May / June 2020
Getting back on track Where is the light at the end of the tunnel for employers & recruiters in a post-COVID world?
Plus... How should you be upskilling your people for the upturn? Why collaboration between sales & marketing is more important than ever Attracting Gen Z and investing in Gen X
Joining the dots of the talent ecosystem...
...to help employers find and keep the people they need talint.co.uk
01 A word from the editor
The light up ahead
As we begin to process of coming out of lockdown and preparing for the upturn, recruiters and employers need to focus on a new vision for their businesses and teams As Boris and Rishi agree a route out of the COVID-19 crisis and into a vital economic recovery, employers and recruiters alike are now looking ahead to life after the pandemic. Some have already chosen their path, with companies like Twitter announcing that staff don't have to work in an office any more. As remote working has become normalised by the lockdown some new challenges have emerged for employers - and new opportunities for talent tahc providers. Trust has become a major theme. Employers have had trust that their employees are work effectively and productively, and employees need to know that they can trust their employer's intentions. Furlough has brought this into vivid focus, with a quarter of the workforce being paid to stay at home and not work for their employer. How have employers kept them loyal or upskilled them for the recovery?
onboarding talent.
Becky Wilson, Editor
The greatest opportunity has come from the accelerated adoption of technology and cloudbased systems - but what are the long term implications for recruiters and consultants? How are the best adding more value and adapting to new expectations? The light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and could reveal a brave new world if we take the opportunity to do things better.
As always, communication and transparency is the best way to address uncertainty but it's hard to think of the big picture as a leader when you're making survival decisions.
It's clear that some have not managed JRS well, with those on furlough feeling under-valued while working colleagues expect to be rewarded for saving the business. As always, communication and transparency is the best way to address uncertainty but it's hard to think of the big picture as a leader when you're making survival decisions.
About TALiNT Partners TALiNT Partners provides insight, content, connections and strategic support to the world’s recruitment & talent acquisition leaders.
But everyone is dealing with uncertainty, so it's an opportunity for leaders and managers to bring clarity and decisiveness where they can. If people understand the decision, and the context, they are more likely to support it - and trust you.
We work hard to connect, collaborate and concentrate our efforts to ensure our events, experiences, consultancy and media solutions offer the best support for the talent industry.
As always, TALiNT Partners has been helping leaders across the talent ecosystem to make better decisions with peer debates and expert led workshops, albeit virtually.
Published by Talent Intelligence Partners Ltd Upper Ground Floor 18 Farnham Road Guildford Surrey GU1 4XA www.talint.co.uk
This month, we present a range of insights on the new challenges and opportunities presented by new ways of working as well as attracting and
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02 TALiNT Scene Social distancing can't stop great conversations. TALiNT Partners presents highlights from some of its best webinars and a glimpse into the homes of top industry thought leaders...
Going digitally native: For our online Emerging Talent event on 23rd April, our speakers revealed how going digital is helping attract emerging talent, and what Generation Z are really looking for from a role.
03
Pointing the way: Our series of PointSix webinars have covered everything from funding and furlough to re-structuring, retaining value, COVID insurance claims, and how to maximise marketing with partner experts from Grant Thornton, Osborne Clarke, Clearwater International, Dunedin, Optima, Equiteq, Volcanic, VHR, Paiger and Enhance Media.
