over 2 years ago

By Rob Markwell

Where we are 6 months later?

At the end of last year we set an objective for 2021. To reinvigorate ourselves in the market, taking our rediscovered start-up mentality and applying it to make an impact.Now over 6 months into the year, where are we with this goal?Growing strongOver the past 6 months we have placed a strong focus on how we serve our markets.We’ve enhanced our desk structure, allowing our team the freedom to devise their own business development strategies and equally grow their desks and markets how they chose to. This has been supported by a stronger emphasis on how we can serve clients best, offering tailored recruitment solutions around our retained, exclusive and multi-agency packages.Quality has always been at the forefront of our expectations, and because our amazing team have been able to live up to the promises they make, we’ve seen substantial growth.With more new clients across the agency, in-house and freelance space joining us each week, it means we’ve been able to invest internally, training our teams on how they can best partner with clients, making some well deserved promotions and even bringing in some brilliant new faces.Our peopleSo far in 2021, we’ve introduced 4 new faces to the Pitch team - Heidi, Steve, Matt and Lara. And though they’ve only been with us a short time, we couldn’t imagine Pitch without them.We’re also continuing our search for fresh talent to help propel our 2021 goal forward. We’re currently recruiting for Principal, Managerial and Senior Consultants, so if you’re looking or know someone who is, take a peak at what’s on offer.Because of our growth, we’ve also been able to make promotions. Julia to Principal Consultant and Pagan to Senior Marketing Executive. Both of whom have made fantastic contributions to Pitch over the course of the past year, and continue to bring fresh ideas to the plate. Go you guys!Plans for the futureWe’re super pleased with how things have gone for us so far in 2021, and have so many plans for the future. Though we can’t reveal what these are just yet (sorry!), we believe that they’re going to elevate Pitch to the next level.Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks and months. And as always you can follow our LinkedIn for the latest updates on all things Pitch.

over 2 years ago

By Rob Markwell

Inside Pitch: April

It’s been a while since we gave you an update about all things happening at Pitch, and a lot has changed over the past few months.We welcomed new additionsLike many businesses, 2020 put a lot of things on hold for us, but thankfully now of those things we sidelined can start to come to fruition. One of these is expanding our team.Following Heidi joining our agency team at the start of the year, we have since welcomed an additional member to our team!Steve joined us as a Senior Consultant where he will be spearheading in-house recruitment across the UK financial and professional service sectors, helping to grow our presence in the sector. But we’re not stopping at two! We’re on the look out for more talent to join our team and help us in putting the heart+soul into recruitment. Promoted internallyWe reward those within the business who have made an impact and have consistently shown commitment to Pitch and their own development. We have seen a lot of this over the past year across our whole team, but some have gone above and beyond, and that means promotions!In April we promoted Julia to Principal Consultant and Pagan to Senior Marketing Executive. The impact both of these have made within Pitch over the past year has been fantastic, both working to find new avenues to bring in business and raise the brands market presence in an arguably competitive and difficult recruitment landscape. We’re raising a glass to these two!We’re retaining flexible workingWe’re continuing to embrace flexibility post lockdown, adopting a hybrid working model for all of our employees from junior to director level.We recently wrote a blog on why we are committed to doing this, but to put it simply, working from home has given us the flexibility and headspace we needed to become more agile and innovative as a business. It has meant our teams are closer and more collaborative. So why would we want to say goodbye to that? 

over 2 years ago

By Rob Markwell

Balancing remote working and the 4 day week

Following Spain’s trial of the 4 day week, the topic of shortening the working week has come back into debate, with many citing the positive impact which increased flexibility is likely to have on productivity, wellbeing and climate change.But what impact will the 4 day week have in light of more remote working being offered by employers?Balancing time, workloads and wellbeingDue to increased workloads and the blurred lines between work and home, many employees are finding they have been working longer hours compared to previous years.Our own research found that 55% of employees are working more than 9 hours a day for a variety of reasons, from heavier workloads to more meetings or simply because they feel they should. However, one of the more concerning statistics highlights that 12% of employees are working longer because they feel they are less effective when working remotely.This raises questions surrounding the viability of introducing a 4 day week alongside working from home options, where though employees may benefit from taking an additional day off, there is understandable concern about the impact of increasing workloads and the knock on effect this is likely to have on working hours.From our perspective, if remote working were to be maintained and a 30 hour week introduced, it is likely that the issue surrounding longer daily working hours will become more complex as employees struggle to maintain a balance between prioritising workloads and their overall wellbeing.What we have seenOver the past year we have encountered some employers who were willing to offer a 4 day week. But, to help address the above issues they have only offered this flexibility on the condition that the 5th days hours have been made up throughout the week, creating a more compressed working week.Though this can help to solve the potential issues which may arise from remote productivity, encouraging employees to complete their workload during working hours, some may see it to be counter productive to the benefits achieved through a 30 hour week.To be remotePrior to the pandemic, we would have addressed the 4 day week with a different note, hailing its ability to enhance in-office productivity and employee wellbeing alongside candidate attraction and employee retention.However, we need to remember that the dynamics of working have shifted drastically over the past 12 months and whilst a 4 day week may have been beneficial when we were all in office on a daily basis, the introduction of remote working may have had a more significant impact on the feasibility of implementing a 30 hour week than previously considered.​Image credit:Header: Photo by Adi Perets from Pexels

over 2 years ago

By Rob Markwell

Why we're embracing flexibility post-Covid

We’re embracing flexibility and remote working, not because the thought of a commute and sharing spaces makes us shudder, but because we are committed to providing the best working environment for our team.Even we admit there was a time when we were quite rigid in our structure, and though at the start of last year we planned to introduce the option of flexible working to our employees, we never anticipated it to be quite as agile as it is today.All of our team from junior to director level, will have the option to work remotely twice a week, with complete flexibility around start and finish times, which will continue into the post Covid era.Of course this enables our team to balance their work and home life more effectively, which means they can be on the school run, ease the strain of a long commute and prioritise their wellbeing, for us this is an added benefit.The past years experiment of remote working has shown us that by allowing freedom amongst our team we are able to be more agile and adaptable as a business.Our service levels have never been stronger. Allowing our consultants to step away from their desks has meant they have a little more time in their day to develop closer and more personal relationships with clients and candidates, which from time to time is supported by the help of some fury friends.We have given ourselves the headspace to think, allowing us to innovate. In the past year alone we have developed new service offerings, engaged with new industries, become more creative and strategic in the way we communicate. We have evolved at a faster pace than ever, so why would we want to lose that momentum?We have become more collaborative. An odd one given that we see each other less, but taking ourselves outside of the office with that added benefit of innovation has meant that barriers which previously would have existed between teams have been eroded and collaborative idea sharing has never been higher.Of course, we need our office space for joint meetings, project management and to get away from our home desks to connect with one and other, and that is why we will never say sayonara to our office space. Have you seen it? Why would we?.But we will be saying ta-rah to a 5 day week in the office, we would be daft not to.Interested in joining a company who are collaborative, flexible and adaptable? We’re always on the look out for new talent that can add value to our sectors and team.Image credit:Header: Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels