Strategic advice report robin blankenstein

Strategic advice report Reluctantly Brave LTD, Bayford Street Business centre 2, E8 3SE, London Robin Blankenstein

Index

1 2 3 4 Concept

1.1

1

What is a concept?

2

Sleeping concept

2.1 2.2

Core values Vision statement

3

4 5

Rising concept

3.1 3.2

6

Concept name

7

One-liner

8

Living concept

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.3

Goal Product & service

Introduction 9 32 11

Communica- 14 tion & strategy Financials

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In this strategic advise report the researcher will develop and reason a concept that will fit the practical objective of the thesis: How can we attract and retain Generation Z towards and in the workplace in the U.K.?

The recommendation (chapter 8) of the thesis will be the fundament of the strategic advise report.

This strategic advise report will include an introduction into the Fontys ACI-way of concept-thinking, a full concept (sleeping, rising, and living) with communication strategy.

1. Concept First of all there needs to be a reason for concept development. Different reason for concept development could be:

Abundance Connecting Society Individualisation of Labour Simplification Crisis (ACI, 2016) 1

In this case, the reason for concept development is crisis, a retention crisis (Chapter 2: Background & Motivation). There is a desire for a new way of thinking which requires a holistic point of view. But first of all what is a concept?

1.1 What is a concept?

The word concept has many definitions: something that is conceived in the mind: thought, notion. An abstract or generic idea generalised from particular instances, for example the basic concepts of psychology or the concept of gravity (Merriam-Webster, 2017). The definition used by Fontys ACI is the following: the umbrella idea, concretised in a one liner or statement, that gives aim towards services, products and derivatives you develop, in order to make them coherent and strengthen each other (ACI, 2016).

The definition consists of three stages.

Stages that depend on each other. When all three stages have been completed we can speak of a full concept.

Sleeping concept The core of the visuon

Rising concept

Make the core visible in a one-liner

Living concept Implementation of the core of the vision in all

concept pillars you use: your product and/ or service, your physical environment, your connections and your communication (ACI, 2016).

2

2. Sleeping concept The desired target group of the concept is business-to-business.

In order to achieve a vision it is important to keep in mind the following core values: challenging, developing, rewarding, comfortable, interactive. These core values are a result of the thesis on Generation Z.

2.1 Core values Challenging

Comfortable

Interactive

The outcome of the thesis on Generation Z was that this generation is more motivated than their predecessor. Especially when it comes to intrinsic motivation. This is what drives Generation Z towards the workplace.

The have a need for stimulate and are willing to compete to prove their ability.

When it comes to retention it is important that Generation Z feels comfortable within the workplace. As a result of the thesis, we know that Generation Z has a desire for stability. Yet, because they are a very busy generation with tight schedules flexible work(-ing hours) are essential in order to feel comfortable. Eye-level communication is very important, Generation Z doesn’t want to feel demoralised. If they feel demoralised, there is a big chance of them looking for something else. That’s why continuous feedback and coaching is important. Generation Z has the need to be heard and a need for attention (similarity with Gen Y – Triumph Generation). In the end, they should feel like they gain more by staying rather than leaving.

Generation Z has a need for stimulation.

Especially social-wise this generation feels that a workplace needs to be interactive.

Building relationships within a company with the people around are essential in the workplace and also relate to the previous core value. We can see an overlap in the need for stimulation and the desire to be heard here as well.

Developing As result of the research that has been conducted, we know that 82% of Generation Z thinks that personal and professional development opportunities within the workplace are important when choosing a job. Once within the workplace, develop opportunities are a ‘must’ regarding retention.

Rewarding Even though Gen Z is all about intrinsic motivation, they’re realists as well. As a result of the research conducted we know that money and praise are motivators towards and within the workplace.

3

4

2.2 Vision statement Reluctantly Brave is a consultancy agency, therefore the goal of the concept is to be sold to other companies (B2B). This results in a vision statement written from a ‘Company X’-perspective.

According to the theories taught by Fontys ACI, the vision consists of ‘I see’ and ‘I feel’.

This will describe the core essence of the vision and will be leading when defining the exact vision (ACI, 2016).

Company X sees a new and driven generation (Gen Z), eager to work hard and ready to join the workforce. In order to have a continuous business, it is important to have the right people within your organisation. But where do you find the right people?

Company X feels that the difference lies in the intrinsic motivation of individuals. The goal is to incubate that intrinsic motivation and make it grow by offering personal and professional development opportunities, feedback and coaching, (financial) stability and a comfortable and interactive workplace.

3. Rising concept In the rising concept the essence of the vision will be redefined into a concept name and a one-liner. In addition, reasoning for both will be given.

This results in the vision statement:

“Intrinsic motivation is a powerful tool within individuals that needs to be incubated in order to make it grow.”w

5

6

3.2 One liner

3.1 Concept name “Star Programme”

Challenging

The origin of the name lies in the intrinsic motivation of the individual, wanting to work hard because of self-motivation. This aligns with the 5 core values of the concept: Engaging, Developing, Rewarding, Comfortable, Interactive. Forming the 5 points of a star.