TALiNT International April 2020
04 Contents
Contributors
06 News analysis
06 COVID-19 making staff more productive? 06 Training for the future 07 Job vacancies fall as COVID-19 rises 07 Supporting furloughed employees 08 Employees want to keep remote working 08 Employers must trust their staff
11 TALiNT Talk xx
Trust is vital for remote working success, says Guidant Global's Charlotte Woodward
Businesses now have an opportunity to experiment with new tech, says Hollaroo's Hugh Fordham
Be upfront with furloughing decisions to avoid attrition, warns CPS Group's Spencer Symmons
VHR's Danny Brooks explains why marketing teams are vital during lockdown
Harvey Nash's Bev White reveals why it's down to the CEO to lead D&I from the top
Furloughing strategies and marketing tactics from our PointSix panel of experts
Young talent want the opportunity to give and receive feedback, shares EY's James Gordanifar
People of all ages can be emerging talent, it's about that desire to improve, stresses LHH's JC Townend
Darren Topping reveals how Lorien are using online training to motivate furloughed employees
Now is the time to get your candidate database in order for the upturn, explains Firefish's Wendy McDougall
13 Cover feature xx Preparing for the upturn
16 Furloughing
xx Furloughing without losing trust
19 Marketing & Brand
19 Why now is the time to invest 20 Brand plans for post-COVID-19 23 How to turn employees into advocates
24 PointSix
24 Bev White on driving D&I from the top 26 How to furlough and maximise marketing
30 Emerging talent
30 Review from our in-house webinar 32 JC Townend on supporting all talent
34 Talent investment
34 Honing employees' skills 36 Candidates considering employer actions
38 Technology
38 Uniting staff, clients and candidates Picture credits: Shutterstock, iStockphoto and Unsplash Cover: iStockphoto Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for the exclusive use and benefit of the readers of TALiNT International and other contacts of TALiNT Partners and is for information purposes only. Unless we provide express prior written consent, no part of this publication should be reproduced, distributed, or communicated to any third party. You must not rely on the information in this publication as an alternative to advice from an appropriately qualified professional. In no event shall TALiNT Partners or any of those contributing to this publication be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence, or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the contents of this publication. © Talent Intelligence Partners
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06 News analysis
COVID-19 making staff more productive? The COVID-19 crisis has led to a high number of companies taking up remote working in order to keep their business running. For some workers, this has enabled them to a better work-life balance, and in turn the opportunity to be more productive. For others, it’s impacting their mental health for the worse. A survey by non-profit organisation Technology Connected in April 2020 found that 18 per cent of businesses believe their staff are more productive since they adopted remote working. Plus, while many may not be seeing productivity increases, 65 per cent state that they aren’t seeing a drop off in productivity since implementing remote working in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Over two thirds (65 per cent) of employees also think they are either as or more productive at home, with 31 per cent saying their work-life balance has become better (according to people performance platform Visier). Whilst many businesses think their employees are happier (63 per cent) since introducing remote working policies, 71 per cent are concerned
How are your staff performing during the lockdown, and how are you inspiring them to do their best work?
about the long-term impact that working in isolation could have on their employees. These concerns may be well-founded; almost half (49 per cent) of workers say their mental health has declined whilst working from home, according to software company Qualtrics. Unfortunately, for almost a fifth (18 per cent) one of the major factors impacting their mental health has been their company’s actions. When asked, employees said they were looking for clear expectations from management (16 per cent), access to the right resources, equipment and support services (13 per cent), and communication from company
18%
of businesses believe their staff are more productive since working remotely
leadership (12 per cent). What are you doing to support your employees’ mental health during the COVID-19 crisis? With 10 per cent of companies looking to introduce mental health measures for staff, now is the time to put your staff first and look after their wellbeing.
Training for the future With a high number of staff being furloughed during the lockdown, businesses have been looking for advice on how they can keep employees engaged without them conducting work for the company. The good news is that, whilst on furlough, employees can partake in training. Not only does this ensure they’re remaining focused during their furlough period, it also provides them with the opportunity to come out of this period better prepared for the
future. In response to this, a number of companies have been offering training and communication platforms to keep everyone connected.
Recruiter Hays has introduced a platform to provide training on remote working, wellbeing and health and safety, whilst employee experience platform MyKindaFuture has launched Connectr, which aims to keep employers and furloughed employees connected. As part of this, employers are able to share updates and learning. What platforms are you using to keep employees engaged and focused, whether they’re furloughed, or working remotely?
