Working through a pandemic: JPC case study
Like many of us, the end of the year represents the end of a chapter and the start of a new. During this time, Guled Osman Egal was beginning a new chapter of his own with his current employer at King’s Cross Estate Services with JPC as a part of the environmental services team. However, due to an unexpected pandemic, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and lockdown his new role had to be adapted.
In the words of Sam Fletcher, Senior Operations Manager at JPC “Covid-19 obviously had a massive impact on our operations. Many of our team turned their hands to new skills and it was a great opportunity to refresh all of our training modules with team members not on furlough. Guled is part of an excellent porters team enabling the logistics at King’s Cross to function.”
Where it all began
Guled was unemployed for a brief period last year which prompted him to talk to a work advisor from JobCentre Plus who recommended KX Recruit as a gateway to employment. Reflecting Guled says “I hadn’t heard of KX Recruit before this moment, but I decided to give it a go. I applied for quite a few jobs on their website and Chloe, a Recruitment Manager at KX Recruit, got in touch with me to help with my applications.”
Sam adds “JPC, as a service provider to King’s Cross Estate Services has used KX Recruit for a variety of employment opportunities in the last 2 years. These range from hourly paid staff throughout the Estate and Properties to management positions. We were delighted that someone of Guled’s quality was recruited for us.”
Looking back Guled says “It was around Christmas time and my employer JPC were looking for new staff and Chloe was very helpful with getting the process started. It took around 6 weeks before my role finally materialised. However, KX Recruit were very supportive and kept me informed at every step of the way. My experience was very positive.”
Returning to work – was it difficult?
A lot of people struggle when returning to employment, usually because of the prolonged period spent out of work. On the other hand, there are people like Guled who had only spent a short period of time unemployed and are eager to get back to work – “I didn’t really find returning to work difficult. I was unemployed briefly because I was abroad for a little while. When I came back to the UK, I started applying for jobs because I was ready to work.”
“I started applying for roles around November and heard back from KX Recruit just before Christmas in relation to my JPC role. I ultimately started my job in March. The whole process took a couple of months in total, but that’s understandable given the current climate with COVID-19. JPC and KXR were very good at communicating with me throughout so that reassured me.” Guled chuckles “It’s all a distant memory now haha – it’s better to work than not to work!”
Reminiscing on when he hired Guled, Sam says “Guled was looking for an opportunity to grow and develop and is keen to progress to a supervisor, then management role. Somebody of Guled’s quality is exactly the type of person we want in our team; driven, confident, and able to liaise with the King’s Cross management team in an independent, proactive fashion.”
The role chose me
Sometimes a role just feels like the right fit, Guled explains “I received a very positive response from JPC which definitely made me feel even more excited about the position. I went into the role not quite knowing what to expect because of COVID-19. My role ended up being adapted to something different than what was originally advertised.” Commenting further on how COVID-19 affected his role, Guled says “A lot of staff had to be furloughed, I didn’t qualify but I was lucky enough to keep my job. I was working throughout lockdown. I was just so happy to still be employed and remain a part of the JPC team.”
Working through lockdown
Going to work during lockdown is an experience that only a selected few are familiar with. Guled delves into his experience during this abnormal time “I enjoyed it. I still had my routine doing 6am starts. Looking back at it, it was very surreal – the streets were empty. There were times when I was the only person on King’s Boulevard washing windows – that was very strange. People would take pictures of me because it was just such an unusual atmosphere. After a few weeks, I got used to it, and I was very grateful to be working during that time.”
Working during such uncertain times – how did you turn it into a positive?
“There’s not only one answer to that question. I’m naturally quite an optimistic person – I’ve done lots of different jobs and been lucky enough to have been to a few countries as well. So, for me coming back to London was a big positive because I’ve been away for a while. So, for me I believe taking the whole thing in my stride played a huge part. I’ve met a lot of interesting people while working for JPC there’s a very diverse employment base that helped me to appreciate the little things like that. Appreciation helped me to shape this into one big positive experience. Every day is different, and it is really stimulating to work here. That makes it easier to not feel anxious about anything and be content with what you have.”
What do you like best about your job?
“I enjoyed meeting different people from different backgrounds and working outside. It’s been a long time since I worked outside, I really like that so that’s a big advantage. I like that this role allows me to be autonomous.”
What do you find challenging about your role?
“I tend to have an idea of what I’m going to be doing, but because every day is different most things are communicated last minute. This doesn’t give me room to contribute or make suggestions of how to do things differently or better. I try my best and do what I can to turn it into a positive and adapt. Sam and Daniel our managers have been very good and are doing the right thing daily.”
How do you overcome these challenges?
Guled is very big on efficiency and mentions his will to always “try to do my best. I believe I’m appreciated at work. If there are challenges, I always try to communicate clearly, and the chances are you’ll overcome the difficulties and challenges. Sometimes that doesn’t always work so you must do your best.”
What advice would you give to others seeking a similar role?
“I think my role has a lot in common with other roles within JPC and King’s Cross. You will have to like working outside and being sociable. If you can enjoy those aspects of the role, you’ll benefit from this position.
Working through Covid-19 – has your role been affected?
“It has been affected, there is a lot less work than usual – events that would usually have happened hasn’t taken place this year.” this demonstrates the scale of how different things are. Talking about the impact the pandemic has had on his role Guled says “I had to do the cleaning to begin with instead of my usual duties to adapt to these changes. Cleaning was a positive experience – it’s quite an underrated role. Being flexible under the circumstances helped plus I picked up a skill or two, which is good.”
KX Recruit and You
“I would definitely recommend KXR – going back to what I said about clear communication. The website was easy to use and the recruitment managers were always willing to help. Chloe helped me and didn’t treat me like any other applicant, she was very prompt in responding to me and communicating clearly. I really appreciate that and would think that other candidates would have a similar experience.”
What are three things that KX Recruit do well and is there anything that we could improve on?
“I don’t have any suggestions for improvements but I would say the three things that I found helpful was the communication which eliminated any room for anxiety; the doorway and introduction that KX Recruit provided into the King’s Cross area; and the friendly faces that work here which is always appreciated.”
Talking about his experience working with KX Recruit over the past two years Sam says “We have found that the understanding that KX Recruit has of the challenges and opportunities JPC encounters has grown. This in turn has led to the team members recruited being more suitable to the roles advertised and more likely to become long-term team members and part of the wider King’s Cross team.”
Sam continues “Recruiting somebody with the right mentality is more important than ticking the right experience boxes. This process starts with KX Recruit understanding exactly what we need for each candidate.”
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