Ecommerce Recruitment & Covid-19: Supporting your team

Ecommerce recruitment is naturally a fast paced world, as the ecommerce industry itself is. The world of recruitment does not just mean hiring new staff...it's also about staff retention and taking care of the employees you already have.

With Covid-19 continuing to dominate world news, it made us think about how ecommerce teams are doing. With a new lockdown as of January 2021, we can expect to see yet another big shift towards ecommerce as people order the essentials online. Even since the first lockdown, these new online shopping habits had already stuck, with the UK ecommerce market experiencing a huge boom throughout 2020.

How is this affecting ecommerce teams? Are they keeping up with this increased demand? Do teams have enough resources? Is employee wellbeing beginning to decrease? There are so many questions in this topic, so we wanted to offer our top tips for supporting your ecommerce team.

How can you support your ecommerce team?

A big trend in ecommerce recruitment in 2021 will be shifting towards a digital employer brand. Candidates want transparency and seeing the sentiments of your existing team will play a big part in talent acquisition. In particular, they will want to see how companies put their employees first in times of hardship like Covid-19.

Employee wellbeing checks

We believe there should be regular check-ins with your team, regardless of the pandemic. However, remote working makes this a bit tricky. When working at the office, you can notice emotional pointers much more efficiently. If someone is feeling down or stressed, you would be able to pick up on it in person.

So, it's important to have regular zoom calls with the whole team so that everyone remains on the same page. It also allows the social aspect that is lacking with remote working. Furthermore, checking in with individuals is important - even if it's a short phone call where you encourage honesty, it will make your employees feel they can reach out when the going gets tough.

Ecommerce Contract Recruitment 

Ecommerce contract recruitment is a great way to fill those urgent gaps. It's especially useful to hire contractors for busy periods or big projects. They provide an extra resource for your team to take some of the edge off. One amazing thing we notice about the ecommerce contractors we work with is their ability to adapt to any environment. They're used to remote working, so really can be a driving force for positivity.

We wrote a blog last year about the benefits of hiring ecommerce contract talent in Q4, though all of the points apply here too! 

Keep your ecommerce hiring strategy alive

In the first national lockdown in 2020, we saw companies immediately pause their recruitment. At the time, it was understandable...how could you continue hiring when there was no way to meet potential employees?

However, companies soon adapted to a completely online approach to hiring and it worked. It's hard for new employees joining a company when they have yet to meet the team. So, rather than pause your hiring strategy, it's time to adapt it. We can offer you more advice on your hiring techniques if you're unsure where to begin.

Helping you with all areas of ecommerce recruitment

cranberry panda are not just here to help your hire talent. If you would like any advice across all ecommerce recruitment topics, including staff wellbeing, reach out to us. We will be happy to help - visit the employer hub below for all the latest advice and to get in touch with us.