COVID-19 has changed the way we think about our business practices and the navigation of today’s employment landscape is difficult for employers and employees alike. However – now could be the perfect opportunity to review how your organisation operates and discover the practices that could support your business to build back better post-COVID-19, as an open and inclusive recruiter.

Hire2Inspire

If you’re interested in ensuring this is you but don’t know where to begin – this is where Aspire Oxford’s new Social Recruitment Enterprise, Hire2Inspire, can help you. The Hire2Inspire team provides dedicated recruitment support to match the skills of talented, work-ready candidates with employers across Oxfordshire and its neighbouring counties.

The economic effects of COVID-19 mean we are experiencing an influx of individuals seeking new employment opportunities, expanding both our candidate pool and the sectors with which we can engage – from renewable energy to finance and technical mechanics.

A key priority at Aspire is engaging with our local community, working alongside like-minded organisations to encourage socially-conscious thinking, promote a more inclusive local economy and create more meaningful employment opportunities, with inbuilt and mutually-beneficial social impact. The Hire2Inspire team works closely with some of the Thames Valley’s biggest employers – with over 140 organisations supported to improve their recruitment practices and introduce diverse talent to their workforce to date.

The Hire2Inspire team provides professional and competitively-priced support around recruiting from disadvantaged groups, to give individuals facing barriers to employment the opportunities they need to turn their lives around. Hire2Inspire also offers free Inclusive Recruitment workshops, Equality and Diversity workshops, a new Support Agency workshop for 2020 and an annual Employers’ Conference – promoting inclusive recruitment informed by the lived experience of the Aspire workforce, across our charity and social enterprises.

Through Hire2Inspire, you can access guidance with:

• How to introduce open and inclusive recruitment to your organisation

• Reaching the widest possible pool of talent for your workforce

• Resolving staff shortages

• Increasing staff retention – with access to our 6-month Retention in the Workplace support service for Hire2Inspire candidates placed within your organisation

• Candidate screening, reference-checking and work eligibility

• Promoting your employment vacancies to work-ready candidates from Aspire’s employment programmes, through Hire2Inspire’s weekly jobs bulletin and online jobs platform

To find out more about the recruitment support Aspire provides through Hire2Inspire, contact Emily, our social recruitment lead, at emily@aspireoxford.co.uk.

Support Aspire Today

Whether you choose to work with Hire2Inspire, donate, fundraise, volunteer, or spread the word – there are a variety of ways to support the much-needed work of Aspire Oxford today.

If you are interested in finding out more about Aspire and the award-winning support we provide across Oxfordshire and our neighbouring counties, visit our website to explore our support services and other enterprise offerings.

Find out more about Aspire on our Univ in the Community page. You can also email Aspire.

Published: 5 October 2020

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