Recruitment…….The Covid Way

Without it sounding like just another soundbite but the world of HR has changed……. forever.

In the wake of the devastating tsunami damage that Covid-19 has brought to businesses across the UK, what does the future hold for Human Resources and recruitment?

When companies are once again ready and confident to commit to a recruitment drive, will there be Zoom and Team interviews until the ‘virtual ink’ is dry on the contract? Or will they be masked up, gowned up, latex gloves at the ready, face-to-face interviews?

If candidates ARE permitted within a 5 mile radius of your building, will it be smart casual dress for those face-to-face interviews or will it be replaced with ‘designer hazmat’ at Reception and worn until the candidate is a fully-fledged, temperature checked, cough and Covid-free member of your team?

Interestingly, will temperature checks become as compulsory as clocking in and making ‘The Boss’ a brew?

All joking aside and with the 1 metre pub (sorry PLUS) rule imminent the hoops and hurdles that Human Resources have had to jump through to get even this far have been challenging, never mind being “Open for Business” again.

As we all try and regain some degree of normality, recruiting after the lockdown is now another major hurdle to not only embrace but master.

E-Doc sign software for contracts was already in widespread use prior to the pandemic, however in the wake of the outbreak there has been a surge of interest in the software. Is this now the way forward, remote interviews, coupled with E signatures and then on to remote working?

As the country tentatively unlocks and if you have never contemplated or even considered a Biometric Time Management System for your employees before, now could be the right time for you to begin planning and implementing a system for your shop floor.

Whatever Human Resources has in store for its future, ELF Productivity Ltd is here to guide, assist and help you through the transitional minefield. With almost 40 years’ experience of Time and Attendance computer software, we guarantee that at least one of our many Ceequel® software modules will not only appeal TO you but work FOR you.

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® software, supporting, upholding and helping all our clients during the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time Management system for your HR and Payroll department, contact ELF Productivity Ltd today on 01257 256000 for a free, no obligation demonstration and quotation of Ceequel® software suite.

Or, if you prefer, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

The Return From Costa Del Home

With the biggest paid leave in UK work history slowly coming to an end and with a phased return to work AND school now in the pipeline, Human Resource departments up and down the land are poised to step-up and prepare for the mass return from ‘Costa del Home.’

With the phased return to school now scheduled to begin later in the year the nation’s children have been the ones to not only accept the current status quo but acclimatise to it.

When the mercury started to rise as quickly as the panic, they were the ones that grasped the long, hot lockdown with both hands.

With the added extra curriculum courtesy of the ‘School of Mum and Dad’ they adjusted to remote learning, helped said Mum/Dad deploy Zoom, Houseparty and explained how to Facetime grumpy gramps so actual faces could be viewed as opposed to the usual wall/ceiling/ear!

They created rainbows for their homes, baked banana bread for ’Isolating Nan’ all the time working out to daily gym sessions with Body Coach Joe.

As adults, when do we stop having that easy acceptance and tolerance? When do we stop being curious and open to exploring new concepts or ideas and new ways of doing things?

Mental Health Awareness is now more prevalent than ever, particularly within the workplace. The motto adopted for the recent Mental Health Awareness week is ‘be kind.’ As we all embark on the long road to recovery, what ‘kindness’ awaits employees on the shop floor?

At a time when we have all had to lean on someone either physically, mentally or spiritually, perhaps looking and learning from our children is the answer.

When the shop floors and offices are active once more and the idea of working remotely permanently loses its appeal, will HR uphold what it has learned during this unique time?

When the sounds of children playing in their school playgrounds fill the air again, will we look at them and realise that they played an integral part of helping and supporting US through the crisis; more importantly will we be humble and modest enough to learn from them?

Because after all, they are not only the Britons of this time but the future.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system for your own phased return to work, contact ELF Productivity Ltd today on 01257 256000 for a free, no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software suite.

Or alternatively, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® software, sustaining, supporting and maintaining all our clients during the ongoing Corona-virus outbreak.

“Work Just A Little Bit”

After 7, 8 or even 9 weeks of the same 4 walls/garden/bedroom, it’s understandable that the nation has been ‘chomping at the bit’ to get just a little of their ‘pre-corona’ life back.

Therefore, with the Prime Minister’s weekend address that we are to be actively but tentatively encouraged back to work, it has been met surprisingly with some considerable shock.

“What did Boris just say, go outside and what was the other thing? RETURN TO WORK!!”

By locking the country down for several weeks, the nation is now struggling to not only return to work physically but mentally.

When we look back at this time, who will emerge as the real heroes of the crisis and the lock-down?

