tools to continue to do a great job. That, in turn, is felt by our clients and candidates. When we align the planets, the universe sings.

It’s for that reason that I want to share good news, having recently implemented some wonderfully positive restructuring in the business and rolling out a fun incentive scheme.

So, the awesome stuff happening with the GJ Team:

Rebecca Foster has been promoted to Sales Manager. Congratulations, Rebecca!

Hannah Burling wins our Penetration Cup. She’s a star and is thoroughly deserving!

Our new consultant Matt Pirie bagged his first fee within the first month of his training. Nice going, Matt!

Sarah Pilgrim joining our business and completing her training. Welcome, Sarah! Here’s to the future!

With the extra resource in the team, we can offer even more diligence for our clients and candidates; and greater potency in our East Anglian & London Markets. We are looking to the future and investing in our staff, so that you reap the benefits.

We have also just launched our Emoji Run Incentive Scheme as we approach Christmas. I’m succumbing to modern culture in a bid to put smiles on faces, gifts in hands and of course, candidates in jobs!

It’s simple and fast paced with prizes galore. The ultimate aim is to hit 100% plus target and claim the “Project Star” mystery prizes. As you’ll see from the pictures, the Emojis move across the board whilst picking up prizes for every percentage of target achieved.  

As they move towards Christmas the tournament gains a more festive feel.

I’ll name and shame the winners when we reach the end. In the meantime, we’ll have some fun whilst working hard. What more could you ask for?

Here’s to the George Jax team. Good luck to you all