Author name: amy@recruithuman.co.uk

Exactly a year ago today Caroline joined Human. It’s strange that in some ways it feels like just yesterday I invited her to join the business and in other ways feels like she’s been here from the start! It’s been a great year which has seen the team grow again when we invited Hannah to join the team. The business is a very different animal with a (small but mighty) team of 3 than when it was just little old me. Still down to earth, still straight talking (more so with Caroline on board – she takes no prisoners) but ultimately still a team of individuals doing what we love, for the right reasons. I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months brings. In the meantime, there is cake to be eaten and calls to be made!

This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day so we wanted to recognise some hard working Super Hu-Mum’s from our region.  We asked a few friends and clients about their experiences of being a Super Hu-mum. Today we hear from Lorraine Howie from Pre Retirement Consultant services Ltd and Jill Turner of Jill Turner Associates. Q1: What is your name Lorraine Howie  Q2: When did  you become a Mum? 1993 Q3: What do you enjoy most about being a Mum? The fab hugs from my boy who’s now a man & towers above me! Q4: What’s the hardest thing about being a working Mum? Missing out on stuff when they’re tiny Q5: If you could share one piece of advice with other working Mums, what would it be? Keep calm & drink wine! Does that count?!!! Q6: If you could nominate another Super Hu-Mum who would it be and why? A friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer when her boy was born. Subsequently it reoccurred & she’s beat it again. You would never know she’s had cancer, she just gets on with her life. Q1: What is your name Jill Turner Q2: When did you become a become a mum In 2009 during a thunderstorm and  an incredibly rainy day in June Q3: What do you enjoy most about being a Mum? Watching my children play and their smiles, it puts me right into the moment and makes me refocus. Q4: What’s the hardest thing about being a working Mum? I get tremendous support at home and have built my work and business around my family so I can’t really say I have any major struggles except perhaps when my children are not well.  Perhaps the hardest part is working with people who don’t give any importance to family commitments.   I know many mums who don’t have any choice over how and when they work  and this can give rise to tension and stresses from being conflicted in their duties as a mum and duties as an employee. Q5: If you could share one piece of advice with other working Mums, what would it be? Teach them at an early age how to use the hoover, stack the dishwasher, empty the washing machine and make a good cup of tea.  After which they could progress onto scanning and shredding documents, cashflow modelling and washing clients cars whilst we are in a strategy meeting. But seriously though,  I would bring my children into the workplace so they can see what you do, why you do it,  where you do it and who you do it with.  If sure as a child it helps them to picture where their Mum is during times of separation.  My children are tiny still, I guess it  will be completely different when they are teenagers, they’ll probably want to picture where I am for different purposes,  so they know how much time they have to get up to teenage mischief in my absence. Q6: If you could nominate another Super Hu-Mum who would it be and why? Well I think it would have to be my Mum.  She didn’t get an opportunity to follow her career until later in life.  Her father made her leave school at sixteen as he didn’t see the point in girls being educated and he wanted her to start contributing to the household and help in the shop.  It was only after she had her own children and felt we were old enough,  that Mum went to teacher training college.  Sometimes it was hard as I thought Mum cared more about her children at school than us.  We didn’t understand about the responsibilities of teaching and any jealousy or ill feelings toward her pupils,  melted away as my sister and I ploughed our way through all the chocolates she had bought for them, one Christmas.   Mum went on to become a head teacher and we were so proud when we went to her retirement party.  During her speech, she said how important her daughters were  to her and how she would hear no nonsense about what girls could and couldn’t achieve.  It was a great feeling and one that’s stayed with me forever.

We had a great time yesterday when we called in to see the team at Grimm & Co. They became visible to mortals yesterday as the doors opened yesterday at 1pm accompanied by the children’s of St Bedes Primary School. At 4.30pm the doors were opened again as guest were greeted with a glass of unicorn urine, eye balls cakes and frog spawn cocktails. Visitors were given a guided tour and given the opportunity to buy items from the apothecary for magical beings, from Human Blood Sweat and Tears soap to Word Wands and belly button fluff cleaners! It was fantastic to see the transformation and the building looks great! Last time we were there supporting their recruitment process it was a shell in need of some love and real imagination. Lead by Deborah Bullivant the team of volunteers have worked their magic to create another world in the heart of Rotherham which should inspire a new generation to pick up their word wands and fire up their imagination! Congratulations to the team at Grimm. We hope the people of Rotherham will go down there and support this fantastic charity can find them at Grimm & Co, 2 Doncaster Gate, Wellgate, S65 1DJ Rotherham

Today is National Random Act of Kindness Day! To celebrate, our very own Caroline and Hannah (who’s hiding behind the camera) met John from The Lighthouse to drop off some hats, gloves and toiletries we have donated. If you can help, you can reach them at: http://www.shilohrotherham.org.uk/about/ If you need some inspiration for your Random Act of Kindness… here’s a great video! Enjoy!

