We’ve raised £741.30!

Our fundraising efforts are really adding up now, we’ve been raising money since Christmas with various activities and have now raised a total of £741.30 for Naomi House http://www.naomihouse.org.uk/. We just want to say a big thank you to everyone that has supported us and hope that you’ll all be behind us when we take part in The Great South Run in October! Check out how we’re getting on with our Great South Run blog.

Great South Run- Team Training!

It's 156 days until the Great South Run (not that we're counting) and the team's training is in full swing!! We've been running 3 times a week and Carole, Rose and Emma even did the Swanmore Fun Run last weekend to test their training, of which, i would like to say a big well done!

We are running the race for our charity of the year Naomi House www.naomihouse.org.uk and we will be setting up a justgiving page for anyone that would like to sponsor us! We'll let you know when it's up and running.

The trainers have been fitted and we've got all the kit so catch up with us on the blog for updates...

Sponsoring 'Battle of the Pitches' - Monday 8th June 2009

Once again Solutions 4 Recruitment are going to be out and about soon, with the sponsorship of an event ran by The Chartered Institute of Marketing called ‘Battle of the Pitches’. It looks to be an exciting and interesting event with delegates having the opportunity to see an entertaining event as two prestigious marketing agencies ‘battle it out’ with a pitch in response to a topical brief - ‘Pushing Biking’ a government backed initiative to help reduce pollution, congestion and to get us all fitter and more healthy.

The event aims to illustrate to delegates the important and interesting process of pitching for business and the marketing communication aspects that this includes.
It’s the nearest thing to being a ‘fly on the wall’ at a real life agency pitch and promises to be a lively evening, as attendees will be given the opportunity to pose questions and then vote for their favourite pitch to win.

If you would like to register and find out more information about the event click on the link below;http://www.cim.co.uk/Events/EventDetail.aspx?ObjectID=28509

The Sunflowers are growing...

We sent a number of sunflowers to our clients to keep on their desks and wondered how they are getting on? The team here kept one and you can see by the pic that its doing well, although i think it's time for a bigger pot! If you're sunflower is growing on your desk, then we'd love to see how its getting on so email the pics to amanda@solutions4recruitment.com and i'll post them on the blog.

Remember: There is a prize for the best grown sunflower!

Enterprise ’09 Event

The Enterprise '09 event was a fabulous success and we met lots of potential clients and candidates, so we are looking forward speaking to them soon. To find out more about Enterprise '09 go to www.enterprise09.co.uk
We thought you would like to see what our exhibition looked like so we've posted a few pics...

Raffle Success!

For those of you that don't know, the team here at Solutions held an online raffle last week to raise money for our 'charity of the year' Naomi House! After lots of donations from clients and candidates we raised over £300, which is FANTASTIC! www.naomihouse.org.uk

We had great fun informing and presenting the winners with their prizes, hopefully they will be sending pics through in the next couple of weeks with their winnings, so watch this space. Check out our website to see who a few of the winners are!

We are already in training for our next fundraising activity when the whole team will be participating in The Great South Run in October, so wish us luck!

Our new website coming soon...

We're all very excited here at Solutions, as our new updated website is launching soon! We will seeing a new look newsletter too so keep your eyes peeled!

You'll be able to sign up to our monthly newsletter, join our Solutions 4 Recruitment community, search for your perfect job using our new search facility plus lot lots more!

We hope to be launching in May so keep an eye out and let us know what you think, its always good to get feedback!

This Thursday - Enterprise '09 Event

If you havent heard already, the team here are busy getting ready for the Enterprise '09 event that is taking place this week on Thursday 23rd April 2009. It is a new event designed to create a 'one stop shop' for business advice and information for local business leaders. We are going to be sponsoring one of the seminar rooms so if you are booked to go then make sure you come over for a chat.

It's set to be a great day with over 700 people booked to attend already!

Here's the link if you are interested in finding out more information on the event http://www.enterprise09.co.uk/

Hope to see you there!

Naomi House Raffle now OPEN!

The long awaited Naomi House Online Raffle online raffle is finally open!!

We have had some fantastic prizes donated from brands including Sunsail, Fatface, Marwell Zoo, Sainsburys, Fitness First... all proceeds will go to the remarkable charity Naomi House.

