Challenger energy brand Pure Planet has revealed it is continuing to recruit and induct staff entirely digitally as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Companies across the sector have had to quickly adapt to the pandemic, with many moving the bulk of their operations to remote working. Some meanwhile have taken advantage of the government’s furlough scheme.
Bath-based Pure Planet has announced eight new starters have joined the company in the past three weeks, which have fallen within the government-imposed lockdown. People director, Rich Roberts, said the new recruits have been trained without meeting any of their colleagues face-to-face.
Roberts said the company was inducting people who had already received a start date, as well as offering jobs to those who were still in the recruitment process.
“We have a well-worked induction process but the challenge was to deliver that virtually – two trainers from our member services team were asked to help work out how we could make the whole process digital”, he said.
He added: “They would normally meet the founders – Steven Day, Andrew Ralston and Chris Alliott – within the first week so we have been doing that virtually. The same goes for meeting heads of teams.
“Getting the kit to them was also a challenge. Our IT team had to set up the laptops with configurations for the role then find a courier who could deliver.”
While most of the new starters have a background in energy, Roberts said the company has created a ‘buddy system’ for those who do not, helping them adjust to new systems.
“Every new starter is assigned a buddy – we have previously done this informally – but they talk on a daily basis to check in and make them feel connected.
“Where possible, we introduce two people, one who joined recently and another who has been at Pure Planet for a long time and can give guidance.”
Pure Planet is not the only supplier to continue its recruitment process during the pandemic.
Last week it emerged that Bulb, which has more than 1.6 million customers, said rather than reducing headcount it was actively recruiting more staff.
Tom Fraine, head of people at Bulb, said: “Our mission is to help more households lower their energy bills and their carbon emissions, and we are hiring top talent to help us continue to provide a great service to our members.
“We’re looking for developers, data scientists and energy specialists to join us as we bring renewable energy to homes across the country. Our members rely on Bulb to continue to maintain our high standards of service during the Covid-19 outbreak.”