Next in our series of HR Insights we focus on some of the current challenges’ facing organisations around the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.

When the pandemic first hit the priority for most businesses was putting robust plans and systems in place to support remote working. With working from home now pretty much the norm, we thought it would be useful to gain some insights into what longer term strategies organisations should be putting in place to support employees and line managers with their mental health and overall wellbeing.

We spoke to Mike Thompson – who runs a wellbeing company that advises organisations around wellbeing and engagement. Additionally we spoke to two senior HR professionals, Anna Lees Head of Engagement & Growth at Refinitiv and Jonathan Mayes Head of HR for Technology, Operations & Central Functions and Head of ER at TSB Bank to gain some insight into what their organisations have embedded to support their employees.

Below we hear from Jonathan Mayes, Head of HR for Technology, Operations & Central Functions and Head of ER at TSB Bank.

Jon is the Head of HR Business Partnering and Employee Relations for TSB. He has most recently been responsible for supporting the technology function in the design and build of a new operating model for CIO, data and digital and is currently leading the Future Ways of Working Programme for the Bank.

We are moving into a new era where longer term flexible working environments and remote working is becoming the norm. What challenges is this new way of working presenting organisations when it comes to employee mental health and wellbeing?

In our most recent engagement survey our colleagues perception of wellbeing support had increased since the start of the pandemic and a significant majority feel that the organisation is supporting their wellbeing and work life balance well – which is brilliant, but we mustn’t be complacent. It’s important to remember that just over 60% of our colleagues are working from a branch or one of our sites serving our customers brilliantly day in, day out. We must continue to ensure we provide a safe working environment for them whilst understanding the challenges everyone is facing whether it is childcare, self-isolation or for those working at home, being detached from colleagues.

How has this evolved from when COVID first hit, now you have navigated the initial challenges around remote working?

Our priority was to keep serving our customers – whilst keeping our customers and employees safe -  and that meant ensuring that our branches could continue to work under COVID restrictions and that our telephone teams could continue to talk to our customers – so a large part of our organisation wasn’t working remotely. We very quickly advanced our plans to allow us to serve customers more digitally and we were able to do the same with our people plans – we quickly clarified our approach to colleagues who needed to self-isolate or look after children. We brought forward the launch of the UnMind App to support with wellbeing, created a specific intranet page that consolidated existing support tools and resources (including webinars and a guide to ‘checking in’ with your team to ensure they were well supported) and continued with our excellent manager programme where there was already a heavy focus on wellbeing and managing teams in a range of environments.

During this year we have also launched our Carers Policy which allows our colleagues who have specific caring responsibilities up to 2 weeks paid leave a year to support them. Communication has been key; the CEO regularly speaks to both senior leaders and the whole organisation and managers have increased the frequency of their meetings to ensure everyone remains connected.

What are the challenges you need to be aware of as you look to the future in this space?

We have been thinking hard about future ways of working for TSB. We want to find the right balance between the importance of face-to-face interaction for collaboration, innovation and team connectivity and the benefits of home working, making sure we do what’s best for our customers, our teams, and individuals. In the future, our sites will be used to connect, collaborate and learn in person and colleagues can split time flexibly between sites and home depending on their role and personal circumstances. This won’t be a one size fits all model and will vary by team.

We are working with our property and IT teams to ensure we combine the human, physical and digital elements of this future working. From an HR perspective we need to make sure that we have a strategy and suite of polices that ensures we drive an inclusive culture for all of our colleagues and are able to continue to attract diverse talent to our organisation

Next in our series of HR Insights we focus on some of the current challenges’ facing organisations around the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.

When the pandemic first hit the priority for most businesses was putting robust plans and systems in place to support remote working. With working from home now pretty much the norm, we thought it would be useful to gain some insights into what longer term strategies organisations should be putting in place to support employees and line managers with their mental health and overall wellbeing.

We spoke to Mike Thompson – who runs a wellbeing company that advises organisations around wellbeing and engagement. Additionally we spoke to two senior HR professionals, Anna Lees Head of Engagement & Growth at Refinitiv and Jonathan Mayes, Head of HR for Technology, Operations & Central Functions and Head of ER at TSB Bank to gain some insight into what their organisations have embedded to support their employees.

Below we hear from Anna Lees, Head of Engagement and Growth at Refinitiv.

Anna is the Head of Engagement & Growth which is part of the Talent, Leadership & Inclusion Team and the People Function at Refinitiv. She is responsible for defining the Engagement Framework, providing cross Refinitiv Employee Engagement support and running the GLINT Engagement survey. She is also responsible for Career Development and Growth, with a focus on providing all colleagues across Refinitiv with support and development on topics that are critical in the current environment (e.g.  wellbeing, resilience, connection, parenting, mental health and inclusion in the virtual environment). Anna also leads a number of Integration Workstreams including articulating the approach to Career Growth and Development, defining how we will approach work and the office in the future, engagement and wellbeing.

We are moving into a new era where longer term flexible working environments and remote working is becoming the norm. What challenges is this new way of working presenting for Refinitiv when it comes to employee mental health and wellbeing?

At Refinitiv we have a comprehensive range of support on offer to employees from day one of working virtually.  However, despite a range or resources (including webinars, toolkits, smaller workshops, local support, wellbeing resources, parenting support, EAP etc.) we are still seeing people struggling with creating effective boundaries between work and home.  Employees are feeling mentally and physically more tired due to excessive video meetings and increased workload and have feelings of always “being on”. Being able to switch off is a real challenge for parents and carers, who are dealing with home schooling and providing emotional support to their children at this time. Overall it is tough for many people despite the benefits of no commute, more time with family and a more inclusive flatter culture.

How has this evolved from when Covid first hit, now that you have navigated the initial challenges around remote working?

In the early stages the main focus for most people globally, was on safety and adjusting to this new and alien way of working. Colleagues needed very practical help with home office set up, managing remote teams and generally coming to terms with a totally different way of relating to one another. The support we offered early on addressed those immediate needs, as well as starting to provide support for mental health and emotional wellbeing strategies and tools. Once it became clear that we were in this situation for the longer-term the practical support stayed but the focus shifted to helping people stay resilient, practical tools and techniques for parents and carers, and an increased focus on our employee networks and local initiatives.

Can you share some examples of solutions that have been successfully embedded?

Initially we threw together support and tools very quickly with an intranet offering called “Thriving through Turbulent Times” which launched just a week after we went virtual. This included Leader’s webinars on managing change and webinars on working remotely. There was a huge appetite for these. In the background we assembled existing resources and created new ones specifically to help people transition.  For instance, a dedicated Covid helpline, clear FAQs around how to set up a home office and clear expectations of how everything would work.

This was followed by a global campaign, championed by our CEO and CHRO about wellbeing and support which was called “We Evolve”. This allowed us to be agile and use insights from our quarterly Employee Survey to target support and resources where people needed them most. For example, we created “me time”, an hour every day with no internal meetings that are focused on giving some time and space back to individuals.  We also created monthly “We Days” which are themed and have no internal meetings, so people can connect with others, come to virtual events (set up locally and globally) as well as have some time back to focus and re-set.

We have also deepened the focus on emotional wellbeing over time and have been working with our managers to fairly and flexibly manage performance, where you maintain standards, but allow colleagues to work flexibly to achieve them. Dispelling myths about e-presentism.

What are the biggest challenges you need to be aware of as you look to the future in this space?

What this means for the long-term is that we have to be very deliberate in considering how people work at their best, and part of that is thinking about what we have lost by working remotely, which is often named as a sense of community, connection and the feeling of belonging. People also mention that it is more difficult to be creative and that development, coaching and mentoring is more challenging. How we get that back while retaining the flexibility and inclusiveness that virtual working offers is the key question for us in building our approach to work in the future.

Wellbeing and mental health is not just about being kind, it is good business, as we know, that when colleagues are supported to work at their best they are also more creative and more productive. Everyone benefits! This means we are looking at hybrid working where there is no one size fits all, but we take the best from both worlds. The right work needs to be done in the right place and the office facilitates collaboration, creativity and development while individual tasks can be done effectively remotely. The focus on wellbeing will continue for a long-time to come in how we design work and our working environments.

Next in our series of HR Insights we focus on some of the current challenges’ facing organisations around the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.

When the pandemic first hit the priority for most businesses was putting robust plans and systems in place to support remote working. With working from home now pretty much the norm, we thought it would be useful to gain some insights into what longer term strategies organisations should be putting in place to support employees and line managers with their mental health and overall wellbeing.

We spoke to Mike Thompson – who runs a wellbeing company that advises organisations around wellbeing and engagement. Additionally we spoke to two senior HR professionals, Anna Lees, Head of Engagement & Growth at Refinitiv and Jonathan Mayes, Head of HR for Technology, Operations & Central Functions and Head of ER at TSB Bank to gain some insight into what their organisations have embedded to support their employees.

Below we hear from Mike Thompson, Managing Partner at Gen Healthy Minds.

Mike Thompson is former head of Early Careers at Barclays and now runs wellbeing company Gen Healthy Minds. His passion is the wellbeing of young people progressing through their early careers and his business provides training and support tools for both graduates and apprentices to help them thrive on their programmes.

We are moving into a new era where longer term flexible working environments and remote working is becoming the norm. What challenges is this new way of working presenting organisations when it comes to employee mental health and wellbeing?

Over the past 9 months we have all been through a real rollercoaster ride of emotions as everyone’s lives have been turned upside down by the arrival of COVID-19. Whilst all workers have been impacted, one group have been hit particularly hard and that is young people, including apprentices and graduates making their way in their careers.

The expected journey from education into the workplace evaporated overnight, to be replaced by virtual inductions from a bedroom or living room, meeting your line manager via a Teams call and never stepping foot in an office or factory environment.

Dealing with the change brought about by COVID-19 has been hard for all of us but for apprentices and graduates it has felt particularly hard and living in the new world is having an impact on their wellbeing and performance. The team at Gen Healthy Minds work with groups of new apprentices’ day in and day out to equip them to stay well and thrive. On our workshops two common themes come through consistently.

1. Stress levels are heightened - every group we work with are sharing with us the classic signs of increased stress ranging from problems sleeping/nightmares to reduced concentration and heightened anxiety levels
2. Motivation levels are low – the prolonging of lockdown has hit motivation levels even amongst the most highly motivated self-starting individuals

These two challenges are often interlinked with heightened stress levels impacting upon our emotional state and making it harder for us to concentrate and maintain motivation levels.