We are really pleased to introduce you to the 3rd person to join our team in our 3rd year of business! This week we welcomed Hannah to Human HQ. Hannah has joined us to help make sure there is always someone available to help you lovely people when you call the office and to make sure our records and files are kept up to date. I’m sure you’ll get to know Hannah as the weeks go by but in the meantime, here’s an insight into our newest member of Team Human. Hannah’s Q & A What are your hobbies / interests I like socialising with friends and like to have an active social life. I enjoy brass bands and brass band music and enjoy watching my boyfriend Alex play. I also enjoy walking and being outdoors. What makes you Human? Empathy: I would say being able to relate to others and put myself in their position. What do you like about working at Human? I am really enjoying working for Human because I think the service is excellent. Each person is treated as an individual rather than just a number, it makes it more personal. Thanks Hannah! Welcome to the team!  

There’s been lots happening here at Human. In this month’s instalment, we’re looking at how we can help you to save money when it comes to advertising job vacancies, share an interesting update from the European Court of Human Rights and also a few updates on our BIG Fundraising Challenge. We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter as much as we loved putting it together! Meet your match in support of Rotherham Hospice This year we’ve been lending our support to The Rotherham Hospice’s BIG Fundraising Challenge and after the success of our soup-er Human challenge before Christmas, we have decided to play cupid and spread the love with a brand new matchmaking service! Don’t worry…we’re not adding the dating game to our services! But we are aiming to help businesses meet their perfect match by offering a special discounted package when it comes to advertising job vacancies. We have negotiated a special discounted rate on job advertising, which will see vacancies promoted on several popular jobs boards as well as being promoted via social media for two weeks. The price of the advertising package is just £150.00 plus VAT. But hurry, this offer is only available for a limited time. To advertise, please contact us on 01709 717212 or email hello@recruithuman.co.uk: All profits will be donated to the Rotherham Hospice BIG fundraising challenge A recent European Court ruling could have far-reaching implications for both business owners and members of staff when it comes reading private messages sent by employees. Last month the European Court of Human Rights ruled that an employee’s private Yahoo Messenger chats which led to the dismissal of the employee was lawful because the messenger contained both personal and professional contacts. The case which was brought to the courts by an engineer in Romania examined whether an employee had a right to a private life whilst at work, and whether an employer had the right to access messages sent by employees. Judges ruled in favour of the employer and the ruling must now be taken into account when similar cases are heard in the UK courts. The case goes some way to illustrating the importance for businesses to have a clear data usage policy in place and should clearly be communicated to employees. More information about the ruling can be found here (courtesy of the BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35301148 A truly heartfelt thanks Last month, Human Recruitment turned three and to celebrate, we hosted our birthday breakfast networking event: Health, Wealth and Success – A Kickstart to 2016. The turnout was outstanding and it was great to see business owners and leaders who have supported Human from the very beginning make an appearance, as well as learning how to tackle 2016 head on. Our guest speakers included Fiona Lowe of Westfield Health, Jill Turner of Jill Turner Associates and Julie Robinson of Footprints Accountancy, who spoke about the financial outlook for businesses in 2016 and how to achieve your goals, whether professional or personal, in the coming year. Alongside support from our guest speakers, we also introduced the two charities Human are supporting throughout the year: The Rotherham Hospice and Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Once again, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended the event and who have offered support, advice and guidance from the birth of Human Recruitment to the present and continuing into the future. These boots were made for walking… We were proud to launch the Hike for the Hospice appeal at the end of January and never one to be phased by a new challenge Amy, our intrepid leader, set up a treadmill in the office and we’ve set our sights on hoping to complete 50 miles by the end of the month – the equivalent of taking part in the gruelling Rotherham Ring Route: a trek along the borders of the Rotherham borough.As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, throughout February Human Recruitment is supporting The Rotherham Hospice as part of its BIG Fundraising Challenge. So far this year we’ve made soup and shared afternoon tea with our neighbours, so we felt for the next mission it was time to burn off a few calories! We’ve already raised over £200 for the Hospices’ BIG Fundraising challenge and we would love to give more. If you would like to support the Human team on our Hike for the Hospice challenge, you can donate to our Just Giving page or download a sponsor form. Thanks for reading and have a great February!  

As part of our commitment to the Big Fundraising Challenge we are offering a discounted rate on job advertising for the month of February. For £150 + VAT* we will advertise your vacancy with all profits being donated to Rotherham Hospice. If you would like more information, please contact us on 01709 717212 *conditions apply