CSR
Astute Technical Recruitment Limited (Astute) interacts with a wide variety of people, including our Employees, Clients, Candidates, Suppliers, and the wider community. It is important that we behave in a socially responsible manner, maintaining high quality standards. We understand social and environmental concerns and aim to operate in a way which adds value in everything we do.
Our business values and operations must meet the expectations of our stakeholders, which is why we continually review the way in which Astute operates, to maximise our effectiveness. We take our feedback from our stakeholders very seriously and maintain open dialogue which helps us to fulfil our requirements. We communicate our strategies openly, ensuring ‘buy in’ from our stakeholders, and have a continual commitment to sustainable development.
Employees
Astute’s key assets are our employees, encompassing all departments. For this reason, we feel it is vital to offer each member of staff a structured training and development programme, to develop their career with us. We monitor our staff on a continual basis, identifying strength and weaknesses, and develop a programme to address key areas and encourage our employees to gain appropriate industry related qualifications, with financial assistance from the company.
We believe it is important to build an enjoyable working environment which includes the opportunity for working flexible hours around a set of core hours. We also offer numerous benefits ensuring our peoples wellbeing is first and foremost part of our core values.
Astute are keen to ensure employees are rewarded for playing a part in the growth and ultimate success of the company, whilst maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
Community
As a Portsmouth based business with a strong connection to the military, Astute work closely with the armed forces, and are proud to be part of the Armed Forces Covenant pledge. We also support our local community and have been and continue to be involved in several initiatives and events supporting the Portsmouth Hospital’s charity. We have taken part in several fundraising events, providing much needed funds and gifts for wards across our local hospital and the NHS.
As part of our commitment to education and career development, Astute also work very closely with local Schools, Colleges and Universities to further develop future career opportunities by offering work experience, mock interviews, CV writing lectures and career workshops.
Equal Opportunities
Astute is an Equal Opportunities employer, which supports the principles of Equal Opportunities Act 1976, and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. We aim to ensure that all candidates seeking employment do so on an equal standing and operate a diversity policy.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and committed to ensuring that no candidate will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, creed, disability, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender, marital or parental status, political belief, social or economic class or any other reason which Astute deems unjustifiable.
Health and Safety
Astute enforces a Health and Safety policy, ensuring that we identify and manage risk and consult with our employees on any issues which may affect their welfare.
We have invested in several employees to become First Aid and Mental Health First Aid trained and provide and maintain a safe office environment. All electrical equipment is routinely PAT tested. Our employees understand the need to work in a safe manner to help prevent accidents and maintain healthy working conditions.
Astute have carried out a full risk assessment of the workplace ensuring that it is COVID-19 safe and that we as business are doing all we can to protect our employees and mitigate the spread of the infection. For further information please refer to our COVID-19 / Social Distancing Policy and COVID-19 Healthy & Safety Workplace Risk Assessment.
Environmental / Waste
Astute is committed to operating in an environmentally friendly manner, in accordance with sound environmental practices.
To achieve our goals, we look to minimise our consumption of natural resources and energy, whilst consuming material goods in moderation. We try to reduce the creation of waste by the adoption of improved operating practices, such as running a virtually paperless office, submitting invoices electronically and asking candidates to submit their CV’s in electronic format. Where we do create waste we aim to recycle, where possible, and Astute have a range of recycling bins for various materials, including Laser Cartridges, Cans, Paper and Plastics.
All waste is disposed of in a safe and responsible manner, and we keep up to date with environmental legislation, helping to understand our impact on the environment, and develop new processes. Astute’s staff are trained and educated on key environmental factors, in the context of our business environment.
This policy is particularly relevant and important to Astute as we work with several organisations within Environmental, Power Generation, Renewables and Waste.
Energy
Astute appreciates the need to operate in an energy efficient manner, especially as we work closely with several companies within the Power Generation and Renewables. We attempt to reduce our energy consumption in a variety of ways, including turning down the water heating system, turning off lights when they are not being used and unplugging mobile phones as soon as they have finished charging.
Several Astute’s employees share lifts to and from work and we also ask that our staff share lifts when going on client visits. Astute also offer a ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme to promote a healthier journey to work and reduce environmental pollution.