What solutions can organisations embed to address these issues?

At Gen Healthy Minds we focus on positive psychology. The essence of positive psychology is that we can all lead happier healthier lives by adopting simple positive daily behaviours.

These behaviours are all grounded in research and are shown to lift our mood. We have been working with apprentices and graduates to put in place some simple positive psychology behaviours. Here are 6 of the behaviours we recommend everyone should consider as they think about their wellbeing and motivation.

1. Be self-aware – check in on yourself every day as to how you are feeling. How energised are you and how do you feel? We use a simple 1-10 scale where 1 is feeling very low and 10 is totally flourishing and wherever you are on this scale how can you take action to make small steps up the scale?
2. Be structured and planned – having goals, be they short term or long term, is motivational and gives us purpose and satisfaction in life
3. Be grateful – practicing gratitude helps us to be more positive individuals and offset worries and negative thoughts. Writing down three good things every day changes the shape of our brains and triggers “happy hormones” such as oxytocin to offset our stress hormones
4. Be healthy – introducing simple daily practices around diet, activity, sleep, and hydration improves our energy levels and ability to deal with challenges when we face them. Simply drinking more water or cutting down sugar levels can boost our mood and resilience
5. Be Mindful – practicing mindfulness (living in the here and now) helps boost our happiness and stimulate “happy hormones” and positive thinking. Adopting daily routines such as mindful breathing or mindful body scanning makes us more aware of how we are feeling.
6. Be connected – having strong connections with others who you can share your feeling and emotions with is very important. A problem shared is a problem halved has never been more relevant as it is in modern society

Are there differences between small and large companies?

Whether you employ 5 people or 5000 the questions you should be asking yourself are the same:

1. Environment - do you provide the environment and the tools for your young people to be able to practice these behaviours each day? Do you have an environment where people can connect and share or are encouraged to check in with themselves?
2. Development and tools - are you supporting apprentices with the development needed to understand their mental health and equip them with the tools to proactively manage it? There are many excellent Apps out there that support wellbeing including our own Gen Healthy Minds App. Theses can provide just in time support or tools to manage your mental health such as mindfulness.
3. Support – do you have sufficient wider support in place such as mentors and mental health first aiders as well as a good occupational health provider where more specialist support is needed?

Why is it so important for organisations to focus on the mental health and wellbeing of employees and what are the benefits?

In our new COVID-19 impacted world we are seeing increased levels of mental ill-health because of the extra stress and anxiety people are facing. If companies do not address this and put in place proactive practices then, at best, they will see productivity fall and at worst a growth in sickness and long-term absence from work.

Employers who neglect to look after the wellbeing of their colleagues are also more likely to see lower employee engagement and higher attrition levels. The opposite is the case where employers genuinely care for their colleagues and put in place proactive support strategies. Here we see higher engagement levels, productivity and loyalty.

How can you measure success?

Communication is key. It is vital to stay in touch with colleagues and check in regularly on how they are feeling. You can do this in numerous ways through buddy systems, short surveys, line manager 1-1s etc but the most important thing is to keep checking in. This is particularly important given how we can no longer see each other in an office environment. Look out for individuals who are living alone in particular where the risk of isolation and loneliness is far greater.

Technology can also support your measurement. Online surveys or apps can be used very effectively to reach colleagues and check-in on them. Our Gen Healthy Minds app provides wellbeing training and support but also asks individuals how they are feeling each time they log in thus building a picture for the employer of the wellbeing of their workforce.

It has always been important to focus on positive mental health but in the current environment it has moved up to number one priority in my opinion. As HR and Early Careers Professionals we can no longer sit back and hope our occupational health colleagues or providers can support us. We must take the bull by the horns and build wellbeing into the heart of the programmes we run.

Mike Thompson
Managing Partner - Gen Healthy Minds and former Head of Early Careers at Barclays
mike@genhealthyminds.co.uk
www.genhealthyminds.co.uk

We have been speaking to clients and candidates across the market and are seeing a number of organisations either halting or substantially reducing, their hiring in the graduate space due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This is an alarming trend. Graduate Programmes are vital for many organisations, as they provide a future generation of talent and not hiring in this space could present longer term challenges. They also have a huge impact on employer brand, especially if they are delivered successfully. They offer a fresh perspective and innovative ideas which, in turn, allows organisations to grow and thrive.   

With this in mind, we have spoken to three Early Careers Specialists to gather their insights into how businesses can address the challenges around delivering Graduate Programmes in the current market.

We have spoken to 2 consultants, Jessica Jones and Samantha Ridgewell (see below) to get a holistic overview of their approach and potential solutions. Additionally, we have a deep focus interview with Kimberley Rowling, Graduate Programme Manager for the BT Group to get insight to what she is driving internally within BT.  
 

Below we get the thoughts of Samantha Ridgewell, Managing Director at Empower Development.

Samantha Ridgewell is a passionate Talent Professional who has built up a strong reputation in the insurance market, helping insurance organisations develop their businesses and people by delivering credible and relevant learning and development programmes, with one key area of focus being Early Careers Programmes.

Samantha has run very successful graduate programmes for her clients since the pandemic hit and quickly identified key areas where she had to make changes and adapt.

Mindset and Attitude

Samantha had to firstly look at changing her attitude towards technology and embrace this going forward.

“Come March I had never run an online course, by April I was running multiple online programmes.”  

“It can feel exposing at first as for many trainers it is outside their comfort zones, but it soon feels natural and enjoyable”.  

Sam embraced Zoom and WebEx and has found these to be great tools when training.  She also highly recommends using a “virtual host” so you can concentrate on delivering the training and less so on the technical issues that arise.

Structure

Structure is key to any Graduate Programme and more so now it’s all online. “Where there is a lot of structure in place the programme had more chance of being successful”. This helps both the Graduates and their Line Managers.  

“Remote working requires a lot more effort from the Line Managers to guide the Graduates and plan their days.” 

So, if you can give them structure around the planning of their days which will help a lot. “What is really needed is experiential learning”. This is very useful when running online programmes - “you can set case studies and hypotheticals and give the grads time to go away and complete these, working independently”. Coming back into “bite sized training sessions”.

Consideration of being inclusive

“We now create all our workbooks as electronic interactive documents as many learners won’t have access to a printer at home.” Sam is now working to design continual learning programmes which will drip feed theory and activities between courses.

Big thank you to Samantha for giving us some great tips on how you can evolve and adapt to continue to deliver your Early Careers Programmes in the current climate.

If you would like more information please drop Sam an email - samantha@empowerdevelopment.co.uk

Kara Feller
Principal Consultant - HR & Talent Management Recruitment
t: +44 (0)20 7422 9035
e: kfeller@mcgregor-boyall.com

Other articles in this series:

• "Early Careers are vital to the future of a business." Click here to hear from Kimberly Rowling, Graduate Programme Manager at BT Group.
• "Delivering a successful Graduate Programme." Click here to hear from Jessica Jones, Director of Human Resources at Jessica Jones Consulting.

We have been speaking to clients and candidates across the market and are seeing a number of organisations either halting or substantially reducing, their hiring in the graduate space due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This is an alarming trend. Graduate Programmes are vital for many organisations, as they provide a future generation of talent and not hiring in this space could present longer term challenges. They also have a huge impact on employer brand, especially if they are delivered successfully. They offer a fresh perspective and innovative ideas which, in turn, allows organisations to grow and thrive.  

With this in mind, we have spoken to three Early Careers Specialists to gather their insights into how businesses can address the challenges around delivering Graduate Programmes in the current market.

We have spoken to 2 consultants, Jessica Jones and Samantha Ridgewell to get a holistic overview of their approach and potential solutions. Additionally, we have a deep focus interview below with Kimberley Rowling, Graduate Programme Manager for the BT Group to get insight to what she is driving internally within BT.  
 

Below we hear from Kimberly Rowling, Graduate Programme Manager at BT Group.

Kimberly is the Graduate Programme Manager for BT Group, with a wealth of experience within talent and development specialising in Early Careers. Kimberley has successfully continued running the Graduate Programmes for BT, and with many organisations putting their graduate programs on hold, it’s great to hear how she has managed to run these programs successfully during the coronavirus restrictions.

Thanks for talking to us Kim. Can you tell us a bit about how you built your career in Talent Management and Early Careers?

Straight after university I joined the recruitment sector and worked for an employment agency, which I loved. I really enjoyed working with a variety of different people and helping them navigate careers and roles. After a few years of progressing in a number of different roles, I decided to join an in-house recruitment team. I joined the BBC’s talent team and quickly realised that HR covered so many different areas, that I really should explore to help me find my passion. So that’s what I set about doing, gaining as much insight and experience across the different HR departments across different industries and sectors as possible. I moved into generalist HR within the retail sector and from there I found a role within the real estate sector where I had the opportunity to work in Learning and Development, which was an incredible and invaluable experience. This is where I found my passion within Early Careers owning to the end to end cycle for Graduate and Apprentice Programmes. 

“At BT, my current role is Pan-BT Graduate Programme Manager. Working for a company that is leading in innovation and technology with around 700 Graduates is awe-inspiring. I get to meet brilliant young people who are passionate, eager and keen to take their first steps in the industry.” 

Also, for me personally my job is so important because it plays a huge part in closing skills gaps, meeting future skills demand and recruiting and developing the future lifeblood of the organisation. 

Early Careers is a particular passion of mine. It is your responsibility to design and implement a best in class experience, creating a Graduate/Apprentice end-to-end programme which meets the need of the individuals as well as the future demands of the business, while also ensuring a diverse future talent pipeline. 

Many organisations have either cancelled or placed their Graduate Programmes on hold due to not finding ways to run the Programmes remotely.  How have you managed this?

Firstly, BT made a bold statement early this year because we knew these were unprecedented times. We contacted every Graduate who had been through the recruitment process and told them that we would honor their contracts. This was really reassuring and supportive to the new cohort coming into the business. 

“Early Careers play a huge role in the future success of our business, so there was never any doubt we would continue with the Programmes.” 

As a technology business we have the tools, technology and platforms to continue to deliver so switching everything we did physically to virtually was the natural solution. We have learned a lot of lessons and will take these with us into next year to ensure the continued success of our Graduate and Apprentice Programmes.