07
Job vacancies fall as COVID-19 rises In light of the current COVID-19 crisis, it will come as no surprise that job vacancy numbers have fallen in the past month. According to analysis by the Institute for Employment Studies and vacancy data from Adzuna, job vacancy numbers have fallen by 42 per cent since lockdown began. Adzuna revealed that prior to the beginning of lockdown on 15th March 2020, the job board had 820,000 vacancies, but by 12th April, this had fallen to 475,000. This decrease is two and a half times the fall seen in November 2008 (during the last recession), which previously held the record for the biggest monthly decrease. Job vacancy numbers were down 49 per cent in Scotland and 44 per cent in London. Just because job vacancy numbers are falling, however, it doesn’t mean candidates are letting up on their job searches. Morgan McKinley’s Q1 Spring London Employment Monitor echoed Adzuna’s findings related to job vacancy numbers, with it reporting a 38 per cent month-on-
The jobs market is likely to look remarkably different post-COVID-19 month fall in available jobs. Job seeker numbers, in comparison, were up seven per cent month-on-month in March. In response to the crisis, employers are utilising a number of tactics to survive the storm. Some are continuing to hire and are now onboarding remotely. Other have opted to pause hiring or scale back on vacancies to focus on those business critical roles. Whilst there is no right or wrong way
42%
vacancies are down since lockdown began, according to Adzuna
to approach this situation, employers and recruiters should be doing all they can to stay in touch with candidates and clients, in order to come out of this stronger and ready to hire.
People support the people
Hiring high
As furloughed employees wait to receive payment from their employer, there is a lot of uncertainty and fear rife in the jobs market at the moment. This wait and uncertainty is only heightened for contractors.
Prior to the rise of the COVID-19 crisis, the UK employment rate was at a record high of 76.6 per cent (for the three months from December 2019 to February 2020), according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. This equates to 33.07 million people aged 16 and above in employment.
To do their bit to ease this, payroll services company People Group made the decision to pay their workers their first furlough payment on Friday 3rd April, ahead of government funding. This was in response to feedback from contractors, who are struggling financially and emotionally without the guarantee of payment. The
company used its own resources to fund the payments. This act of goodwill is likely to be remembered long after lockdown has ended by the contractors it affected.
The unemployment rate, however, was up slightly on the previous quarter to 4.0 per cent. This is the equivalent to 1.36 million people who were unemployed. It remains to be seen what impact COVID-19 will have on these figures in the coming months.
TALiNT International May / June 2020
08 News analysis
Retain remote working, say employees Despite the speed and success many companies have adapted to remote working within the last couple of months, may think this won’t lead to long-term changes on flexible working. Whilst over three quarters (77 per cent) of UK workers thinking their employer has coped well with the transition, almost half expect them to revert to their previous remote working policies once the crisis is over. That’s according to research by people analytics platform, Visier. Over a quarter (28 per cent), however, don’t think their employer will go back to their previous working policies. What might persuade companies to continue supporting remote working is the investment they’ve made in this recently. According to software company Capterra, 43 per cent of SMEs have bought or installed new software in order to enable remote working. There’s also likely to be a demand to retain remote working from
Will you be retaining some form of remote working following the crisis? employees; the research revealed that 32 per cent of employees would like to work this way all the time, and 55 per cent some of the time, once lockdown has lifted. The lockdown has certainly brought about a time of change for employers and employees alike, with 60 per cent of SMEs reporting this is first time employees have been asked to work remotely. How will your flexible and
60%
of SMEs had never asked staff to work remotely before the lockdown remote working policies change once lockdown is lifted?
Trust your staff for best results One of the major factors throughout the crisis and rise of remote working has been trust. According to people performance platform Visier’s research, 75 per cent of employees believe their manager trusts them to be productive at home. Three in ten (31 per cent), however, reported that their manager had put processes in place to check up on their output. Guidant Global, in its advice around trusting employees, suggested using video calls to help keep in touch and plan work schedules, rather than using ‘surveillance tactics’. The
TALiNT International May / June 2020
company also stressed the importance of supporting employees’ mental health whilst they were working remotely. “One of the most important elements for making remote working a success is trust. Home environments for each individual will differ greatly, with many employees juggling care responsibilities with work,” shared
Charlotte Woodward, director of people services at Guidant Global. “Managers should be aware of this, and offer their people flexibility and autonomy to complete tasks. Setting clear objectives, and ensuring employees have the facilities and guidance needed to meet these, will be the best way of ensuring productivity.”
