We’ve Just Won GPTW 2019!

We are proud to announce that we are the Number 1 Best Place to Work in the UK for the second year running!

We’ve done it again – McCarthy Recruitment’s won the
2019 UK Best Workplaces award

This time last year we’d just won the Great Places to Work ® UK Best Workplaces ™ award in the small business category. We were buzzing. To then take second place in the Great Place to Work Europe Awards later on in the year was incredible. So imagine how we’re feeling now. Not only were we shortlisted for the 2019 UK Best Workplaces award– but we’ve won it!

The awards are run by the Great Places to Work Institute. They’re acknowledged to be amongst the UK’s most prestigious employer accolades, celebrating organisations who’ve consistently delivered excellence in people management and engagement. It’s a tough assessment process – they’re looking for companies who are not simply saying the right words but who can actively demonstrate a culture that’s built and sustained on genuine trust, engagement and innovative people management practices. Winning it once was huge for us. But winning it twice? It’s incredible. Whenever I’ve watched the Oscars, I’ve sometimes wondered if it’s as exciting to win the second time around. I can now answer that question as it turns out it’s even better. For us, it’s an endorsement of the fact that not only do we have an amazing workplace culture but also that it’s a firmly established part of our DNA.

All recruitment should start with
a great culture

Establishing who the business is and what its values and culture look like is always our starting point when we’re working with clients. All recruitment should start with a great culture and genuinely knowing who you are. It’s nothing to do with trying to appear cool and engaging when in fact you’re using clichéd offerings to hide the reality.

For us, it’s about being genuine and being ourselves. It’s about providing what our team needs to be happy and engaged and to feel valued. They don’t need encouragement to shout about who we are – we’re proud of each other, we celebrate our successes together and that reinforces our mutual sense of commitment, of support and of being a family. It’s a high trust company – everyone knows the leadership team has their best interests at heart. Who we are and how we do business is intrinsically linked to our culture and values. We don’t have separate faces for customers and employees. That would undermine everything we believe in. We’re collaborative, innovative and committed to doing the best for employees and clients. We’re proud of what we do and who we do it for.

Celebrating difference
and diversity

We’re all about celebrating difference. Every member of my team is unique. Diversity is something that has huge significance for us and I’m proud that the ability to value the differences people have to offer is embedded in our culture.

In fact, I’m such a passionate believer in it that it’s led to our involvement in many diversity projects. We encourage clients to go beyond a strategy of fulfilling diversity ambitions simply by attracting more of one social group. Inclusion is key. It needs to be at the heart of an organisation. The value placed on difference needs to transcend all levels and be truly embedded within and be part of an organisation’s purpose. If you ensure diversity is built into your recruitment attraction and processes, then you are embracing diversity at a critical stage.

M^cCarthy as a
talent partner

Consultancy about diversity is one aspect we’ve always incorporated into our approach with clients. But over the past twelve months, we realised we needed to highlight the range and depth of expertise and consultancy we offer. That’s led to the introduction of our Change Agent package where, by working as a talent partner, we offer specific change consultancy and advisory services to help clients set and deliver their people agenda. This isn’t simply about the act of recruitment; it’s also focusing on benchmarking current teams, in-house and recruitment training, team development, retention, and succession planning too. The key to commercial success is ensuring high people engagement and having the right talent in the right place.

While I managed to keep it together at the ceremony, and refrained from launching into a Gwyneth Paltrow-like Oscar acceptance speech (probably much to the team’s relief), that doesn’t mean I’m not bursting with pride about everything every single member has accomplished to help us win the award. None of this would be possible if I didn’t have such a brilliant team. Despite some challenging times, people engagement remains at the heart of what we do and the culture we have – and I’m thrilled this award endorses that.

• https://youtu.be/yaeDrXucWsc
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