When we started exploring virtual onboarding it became clear we needed to focus on five key experiences the new starters would have:

1.    Logging into a laptop
2.    Sending an email or message
3.    Joining a MS Teams call
4.    Accessing Workplace
5.    Being able to send a text. 

When we agreed those were the five things that were most important when joining an organisation and getting set up, our teams within Technology and HR worked closely together to prioritise them. 

“That’s ultimately what we focused on; the end-users and how we could make their lives as simple and easy as possible.” 

It was all about immersing the new Graduates in the BT culture, and getting them excited about starting their careers with us virtually, and this is something I’ll be taking into next year. Recording welcome talks and having these available online was so helpful to reassure people. Virtual onboardings and inductions can still be interactive and engaging if you get the design and timings right, and ensure there is enough variation with guest speakers, training, and insights into different areas of the business. It was a huge team effort and a great success.

What were the main challenges (if any) you overcame when designing the programme?

The biggest challenge was logistics and the distribution of equipment to all the Graduates. Due to COVID, people had moved around quite a lot and were either living with family members or had moved to a new location, so making sure we could get equipment to them was crucial. Our Digital Experience team did an incredible job to make sure our Graduates had laptops, phones and dedicated technical support to help them get set-up.

Another challenge we had was keeping engagement going, helping them to network and keeping them motivated. However, the adaptability and resilience of our Early Careers Team and the events we hosted remotely in order to encourage a sense of community and belonging is something we are incredibly proud of. 

Did you have to make many changes to your program in light of the coronavirus restrictions?

We had to move some of our development programmes to virtual learning and our induction was also entirely digital. It’s made us think really differently about how we approach this next year. 

Don’t get me wrong, COVID has been a huge disruption to all! As a mother of three children that works full time, I have spent next to no time with my extended family and friends and rarely left the house! But what it has done, is made me approach and look at things very differently, and given me a totally different view of what is possible, virtually. And that’s what I’m focusing on – the positive learnings and reflections that we can continue with year on year. 

In light of all the discussions around Diversity & Inclusion at the moment how have you managed to incorporate D&I into your programme?

At BT, we are determined to build an open, inclusive culture that celebrates and promotes diversity. We are working with organisations such as the Aleto Foundation to attract and engage talent from diverse backgrounds. These initiatives play a vital role in identifying and developing the next generation of leaders from communities and students from diverse backgrounds providing mentoring, coaching and development programmes. 

Earlier this year, BT launched its Ethnicity Rapid Action Plan to help us go further and faster as a business. Our Ethnicity Rapid Action Plan focuses on the four areas where we feel we can make the biggest initial difference:

Accelerating diversity within: We’re creating a new fast-stream for high potential people from ethnic minority backgrounds, all of whom will be personally mentored by a Senior Mentor. We will also have diverse shortlists for every senior management role.

Educating and empowering our people: We’re introducing a new programme of mandatory race awareness training for everyone in BT. It will be immersive, offer guidance, champion diversity and it will support managers to tackle these critical issues.

Leading by example: Every member of our Executive Committee will have a greater understanding of issues faced by ethnic minority communities and is equipped to lead the fight for equality. Each of the Executive Committee has committed to either have an ethnic minority reverse mentor or serve as a non-executive director for a community organisation serving ethnic minorities.

Building transparency: We are addressing the gaps in our own data, encouraging self-declaration of identity, to help us build a rich profile of our workforce. This will underpin the introduction of an annual ethnicity pay audit, backed by action, and a new ethnicity dashboard will enable us to track progress across the colleague lifecycle and set targets for the Senior Leadership Team.

There is a real drive for change, and I think that is representative across all industries and sectors and it feels great to be a part of that driving force. 

Big thank you to Kimberly for giving us some great insight into what BT Group are doing to ensure their Graduate Programme stays on track in these challenging times.

Kara Feller
Principal Consultant - HR & Talent Management Recruitment
t: +44 (0)20 7422 9035
e: kfeller@mcgregor-boyall.com

Other articles in this series:

• "Delivering a successful Graduate Programme." Click here to hear from Jessica Jones, Director of Human Resources at Jessica Jones Consulting.
• "Don't abandon Early Careers - evolve and adapt!" Click here to hear from Samantha Ridgewell, Managing Director at Empower Development.

We have been speaking to clients and candidates across the market and are seeing a number of organisations either halting or substantially reducing, their hiring in the graduate space due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This is an alarming trend. Graduate Programmes are vital for many organisations, as they provide a future generation of talent and not hiring in this space could present longer term challenges. They also have a huge impact on employer brand, especially if they are delivered successfully. They offer a fresh perspective and innovative ideas which, in turn, allows organisations to grow and thrive. 

With this in mind, we have spoken to three Early Careers Specialists to gather their insights into how businesses can address the challenges around delivering Graduate Programmes in the current market.

We have spoken to 2 consultants, Jessica Jones (see below) and Samantha Ridgewell to get a holistic overview of their approach and potential solutions. Additionally, we have a deep focus interview with Kimberley Rowling, Graduate Programme Manager for the BT Group to get insight to what she is driving internally within BT.  
 

Below we hear from Jessica Jones, Director of Human Resources at Jessica Jones Consulting

Jessica is seasoned HR Professional with experience across the investment banking industry, retail finance, technology and pharma. She has 20 years’ experience focusing on developing and engaging Talent, including Early Careers. She is genuinely passionate about talent, and Early Careers in particular.

She believes that in the last 3+ years there has been a strong need to move online with graduate engagement initiatives, programme delivery and training alike. The Coronavirus pandemic has expedited this shift, meaning some organisations have been on the back foot with technology and the necessary internal skills to deliver programmes in this way.

Jessica believes there are some key elements that will ensure success in delivering a Graduate Programme in the current market:

Leadership

The organisation will need leadership that embraces remote training. Leaders must believe in the product and see it as an opportunity to drive the talent agenda in an innovative way. 

“Successful grad programs present a strong and consistent brand message, irrespective of market conditions”.

Larger organisations will be able to utilise in house Talent Teams, but if you are smaller there are many external providers and consultants that will be able to design and deliver remote programs, upskill internal teams and support organisations in making this shift.

Content

Jessica believes that the content of the Graduate Programme doesn’t necessarily have to change dramatically but as there will be a shift to online, organisations will need to upskill their Talent Managers or Graduate Program Managers to deliver online training in an engaging way.

“The delivery of the training will need to be adapted to reflect your audience. Short sharp content training for Graduates will be key to some organisations especially when looking at the younger tech savvy generation.” 

This generation is high touch and high tech, meaning organisations need to remember the personal touch and how they support their new hires in building relationships and strong networks.

Data

“Organisations will need data to be able to adjust and pivot in the current market.”

Data will provide organisations with information on their new Graduates, including their mindset, motivations and engagement levels. This will ensure you can tailor your Graduate Programmes and ensure success in a remote environment.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion is very topical right now. So should organisations refocus on this for their Graduate Programmes after the recruitment piece? 

“Inclusion is vital for any organisation, and strong inclusion methodologies will support diversity. But organisations shouldn’t be complacent. This is topical and we are all still learning. You will need to have a strong handle on your data to look at interventions to put into play”.  

Jessica advised that the data should stem from the beginning of the process from recruitment, onboarding through to 30 – 60-90-day plans.

“If you take it back to the recruitment and assessment processes these should identify the motivations and needs of the graduates so you can tailor the training and ensure all employees are engaged and feel included”.

Big thank you to Jessica for sharing her hints and tips for making your Graduate Programme a success in a virtual world.

Kara Feller
Principal Consultant - HR & Talent Management Recruitment
t: +44 (0)20 7422 9035
e: kfeller@mcgregor-boyall.com

Other articles in this series:

• "Early Careers are vital to the future of a business". Click here to hear from Kimberly Rowling, Graduate Programme Manager at BT Group.
• "Don't abandon Early Careers - evolve and adapt!" Click here to hear from Samantha Ridgewell, Managing Director at Empower Development.

In light of the Covid-19 Pandemic we have seen a significant dip in the number of vacancies both in the UK and globally. Multiple businesses are downsizing and restructuring due to poor market performance across a range of sectors.  With talent acquisition being one of the biggest costs to business, we have seen immediate hiring freezes, rapid reduction of talent acquisition teams and a halt in the use of third parties except where absolutely critical. Whilst this is the case across most sectors, even in areas that have been less impacted revenue wise, there also caution around hiring decisions.

There will always be a need to hire fresh talent

Whilst these actions have helped to reduce business costs in the short term, in the long-term businesses will need to start scaling up again and hiring the talent needed.  However, they will no longer have the effective resource to do this! Despite the downturn there will always be the need to hire fresh talent. 

So how are organisations navigating their way through talent acquisition in the current market?  Below we examine some of the challenge’s businesses are facing.

Challenge 1: When/where/who/what to hire

Understandably firms are being cautious when hiring new talent. They are waiting for market stability prior to committing. However, it is critical to review the opportunity costs to delaying recruitment. This can lead to inertia for a business, not having the right people in the right roles to take the business forward, especially in these tough times.

The challenge for HR is knowing at which point the cost of not hiring talent becomes detrimental to the business while also ensuring that the positions they want to hire are the right roles/ levels/ technical capabilities that the business needs to succeed.

Successful businesses are looking to their HR teams to work with their leaders to identify and define talent needs effectively by;

• using strategic workforce planning and talent development programmes to ensure they are hiring the right talent externally;
• utilising the capability of existing internal talent.

This has the benefit of increasing both engagement and productivity of existing employees with expanded international career prospects, and additionally reduces costs by not always having to seek the talent externally. 

Challenge 2: The virtual hiring process

How do you hire successfully when you can’t physically meet face to face? When lockdown first hit, some firms delayed hiring processes as they wanted to physically meet individuals prior to making final decisions. This has slowed down and even halted hiring processes and decisions resulting in firms losing out on critical talent.

Other companies quickly embraced virtual technologies such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet to drive remote interviewing processes. They have found that this has led to a leaner, faster and more effective system. Candidates and clients alike have had greater accessibility and availability without the constraints arising from physical face to face interviews.

As time has progressed the comfort level of candidates accepting a role where they have not necessarily seen the office environment has also increased. 

In the most effective organisations, HR has been instrumental in designing ways of sharing the company culture, ethos and values through virtual means and communicating these effectively to candidates. This has ensured consistent approaches and messages throughout the interview process. A crucial aspect has been to select interviewers who are best placed to promote the organisation and engage candidates remotely. This has been achieved through effective training and support for these interviewers.