To see a full list of prizes go to our online raffle page

Its easy to get involved too; to buy your tickets all you need to do is email amanda@solutions4recruitment.com with the number of tickets you would like to buy and then pay the corresponding amount through the paypal link on our website or send a cheque made payable to Naomi House to the Solutions office.

Tickets are £1 each and the raffle is open until 17:30 on Friday 24th April 2009!

Good Luck!

The Solutions 4 Recruitment address is:

Solutions 4 Recruitment
1st Floor Brook House
Brook Street
Bishops Waltham
SO32 1GQ

Relocation Relocation

This month’s topic focuses on relocation and advice on what employers should be doing in terms of relocation packages etc. As the market has become tougher, more and more people are looking further a field for their next role and therefore businesses may need to start thinking about how they can accommodate new employees that are on the move due to work. You may already have a relocation policy or be looking at ways to attract top-level talent that may live further a field so we have put together a few points that you need to consider when thinking about relocation.

Policy reflecting company culture
When a company considers developing or revising a relocation policy, one thing to consider is whether the policy reflects the company culture and environment, as well as, what relocation means to the new employee. A company’s relocation policy should be viewed as a statement about its culture. If the company is supportive of its people, and strives to create an environment where their people can be successful and have a positive attitude, then the relocation policy should reflect that accordingly.

Policies don’t have to be pricey
Relocation policies aren’t just for large corporates and they don’t have to be costly. Many professionals locating need local help and support with aspects such as housing and schools etc so being there to offer advice on subjects such as places to live, desirable schools and local knowledge can be invaluable.

A tool you can use
Relocation is becoming more of a recruiting and retention tool and there are many different levels of support you can give a relocating employee, from offering helpful local knowledge to covering the complete costs for the employee and their family. As we said above, the relocation package offered should be a reflection of your company’s culture and so if you’re a small, friendly agency then giving advice and time for a employee to settle in can often be more than offering financial support.

Grow those Sunflowers

To get spring off to a great start we decided to send some of our clients a cute pot along with sunflower seeds to grow their own plant. We are hoping that they all arrived in one piece and that the seeds have already been potted and being lovingly nurtured! We have even kept one for ourselves to see how big ours can get.

To add a smidgen of competitive spirit we are offering a prize for the best-grown sunflower – (no cheating by buying a ready grown one!) so keep an eye on our blog for photos being posted and to see who can grow the best sunflower…

Solutions keeping it local

For those of you that have visited the Solutions 4 Recruitment offices you will have seen that we are situated in the beautiful rural village of Bishops Waltham. The team are all very local and our recruitment consultant Ana can even see our office from her flat! We all love the county way of life and staying true to our roots Solutions are sponsoring a local charity horse, pony and dog show on the 3rd May 2009. The show is being held at Hensting Farm near Southampton and all the profit from the show will be going to the British Horse Society welfare programme.

Online Raffle for Naomi House

The excitement has begun today with the first email being sent out to our clients and candidates about our online raffle we are holding for our charity of the year ‘Naomi House’. The raffle will open next Tuesday 14th April and people will be able to buy tickets until Friday 24th April when the raffle will close. Tickets are £1 each and we have the potential to raise lots of money! Local businesses have donated some fantastic prizes including a £250 Sunsail voucher - www.sunsail.co.uk !

To find out more about Naomi house visit their website www.naomihouse.org.uk.

Find out more about the online raffle on our website in the About Us section.

Solutions charitable donations – once again

If you read our blogs regularly you may remember last year we sponsored a local businesswomen Jacky Gregory to complete a 10-day challenge ride across India. Well it didn’t put her off last time and she is doing it again in September, this time in Shekhawati, which is a semi desert region in Northern Rajasthan. The team at Solutions will all be wishing her the best of luck to raise as much money as she can along with our contribution for the terrific charity ‘The British Horse Society’. To find out more information visit their website http://www.bhs.org.uk/content/wfr-home.asp

Enterprise ’09 Event

Solutions aren’t just busy recruiting for fantastic roles, we are also planning and sponsoring lots of events and fundraisers for 2009. The next event we will be co sponsoring is the Enterprise ’09 event on Thursday 23rd April 2009.The event is being held by Business Link in Lakeside, North Harbour. If you haven’t heard of this event yet it is a new and innovative event designed to create a ‘one stop shop’ for business advice and information for local business leaders. The event will feature the best in business support, inspirational speakers, and great opportunities to network, collaborate and promote business – it is a must for all local business leaders in 2009. If you would like more information or are interested in attending then visit their website on http://www.enterprise09.co.uk/

Salary Survey 2008/9

Salary Survey blog

The much-awaited Solutions 4 Recruitment Salary Survey for 2008/9 is now available on request. If you would like a copy then please email info@solutions4recruitment with SALARY SURVEY in the title. The survey includes information on benchmark salaries for Marketing, PR and Design industries in 2009.

