Two nominations in the Security & Fire Excellence Awards

I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking 2020’s been a challenging year, so it’s been a real boost to find out we’ve been shortlisted in two categories of the Security and Fire Excellence Awards.

Back in March, when the lockdown struck, recruitment activity came to an abrupt halt. We decided to stay open to support our clients and industry, sharing knowledge and adding value in whatever ways we could.

This led to a whole raft of Zitko Covid-19 initiatives: 

• an outplacement programme which has already helped some excellent people back into new fire & security jobs; 
• the creation of Covid-secure, remote onboarding processes, which we piloted with a major international client and then shared industry-wide; 
• launching an online training portal, created with leading manufacturers and open to any furloughed engineer, client-employed or not;
• a Covid-19 resource hub, bringing together information and advice for employers, jobseekers and staff (contract and permanent).

These are just a few highlights. Delivering it all led to an intense few months, so it’s extremely gratifying to find ourselves shortlisted in the Lockdown Hero award category.

Nominated for Customer Service

It’s a rarity, to say the least, to see a Fire & Security recruitment firm recognised for customer care, but then it’s always been our point of difference.

We’ve a couple of simple values that guide our approach: Think Zitko. Think amazing; Service matters. 

The former means getting to know clients and candidates in-depth. As a result, if we approach you about a job you can be confident it will be relevant to you. And if we submit a CV or shortlist to you, you’ll be looking at people who are a great match with your business.

Great service and treating people well is simple manners. Every candidate, successful or not, deserves to be acknowledged, listened to, kept informed and given feedback. It’s crucial to our reputation and the reason we have the industry’s largest, most engaged professional network.

Of course, it’s not words that matter. It’s what we do that counts. Every staff member here receives detailed Recruitment Network training in customer service and core processes. 

Our recruitment systems and processes are second-to-none.

And we’ve created (measurable) service standards that shape the way we plan, run and think about our business, strategically and day-to-day.

So, how’s it all working out?

• We’ve 100% client retention from 2019, with 80% spending more with us in 2020 despite the obvious market challenges;
• Having implemented Google Reviews as a feedback mechanism, we’ve achieved 100% 5-star ratings in our first year;
• Our client and candidate referrals are at record levels in 2020 (you’ll see some excellent testimonials when our new website goes live).
• And now we’ve been shortlisted for this prestigious award, as the only resourcing company in the category.

It’s a great boost for us as we head into the autumn / winter season. We’re hopeful of at least one award on November 25^th, but win or lose, simply being shortlisted tells us we’re on the right track. We’ll be cracking on.