Some organisations have been less effective in the virtual hiring process due to lack of infrastructure, poor communication and unskilled interviewers which has resulted in disjointed processes, delayed start dates for candidates as well as candidates refusing roles. HR is critical in putting in the measures to overcome these shortcomings.

Success in the virtual hiring space has seen candidates who have gone through a complete remote hiring and onboarding process feel excited and part of the organisation despite the lack of physical contact. There have been multiple social media posts from candidates highlighting this and praising the communication they have had with the new company onboarding them.

Challenge 3: Ensuring you are accessing the best talent in a market flooded with candidates

There are a greater number of candidates available in the market than we have seen for a very long time. Demand for jobs is high, and in turn candidate applications per role has increased dramatically.  For example, HR Business Partner roles are typically attracting up to 1000 applications. This makes the hiring process incredibly time consuming, especially where Talent Acquisition Teams have been downsized.  The onus on filtering is falling on broader HR Teams and Line Managers who sometimes, as stated previously, require requiring support and training.

Those organisation with a high level of resources have been extremely fortunate to have use of AI technology which supports them with their screening processes to filter down applications.  However, they must use this with caution and still need to put measures in place to ensure AI is being used in the right way.  AI is only as good as the data and filtering mechanisms being employed. Criteria can change over time and if not managed correctly candidates could be deselected based on outdated approaches. A specific issue raised in the use of AI has been around the lack of reference to Diversity & Inclusion with diverse candidates sometimes being deselected through the use of AI models working to more traditional parameters.

The other area to be mindful of is whilst AI can save time and automate part of the process, human interaction also needs to be a visible part of the process.  We are all human and candidates can become frustrated and disengaged without some form of human interaction. Changing roles can be a life-changing decision.  Little to no human interaction during each stage of the process can have a very negative impact on candidates’ perceptions of an organisation.

HR is integral to ensuring automation and the human element of the process are well-balanced.

Some organisations do not have the resources to utilise AI and other automated tools to assist the recruitment processes.  The onus falls to HR Teams and Line Managers to filter thorough huge numbers of applications which is not only time consuming but detracts from other key responsibilities. Organisations need to ensure they have enough capability in talent acquisition to manage the high volumes of applications efficiently and effectively to get the right candidates.  Alternatively, the use of a third-party search firms / agencies for support could be critical.

None of the above addresses the fact that selection can only be attained from candidates who have applied to the organisation.  It does not allow access to the passive market or those who may not have seen the role advertised.  This again is where third-party agencies and in-house teams have a critical part to play in ensuring quality candidates are made available in a timely manner.

Challenge 4: Ensuring you are engaging with candidates appropriately in the hiring process

Often the first instinct in a downturn is for organisations to feel in a position of power when hiring. We know there is a large volume of candidates available, so they should be able to acquire talent cheaply and have their pick of candidates for roles, ignoring offering the candidate a positive experience, right?

WRONG! This is not the best practice any organisation should adopt. It may seem easy to cut corners in the hiring process, be slow in decision making, changing roles and prevaricating about candidates mid-way through the process just because there are lots of other options available.  However, this will impact on the brand, engagement and reputation of the organisation in the longer term. We must remember the market won’t remain as it is today. Candidates who have a poor experience will be deterred in the future. Even in these challenging times the market is highly competitive for sought after skills and experience and candidates who are of the highest calibre. 

Organisations who are taking this viewpoint are leaving the market with a poor impression of their brand, leading to attraction and retention issues in the future.

Those who are successful in this space will ensure that the candidate experience is positive whether they are successful or unsuccessful in the process.  HR is instrumental in defining touch points in the talent acquisition process to make the experience as positive as possible.

In conclusion, the current market has thrown up challenges on how businesses approach their talent acquisition strategy.  Smart and adaptable organisations have found ways to overcome these challenges by effectively defining their hiring needs and streamlining their processes.  The way in which talent acquisition is approached has changed. The most successful organisations have adapted well by identifying potential pitfalls and how they can be overcome or avoided using some of the HR strategies identified in this article.

Nina Adair
Practice Head - HR & Talent Management Recruitment 
t: +44 (0)20 7422 9078 | e: NAdair@mcgregor-boyall.com

The predicted and already felt economic ramifications of the Coronavirus pandemic are beginning to reshape businesses across the globe. Many leaders will be working hard to understand how best to navigate their organisations through these extremely challenging times. As businesses seek to do this Organisation Design and Development Specialists will become increasingly in demand. It is their critical skills that can effectively support businesses through successful change.  

Nina Adair, McGregor Boyall interviews Nicholas Williams a highly experienced HR professional within the OD&D space to gain some insights on how it can be used to shape the future of business.

Thanks for taking the time do this, Nick. Could you give us some insight into your background?

As a Strategic HR & OD&D Specialist I’ve had an exciting and varied career to date, serving in people leadership and transformational office roles across a variety of industries dealing with complex and fast paced change. In my role it’s critical that I invest my time in building relationships across Business Units and Corporate Boards and really get deep into understanding the organisational and corporate vision, needs and wants within the operational environment. I then use this assessment to design intervention, based on current state versus future state and how organisations can achieve financial and non-financial benefits. This is usually in and amongst the rapid pace of change that is often required, and on occasions a lack of clarity any given change is going to have once implemented!

My role in OD&D provides me with a unique opportunity to work closely with Leadership Teams, Operational Delivery Teams and Trade Unions to negotiate and consult. I’ve truly had the privilege to work on some of the most exciting and impactful programmes alongside great people. OD&D for me, is an important capability that works closely with HR colleagues, together developing a powerful transformational movement. Building the OD&D capability for the future will add value to any organisation. 

So, what exactly is Organisation Design (OD)?

You may have heard of the term in different forms but there are lots of different definitions of ‘OD’ and whether it sits within, alongside or away from HR functions. Different businesses and industries define it in their own way to support their organisational aims but in short, it uses behavioural science and methodologies with the aim to help employees function better within their organisational context. 

OD is sometimes confused with being a capability that simply designs an organisational structure with spans of control and reporting lines. However, my aim is to help leaders understand the role of OD&D and its core concept that incorporates human centred thinking to support transformational change of any scale within an organisation, with a view to successful adoption first time! 

Its aim is to create an exceptional employee experience which will in turn help with attraction, retention and engagement, which will in turn prove to help the business grow in the market. The purpose and vision (or North Star as I like to call it!) may differ depending on the organisation but, investing in the right OD&D capability will provide the tools, methodologies and experience to unlock and improve your current organisational challenges.

What does that look like in practice?

·      Working with Executive Boards and Functional Teams to build an aligned consensus on proposed changes across the business, supporting a single transparent narrative that continuously ensures buy-in from stakeholders. Of course, not everyone will be convinced with proposed changes and may have some excellent ideas to share; mechanisms and techniques to facilitate open dialogue is extremely valuable.

·      Reviewing the current operating model, vision and strategy of an organisation and utilising experience of the latest global future of work trends to analyse potential changes in skill requirements, reporting lines, governance structures, process catalogues and improved ways of working to support a business in achieving operational effectiveness and resolve ongoing and systemic pain points.

·      Working with other centres of excellence across HR to take a detailed holistic view on key areas including attraction, recruitment and performance management alongside ongoing learning and development opportunities in an inclusive by design workplace. Creating an environment where staff wellbeing and experience supports the overall organisational effort to deliver in the market.

·      And finally, researching and analysing key data (quantitative and qualitative) to design interventions alongside a future state target operating model and define the buckets of activity and skills required across any transformational portfolio. Assessing the impact of any change and engaging regularly with key stakeholders to set up and run the right business change initiatives, identifying your early adopters and areas of resistance to ensure you focus your budgets and time in the areas that will make impact and identifying your quick wins.

What part will OD&D play in the new post-Covid-19 world?

I think all sectors and industries will be exploring the best way to create a culture of flexible and agile working to support their own current regional and global ways of working, thinking through methods to re-assess planned transformational activity. How they’d execute future emergent changes where flux transformation will most likely be necessary to adapt to a different set of consumer and supplier behaviours, supply chain requirements, and employee expectations. 

Companies will be looking to review their future strategies to support the trust in their brands, HR policies, global mobility, travel, pay and conditions and many more internal mechanisms and relationships across boundaries.

The use of technology and data to make value adding and analytical decisions will become increasingly important as well as ensuring the right infrastructure to enable remote working and an approach that provides an agile workforce based on the needs and demands across the year. Attracting, developing and retaining the right talent in the right roles within an efficient organisational structure and a range of operational processes to increase effectiveness has never been as important as it is now.

Organisational Design and Development will be a critical functional area working in partnership with HR and other key corporate services, building relationships with teams and leaders to enable, execute and implement change programmes consistently visioning the future and building an iterative roadmap. 

Building trust and understanding the people in your workforce has never been as important as it is today to support them in delivering in a safe and secure environment, where the vision and value proposition is clear and the systems in place are robust to deal with the post Covid-19 world and OD&D will play a key role in enabling and supporting organisations to achieve this.

If you a seeking support around OD&D, McGregor Boyall works with a number of experts in this space who can help to support your business needs during this time – please get in touch if you would like to discuss further.

Nina Adair 

Practice Head - HR & Talent Management Recruitment 

T: +44 (0)20 7422 9078

E: NAdair@mcgregor-boyall.com

Since the UK went into Lockdown over three weeks ago, I’ve had a multitude of conversations with senior HR Professionals about the challenges they are currently facing.

They’ve told me that Covid-19 is taking over every aspect of their working day, and they are coming up against things that they have never experienced before. This has been and continues to be incredibly overwhelming for both the HR function and the broader organisations they support. Not knowing what to do, where to start and what the future may hold can have a hugely negative effect on productivity. Employees need reassurance and support more than ever in these unnerving times, much of which is driven by HR.

HR is having to deal with changes in employment conditions, policy and navigating the government schemes around furloughing staff, and those are all just the considerations around current organisational state. When they get the head space to think about the future state, they have to consider whether they currently have the talent needed for the organisation to move forward. One of the biggest challenges here has been around how to hire in this new remote/virtual environment. Whilst this might be a challenge it is still possible to do, and smart forward-thinking organisations are finding ways to successfully achieve this. To help make this challenge easier for organisations I thought I would share some tips on how to successfully hire critical talent remotely.

Consistency in the Recruitment Process

Talent Management and Talent Acquisition specialists must ensure they have robust assessment processes for interviews.