The market has been like a roller coaster this past year and with the recession taking hold at the end of 2008 the marketing world has seen a shift in demand for particular jobs and expertise. It’s not all about redundancy, as we have seen many Marketing departments redistributing their budgets to make sure that aspects such as market research and CRM are invested in. This is a time when marketers need to get back to basics and understand exactly what products and services their customers want.

“People are still spending money, they are just spending it differently.”

Following this statement, Solutions 4 Recruitment strongly recommend that businesses recruit the best marketing, PR and Design professionals, to ensure that you attract those all important customers.

We may be a bit bias! Get blogging and let us know what you think!

Search and Selection

This month’s blog focuses on the Search and Selection service that Solutions 4 Recruitment offer and the benefits that it can bring to both candidates and clients. The service is offered to people looking for senior placements over 50K. Solutions will spend the time getting to know the recruiting company not just in terms of brand and culture but will take the time to gain a deep understanding of the businesses current status is eg are they going through a restructure? What are the plans for the business in the future? With this insight Solutions can match the perfect candidate not just for their skills and knowledge but also for their experience of working in similar business environments etc. From a candidate’s perspective, if you are not actively looking for a new position but would be interested in hearing about senior positions in particular companies or industries then we will be able to keep you updated with any new roles that we are aware of.

You may have heard the term ‘headhunting’ used for a similar service but we are able to provide this without the huge costs attached due to having established ourselves in the South for 10 years. We have built strong relationships with businesses and professionals in the Marketing, PR and Design arenas and therefore are able to support in all methods of recruitment.

If you would like to know more about Search and Selection then please call Carole Clarke on 01489 890276.

Firstly I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope you have settled back into work and the piles of work that were left on your desk before Christmas are slowly diminishing.

For those of you who receive our Newsletter, we have introduced a topic of the month, which will give readers an introduction into relevant subjects and will give you the chance to let us know what you think.

This month we have been discussing flexible benefits and what the advantages are to both the employer and employee. So if you didn’t receive our newsletter, here is what we said:

Flexible benefits are not a new concept and have been around for more than two decades, but more and more companies are adopting or actively researching this approach due to increases in technology and better ways of working. So what does “flexible benefits” mean and what impact would it have on your business?

“Flexible benefits” is a name given to an arrangement that offers employees a choice over the mix of cash and benefits they receive from their employer. This can be anything from a pension scheme, childcare vouchers or even the buying and selling of holiday, depending on the level of benefits appropriate to them. It enables employees to tailor their benefits to suit lifestyle and personal circumstances, so they are getting the most out of their package. Many employers that have actually implemented flexible benefits have seen an increase in employee’s motivation and ultimately retention. Not only are there benefits to the employee, but introducing this scheme successfully can also have a huge impact on your employer brand. The key word in that last sentence was ‘successfully’ because although flexi benefits have a large number of advantages, the key to its success is the implementation. It is highly recommended that an in-depth business case be put together focusing on whether it would be right for the business and that each function that it will involve has the capability to implement and run the scheme. Another factor that would need to be taken into account is the communication to employees about what they are being offered and why, how it will work and when it will be introduced. Therefore communication is vital for this schemes success.

We know we’ve only skimmed the surface on flexible benefits, but check out these websites if you would like some more detailed information:

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/flexibleworking/
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/pay/empbnfts/flexiben.htm


If your company have introduced Flexible Benefits or you simply have an interest in the subject, we’d be really interested to know your thoughts, for example if it really does improve motivation and morale?

Also, if you’re currently looking for a job, what motivates you? Is salary still as important as it was six months ago or have you started looking at job security and benefits that the potential role could give you? We’d be really interested to know your thoughts, so get blogging!