Will it be the managers who were quick to park their business and furlough staff or the leaders who committed to keep their company going and safely remained open for business?

Will it be the employees who risked all by continuing to commute to their workplace, playing their part in either sustaining the economy or caring for their community?

Will it be the one who worked from home remotely on a makeshift office desk, whilst helping shares in UPS, Tesco and Royal Mail ascend into the stratosphere via their new addiction to online shopping?

Or will it be the ones who sat on their couch, furloughed, relatively risk-free, washing their hands whilst sampling the ‘gins of the world’ and applying Factor 10?

With the revelation that ‘some’ workplace and outdoor restrictions are to be eased the negative reactions the news has brought has exposed both the country’s workers and their management.

Whilst the nation should be thanked to some degree for adhering to the lock-down rules initially laid out by the government, we should now follow the Prime Minister’s cue and gently allow a phased return to work…. for everyone.

Over the coming days and weeks and once businesses have unlocked their doors, Human Resources need to look at introducing, if they don’t already do so, return to work interviews.

If staff are struggling to adjust mentally, HR executives need to get on board with the idea of allowing part-time or flexible working patterns, even going as far as to remain committed to remote working for part of the week.

Whilst the idea of working remotely permanently sounds idyllic while enjoying a mini heatwave the reality for some has proved to be quite different. Slow and unreliable Wi-Fi coupled with sporadic broadband data connections, no ‘real’ conversations and with questionable hygiene and grooming standards emerging, the experience has left some employees if not their managers, more than willing to return to the shop floor.

This is without question a unique and unprecedented time in UK workplace history but here at ELF Productivity Ltd we are confident that you will be able to navigate your entire workforce through the coming months.

Whatever workplace procedures you choose to adopt during this time, ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® Biometric Time and Attendance Management system are here to guide, assist and support you.

Providing your rules have logic, Ceequel® software suite will be able to incorporate ANY working shift pattern that you choose to implement into your workplace.

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® committed to maintaining and supporting all our clients during the ongoing Corona-virus outbreak.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system for your business, contact ELF Productivity Ltd today for a free, no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software suite.

Or alternatively, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

A Message To You…..

Over the course of the month, inspiring commercials produced by a well-known high street bank have started to appear on TV, titled “A message to myself in 6 months’ time.”

The commercials are essentially video messages created by members of the public, currently in lockdown, with the intention of sending a motivational memo to themselves for 6 months’ time.

They range from people being thankful for family and friends, to a couple sharing their isolation wedding arrangements for when they eventually tie the knot later in the year; you get the general idea.

During this unfamiliar and surreal time, is it still ok to plan? Can we prepare for the future during a period of severe restrictions, with the country locked down to such a degree that there is no definite ‘end date’ in sight?

Where do you see yourself in 6 months, a year or 5 years’ time is a question normally reserved for job interviews. The answers range from the usual run-of-the-mill, “Hopefully working here” to the eye-opening “I’ll be sat in your chair!”

So, considering the recent adverts, we have a message for you, “Where do you see not only yourself but your business in a year’s time? When restrictions are finally relaxed and lifted will your business still be operating in the same way?

More importantly, do you want it to be?”

At the start of 2020, nobody could possibly have envisioned the situation we all currently find ourselves in. For business across the UK, it is without question a testing time. However, will you look back at this moment with regret or will you be thankful that you had chosen this time to consider real investment for your company?

If this period is causing you to focus on a much needed and long overdue overhaul of your company’s processes, then ELF Productivity Ltd has the answer.

ELF Productivity Ltd’s Ceequel® software suite encompasses Biometric Time and Attendance with Human Resources, Access Control, Shop Floor Data Capture and mobile-clocking Apps for both I-Phone and Android, along with hardware that incorporates both facial recognition and proximity terminals.

Clear and precise Real-Time information as it is processed through your business.

We have no tangible idea of what the coming months hold or when we will see some degree of normality return, but one thing is clear, do not stop planning for the future. Make certain that you can pinpoint this moment as a pivotal time when you made the key decision, that once able, you were proficient enough to move your business forward.

Ensure that the message you send to your ‘future-self’ today is one that you will be happy to receive in a year’s time.

For a closer look at ELF Productivity Ltd’s Biometric Time Management system, contact us today on 01257 256000 for a free, no obligation demonstration and quotation of Ceequel® software suite.

Or alternatively, please feel free to download our brochure catalogue here.

School’s Out!

School’s already out for the summer and you’re either working remotely, in a 3-month isolation or like the remainder still heading into work.