• This will need to include clear agreements on who is to be involved in the hiring process.

• Ensuring that those involved in interviewing have a clear understanding of the capability and skills required for the role as well as an understanding of core business values.

• Ensuring the interviewers have a consistent assessment/questioning technique that can assess the candidate. The Talent Acquisition team should provide training around this where required.

• Ensure that anyone involved in the hiring process has the technology to support virtual interviewing. Connectivity might be an issue for some individuals, meaning they cannot be interviewed via video therefore other formats like telephone should be used in these cases.

Lower the Risk

Some organisations are reluctant to move to an offer stage without having met the candidate in person as they feel that there are more risks associated with this; from how to onboard effectively, how to conduct checks and generally how to embed a new starter in the organisation. But there are things that agile companies are putting in place to stop this from halting hiring, such as:

• Extended probation periods – Some organisations will be implementing a longer probation period to lessen risk on hiring virtually and mitigate against what could be an extended period to get new employees up to speed.

• Remote on-boarding – I have spoken to numerous clients who are onboarding remotely. They are posting out laptops and offering online inductions utilising Zoom or Microsoft Teams to run the programs. Clients are also arranging virtual welcome drinks/lunches etc. The current feedback from candidates on their experience of this has been very impressive and this has made them feel very welcomed.

• Effective communication – This is critical for both existing employees and new potential hires. The remote environment can be very isolating, and it can be easy to drift away from undertaking objectives, so it is critical to have both formal and informal communication check-ins on a regular basis. This is to ensure engagement and productivity are kept high as well as promoting a positive mind-set.

• Compliance/employment checks - It is extremely important when hiring to still ensure the relevant employment checks are in place. It’s not something you can get away with not doing, some organisations including our own are set-up to be able to conduct the checks remotely, but with adaptations to the sighting of original documentation being embedded as a solution.

• Delayed start dates – If the above solutions still do not dispel concerns, some organisations are appointing candidates with a delayed start date. This is a solution that can work effectively and ensure that you are in a position to hit the ground running when the world starts to return to normal. However, if you are doing this it is critical to build in touch points with the candidates in the interim period to ensure they remain engaged.

Let’s not forget the Interim Candidate!

If the need is urgent but the sign-off for the permanent hire is too challenging, there is always the option of hiring interim expertise to support your needs. The advantage of this is that you are hiring experienced individuals who are able to hit the ground running, are able to work autonomously and are well equipped to work remotely.

If you are at all unsure of how to tackle the challenges outlined above and want to ensure you successfully hire top talent remotely during this pandemic and beyond, please get in touch to discuss how McGregor Boyall can be of help.

Our HR & Talent Management Market Insights Report & Salary Guide 2020 provides the latest insights on the market collated by our HR & Talent Management Recruitment Team, and from data collected from surveying our clients and candidates. 

Talent / HR to clear up the mess – yet again…

In April 2020 new legislation (IR35/off-payroll) is coming into effect in the private sector that will change the face of flexible resourcing in the UK.  In fact, it already has.  Some organisations, mainly very large ones, have already implemented operational decisions in advance of its arrival.

At this point I must own up to having skin in this particular game.  I am the CEO of a recruitment/resourcing firm whose business model is partly based on supplying contractors, including a large number of IT contractors, to large private sector organisations.  So please feel free to assume that I’m biased.

The new legislation will have a dramatically disruptive effect on how my firm will conduct business in the future.  But that’s our problem – and we’re dealing with it. What interests – and intrigues - me mostly is how organisations are dealing with it – or not.

I am not thinking simply about short - to medium - term operational issues, although these are important.  Yes, in the short term, its effects will be operationally disruptive.  But organisations will manage – or at least muddle through – these.  The bigger question is whether HMRC’s grab for more tax revenue represents, totally inadvertently, a further milestone on a journey that is reshaping our view of the nature of work in society, let alone in the economy.

What has bemused – and occasionally amused – me in our preparations is how much contractors – especially IT contractors - are resented at an institutional level.  Broadly speaking the reaction has been, “they’re bloody well paid – and should have been paying tax anyway”.  In corporate UK, contractor sympathisers as a species are endangered and possibly extinct.

This view is remarkable because it positions contractors on a very distant and cold planet in the new universe of flexible working.  Inhabitants of its other planets are warmed by more benign opinions: “gig” workers are normally viewed differently, and more sympathetically.  Perhaps it is because they are often depicted as the pioneers of a future world of work that is intellectually creative and, ironically, technology rich.  But at what point, if ever, will unreliable freelance plumbers join hands with ubertalented (pun intended) web designers to march together towards a working paradise? And turning to those on another planet dangerously close to the sun of flexibility, do many people approve morally or emotionally of zero-hour contracts?

These are clearly big questions that transcend strictly operational issues.  But do they?  During preparations for the forthcoming legislation, I have been surprised, sometimes shocked, by the emotional current powering some organisations approach to it.  Some planned responses have been closer to fevered cull than rational, surgical intervention.  Quite literally, the phrase “get rid of the lot” has recurred.  It will never be easy to manage a work-universe which is populated, it would appear, by pampered IT contractors, zero-hour victims and fulfilled, flexible freedom-fighters.  We appeared to have entered the universe of Star Wars, not workforce planning.

But manage it, we must.  But are we doing so?  What is continuing to astonish me about the actions of large and presumably sophisticated, organisations, is just how tactical, rather than strategic, they could turn out to be.  An increasing number of organisations are choosing to cease engaging altogether with personal service companies (aka limited company contractors).  That may reflect a desire to pre-empt any accusation of making a “blanket determination” (it’s worth googling that phrase).  But by any definition it is mass culling.  But what is as worrying is who may have made these decisions.  Our conversations with various organisations, from medium through to large, has frequently revealed that line managers and talent professionals have not even been in the room – as opposed to finance, legal and procurement.

Once again, I must declare that I cannot be disinterested.  But given how many key systems (financial, infrastructural and industrial) are currently being developed, enhanced or supported by an interim workforce with specialist knowledge, the possibility that a resource cull morphs into an essential skills cull cannot be lightly discounted. 

My overall sense is that (apart from HMRC’s self-confessed “show me the money” motivator) many of the reactions to IR35 have, from C suite down, been emotional and instinctive as much as rational.  Like much that is happening – de-globalisation, Brexit, general election etc, positions being taken are, to use a fashionable adjective, tribal.  They are founded on a sense of identity and disputed entitlement rather than cool-headed risk - and cost-analysis – even at the highest level of organisations.  This is anecdotally confirmed by discussions with smaller organisations for whom the specific, critical importance of individual contractors is more easily identifiable.  Such firms, often without the significant infrastructural support (HR, legal etc) are not sharpening their knives for a cull – they are forensically assessing the impact on their firm.

This brings me back to the title of this piece. Which part of an organisation is going to have to clear up the mess after the abrupt, major disruption of a flexible marketplace that comprises tens of thousands of highly skilled workers?  Here’s a clue.  It begins with a “T”.

And the final question I will ask is whether things would have been done differently if Talent had been in the room from the start when key strategic decisions were being taken? No prizes for guessing right.

Laurie Boyall is McGregor Boyall’s Founder and Group CEO.

Attracting Top HR Talent into the Third Sector

The “third sector” is a broad term for organisations belonging neither to the public sector (i.e., the state) nor to the private sector (profit-making private enterprise). You may have heard other terms used to describe these organisations such as the voluntary sector, non-governmental organisations or non-profit organisations.

I’ve always had a strong passion for recruiting into the third sector.  My clients offer rewarding and socially engaging places to work.  It’s a breath of fresh air to discuss with prospective candidates.  At this point it’s an “easy sell”.

It’s not until you start talking about salary and bonuses that you can start to squirm in your seat, hoping against hope that the candidate is looking to move AND take a pay cut!

However, those times are changing….and if the Third can be a little savvier, and change their mindset on three key areas, they will be able to ensure they can attract top HR talent to their sector.

1. Flexible Working

There are a great number of candidates on the market who are looking for more for than just a salary.  Many candidates are wanting to have discussions around agile or flexible working arrangements, and many are happy to take a small drop in their pay or move for the same money if they can work from a few days from home, work on a part time basis or have a flexible working arrangement that allows alternative start and finish times.

2. Diversify your Talent Pool

Everyone is talking about diversifying their workforce, and one of the simplest ways to do this is to focus on candidates from OUTSIDE the sector.  You will be both widening your market for top HR talent that you hadn’t tapped into before and you will start to bring in a more diversified talent group.  One that will have new ideas for the sector, may offer more commercial or different solutions and perhaps give you a more diversified culture and workforce.

I know its less risk to hire a HR Business Partner or Manager that understands the sector BUT let’s face it - if we do our due diligence on the candidates, run a tailored and comprehensive interview process and ensure we assess the relevant skills and experience then we will mitigate that risk significantly.

3. Millennials and Graduates

We need to be looking at Millennials or Graduates.  When meeting and interviewing graduates looking to kick start their HR career, I find they are significantly more attracted to aligning with charitable work or doing their piece for society and are much less motivated by money.  They want to work for “the cause” and for an organisation that understands what motivates them.  They want to work for agile business’ that offer perks such as company days out, breakfast / lunches, break-out areas and who want to listen to their thoughts and allow them to implement new ideas or projects.

We can’t offer HR Manager roles to graduates but we can be open minded about hiring for HR roles that require less experience. 

By focusing on attributes of the candidate and investing in onboarding and training a graduate you will see a higher level of engagement and longevity in your HR Team.

Solutions:

• Focus on offering a complete package that includes flexible and agile working as standard. The vast majority of recent HR hires we have done have included some form of discussion around flexible or agile working at offer stage.
• Look outside the sector – focus more on the commercial attributes that employees from the public and private sector can bring.
• Hire millennials. Hire graduates. They are less attracted by salary and more attracted to aligning with charitable work or doing their bit for society.

About Kara Feller:

I’m an experienced Recruitment Consultant specialising in attracting top HR talent for the third sector. I have a strong network of HR Professionals who can offer "value add", commercial HR solutions.

I am always looking at how my clients can attract and engage top HR talent and can offer solutions around the challenges of lower salaries, attracting commercial experience and innovation and engagement through to retention.