Interactive

Confortable 7

Concept: “Developing future leaders, today”

Developing

Rewarding

The origin of the one liner is the motivation of Generation Z. This generation is eager to work and continuous to seek personal and professional development. When searching for a job and once within the workplace, development opportunities are essential to Generation Z. They have a fear of missing out and a need for constant stimulation. If they feel they reached their maximum potential within one place, they will start looking for other possibilities. Therefore constant development is

essential, especially ‘What’s in it for me?’ in terms of the employee should be addressed, instead of bragging about how good the company is. By using the one-liner ‘Developing future leaders, today’ you show that you are willing to make an invest in the next generation, giving them the right set of tools to make them become ‘the best version of themselves’.

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4. Living concept The living concept is the third stage of the definition of a concept. Definition of a concept according to Fontys ACI: (1) the umbrella idea, (2) concretised in a one liner or statement, (3) that gives aim towards services, products and derivatives you develop, in order to make them coherent and strengthen each other.

4.1 Goal The goal of this concept is become an acknowledged and successful way to attract the new generation towards the workplace, develop and invest in them. This in order to scope out new possible employees for the organisation and to make an investment in the new generation, the leaders of tomorrow.

“Investing in the leaders of tomorrow�

In this paragraph the goal of the concept will be described as well as the concept pillars. While developing the concept pillars, the vision and core values will be taken into account.

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4.2 Product & service The service we’re going to offer is a grad/ internship programme with online community. The programme will be called the ‘Star Programme’ with the one-liner: ‘Developing future leaders, today’.

Star Programme - Creative challenge It all starts with a creative challenge that will be announced using a YouTube commercial.

As a result of the research that has been conducted we know that YouTube is the platform that Generation Z is mostly active on. In addition, the majority of Gen Z has a positive attitude towards being targeted online. The positive thing about using YouTube as video ad option is that you can decide how much you spend on your marketing and who you want to target. Besides that, YouTube has a built-in Analytics that makes it easy for you to see how your ad performs (YouTube, 2017). The goal of the YouTube ad is to direct Generation Z to a special page within the website of ‘Company X’, where they can find an online community of the Star Programme.

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The online community will be explained later in this advice report.

In the creative challenge ‘Company X’ can fill their own assignment to challenge Gen Z towards a specific or overall role within the organisation. Company X can then select the individuals they want for the role.

Case study – Creative challenge Back in 2010, Lays, the European version of Walkers, did a creative challenge in the Netherlands. The creative challenge was to come up with a new flavour for a bag of crisps. The winner got 25.000 euro and 1% of the revenue of his crisps the first year.

675.000 individuals send in their flavour and there were 6 million sold bags of the three finalist flavours. 210.000 individuals voted online for their favourite flavour. This campaign brought the brand closer to the consumer (Pepsico the Netherlands, 2012).

Star Programme - Incubation After the creative challenge is over, the ‘winning’ individuals will be announced. The individuals who didn’t get picked will still get a certificate of participation and a thank you.

They will be referred to the online community in order to follow what the Star Programme is up to. The winning individuals will get an internship within the organisation. This is where the process of incubation begins.

As a result of the research we know that it is important to develop the individuals, offer them personal and professional coaching, give them feedback on a regular basis, and pay them a stable amount of money.

In addition, suggest potential directions to take within the company. The individuals should work together as well as have their own personal tasks within the organisation.

A variety of work load and working is desired to keep this generation stimulated. Incubation is based on the core values developing and rewarding. That’s also why completed major projects by the Star Programme will be

shared in the online community. This gives acknowledgement to the participants of the programme and engages future participants to stay up to date on the developments.

Case study – Incubation The Sunday Times rewarded 4Com as best company to work 2017. 4Com is very grateful for the award and states that it is the commitment and positivity of the staff that made them able to achieve this rank. Jonathan Austin, CEO and founder of Best Companies states that organisation like 4Com have demonstrated an ability to create an engaged workforce and recognise the importance of caring about their employees which puts them in the best position to retain and attract the talent they need (4Com, 2017).

The Sunday Times looks at the following categories when giving these rewards:

• Leadership: How employees feel about the head of the company and its senior managers • Wellbeing: How staff feel about the stress, pressure and the balance between their work and home duties • Giving something back: How much companies are thought by their staff to put back into society generally and the local community • Personal growth: To what extent staff feel they are stretched and challenged by their job • My manager: How staff feel towards their immediate boss and day-to-day managers • My company: Feelings about the company people work for as opposed to the people they work with • My team: How staff feel about their immediate colleagues • Fair deal: How happy the workforce is with their pay and benefits (The Sunday Times, 2017)

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4.3 Communication strategy

13

Retain

Case study - Retain

Online community

After incubating the individuals it is important to retain them. The organisation can offer a position as a result of the Star Programme or the intern continuous their personal way. As a result of the research that has been conducted we know that in order to retain an intern it is important to make the individual feel comfortable and the workplace needs to be interactive. The social aspect of the business is key here. This will be further explained in the paragraph communication.

Yet, people who are leaving your organisation can be powerful ambassadors of your organisation. Selected participants of the Star Programme will automatically become registered member of the online community and get an honour spot in the online community. This is something that is only possible if you get selected. Within this back office current participants, selected interested participants and the organisation can network and share ideas and practices.