Slimming World/AA sessions have already been booked in advance of the 3 stone + predicted weight gain that is set to infiltrate the UK’s population as we binge watch, binge eat and binge sleep our way through lockdown!

UK 2020 Lockdown. It sounds like a bad Gerard Butler film! Life as we know it, placed on hold and held to ransom because of a vicious little virus.

Under normal circumstances the finger would be pointed at the irritating ‘bug’ that is better known as Trojan but unlike Trojan this worm is proving much harder to erase and will require something a lot tougher than Bitcoins to shift it!

Ctrl-Alt-Delete; the default setting for eliminating everything and everyone but as we’ve discovered you can’t just press ‘escape’ in the hope that everything will disappear.

So, what do we do? We do what we have always done, adapt to the situation.

Remote working. Not for everyone as we know, as some workers can’t just ‘work from home’ but for those that can, the current situation could prove to be a real turning point in their careers.

Juggling and rotating work with childcare has never been an easy balancing act, however there’s now a real opportunity and valid option for workers who perhaps had never considered it and for employers who previously hadn’t wanted to entertain or contemplate the idea.

Which brings us to the ‘F word’………furlough.

Before the Covid-19 crisis, nobody had really heard of furlough but with a large percentage of the UK workforce literally out to pasture for at least 3 months what will this time-off reveal not only to the workers themselves but their employers too?

As we are seeing daily, workplaces, particularly manufacturing are turning their companies over to new products. Inventors are revealing new ideas and creations to assist the NHS, whilst other businesses are adapting their products to help plug a gap in the supply chain.

Everybody working together, everyone realising that the UK can step-up and still actually ‘make stuff.’

Once Covid-19 is yesterday’s news, we will look back at this time and realise that it actually helped to bring British manufacturing and British inventions back to life.

Once the UK is through this crisis, we will come out stronger, more resilient and more eager to invest, create and produce. The assembly lines will be in full on production mode.

Made in Great Britain, back on the global manufacturing stage again, where it should be!

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® software, continuing to support, manage and assist all our clients during the Coronavirus outbreak.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system for your workforce, please feel free to contact us on 01257 256000 to arrange a free, no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software suite.

Or if you prefer, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

We’ll Meet Again…..

Dad’s Army, the iconic TV show that showcased some of our finest actors is now in middle age, a classic series that was birthed from our last great conflict, WW2.

The 8th May 2020 will see the world observe the 75th Anniversary of the end of WW2. Sadly, given the current climate there won’t be any formal celebrations, however the unity, camaraderie and solidarity from the 1940’s era is clearly rising again.

A ‘team temperament’ is intensifying as we face and fight a very different enemy.

Many leaders today come equipped with a lot of ‘hot air’ but only when you have been tested through ‘fire’ can you truly call yourself a great leader!

Baroness Karren Brady was once quoted as saying “A real leader faces the music, even when they don’t like the tune.”

Whilst there will always be conflict of some degree in many ‘war-rooms’ how many of your ‘troops’ would step up and follow you into a very different corporate battle?

What type of leader do you think you are and does the private image match up to the reality? In your head are you ‘Stormin Norman’ when the reality is perhaps more Private Pike?

Private Pike, the youngest member of the Dad’s Army platoon and a very much indulged member. Always feared his domineering mother and lacked the confidence to step out, hence the now legendary phrase; “You stupid boy!”

His ‘boss’ of course was Captain Mainwaring, who was as pompous as he was brave and patriotic. With no prior combat experience, he was limited in his key strategic decision-making. He was also jealous of his right-hand man….

Which brings us to his second in command, Sergeant Wilson. An upper-class, public school educated, suave and superior gentleman with a fondness for the ladies. Well, one lady in particular, a certain Mrs Pike!

Lance Corporal Jones, the oldest member of the team. A leader beforehand who liked to reassure everyone whenever a crisis emerged with the renowned phrase “Don’t panic.”

Advice not heeded by Private Frazer and his dour, blunt and woeful, “we are all doomed” stance!

Private Walker, a fit and able-bodied black-market spiv. A shirker who was well-able but preferred to take the easy route.

Finally, we have Private Godfrey, a frail, gentle, amiable medical orderly. An old school gent.

A diverse bunch of individuals and looking at the characters, would you and your team identify with any of them?

Whilst the Dad’s Army unit might not be to everyone’s liking, the one endearing factor they did have was unity…..and a great sense of humour.

Despite everything that is currently happening around the world, we need to adopt the very same solidarity that saw us through WW2.

It’s during our greatest trials that patience, endurance and strength are produced. Only by adhering to the same ‘team solidarity’ that saw our grandparents and great-grandparents witness victory in WW2 will we crush this new enemy.