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TALiNT International May / June 2020
"This crisis has really proved that people can work remotely, get their work done, still communicate with colleagues and clients, whilst giving them a better home/work balance.” Alex Lasry, Chief Marketing Officer, Work180
13 Cover Feature: Preparing for the upturn "Forward-thinking organisations will be using the opportunity to experiment and evaluate how new technologies and processes could be applied permanently. As they say, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’.” Hugh Fordham, CEO, Hollaroo
Productive preparation
In a post-COVID-19 world, where productivity will be more important than ever, remote working may provide the solution, both for current and the acquisition of new talent As businesses begin to look towards like after lockdown, they are now looking at how they prepare for the upturn after the crisis. Whilst much will remain unknown, businesses cannot afford to be on the backfoot should trading and hiring make a quick (or at least marked) turnaround in the next couple of months. Will companies begin to hire again? Are candidates going to be looking to change roles? What role will technology play post-remote working?
Others, including a number of recruitment businesses, have seen hiring paused and vacancies withdrawn. “Whilst many of our clients are still engaging key hires into the organisation,” shares Jacqueline Weller, associate director at Ignata, “some clients have temporarily paused their recruitment whilst they adapt to internal challenges, focus on their existing employees and continue to deliver their services to their clients.”
HIRING CHANGES
Many of these reactions and measures are, companies hope, short- rather than long-term changes. Most organisations want to be able to pick up business and hiring again as soon as it is safe and possible to do so.
This journey has been very different for each business. For some, such as Iceland, it’s led to a massive increase in hiring, where they’ve had to adopt new measure fast in order to meet demand. The company hired 3,000 additional people within two weeks, and adopted video interviewing to achieve this whilst also adhering to social distancing guidelines. “The crisis has caused us to completely review the way in which we recruit in our business. We will be adopting many of the practices put into place for the mass recruitment required during the crisis,” explains Jeff Uden, head of talent at Iceland. “New selection techniques, identifying new resource requirements and system integrations are all being fully adopted as a result of what we have learnt.”
ON THE FRONT FOOT
A quarter (25 per cent) of employees reported being more productive when working remotely, according to a study released in May 2020 by Tiger Recruitment
To prepare effectively for the upturn, therefore, these businesses are making plans now. Whilst staff may be furloughed, they can be partaking in training so they’re remaining invested and ahead of the latest trends. “The initial focus will have been on just getting things working remotely, but forward-thinking organisations will then be using the opportunity to experiment and evaluate how new technologies and processes could be applied permanently,” reveals Hugh Fordham, CEO of Hollaroo. “As they say, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’.”
TALiNT International May / June 2020
Top considerations • Long haul: What changes will the business look to retain post COVID-19? • Get ahead: Make decisions now about the shape of the business in the coming months • Tech effect: How can technology support the business to bounce back? • Output, not input: Assess how remote working is affecting employees' productivity levels • Opening doors: How could remote working enable you to access more talent?
work now could open opportunities – and potential employees – that may have been overlooked in the past,” explains Tennille Hall, talent acquisition director at Airswift. “The location of the individual won’t be as much of an issue if there is a working from home environment.”
One of the major investments in recent months has been in technology, particularly that which supports remote working. There are fears, more so amongst employees, that post-crisis, working arrangements may simply return to how they were before. NEW WAY OF WORKING If companies have invested in remote working, however, and staff are just as productive (if not more so in some cases), then why not consider making this a longer-term solution? This has certainly been an outcome of the crisis that Work180 has seen amongst employers it works with. “From speaking to some of our endorsed employers, moving forward after this crisis it seems like employers need to be far more focussed on remote and flexible working,” reveals Alex Lasry, chief marketing officer at the company.