Get in touch - +44 (0)20 7422 9035 / kfeller@mcgregor-boyall.com 

Heatwaves cause workers to glaze

After a few false starts it seems that summer has finally arrived. Spirits are lifted when the sun is shining and across the cities the few small patches of grass, open air lidos and rooftop bars can become so crowded they resemble a mosh pit at a concert, with people battling for the prime spots.

However, the sunny weather can bring additional challenges for businesses, and HR Teams in particular. A rise in absenteeism during the summer months is common which can impact productivity and put additional pressure on those who do make it to the office. Holiday season is now in full swing, and with parts of Europe effectively closing down for a month whilst people take time off, keeping people motivated when offices are emptier becomes more challenging.

“A rise in absenteeism during the summer months is a

common problem facing HR Teams”

Transport networks come under increased pressure in the hot weather with commuters facing delays and cancellations as networks struggle to cope with the heat. The risk of train lines buckling in the soaring temperatures result in speed restrictions and reduced services, with the knock-on effect being further overcrowding and increased risk of people being taken ill in sauna like conditions. Those with trains lucky enough to have air conditioning at least have a small respite but there are still trains, tubes and buses without air conditioning resulting in many people arriving at work hot, sweaty and irritable – hardly a state conducive with a productive working day!

FOMO (Fear of missing out) kicks in as people want to enjoy the weather – witness the packed pubs and restaurants at lunchtimes and after work as people surge to make the most of the soaring temperatures.  People are less inclined to work extra hours which can impact productivity.

“Uncomfortable working environments can sap energy and

mean staff cannot work effectively”

Finally, the UK is not a country geared up for extreme temperatures. Many offices are housed in old buildings that are either not equipped with proper air conditioning or have ineffective cooling systems resulting in uncomfortable working environments that sap energy and mean staff cannot work effectively.

Fortunately, the more forward-thinking organisations can take simple steps to alleviate some of these challenges, with HR driving these initiatives to ensure a retained and engaged workforce.

“Flexible and agile working practices can ensure your

workforce remains motivated and productive”

Strategies such as flexible start / finish times to allow employees to avoid peak travel times or agile / remote working options where people can avoid the hellish commute altogether can help to minimise the impact on productivity and ensure your workforce remains motivated. Some sectors have even introduced a shorter working week during the summer months, allowing workers to finish around 3pm on Friday. There is growing evidence to show such actions can improve productivity as people work harder to finish their tasks so they can leave on time and start their weekend early.

Relaxing the dress code for the more corporate environments to allow men to wear smart shorts rather suits on the hottest days will lead to a more comfortable and productive work force - although boob tubes and short shorts are obviously still not appropriate!

Clearly nothing will be able to completely remove the impact of soaring temperatures but at least the above can go some way to reducing the misery. While none of the above is rocket science, it is amazing how many companies are still reluctant to offer more flexible or agile working options, all the while wondering why staff engagement is low. Those in the know are the ones that grow!

Nina Adair

Practice Head - HR & Talent Management

Our HR & Talent Management Market Insights Report & Salary Guide 2019 provides the latest insights on the market collated by our HR & Talent Management Recruitment Team, and from data collected from surveying our clients and candidates. 

Why Diversity in the Workforce Matters

It’s not just a fad – a diverse and inclusive workforce leads to better business performance, and should be driven by HR.

But does diversity matter? Along with the gender pay gap, it’s a topic that comes up again and again, but is it just a vanity parade for HR? In reality, a diverse workforce of different genders, ages, identities, ethnicities and world views can have a direct impact of the success of your company.

It’s the Law

Let’s start with the legal bit. UK legislation forbids companies from discriminating against people by age, disability, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and more. Aside from being morally the right thing to do, if your company is found guilty of discrimination in the workplace, you could face some hefty fines and toxic PR.

Diversity Pays

It’s not just a fluffy ideal so your company can appear politically correct – there’s a direct correlation between diversity and financial performance.

A 2018 study by McKinsey found that the most ethnically and culturally diverse companies are 33% more likely to perform above the national average than those who aren’t. For companies who have a mix of genders, it’s 21%.

More Attractive to Top Talent

Companies who are genuinely committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce are more attractive to potential recruits. A study by Glassdoor found that 59% of hiring managers stated a lack of investment in D&I as a barrier to attracting the very best hires, and 20% said it’s among the most significant elements in their decision to join a new organisation.

More Productive

Once your new recruits are through the door, an inclusive atmosphere will ensure they perform to their full potential. By valuing everyone as an individual you’ll create an environment where all staff feel comfortable, valued and better able to give their all. Presenteeism is already a big issue for UK businesses, costing the economy billions every year, so any step to reduce the effects will be highly beneficial.

More Innovative

Companies with diverse workforces are better at problem-solving and are also more innovative. A 2017 study published in the Harvard Business Review found that cognitively diverse teams solve problems faster than teams of cognitively similar people. A diversity of thoughts, ideas and ways of working means problems can be tackled from different angles.

How can HR Help?

As HR professionals, the power is in your hands to shape D&I in your company. The first step is, simply, to make it a priority. Creating and publicising a strategy that focuses on tackling short term issues, but with long term goals in mind, will demonstrate how much D&I is valued.

Make sure you bring the whole company with you. Surveying employees for their views will ensure you get an accurate reflection on the situation at your business, and give you a benchmark to record future results against. Set up a taskforce (which should itself be diverse, obviously) will drive the changes forward and ensure all departments within the business are heard. IBM did exactly this and tripled its number of female executives, as well as doubling the number of minority executives.

But it’s not a short-term fix. PwC started its journey to diversity in 2004, when just 11% of its partners were female. By focusing on diversity, establishing deep dive D&I analysis to inform purposeful governance and strategies, 26% of partners are now female, as are 44% of the Global Leadership Team. To implement this across a large and diverse group of companies, they ask member firms to adopt a ‘2+1’ approach – focus on the two common issues of ‘gender’ and ‘valuing’ differences, plus at least one further dimension of diversity that is important locally.

Diversity is so much more than a box-ticking exercise or legal obligation – it’s a must for all modern businesses to compete in a diverse world, vital to their long-term future and that of the economy as a whole. By embracing diversity and inclusion, you’ll develop a company culture that gives your employees, and therefore your business, the greatest chance of success.

Our England Regions Salary Guide 2019 provides the latest salary data collated by our specialist Recruitment Teams covering:

• Change & Transformation
• Compliance
• Cyber Security
• Data & Analytics
• Digital
• Finance & Audit
• Financial Crime
• HR & Talent Management
• Legal
• Marketing
• Risk
• Senior Technology & Change
• Technology

Skills Gaps and the Talent Within

The War for Talent. The War for Skills. Candidate driven market. Terms that HR Professionals no doubt hear daily. Attracting, retaining and developing talent for your business is a constant challenge for HR Teams.

Our latest Market Insights report highlights Resourcing / Talent Management and Talent Acquisition as being skills that will continue to be in high demand in 2019, particularly as 70% of organisations expect to see skills shortages as a result of the UK leaving the EU. As skills gaps become ever more apparent, we are seeing a growing trend for businesses focusing their attentions on enhancing the skillset of their current staff to ensure they continue to scale and grow at an efficient pace.

Because of this we are witnessing increased demand for Talent Management and Learning specialists, as well as increasingly complex and commercial roles with broader accountability and responsibility. However, there is an unwillingness from clients to compromise when it comes to technical skills in an increasingly candidate led market, meaning talent requisitions are remaining open for longer periods or not being filled at all.

70% of HR Candidates we surveyed stated they are unsatisfied with their current salary and 62% of candidates indicated they are likely or very likely to change jobs in the next 12 months. So, what can HR do to attract those candidates looking for a move, as well as retain their existing talent?

Company Culture

61% of candidates we surveyed stated that company culture was one of the most important factors when considering a new role, and 74% stated that the culture was one of the things they valued most in their current organisation. Company culture can be hard to define but it’s important to do so to ensure you attract the right talent fit for your business. 47% of employers cited company culture as one of their biggest talent attraction / retention challenges over the next 12 months. Make use of online channels such as social media and dedicated careers sites to showcase your company culture to potential hires and involve existing employees in the process.

Flexible Working

It comes up again and again, yet many companies are still not willing to offer their staff the option to work flexibly. 44% of candidates we surveyed cited flexible working opportunities as one of the most important factors when considering a new role, and 64% stated that it was one of the things they valued most about their current organisation. There is extensive research to show the benefits of offering flexible working – better work life balance / employees feel trusted and empowered / productivity increases / costs can be reduced by requiring smaller office spaces with more people working from home – yet many businesses seem reluctant to offer it, and ultimately, they will begin to lose out on top talent in the market.

Career Progression / Expanding Skill Set

Does your business offer a structured career path? Candidates coming into your business want to know what their long-term career could look like with your organisation. Attracting new talent to your company is important for bringing innovation and new energy into the business. However, investing in your current employees is just as important, if not more so. Increasing efforts to expand and develop the skills of your existing talent and providing them with long-term career progression can result in increased employee satisfaction, engagement and retention across your organisation.

Companies that can adapt and drive these strengths within their organisation will see themselves increasingly able to attract and retain top talent. But whilst these seem like simple solutions, the reality of being able to do all the above well is challenging for the HR functions yet critical to maintaining competitive advantage.

You can download a full copy of our 2019 Market Insights and Salary Guide here.

Uncertainty, Buoyancy and More Uncertainty!

The end of 2016 saw a marked slow-down in demand for HR Roles. Hesitancy in the market in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote meant caution around hiring for roles, and a tentativeness around future business strategy. As we headed into 2017 and the initial shock of the vote eased, it became very much “business as usual” for companies and 2017 looked set to be a buoyant year for HR hiring. This was driven by an increase in requirements for more complex roles as businesses tried to ready themselves for the post-Brexit market, and ensure that they were in the best shape to deal with the macro-economic factors that could severely impact business success for the unprepared.