As our gracious and beloved Monarch has already reminded us, we will get through this time, we will see better days and we WILL meet again.

ELF Productivity Ltd and Ceequel® software, still delivering, still maintaining and still supporting our clients during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system for your team, contact ELF Productivity today for a free no obligation, quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software suite.

Or alternatively, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

More Guidance For Preventing The Spread of COVID-19

To support your home working employees, there are a couple of options that we have to assist you in maintaining productivity.

There’s an app for that!

If wish to preserve time-sheets and attendance reporting data, whilst you have staff working from home, ELF Productivity Ltd has a clocking app that allows employees to clock in and out using an Android or IOS device.

The app provides the user with a simple clock in, clock out function that will push the clocking data through to TA2 (and ultimately) your payroll software in the same manner as clocking in via your normal clocking terminals.

The clocking app will also supply a Geotag of the location of the device when the employee clocks in. The Geotag will give a link through to a grid reference in Google maps showing the location of the device (for audit purposes).

Employee Self Service

Has the functionality to support home or external workers. Again it provides companies with the ability to ask employees to clock in/out of their working day and there is additional (optional) functionality within Employee Self Service that will allow home workers to register time against a project, client account, job or task.

This can be operated in real-time or after the event.

Please note, the Employee Self Service web portal will not Geotag the clocking location.

Working from Home / Isolation codes

As a business you may want to differentiate between absences for COVID-19 and other sickness absences for your end of year reporting and to assist in the repayment of SSP.

As a reminder you can create new absence codes within the system and set parameters of how they interact with Absence, Bradford Factor, TOIL, FLEXI, Holiday balances, Reports and exception flags. You can also use the code to differentiate home working, i.e. not absent, not in the fire register yet still paid (similar to how a business pass out would function).

If you have a current Time and Attendance user manual, please refer to page 41 on how to create new codes. Please do remember that great care must be taken when creating and using new codes as Ceequel® is highly configurable. It is imperative that the new code and it’s selected options, adequately reflects the pay, notification and reporting rules that you wish to apply.

If you require further information on Facial Recognition Terminals, Key Fobs, Proximity Cards, Clocking Apps, Employee Tracking or require a copy of the latest TAUser Manual, then please feel free to contact us on 01257 256000.

Guidance For Preventing The Spread Of COVID-19

You are all now fully aware of the UK Government guidance for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

It is both our duty and social responsibility to ensure that we continue supporting our clients as much as humanly possible during this challenging time, to ensure that companies can continue to pay their staff, efficiently and effectively.

Because of this ELF Productivity Ltd has taken the following measures: –

• We will continue to have a fully-manned Technical Support Desk which has had social distancing protocols applied.
• Those who are able to work remotely from home are doing so.
• We are performing system configuration and training remotely via Skype and Team Viewer.
• Our hardware engineers are continuing to attend client sites where appropriate and have fully comprehensive hygiene procedures to follow.

We have put together a FAQ list, in which ELF Productivity can assist your organisation in maintaining business continuity with the first highlighting the correct way to keep your devices clean.

General advice on frequently touched objects.

Public Health England (PHE) recommends that cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces will help prevent people from catching and spreading COVID-19.

Clocking machines are interacted with by all staff daily, therefore we recommend that you sanitise your devices regularly throughout the day to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, however please be aware of the following points: –

Avoid the use of very high concentration bleaches as they may discolour the clocking / access control units.

Ensure that cleaning staff do not use abrasive cleaning products on transparent fingerprint scanners or units as they will cloud and could become non-functional.

Depending upon the terminals that you have, you may want to consider the following measures;

1. Facial Recognition – If you already use facial recognition terminals then you will be familiar with clocking without any physical contact. If any staff are using the additional fingerprint reader, we strongly recommend you direct them to use only facial recognition. If any staff report that they are unable to use facial recognition because their biometric template is no longer recognised (e.g their appearance has altered since enrolment, such as the addition of glasses or thick beards) simply re-enrol the staff member. The unit will automatically overwrite their old template with their new one.

2. Fingerprint Recognition – If you have fingerprint terminals and wish to keep using biometric technology, now may be a time to look at changing these for facial recognition units.

3. Proximity Recognition – If you have card / fob terminals then we recommend that you remind staff that the readers will operate without physical contact, no need to “tap” in and out, a wave will suffice.

Many of our clients already use wall mounted sanitisers and ensure frequent cleaning of their readers for general hygiene, please be aware of the points above.

If you have any concerns regarding Ceequel® software or any of your Time & Attendance devices, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01257 256000.

How Can I Love You More?

