Fingal Business Sentiment Survey (2022 Q1)

Contents

Introduction

2

Business Challenges

3

Competitiveness

4

Staff Recruitment and Retention

5

Managing Flexible and Remote Working

7

Local/Central Government Supports

9

Business Outlook

10

Summary

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Introduction We are delighted to present our Fingal Chamber Business Sentiment Survey.

This survey has been designed to pinpoint key challenges for business in Fingal and identify solutions to support them. It will also help refine Chamber policy on the significant issues that have been highlighted.

The Chamber advocates for business, provides advice, support, referrals, lobbying and represents members to deliver positive change for Fingal and its businesses.

Fingal Chamber works with Government Ministers, MEPs, the Mayor of Fingal, Fingal County Council and local representatives to deliver pro-business and employment initiatives.

The Chamber conducted this Business Sentiment Survey over a two week period from 17 – 28 January, 2022. The survey focused on the immediate and short term challenges facing businesses in the Fingal region.

Of the total number of responses received, 36% were from businesses with 50 plus employees while 64% of responses came from businesses ranging from one to 50 employees.

Almost 60% of responses came from the hospitality and tourism area, business and professional services, transport and logistics, retail and wholesale, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and production sectors.

The survey concentrated on key areas such as business challenges and competitiveness, staff retention and skills gaps, local authority support and policy, and work practices.

It highlights the significant challenges Fingal businesses have with staff retention and recruitment, while others cited the availability of skills and talents together with the lack of housing and public transport for employees as the biggest risk for Fingal’s competitiveness in the coming year.

The responses provided strong optimism for the future of Fingal with between 6080% of respondents expecting increases in staff numbers, training, revenue and profits for the year ahead.

The report also includes feedback on support already supplied to Fingal businesses by local and central Government as well as commentary on what changes those businesses think should be adopted to provide additional assistance.

Fingal Chamber intends to conduct its business sentiment survey twice yearly providing critical feedback to its members, the local authority and local representatives on the important issues facing businesses in Fingal.

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Business Challenges On the back of two of the most challenging years for Fingal businesses, our survey asked, ‘What is the biggest challenge facing your business in the next 12 months?’

Over 40% of businesses said that staff retention and recruitment is the biggest challenge facing them.

This fact is corroborated by Fingal Chamber HR partners, Adare Human Resource Management, which says that employers need to manage the recruitment process efficiently and confirm offers quickly or they risk losing candidates.

A recent Harvard Business Review by Ian Cook, Vice President, People Solutions for US company Visier Inc. on The Great Resignation, cites a ‘tidal wave of resignations’ that is particularly highest in the 30-45 year old, mid-career bracket. It states that once the root cause of turnover is identified, organisations can develop tailored retention programmes.

Following on from the biggest challenge of staff retention and recruitment it is no surprise therefore that increasing productivity and maintaining market share are significant issues facing Fingal businesses, accounting for more than 22% of responses.

The report also noted that ‘responding to climate change’ did not feature as a business challenge at this time.

What is the biggest challenge facing your business in the next 12 months?

45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Staff A return to Managing retention & stricter flexible & recruitment COVID-19 remote regulations working

Access to Responding Increasing Maintaining Reducing finance to climate productivity market costs change share

Other (please specify)

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Competitiveness Fingal Chamber also asked ‘What is the biggest issue for Fingal’s competitiveness in the next 12 months?’

More than 32% of businesses in Fingal said that the availability of skills and talent is currently their biggest challenge. At 26% coming in second, is the availability or lack of housing for employees, while almost 15% said public transport services or traffic congestion were all risks to the region’s competitiveness.

Businesses also highlighted infrastructure such as water, energy and broadband as well as taxation levels as other areas impacting competitiveness in the region.

What will be the biggest issue for Fingal’s competitiveness in the next 12 months?

35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Housing availability

Availability of Infrastructure skills and talent (water, energy, broadband, etc)

Public transport services or traffic congestion

Public services Business Other (please (education, taxation levels specify) health, etc)

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Staff Recruitment and Retention Almost 60% of businesses in Fingal indicated that they had experienced an increase in staff turnover in the past year.

Delving deeper into this subject and providing respondents with a choice of answers under the question, ‘What measures does your business find most effective in attracting and retaining staff?’ Almost 60% of respondents stated that competitive salaries was the key incentive in attracting new employees, while a positive work culture came a close second with 55%. Over 38% said flexible and remote working are factors in attracting prospective employees, and 35% said employee benefits were significant enablers when attracting and retaining staff.

The report noted that just 17% of respondents felt that wellbeing programmes were important in attracting and retaining staff.

Almost 60% of Fingal businesses indicated that they had struggled to fill a specific skills gap in 2021, with a further 8% citing difficulties in recruiting from internal resources.

Our business sentiment results are reflected in an international survey conducted recently by Workhuman Fall 2021, which tracked some 3,500 employees in Ireland, North America and the UK. It found that the drive for a new job has been spurred on by a desire for better pay and greater flexibility.

According to Adare Human Resource Management, employers will have to focus on development, succession and resource planning to counteract skills gaps.

Furthermore, it is important that role descriptions are reassessed to ensure they meet the requirements of the organisation and include employee training, continuous learning and upskilling for the company to survive.

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What measures does your business find most effective in attracting and retaining staff?

60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Flexible & remote working

Competitive salaries

Positive work culture

Employee benefits

Wellbeing Permission to Other (please programmes work overseas specify) for a fixed period

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Managing Flexible and Remote Working The global pandemic has changed the way we do business and how we work. In this regard we asked businesses in Fingal if they had received sufficient guidance on how best to manage flexible and remote working.

