Managing the costs of sickness absence in 2012

By John Richardson

John Richardson joined Alexander Lloyd in 2003. As a Senior Manager leading the Accountancy & Finance divisions he personally maintains a client database recruiting senior finance professionals within the Accountancy & Finance sector. He specialises in the recruitment of qualified level Financial Directors and Controllers for both blue chip and SME clients, and  niche roles such as tax/treasury and corporate finance and audit.

Sickness absence is a very well recognised issue within the work place today, with new reports coming out seemingly every week on the severity of the issue and the costs to the economy; £13bn at the last count.  However, less well known and documented, particularly in the UK, is the problem of sickness presenteeism.  Defined as the loss of productivity when employees come to work when they are unfit to do so and perform below par as a result of their illness, it is estimated that the cost of presenteeism to the economy is a staggering £19.5bn.  The biggest cause of sickness absence has been cited recently by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development as stress, a complaint that accountants are no stranger to, particularly during the fast approaching year-end period.

Writing an Effective Accountancy CV

By John Richardson

John Richardson is a Senior Manager at Alexander Lloyd. He joined the company in 2003 and currently leads the Accountancy & Finance divisions. He specialises in recruitment of qualified level Financial Directors and Controllers for both blue chip and SME clients, and also recruits niche roles such as tax/treasury and corporate finance and audit. 

A CV is a document that has one purpose and one purpose only – to sell you, the job seeker. This is your sales tool designed to demonstrate to potential employers that you are the ideal candidate for the job; it is your professional identity on paper.  Considering how important it is to get it right, the wide and not always wonderful selection of CV’s that reach the desks of Alexander Lloyd's specialist Accountancy division on a daily basis, is astonishing. 

A CV should have a simple layout that incorporates small variations. The core, is a clear and concise structure that includes personal details, personal profile, qualifications, professional experience and achievements, and general skills. 

Personal Details

Keep this simple.  All you require here is your name, address and contact details. Ensure that these details are up to date and checked regularly. If you have a LinkedIn profile, add your profile address to this section.  It is not advisable to include any equal opportunities information such as your date of birth, marital status or nationality.

Personal Profile

This is your first chance to make a good impression on a potential employer, to make yourself stand out from the crowd and really grab their attention. Include succinct details about your key skills, experience, achievements and strengths.  For example:

“A highly skilled ACA qualified Finance Business Partner with five years experience in a blue chip engineering company.  Well developed inter-personal and project management skills have contributed to success acting as both data analysis and financial modelling expert to several project teams, whilst maintaining responsibility of day to day financial management for an £85m programme.” 

To Accept or Not to Accept: The Question of Counter Offers

The rejuvenation of the job market in the Finance and Accountancy sector has without doubt gathered pace in the last six to eight months.  One of the results has been an increase in job seekers willing to explore their options whereas before, many people were staying in positions in which they felt dissatisfied due to fears about the turbulent economic climate.

So, as an employee you have taken the plunge, explored your options, gone through the interview process and been offered an exciting new role.  This is always a slightly nerve wracking time and many understandably feel the process of resigning from their current position to be a stressful one.

Submitting Your Resignation
When you sit down with your line manager and submit your letter of resignation, there is a sense of relief and the excitement of starting a new role can be indulged.  However, what happens if the following day your employer presents you with a counter offer?  What do you do?

This is a difficult situation in which to find yourself.  On the surface, it appears to be in the employer’s interests to retain you; you are a valued employee.  They are able to retain you within the business rather than have to progress once again through the recruitment process, which can be time consuming.  You are in situ; you know the company and are an established member of the team whom they have already invested in.

It can be a tempting and very flattering offer.  You are within your comfort zone; you know the business and the people, and a pay rise is being offered.  At this stage, it is vitally important that you examine your reasons for leaving in the first place.  If your motivation is more than simply remuneration and is based around a desire for career progression, or a disillusionment with the company, ask yourself the question; is this going to change or, by accepting an offer, are you simply placing a band aid on the real issue?

A Long Term Solution?
Being counter offered with a pay rise or a promotion will not necessarily resolve the underlying reasons that first motivated you to search for an alternative.  In this instance we find that in many cases the employee will be once again be back on the job market within a few months, as the initial problem has not been resolved. In my own personal experience, I previously worked with a Management Accountant in a senior position who was very disillusioned with their working environment.  We secured them a new position with a pay increase, and when they subsequently submitted their resignation, their employer offered to double the pay increase to keep them.  They accepted the counter offer, however came back to me within five months looking for a new role, as the environment had not improved and the initial problem remained.

On the other hand, if your reason for leaving is purely motivated by remuneration and you feel that you are being undervalued either through the employer’s inability to offer an increase, or through a failure to recognise your worth, is it a good idea to accept a counter offer?  On the whole I would still suggest that it isn’t.  Using this process as means of forcing your employer’s hand should be avoided.  It almost always causes a breakdown in trust and leads the employer to question your loyalty and dedication to the company.  If they believe that you are capable of being disloyal it is doubtful that the previous levels of trust will ever be re-established, which can have implications for your long-term career in that company.

Communication is Key
If you do feel that a pay increase or promotion is justified I always recommend that you firstly have an open and honest conversation with your employer, laying out your justifications.  Through open channels of communication it is much more likely you will be able to come to mutually agreeable terms that have fewer potential repercussions later in your career.  If the employer is not able (and in the current economic climate many are not, through no fault of their own) or willing to negotiate in terms of remuneration then if you still wish to pursue the issue, consider your wider options and explore the market with a clear conscience.