Notable skills in demand within HR were:

• HR Change and Transformation: Businesses have been bringing in specialists with these skills to realign structures and maximise productivity through offshoring/outsourcing, as well as defining new frameworks and embedding processes to ensure businesses operate effectively. Many firms are also designing contingency plans and structures to ensure their business is prepared for every potential outcome of Brexit, with some organisations pre-emptively relocating large sections of their workforce to other European locations.  
• HR Project Managers and HR Systems Implementation Specialists: Many organisations have embedded new HR systems and technology to support core basic activities and combine various databases and systems. This has enabled them to successfully use data analytics to facilitate effective decision making and remove the need for administrative roles. We have also seen a sharp increase in demand for individuals with experience of embedding these new systems effectively and managing the end-to-end process in-house.
• Talent Management and Leadership Development: Roles in this space are viewed as increasingly pivotal to an organisation’s success. Looking at existing talent, building succession plans and developing capabilities to drive engagement and behavioural change is key to ensuring organisational goals are achieved. Skilled individuals within this space were in high demand in 2017.
• Apprenticeship Recruitment/Programme Management: A new role within the HR space, demand for this position has increased dramatically with organisations looking to optimise their return on the apprenticeship levy, whilst embedding effective programmes for these individuals. As a new role, organisations are either transferring self-teaching individuals into this space or are pulling from the graduate recruitment space who can be trained up.
• HR Business Partner: As always, there was consistent demand in 2017 for highly commercial HR Business Partners, who can act in a strategic advisory capacity to define and shape business objectives. Finding strong commercial talent like this is a constant challenge for businesses, meaning the top professionals in this area are in high demand, making for a highly competitive market.

The first quarter of 2018 has seen a sluggish start for HR roles in the UK as businesses await the outcomes and agreements from the Brexit negotiations. One thing to note is an increase in demand for Talent Acquisition Managers as businesses seek to ensure they are well-positioned to hire talent in response to the shortly anticipated demand. Particularly as businesses feel that Brexit will trigger a shortage of talent in many areas leading to a highly competitive, candidate driven market.

Indicators suggest that the next few months will be interesting as we transition into unknown territory!  

Nina Adair - Practice Lead, HR & Talent Management Recruitment

Katie Black joined McGregor Boyall’s HR and Talent Management Recruitment Practice in 2017,and is focused on hiring top HR talent across the Middle East and UK.

I will always look back fondly at the 5 years I spent hiring top HR talent into roles across the Middle East.  If it wasn’t for a change in personal circumstances, I would still be enjoying Dubai’s sun, sea and sand… I mean, what’s not to love?!  Having recently relocated back to the UK, many people ask me what it’s like to work in the Middle East, and what the potential challenges might be for someone exploring a career in HR.  Personally, my time spent in Dubai was the best 5 years of my career, and I would recommend the opportunity for anyone looking to expand their cultural horizons and add another perspective to their HR career!  It’s no secret however, that the economy in the Middle East is evolving, so this article will discuss the potential challenges of building a HR career in Dubai and its surrounds, as well as how to make the transition work in times of change.

Background

Expo 2020 Dubai is on the horizon, a global event designed to celebrate human ingenuity by sharing knowledge, driving innovation, promoting progress and encouraging collaboration.  With the expo drawing near, companies in the Middle East are exploring how to harness this movement and attract top talent to their region.  From my experience, there is no doubt that the Middle East is hungry for professionals who can bring their expertise to the region.  So now the question is: how can the Middle East competitively attract talent?

Challenge

Historically, the Middle East offered tax-free packages with large expat benefits, including education and housing allowances – it’s these enticing offerings that helped their economy to attract talent to the region.  Over more recent time however, more and more companies have been reducing these benefits, which together with the introduction of VAT in 2018, will likely add further expense to the cost of living, and put strain on the ability for the Middle East to attract top talent.

Adding further challenge, is the ease of mismatch between client and candidate expectations.  In my experience, the Middle East’s HR market is fierce, and clients are being more demanding and specific in the terms of their requirements.  Clients are seeking individuals with people and business focused degrees from top Western institutions, with strong and stable CVs within the top global organisations where they have also demonstrated exposure to Best Practice HR.

The other side of the challenge is that HR functions in the Middle East have been less advanced than those in the West, with the scope of the roles not seen as interesting or challenging as roles they can get elsewhere.  The HR roles in the Middle East have tended to focus on tactical aspects as opposed to being strategic, thus presenting the challenge to simultaneously fulfil both candidate and client needs.  Amidst the challenge however, great potential (and attraction!) lies in the Middle East as organisations themselves are evolving, and in doing so, creating the space for more senior HR leaders to make a tangible and commercial impact within business.

A Balancing Act

In addition to managing client-candidate expectations is the balancing act between retaining existing HR expats in the region versus attracting new HR talent.  On the one hand, Middle Eastern organisations have preferred retaining HR expats because they possess regional experience and are accustomed to the local industry.  On the other hand, there has been a shift in perspective, opening up positions to new HR talent looking to relocate to the Middle East.  The catch for new HR talent has been a slightly lower reward package compared to their experienced counterparts, however the opportunity to relocate and add another dimension to their HR career is clear.  This is an important consideration to have when relocating to the Middle East, as an imbalance between client and candidate remuneration packages can frustrate existing challenges.

A Bright Future

Candidates from industries including financial and professional services as well as management consultancies are few and far between in the Middle East.  These sectors therefore look to attract high proportions of expats into their organisations and have the ability to offer the financial incentives to do so successfully, thus striking the balance between client and candidate expectations around remuneration. With that in mind, the Middle East remains an attractive market that offers great career opportunity at a time when the HR market is still transforming.

Overall, there are a number of challenges to attracting and retaining top HR talent in the Middle East, but with the market evolving and roles becoming more commercial, there are many opportunities for ambitious HR professionals to make an impact and expand their HR horizons, and despite a reduction in financial appeal, the Middle East remains a location for interesting and compelling HR work.

2016 was certainly a year of change in many aspects from politics and the economy to the departures of many core contributors to modern culture. From a HR perspective the ever changing environment presents constant challenges around hiring and staff retention. So what can we expect from 2017?

In our annual market insights surveys McGregor Boyall asked our clients and candidates for their views on the employment market, and what changes and challenges they anticipate for the year ahead. The UK’s decision to leave the EU in June followed by changes in the global political environment meant 2016 was an unsettled and nervous year in general for the market. However, in a snapshot survey taken by McGregor Boyall immediately after the vote, 65% of organisations stated the decision had had no impact on their immediate hiring plans.

Seven months on and 70% said that they had seen little or no impact of Brexit thus far, although they are anticipating challenges around a shortage of quality candidates in 2017. Having said that, candidates remain fairly resilient with 73% stating that Brexit has no bearing on their decision on whether or not to change roles.

With technological advancements at the top of the agenda for many organisations it is of no surprise that 78% of those surveyed stated technology skills are those most needed for businesses to meet their objectives over the next 12 months. Managerial and Leadership are the next highest anticipated skills requirements as organisations seek to restructure and set themselves up for future success, with the right leadership teams.

For candidates looking to move on from their current role, utilising a recruitment agency is still the most popular channel for sourcing that next career move, with LinkedIn following closely behind. Interestingly approaching an organisation directly or via their career website is ranked down in fourth place by candidate.

Work life balance is the most important factor when considering a move for the majority of candidates, and 55% of the companies surveyed felt that they offered good or excellent work life balance but a number still have work to do with the remaining 45% feeling their work-life balance is poor or average. Compensation is still featured but only sits as the third highest with 56% of candidates stating it was the most important factor for them to consider when thinking about a career change.

Flexible working and work-life balance is valued most highly by employees yet is ranked down in fourth place by employers, highlighting there is still a disparity between what companies see as key motivators for attracting top talent and what candidates say are the factors most likely to influence them when choosing a new role.

Career progression options are seen as less important to candidates yet conversely organisations consider career progression and new challenges (61% and 63% respectively) to be the most important thing in order to be able to retain top talent.

For HR Teams it looks like the challenges of 2016 are set to continue and businesses will need to work even harder to retain their top talent in a market that sees candidates changing roles on an increasingly regular basis. And with Article 50 yet to be triggered the real impact of Brexit is yet to be seen. Watch this space!

Brexit is certainly the hot topic of the moment. The immediate shock of the vote to leave, and subsequent crashing of the pound, has left many concerned about the economy and what impact the decision will have on their own roles and lifestyles.

With the true long-term impact of the vote yet to be seen, there were some initial knee-jerk announcements made by commercial businesses about possible downsizing and potential relocation of roles. This, coupled with the media warnings of a forthcoming long and enduring recession in light of the uncertainty in the market, meant many were left wondering how the UK would survive outside of the European Union.

In truth, no one really knows what the future will hold: this is a new situation for the UK, as well as the European as a whole. Already there are rumours that the actual exit could be delayed until late 2019 and reports on the performance of the economy have not been as bad as initially forecast; despite the construction sector seeing a downturn, the UK is still showing growth (albeit at a slower rate).

Longer term, tough times are still being forecast, but for the immediate future many companies seem to be holding fast and continuing with business as usual. The McGregor Boyall Brexit Report 2016 surveyed all sectors and found that 65% of respondents said the decision to leave the EU had not impacted their immediate hiring plans and 76% stated it was business as usual.

Only six per cent stated that they would need to relocate roles to Europe as a result of the leave vote. That being said, only ten per cent of organisations have a contingency plan in place to support their business through the exit, and for HR professionals this means there will be some really interesting implications for their roles in the future.

This could impact a number of areas:

• Should free movement within Europe be restricted, HR and talent acquisition specialists will need to put in place contingency plans to be able to attract talent from other locations, or find other creative solutions to build talent pools. What these plans could look like however, will be impacted by any legislation the government puts in place to support the movement of talent from other countries, as well as potential training strategies businesses will need to develop their own talent pools.
• Employee engagement and retention will become even more critical should free movement be halted. It will become vital to retain top talent, so talent management and strong internal career development, employee benefits and wellbeing will become core minimum skill requirements.
• Organisational design, change and transformation will be skill sets in increased demand as organisations work to define new structures and realign business verticals to support growth and operations as the new market begins to take shape.  
• As the government wishes to encourage growth, particularly in the digital technology space, HR professionals who work as consultants, or who specialise in supporting new start-up businesses from a human capital perspective, will be in increasingly high demand.
• Employee relations specialists with extensive knowledge of international employment law will also be in high demand to support organisations and guide them through the changes as new legislation comes in.

These ever-changing times present interesting challenges and demands for the HR profession, meaning having astute and commercially-minded individuals will be essential to the success of a business. Ultimately the message is that the outlook is uncertain, and no one really knows what the future is going to look like, but in the meantime most organisations are working on the premise of business as usual.

For businesses, ascertaining success or failure will be about ensuring their organisations are as flexible and adaptable as possible in order to be able to react quickly as the changes start to take shape.

Does Technology drive what we do instead of enabling it?