The result was high with eight out of ten businesses indicating they feel sufficiently informed on how best to manage this area with their employees.

In answering the question of whether organisations have a policy for managing an employee’s right to disconnect, in other words the right to disengage from work between certain hours and a ban on work during holidays. A third of companies replying said they currently have a policy on the right to disconnect. However, despite the introduction of a new Code of Practice on this issue signed by the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD in April, 2021, almost two thirds of businesses in Fingal indicated they do not currently have a policy on this issue however, of that two thirds, half did say they have plans to introduce a policy document.

Turning to the question on the biggest challenge facing businesses with remote or flexible work practices. At 22%, staff collaboration was the single biggest issue, while isolation of staff or mental health issues followed accounting for 18% of respondents.

Almost 17% said employee productivity was a challenge in allowing flexible working, while 16% of respondents said balancing flexible working with the right to disconnect was an issue for them, and a further 16% cited cultivating a positive team culture as challenging when working remotely. Almost 10% of businesses said that onboarding new staff members while adopting remote/flexible working was an issue for them.

While remote working has broadly been successful for both employees and employers; many employees are no longer willing to work for organisations that do not facilitate fully remote or hybrid working arrangements. Employers fear that the longer remote working continues, the more issues will begin to surface around mental health concerns and struggles to maintain a connection to an organisation’s culture, and this is likely to lead to a more fragmented rather than communal workforce. These challenges could see communication and inclusivity suffer, conflict increase and productivity dip, resulting in a negative impact on employee retention.

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What is the biggest challenge with remote or flexible working for your business?

25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Cultivating a Staff Isolation of Onboarding Employee Balancing Data Other (please positive collaboration staff or new staff productivity flexible protection specify) team culture mental members working with health the right to disconnect

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Local/Central Government Supports Looking at responses to the question of ‘Which of the following supports have you received from Fingal County Council?’

In a multiple-choice selection respondents said they had received supports from Fingal County Council whether it was a commercial rates waiver (35%), a restart grant (19%), a small business assistance scheme for COVID (7%) or help with outdoor dining and parking areas (7%). Almost 55% of respondents said they did not receive support under any of those categories.

When businesses were asked how they felt about the current supports offered to them by Fingal County Council and central Government, over 62% of businesses said they were satisfied with what was offered to them.

A wide range of varying responses were submitted to the question of ‘What policies or changes do you think should be adopted by Fingal County Council and central Government to help your business?’

A further reduction/moratorium on rates featured high in the comments made.

Additional support or grants, funding and promotion for initiatives would be welcomed by Fingal businesses. Affordable housing, cheaper rents for employees and improved transport were cited as issues of concern for some businesses while other respondents would like to see an extension to the EWSS, and a reduction in tax and VAT. These comments will be shared in detail with the executive team in Fingal County Council.

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Business Outlook When asked about the outlook for the year ahead in terms of staff numbers, staff training, revenue and profits, businesses in Fingal are very optimistic about the future.

Over 65% of businesses say they expect to see an increase in staff numbers, more than 75% said staff training will increase while 74% of businesses will see revenue increase and almost 60% are expecting profits to increase.

Over the next 12 months do you expect your: 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% Increase 40.00%

Decrease

Stay the same

30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Staff numbers

Staff training

Revenue

Profits

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Summary Fingal businesses are transitioning into a new phase following the global pandemic.

New ways of working, changes in manufacturing, retail, food and beverage and tourism offerings have tested organisations innovation and technological skills to the limit. Sadly, some businesses have not made it through the challenges of the past two years, others have survived and a few have thrived.

There is a long road ahead, and now is the time to build back better, to collaborate more efficiently so that all Fingal businesses can prosper. The overriding outlook from Fingal businesses is positive with an increase in recruitment, upskilling, revenue and profits forecasted for the majority of businesses.

Fingal is a great place to do business and there is huge appetite to build on what the region has to offer. It has significant economic advantages including Dublin Airport, fast access to Dublin Port, rail, road, power and telecommunications infrastructure.

The area is renowned for strong business leadership and inspiring innovation in technology, manufacturing, aviation, financial services, logistics and distribution, agriculture, tourism and hospitality. Fingal is a can-do area with a diverse local economy and an outstanding quality of work life balance for the people who live and work in the region. It is home to some of the best and most outstanding multinational companies from across the world that have chosen this region to invest and to create jobs for the well-educated and skilled workforce.

Fingal Chamber will continue to leverage its association with Skillnet Ireland and Adare Human Resource Management to support businesses requiring training and HR expertise in the Fingal region.

Fingal Chamber Skillnet supports regional development by helping local businesses to arrive at shared local solutions that are more accessible, affordable and effective in meeting their needs. The collaboration of the two organisations address both technical and non-technical skills needs across multiple sectors. Benefits of Skillnet training include more productive staff, improved retention rates, increased staff motivation, cost-effective training, a skilled workforce and a competitive and progressive workplace.

Fingal Chamber continues to work closely with Fingal County Council and the Local Enterprise Office as well as the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and feedback from this Business Sentiment Survey will enable the Chamber to effectively advocate and deliver further positive change for Fingal and its businesses.

The next Fingal Chamber Business Sentiment Survey will be conducted later this year.

If you have any comments on our survey, or want to discuss our findings, please contact us at siobhan@fingalchamber.ie

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