John Richardson joined Alexander Lloyd in 2003, and as a Senior Manager within the organisation he currently leads the Accountancy and Finance divisions. He personally maintains a client database recruiting senior finance professionals on a permanent basis within the Accountancy and Finance sector and specialises with the recruitment of qualified level Financial Directors and Controllers for both blue chip and SME clients, and also recruits niche roles such as tax/treasury and corporate finance and audit.

A Temporary Measure?

Following reports in the recruitment press that August's job flow has been the lowest in ten months, it seems that the Alexander Lloyd Job Index is not the only indicator that there has been a drop in market growth.

Our Index reported that in the month of August, the flow of vacancies in the Accountancy and Finance division dipped to a four-month low on the permanent side.

However, whilst the permanent market seems to have stalled slightly, the interim side of our Accountancy and Finance Division has picked up, with the highest amount of jobs on in over twelve months. So why the large discrepancy?

It appears that the large FS companies and blue chips – who in the most part have now put a stop to their recruitment freezes – have been largely recruiting for part-qualified roles in both management accounting and financial, especially on a temp-to-perm basis. There still seems to be lack of confidence in the economy, hence the reluctance to recruit on a permanent basis. 

As Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC commented that "employers’ confidence remains fragile", a temporary solution seems to be exactly that – to recruit on a temporary basis. The Interim Accountancy division of Alexander Lloyd has reported that one in four roles picked up in the last four months have been Financial Services roles with a great need reported for financial analysts/management accountants due to budgeting occurring over the summer. The majority of these roles are temp-to-perm.

So with this side of the market benefitting from a higher number of roles available, what are the advantages of taking an interim role? If you’ve not considered interim work before, now may be the time to do so. Many large companies fill their roles with only temporary staff; these positions can, and usually do, turn into permanent employment:

• With a temporary or interim post, both the employee and the employer have the opportunity to see if you are a good working fit;
• This side of recruitment is being proven as a way of employers taking on new talent with a view to going permanent, without the apprehension of spending possibly six-figures in this less-than-steady market;
• You have the opportunity to advance your career in the time and circumstances that suit your needs – you don’t need to compromise;
• As an interim professional, you have the flexibility that you wouldn’t have otherwise, with the opportunity to expose yourself to different disciplines, styles of working and client bases.

A strong contender will always shine through; however, it is important not to assume that your career path will always follow the easy route that you might envisage at the beginning. To be successful in your career, you need to expose yourself to opportunities and people who can spot your talent; working in an interim role is the perfect platform to demonstrate your capabilities.

By acting and thinking strategically, there can be ways of overcoming difficulties to reach your professional goals. As our Job Index has indicated, the traditional market is buried so you need to reinvent yourself – employers generally recruit an interim candidate to solve a problem, so get creative.

To really get ahead in these economically tough times, you need to think about how you can progress in your career, and by considering the interim route you are opening yourself up to many opportunities that are currently not available to the permanent market.



John Richardson joined Alexander Lloyd in 2003, and currently leads the Accountancy & Finance and Pensions & Benefits divisions. He is a Senior Manager within the organisation and specialises in the recruitment of qualified level Financial Directors and Controllers for both blue chip and SME clients, and also recruits niche roles such as tax/treasury, corporate finance and audit.

Onwards and upwards

One question I find myself often asked as a recruitment consultant for the accountancy industry is: “Where will the industry be in 6 months?”. It’s impossible to judge; however, the Alexander Lloyd job index for Q2 – an industry benchmark of job flow – is pointing towards a more positive future for both candidates and clients in the accountancy industry, in both permanent and interim fields.

Taking a hit

In January 2009, senior finance professionals were taking a hit, with companies having to resort to redundancies and stripping down their teams to the bare bones. The months between January and June 2009 showed a severe drop in job flow, with March 2009 performing at 37% under the average. There was no marked improvement and pick up of vacancies until the later summer months. July’s improvement of 8% job flow suggested a confidence in the emerging market, and jobs continued to roll in with only a small decrease over the Christmas period, which was to be expected. Too much turkey equated to a lot less work.

Onwards and upwards

The New Year brought a fresh start, and with it some positive signs of recovery to vacancy flow, with the Q1 Job Index report noting a 113% increase in vacancies registered with the accountancy team’s consultants. The market had picked up and showed real signs of recovery, especially in the mid-level interim and permanent recruitment markets. Fortuitously, this increase has continued.

Within the accountancy market, the amount of permanent vacancies registered in 2010 has increased without exception on the 2009 figures. On the interim side, the June 2010 figures are the highest in the 18-month period from January 2009. There was a slight increase during the end of the financial year towards March/April, once again suggesting that businesses are more eager to spend during this period.
 
The May and June 2010 level of jobs registered have been the highest in 18 months for both interim and permanent accountancy roles.

With 2010 showing an unequivocal improvement on the previous year, it might be time to finally breathe a sigh of relief. The statistics of the report show a respectable increase in the number of vacancies registered, and point to a positive progression in the recruitment market following the negative impact of the economic downturn of the past two years.

Other financial recruitment companies are also experiencing a welcome rise in jobs needing to be filled, indicating that the industry is evidently experiencing growth again after a hard two years. With many businesses having had to close their doors and make redundancies, this news will come as a great relief to the many great candidates in the market. We are looking forward to Q3 and Q4 proving us right.



John Richardson joined Alexander Lloyd in 2003, and currently leads the Accountancy & Finance and Pensions & Benefits divisions. He is a Senior Manager within the organisation and specialises in the recruitment of qualified level Financial Directors and Controllers for both blue chip and SME clients, and also recruits niche roles such as tax/treasury, corporate finance and audit.