The education and training sector has seen vacancies rise in recent weeks, with 40 per cent of new vacancies in this sector in the week od 2nd May, according to Broadbean
To access this new talent, businesses need to be investing in remote onboarding, something SThree has seen an increase in demand for. "We’ve seen a surge in demand amongst our clients for help with managing the remote onboarding and cultural integration of candidates and ensuring contractors are fully productive in remote working environments," explains Mark Dorman, chief executive officer at the comany. "They also ask if we can smooth the onboarding phase as demand for people with specific skills remains high."
“In times gone by, remote working was seen as unproductive and not much trust was traditionally put in employees, but this crisis has really proved that people can work remotely, get their work done, still communicate with colleagues and clients, whilst giving them a better home/work balance.”
While working remotely offers a great deal of opportunities that businesses shouldn’t want to lose in a post-COVID-19 world, companies will be looking to find ways to bring teams together again. In the absence of physical meetings, however, technology has enabled teams to connect, share ideas and do business. It may not be a permanent alternative to face-to-face interaction, but it has certainly proved beneficial in recent months.
In addition to productivity, remote working opens up doors to new talent. Previously, employers who focused on working from a set location were limited to hiring those within a certain proximity to the office. “The way we
The last couple of months, and next few to come, will not be plain sailing, and there are likely to be setbacks for most businesses. This shouldn’t, however, stop you from having a plan, and doing all you can to inspire your teams to achieve this.
TALiNT International May / June 2020
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16 Industry views - Furlough “It’s crucial to treat employees well during this time to avoid attrition later on, which means being up-front and transparent. Your team will remember the efforts you make now, and will reward you with their loyalty and productivity." Spencer Symmons, Director and Co-Founder, CPS Group
Furloughing for the future
JRS has been a lifeline for employers as well as employees but furlough must be rolled out carefully, sensitively and openly to avoid long-term cultural and legal issues Deciding to place staff on furlough is not an easy decision for businesses to make. Not only does it stop that individual contributing to the business for a minimum of three weeks, it can also raise questions in employees’ minds. Am I not as valued as colleagues who weren’t furloughed? Am I likely to be made redundant? Should I be looking for work elsewhere?
At VHR, they also wanted to make sure they had all the staff they needed to keep the business performing effectively. “We based our furlough decisions upon two elements: keeping the individuals directly responsible for existing business development, and ensuring each support team (such as finance, IT, HR, operations etc) had enough individual representatives to continue with vital work,” shares Danny Brooks, the company’s CEO. “All of our departments and collaboration between them are essential to providing our services and sustaining our business throughout the lockdown.”
This uncertainty (particularly given the current climate) isn’t healthy for anyone involved, but for many businesses it’s a vital lifeline that enables them to stay afloat without making redundancies. A number of companies will be looking at this as a short-term decision, simply until the market picks up again. It doesn’t, however, make this process any easier. MAKING DIFFICULT DECISIONS Whilst some companies have made the decision to furlough certain departments or teams, others have been assessing performance and input to determine this. As Maria Vavoulas, COO of The Hive, highlighted last month, they wanted to see which consultants were relationship building and driving brand awareness, with high activity levels, versus those with low communication activity and possible performance issues. They made these decisions using their technology and the data it provides: “We’re using our technology to make decisions around our workforce. What we wanted to do was give our consultants an opportunity to prove they’re still maintaining the relationships they have with candidates and clients, whilst also trying to build new relationships.”