In 2007 the first generation iPhone was launched. It took two years for Samsung to respond with their own smart phone offering. Since then we have seen the rise of tablets, the launch of the smart watches and you can now pay for your shopping with your mobile phone. Now it seems there is always a new product being launched, but a piece of technology can be exciting and innovative one day and out of date the next. As consumers this is the world we now live in but the corporate world is struggling to keep up, often finding that processes and work can actually be prohibited by systems rather than enabled.  

For a good 40+ years the business world remained fairly constant and largely leaps and bounds ahead of the consumer when it came to technology. Organisations were generally very structured and process driven with little change or innovation to contend with. As times have progressed and advancements in technologies have become more and more rapid, it has become more difficult, particularly for large scale businesses, to be nimble and agile enough to keep up with the changes, particularly because of the huge costs that are associated with upgrading company systems and technologies. Instead, add-ons to existing systems to “make do” and act as a band aid to technological issues are implemented as short term solutions. As a result many businesses have ended up with complex and unwieldy systems that are incredibly complex, inefficient and hard to unravel.

From an HR perspective technology is an important tool to enable employee engagement. Technology should be liberating not limiting, but so often businesses allow technology to drive what they do rather than enabling it. HR technology has traditionally operated in a bubble, when in fact it should have synergy with other company and financial systems to ensure consistency across the business, which in turn can drive productivity, create efficiencies and build an agile and profitable organisation.

HR Departments need to rethink their partnership with technology. Before implementing a new system does anyone ever say – “this is what we would like to achieve, so what are our options?” It is always good practice to go out and talk to people, get their feedback and learn from their experiences, but how many of us actually do? From a HR perspective a good IT system should empower managers to be able to access transactional information themselves, enabling HR to focus more on the strategic and value-add dimensions of the role. However, managers probably feel this should be the other way around – so how do you use technology to meet in the middle?

Another challenge for HR Teams to contend with regarding technology is this “culture of entitlement” that exists amongst the younger generation. In their personal lives, they have access to all the technology they could desire and they expect that at work as well. With business predominantly focused on their consumers first and foremost, budgets for technological advancements will often be allocated to this space first, with employees being a secondary priority. This means that employees have access to the latest technologies outside of work long before they do inside. Those businesses that have been able to implement technological improvements for both consumers and employees at the same time have been rewarded with a high level of employee engagement and an excellent brand image, making them highly desirable places to work. But these are few and far between.

The rise of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) has provided employees with more choice, but the challenge then becomes ensuring a consistent employee experience that keeps up with these technology advances, whilst also ensuring cost efficiencies are maintained.

With business cycles traditionally operating on a monthly / quarterly / annual basis and the world of technology changing almost daily, one of the biggest challenges facing business today is creating a work place fit for the 21^st Century.

The customer experience has emerged as the one of the most important measures for success for companies across all industries. With consumers now saturated by choice, businesses now have to focus on delivering superior customer experiences in order to differentiate themselves in the market. With every purchase made customers are now invited to review their experience, rate the product or leave feedback for the company.

With the advent of smart phones and social media a negative comment or review can be around the world in a few seconds. Yet the needs of those who are responsible for providing that superior customer experience, the employees, are often overlooked. Businesses are so focused on customer satisfaction, how often do they measure employee satisfaction? All investment in technology and the user experience are customer focused, yet even the most advanced organisations within the technology sector provide antiquated systems and processes for their employees to use.

Studies have shown that both customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction jointly affect an organisation’s success. This represents a real opportunity for HR departments to be more strategic, as they are the custodians of the “employee experience”. How do you put your employees in the right frame of mind so as to get the best performances out of them?

HR should be about informing the organisation on what people are thinking and feeling with regards to their job and their environment, not just about providing numbers around headcount. In reality it all comes down to trust. If you don’t trust the people you have hired why did you hire them in the first place?

Yet HR so often start from a position of mistrust believing the employees are like “Reverse Superman” – people who are creative, thought provoking and high achieving outside of work i.e. “Superman” enter the work place and become “Clark Kent”, treated as though they leave their brains at the door, tied up in rules and policies. Creativity can’t be automated whereas processes and systems can. So businesses should invest in creativity and put trust in their employees. It is also about collaboration. Many organisations could transform their employee experience if each department collaborated more instead of sticking to individual silos, yet this is often met with resistance.

The issue is that HR Teams often don’t feel empowered to make any of these changes to allow such creativity. As an HR Leader you have performance objectives that look at headcount, because that is measurable and can be shown against the bottom line. You are unlikely to ever be targeted against objectives that look at employee engagement and satisfaction, even if you conduct surveys as part of your role. Businesses shy away from this because it’s hard to measure, yet they often have whole departments dedicated to measuring the satisfaction and engagement of their customers.

Perhaps it is time to apply some of the principles we apply to the customer experience to the employee experience. Should businesses start segmenting the work force the way they segment their customers in order to provide a tailored working experience? This might be something for the future but what about actually asking their employees how they would build their work place. The rise in popularity of company review sites like Glassdoor means that businesses can’t hide away from this for much longer.

Businesses have a framework for delivery that is 20th Century but the world has moved on and it is time for companies to redefine what they expect from their employees. The DNA of most organisations can prevent them from modernising, resulting in quality staff leaving for start-ups or companies that they perceive to be more innovative. It is time for organisations to embrace innovation and empower their employees so they can provide that all important customer experience.

It's not just about Millennials - it's about a multi-generational workforce

Workplaces have always had multiple generations working side by side – this is nothing new. However, with people now required to work for longer than ever before and with the next generation of workers coming through we are starting to see up to five generations in the workforce for the first time. Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials (otherwise known as Generation Y) and the soon to enter the workforce Generation Z or the Silent Generation, so called because of the amount of time spent on-line. This creates huge challenges for businesses, which need to consider how they adapt their environments to cater for multiple generations in the workplace, rather than obsessing about whether or not they have a “Strategy for Millennials.”

Two of these groups now make up the majority of the workforce, and it is on those we will focus our attention.

On the one hand you have Generation X – digital tourists, who are comfortable with texting or email but generally prefer to pick up the phone or go and chat to someone face to face. The need for real human interaction is still dominant. They are used to a working culture where productivity is often measured by the number of hours you are sat at your desk and ideas such as “flexible working” and “work-life balance” where non-existent.

Then there are the Millennials – digital natives, who are used to operating in a virtual world where everything is instant. They use their phones to send instant messages, take photos and update everyone on what they had for breakfast rather than actually speaking to each other. Show them a floppy disk and they think someone has 3D printed the “Save” icon. They expect to have two profiles (work / personal) but one device – a single tool for all their virtual interactions.

Millennials are likely to have come from an environment where both their parents worked and therefore place a greater premium on a work-life balance. For Generation X the novelty of the “24x7 always available” culture has worn off and we are now seeing more boundaries put in place to ensure people do take proper breaks where they really switch off from work. However, there is still a perception in businesses that it is only women who want flexible working whereas in reality this is not the case – in fact Millennials expect to be given the option to work flexibly. This is a real cultural shift for businesses and they are struggling to get it right.

There seems to be a disconnect between organisations who are either great at offering flexible working but lack the technology to fully support it, or companies that are great with technology but don’t offer the flexible working.  Getting this balance right is a real challenge for HR Teams.

So how do you reinvent organisations for Millennials whilst also catering for the other generations? It comes down to creating the right employee experience through offering a choice. Businesses are finding they have to unlearn what they learnt in the 20^th Century and that is a daunting task.

We now live in a society where people can sell their time and skills in the virtual world with relative ease. People no longer look for a career path; instead it is about building a portfolio of skills and experiences. Employees now have to be able to operate in the virtual and non virtual world – but while Gen X may lack the social skills to operate the digital world, so Millennials may end up lacking the social skills to operate in the real world. So the challenge for businesses is balancing both worlds whilst also creating an environment that caters for all generations. In the end it comes down to being able to offer people a choice in the way they work. 

In a world where technology seems to advance every day, it goes without saying that the ‘digital age’ has had a huge impact on the way organisations hire and attract their talent.   According to a 2014 Report by OFCOM, 61% of UK households now have a smart phone and 44% have a tablet meaning people now spend an extra two hours a day on media and communications. With so many social media platforms and digital products accessible to all, attracting potential employees and raising brand awareness in the market has never been easier. Or so it may seem...

Certainly the need to engage with these platforms and products is now a key part of any talent acquisition strategy and this is evidenced up by our recent survey where 92% of respondents said social media platforms were a key part of their talent attraction strategy.  However, what impact is the increasing use of digital technology having on the talent acquisition process?

For large global organisations with established brands, digital media has given them a direct communication path to potential candidate pools, enabling initial touch points to be consistent and easy through clever use of apps and mobile friendly sites. This was highlighted by our research which showed 68% of respondents had redesigned their career sites over the last 12 months to provide an improved user experience for those showing interest in their organisation and applying for potential positions. However, if ensuring your career site is mobile and tablet friendly is resulting in increased candidate pools, how do you then drill down through the noise to find the best talent?  This is where the human touch comes in.

Human interaction remains a core part of the talent acquisition process, from pro-actively identifying the right talent, to building relationships and engaging with individuals.  This is especially apparent when looking for specialist roles and hard to fill skill-sets. Whilst social media has made it easier for organisations to reach a wider audience, there are no guarantees it will produce candidates with the right skills in markets with candidate shortages. This is where the digital tools, need to be supplemented by a pro-active approach to finding talent, by utilising an in house recruitment function or a third party.

For smaller organisations, digital innovations and social media have been key to building brand and market awareness around their business. Increased connectivity means that they are able to cleverly use social media to attract individuals to the business, utilising social networking tools and encouraging existing employees to be highly engaged and build positive online presences and profiles.

The downside of such connectivity means that competitors also have an easier route to passive candidates and potentially to the top talent in your own organisation, so engagement and retention becomes an even more important issue. It also means that brand wise, HR have to focus on driving positive media messages - one negative action by an employee can have massive repercussions, especially if it goes viral! When everything from internal employee memos to employee actions can be shared by the world in a matter of seconds, a strong social media policy and effective human communication is key.

What the above highlights is that whilst digital tools have had a massive impact on talent acquisition, having a blended talent acquisition strategy supplemented by the human element either in–house or by third parties who can proactively target the best available talent on the market is the best way forward.

Our HR & Talent Management Salary Guide 2017 provides the latest insights on the market provided by our HR & Talent Management team.