L.O.V.E that little ‘Four Letter Word’ that is out in force around the middle of Feb and thanks to clever advertisers, very much in your face!

Now we know that being the romantic lot that you are, you wouldn’t have forgotten but just in case you have, here’s a gentle reminder; Valentine’s Day is just around the corner……

The most amorous time of the year brings out the romantic in many of us, especially the ‘Starry-Eyed’ personnel on the shop floor.

It must be said that the build up to February 14th can for some, be a distracting time on the production line. Amused anticipation is on open display, as your very own ‘Tim and Dawn’ are observed blushing their way around ‘The Office’.

But with all the ‘Endless Love’ flowing, what of the ‘bemused’ boss that not only has to manage his or her ‘Hopelessly Devoted’ team members but plan and schedule their last-minute ‘Love Rendezvous’?

It’s widely accepted that the most popular place to meet your ‘significant other’ is in the workplace. You spend more time there than anywhere else, so it makes ‘Perfect’ sense that ‘Love Is All Around’ doesn’t it?

Whilst opportunities present themselves more easily on the shop floor and when the time is right, ‘L.O.V.E’ is not always a surprise but after the first flush of romance, what happens when ‘Tim and Dawn’ request the inevitable time off together?

Planning staff holidays for any manager can be a headache, if not a vast military exercise; nothing works, nothing gels, nothing fits! Throw in an eleventh hour mini-break request from ‘John’ in sales and ‘Kayleigh’ in accounts and you get the idea. Two employees who not only work on the same team but the same project.

Here at ELF, we understand the situation completely when ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling’ with your current processes but be assured, with the right software in place, not only will Ceequel® become ‘the one that you want’ this Valentine’s Day but it will render everything ‘Perfect’ for both you AND your team.

Staff planning a last-minute get-away? Forget Booking.com as nothing books or confirms a holiday request faster than Ceequel® Employee Self Service.

Deployed on a kiosk or via an employee’s PC, smart phone or tablet, Employee Self Service completely removes the paper trail and gives total administration control to employees. Staff can immediately establish who on their team has already been granted a leave of absence.

So, with that in mind and apart from ‘The One’ make Ceequel® software the additional ‘significant other’ that you #Love this Valentine’s Day.

If you are interested in a Biometric Time and Attendance system to work with your Human Resources department, contact ELF Productivity Ltd today for a free no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software.

Alternatively, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.

When Harry Met…….Megxit

In any workplace, despite knowing that the time is right to step away from a senior position, making that move can still prove to be challenging. Whilst no one is predominately enthralled, there’s just no escaping the latest ‘Royal’ step-down.

Harry and Meghan’s imminent departure from the House of Windsor or ‘Megxit’ as it’s become known, has been publicised all over the world.

A manipulative, calculating social climber; terms that have been coined to describe the Duchess of Sussex. Snowflake and ‘under the thumb’ are just two that depict the nation’s favourite Prince.

But are all these labels true or unjust?

When you decide the time is right to step away from something and forge your own path, not everyone will be happy for you.

Obviously, we are not saying that the Monarchy is wrong, quite the opposite. The Queen and the senior Royals do an amazing job but not everybody is cut out for a repetitive and regimented lifestyle.

The Monarchy, a well-oiled machine that has been running for over 1000 years and is still ‘in business’ depicts that something is clearly right. The House of Windsor has to some degree, adapted and changed with the times. To stay ahead of the game, you have no choice.

Leaders are not born they are made and whilst being born into a specific role is considered an advantage, it doesn’t mean that you will a) be any good at it or b) want to work at it your whole life.

As within every ‘Firm’ one size does not fit all. Different methods and ways of working suit different companies as not every person is looking to adopt the traditional, organised 9-5 lifestyle. The laid-back remote and flexible way of working now appeals to a vast majority of employed people.

A lifestyle that can be attained, deployed and enjoyed anywhere in the world.

Remote/flexible working, TOIL, mobile clocking, are all terms coined for the modern business. Different personalities and skills, along with a difference in opinion all come into play in the workplace but when put together with the ‘right solution’, everything ‘just works’.

We shouldn’t be too harsh on Harry and Meghan as they depart from their ‘workplace’. They clearly feel that as working parents, they are now better suited to a more relaxed and less restrictive way of working.

If you are looking for a Biometric Time and Attendance Management system to suit your ENTIRE workforce, take a look at Ceequel® software suite today and realise all that can be achieved in your workplace.

If you would like to take advantage of a free, no obligation quotation and demonstration of Ceequel® software, contact ELF Productivity Ltd or alternatively, our brochure catalogue can be downloaded here.