TALiNT International May / June 2020
KEEPING UP MORALE Whilst short-term, furlough may provide a sense of relief to cashflow and employees who may otherwise have been made redundant, longerterm, it could take longer to return to ‘normal’ (whatever this turns out to be). ONS data found that between 23rd March and 5th April 2020, 27 per cent people across 6,150 businesses had been furloughed
“Companies large and small could suffer from low morale and disengagement if communication is not prioritised. The current situation could also serve to worsen any divides that exist within organisations,” warns Danny Brooks, “for example, contractors or selfemployed workers may not feel part of the organisation in the same way that their colleagues do, or departments may become more siloed and collaboration could reduce.” Employers also need to consider how furloughing has affected employees who carried on working during the period. “Firms that have part furloughed staff will understand that there might be a long-term impact upon motivation,
Top five takeaways • Measured decisions: Use data to help you decide who to furlough • Training game: Keep furloughed employees engaged with training and updates • Mental health: Consider how furloughing may be impacting all your staff • Honest communication: Explain to staff the reasoning behind your decisions and their impact • Reflection time: Encourage employees to use this time to consider what they want from a role
particularly for the staff who have stayed in place and find themselves with an increased workload,” explains Spencer Symmons, director and co-founder of CPS Group, who made the decision not to furlough any staff. “It’s crucial to treat employees well during this time to avoid attrition later on, which means being up-front and transparent, communicating the reasons for any difficult decisions, allowing your remaining team to understand and engage with these conclusions. Your team will remember the efforts you make now, and will reward you with their loyalty and productivity." DEVELOPING STRONGER TEAMS The impact, however, doesn’t necessarily have to be negative, as Andy Randall, CEO or eArcu, highlights. “This can provide space and time for the employee to shine in new ways. As you can’t officially work for your employer during furlough, there can be many other ways to show your commitment,” he says. “For example, writing business related articles on LinkedIn, learning new job-related skills via online training or background reading.” Danny Brooks agrees. “The lockdown and subsequent furlough provide an excellent opportunity to find out what can improve staff morale and motivate individuals, even during difficult situations,” he reveals. “Every business leader can use the lockdown period as an inspiration to prepare to speak candidly with furloughed employees when they return to work. Employers can derive insights from questions around what kept individuals going through difficult times, what they enjoyed about having more time to themselves and what they learned about themselves and their job, and incorporate this into learning and
development as well as employee engagement.”
Up to four million redundancies may have been avoided with the introduction of the furlough scheme, according to the CIPD
MAINTAINING MOTIVATION For staff, whether they’ve been furloughed or not, employers need to be doing all they can to ensure teams remain motivated and engaged. This can be achieved through regular and honest communication. “The key is to be transparent – the most important thing is to provide honest information in a timely manner while simultaneously being sensitive to the impact on the team as a whole. It’s important to reiterate the business need behind the decisions made and the importance of working together as a team to adjust to this environment,” stresses Sondra Dryer, global head of brand & attraction at Alexander Mann Solutions. “It’s not just about providing as much support for those who have to be furloughed– it’s also about understanding the impact this has to those that are left on the team to pick up the additional workload while also wondering about their personal situation and potential future impact. It’s a time to stay close to the team, roll up the sleeves and tackle things together.” The decisions you’re making now as a business will influence your teams in the months and years to come. Treat staff well, which primarily involves being honest and open about the decisions the business needs to make, and you’ll see increased engagement and productivity. Get this wrong, and employees are likely to vote with their feet once the jobs market begins to open up again, at a time when it’s likely you’ll need them most.
TALiNT International May / June 2020
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19 Industry views - Marketing "The motivating factor behind any talent looking at a company for future employment is the perceived culture of that business. It’s important for companies not to remain silent, but to tell their authentic brand story as it is evolving.” Sondra Dryer, Global Head of Brand & Attraction, Alexander Mann Solutions
Centre-stage marketing
Our contributors explain why marketing is a key part of preparing for the upturn as we navigate out of the COVID-19 lockdown and position for the upturn For many businesses, even before the COVID-19 crisis, marketing was seen as an optional extra, to be invested in when times were good. This has led to a number of companies furloughing marketing teams as they focus on those employees who bring in money for the business. Marketing, however, have a vital role to play at the moment in maintaining your company’s presence and profile.
latest employment and hiring guidance and communications updating them on company news and any changes to their services.”