A similar concept is the McKinsey & Company Alumni. The Alumni gave current students the option to insights about McKinsey and how the day-to-day-life of a consultant looks like and what challenges they face. In addition, it gave students the option to ask questions about McKinsey recruitment process and other company specific topics (IE Talent & Careers, 2017).

McKinsey has an online data base of 27.000 former consultants. They are granted access to a website which posts alluring job vacancies and regular presentation on business trends from the analysts. The main drawback of an alumni network is the costs, yet social media provides new cheaper ways for companies to set up their own network (The Economist, 2014).

The online community of the Star Programme will serve as an external way to share the journey that the individuals make during their internship. This in order to praise the individuals for their performance and to show potential future participants what they can expect and what’s in it for them. Starting for the creative challenges, the audience can follow the responses being send in, the nomination of the selected participants and the journey they conduct during their internship. This makes this a 360 degree experience making it possible for the audience to see the stepping stones the individuals overcome, continuously motivating the participants as well as future potential participants.

Overall the tone of voice is dependent on ‘Company X’. Yet, important is to be aware of the desire of Generation Z for eye-level communication. In general, the strategy is to make the individual aware of what’s in it for them, rather than how good the company is. As a result of the research, we know that personal and professional development opportunities within the workplace are essential to Gen Z. Their intrinsic motivation will lead them to do the challenge, yet extrinsic motivators like money and development opportunities should be communicated in order to motivate Generation Z completely.

In addition, the interaction within the workplace has a significant in whether an individual will stay at a company or not therefore the tone of voice within the company should be friendly and helpful and the individuals should be stimulated to seek and foster relationships within the company. Finally, partnerships with universities/colleges can be made in order to get a grant from the British government.

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4.4 Financials

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The financial picture of this concept totally depends on the organisation. How much they are willing to invest. The full programme will be expensive, yet in the U.K. there is a possibility to get a £ 50.000 until £ 750.000 ‘Character Education Grant’. The description of the contract starts with:

The way the concept is set-up is to improve the confidence, optimism, motivation, drive, and ambition of these individuals. The full contract description can be found and additional information can be found on the website of the U.K. govern under ‘Character Education Grant’.

“The Department for Education’s Character Education Grant programme will fund projects which help develop a set of character traits, attributes and behaviours in pupils that underpin success in education and work such as: - Perseverance, resilience and grit Confidence and optimism - Motivation, drive and ambition - Neighbourliness and community spirit - Tolerance, and respect - Honesty, integrity and dignity - Conscientiousness, curiosity and focus Grant funding will be provided to high-quality projects within or in partnership with schools and/or colleges to: a. Support sustainable expansion of existing provision which is supported by a strong evidence base; or b. Invest in new and small scale innovations which show promising approaches to character education.”

(UK Government, 2015)

Note: When advising this concept to another company it is important to work out the next point on a personal level of this company:

• Organisation • Physical environment • Network (ACI, 2016)

Sources 4Com. (2017, February 28). 4COM NAMED WINNERS OF THE SUNDAY TIMES BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR. Retrieved from 4com.co.uk: https://www.4com.co.uk/blog/ awards/4com-number-one-sunday-timesbest-companies-to-work-for/ ACI. (2016). Concepting periode 2 les 2.

Retrieved from connect.fontys.nl: https:// connect.fontys.nl/instituten/aci-vakken/ co-concepting-2/_layouts/15/WopiFrame. aspx?sourcedoc=/instituten/aci-vakken/ co-concepting-2/Leermateriaal/Periode%202/Concepting%201%20S1%20 P2%20L2.pdf&action=default ACI. (2016). Concepting periode 2 les 4.

Retrieved from connenct.fontys.nl: https:// connect.fontys.nl/instituten/aci-vakken/ co-concepting-2/_layouts/15/WopiFrame. aspx?sourcedoc=/instituten/aci-vakken/

co-concepting-2/Leermateriaal/Periode%202/Concepting%201%20S1%20 P2%20L4.pdf&action=default IE Talent & Careers. (2017). McKinsey & Company Alumni on campus – November 2016. Retrieved from career.blogs.ie.edu: http://careers.blogs.ie.edu/2016/11/mckinsey-company-alumni-on-campus-november-2016.html Merriam-Webster. (2017). Definition of Concept. Retrieved from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ concept Pepsico the Netherlands. (2012). Lays maak de smaak. Retrieved from pepsico.nl: http:// www.pepsico.nl/nl-NL/live/pressrelease/laysmaak-de-smaak--the-battle

The Economist. (2014, March 1). Gone but not forgotten. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/ business/21597935-more-firms-are-seekingstay-touch-former-staff-gone-not-forgotten The Sunday Times. (2017). The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies. Retrieved from features.sundaytimes.co.uk: http://features. thesundaytimes.co.uk/public/best100companies/redirected/template UK Government. (2015, January 29). Character Education Grants. Retrieved from data.gov.uk: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1725530/ YouTube. (2017). Advertise. Retrieved from Youtube.com: https://www.youtube.com/yt/ advertise/en/ 16