Danny Brooks, VHR
Just because hiring and activity may have slowed down, it doesn’t mean that now is the time to step back. Instead, it’s an opportunity to get ahead of the competition for when things begin to turn around. Candidates and clients will remember the companies that stayed visible, with relevant content and timely updates, during the crisis. These will be the firms they turn to once they need to start hiring or looking for work. This is something that VHR recognised. “We knew that contrary to what some business leaders may believe, our marketing team is a core function throughout the lockdown period,” shares Danny Brooks, the company’s CEO. “Your brand is one of your most powerful assets. With almost 40,000 recruitment companies operating in the UK alone, competition has never been fiercer, and your brand has never been more important. "In addition to driving recruitment brands and delivering leads, recruitment marketing teams are also in a strong position to help clients and candidates with content providing the
Sondra Dryer, Alexander Mann Solutions
Darren Topping, Lorien
The key here is that companies mustn’t simply go quiet on their clients and candidates; marketing is the ideal team to keep this communication up. “We know the motivating factor behind any talent looking at a company for future employment is the perceived culture of that business and whether or not it fits with the potential candidate’s own motivations,” stresses Sondra Dryer, global head of brand & attraction at Alexander Mann Solutions. “It’s important for companies not to remain silent, but to tell their authentic brand story as it is evolving.” It’s not just marketing teams on their own, however, that have a vital role to play; bringing sales and marketing teams together should also be a focus in the current climate. “Marketing and sales collaboration has never been more crucial in ensuring that there is consistent communication to clients and candidates,” explains Darren Topping, business solutions director at Lorien. “At Lorien, we participate in weekly #smarketing meetings under normal circumstances, but during the crisis we have communicated even more. We have tried to over-communicate to our networks and to provide content that is as pertinent as possible. It is the combined role of sales and marketing to provide visibility of opportunities to both clients and candidates and to ensure that we demonstrate our values of ‘most trusted’.”
TALiNT International May / June 2020
20 Industry views - Employer brand
“Protecting your employer brand during this unprecedented period is key; and companies should not underestimate how they act during this time may impact their talent strategy when times return to normal." Jacqueline Weller, Associate Director, Ignata
Bring on the brand
Whilst companies may be making the difficult decision to pause hiring, now isn’t the time to be pausing your employer branding, as our contributors stress In order to have a strong employer brand as we come out of lockdown and the COVID-19 crisis, companies need to be nurturing this now. This is about more than just promoting the good work you’re doing, you need to be looking after your employees and clients, so that they too will support this message. Your reputation has never been more important than now. “Candidates are watching closely to see how employers respond to the situation - be it employers offering pandemic leave to support primary carers, or even examples of organisations like Atlassian, who made their software available for free to teams / businesses with less than 10 employees,” says Alex Lasry, chief marketing officer at Work180. Jacqueline Weller, associate director of Ignata, agrees. “Protecting your employer brand during this unprecedented period is key; and companies should not underestimate how they act during this time may impact their talent strategy when times return to normal," she says. "Ensuring you act with compassion and empathy are key, providing regular communication about your organisation to your employees, clients, suppliers and wider community is essential. Ensuring that
According to research by LinkedIn in April, around one in four company posts mentioned coronavirus
candidates within your selection process are updated, and supported during the onboarding processes is essential to build relationships with the organisation and highlighting your cultural values.” As well as acting compassionately, businesses need to ensure that their employer brand is authentic, both for now and the future. "Candidates trust companies whose employer brand story is authentic and resonates with them," stresses Mark Dorman, chief executive officer, of SThree, "so for long-term success, businesses need to deliver on the promises they make to their candidates and employees or risk losing them to companies that will." A number of businesses are currently having to make difficult decisions about whether to pause hiring and what to do with candidates who are mid-process. Whilst candidates are aware of the current situation and impact this is having on business, they also have to consider their own situation – they could be caught somewhere in limbo if they hand in their notice and then an offer is withdrawn. Peter Knowles, a director at Ignata, reveals how one of their clients is reacting currently. “An insurance client of ours has taken the decision
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for people who were meant to join the business but are not business critical, they’re not going to start over the next few months because they don’t think they can give them the right onboarding experience,” he reveals. “They are, however, still going to pay people, so that they can then join when they’re confident that they’ll have a great experience and onboarding. It helps to build loyalty and trust with people when they join, I think people will remember that.” While this isn’t an option for everyone, it promotes the way larger firms can be supporting all members of staff. This will ensure companies get the best out of staff when they join / return to work – productivity is going to be vital as businesses try to make the most of the upturn. For businesses that have paused hiring / withdrawn offers, there is the possibility they
will be behind the curve, should they need these people urgently in the months ahead. As Knowles added, this is a story about the company he is sharing with candidates and clients alike, so it’s only helping to promote their brand. Some companies, however, aren’t pausing hiring, and instead need to get their brand right, to ensure they attract the talent they need. One such company is Iceland. “We actively made the choice to drive our employer brand over this time. We have linked in our current branding with the tag line ‘Feeding the Nation’,” reveals Jeff Uden, the company’s head of talent. “We measured the success on the number of applications and roles filled. In the first two days of advertising, we received over 70,000 applications and achieved our initial resourcing requirements of 3000 additional heads within the space of two weeks.”
TALiNT International May / June 2020
TIARA 2020 is open for entries The TIARAs exclusively recognise the UK's top recruiters to celebrate the best of the best. Finalists and winners are promoted to TALiNT International's targeted audience of 21,000+ HRDs and hiring managers. All finalists receive individual feedback from our impressive panel of judges. Entry deadline - 5th June Finalists announced - 1st July Winners honoured - 21st October Enter the TIARAs now at https://tiara.talint.co.uk/
23 Industry views - Employer brand "The employer brand is owned by the business and importantly, all our employees. We also have a ‘Voice of the Organization’ cohort of approximately 50 more junior employees who are Employer Brand Ambassadors internally and externally and bring reality and authenticity to the design and delivery of our work." Faye Woodhead, Executive Director, Human Resources, MSCI
The brand ambassadors
Employer brand hasn't just become a focus in response to the COVID-19 crisis. For many businesses, getting this right is a constant focus, and has seen them invest in a variety of ways to enhance it Craig Morgans, global head of recruitment at IWG, shares, "One of the most successful employer brand projects which I’ve been involved with, involved taking the employer brand message to market in a live streamed event. "Delivered via multiple channels and also engaging the public through live streaming, employees spoke eloquently and compellingly on camera about their lives and career– providing first-hand stories of drama, heartbreak, courage and transformation.
Craig Morgans, IWG
all our employees. We also have a ‘Voice of the Organization’ cohort of approximately 50 more junior employees who ratify or challenge the EBC as needed. They are Employer Brand Ambassadors internally and externally and bring reality and authenticity to the design and delivery of our work." Stuart Bell, CEO and founder of Robertson Bell, warns, " If you don't invest in your employer brand, your employees may not want to work with you for the long term and this can have massive implications for client relationships and productivity."
"The engagement levels were beyond any expectation with millions of potential candidates engaging with the content. It also provided the opportunity for long term engagement with content still being consumed to date."
Faye Woodhead, MSCI
Faye Woodhead, executive director of human resources at MSCI, reveals, "We have established an Employer Brand Council (EBC) that owns, approves, directs and prioritises the activity across the whole organisation, as well as acts as a protagonist in all employer brand matters. The EBC is made up of 25 senior leaders across all geographies from Manila to Berkeley, Mumbai to Geneva, London to New York, and is cosponsored by two of our Executive Committee members, with two other EC members as active participants.
Stuart Bell, Robertson Bell
"It was important to me as we set up the EBC that it didn’t sit purely in HR or marketing and communications. While they are critical components and partners, the employer brand is owned by the business and importantly,
Louise Dowding, Lorien
RPO, Lorien, has been working with client Nationwide Building Society on its employer brand and messaging recently. Louise Dowding, head of marketing at the company, explains, "We see ourselves almost as the interpreter or translator of the employer brand. This is especially valuable when it comes to those businesses that may not be top of mind as an employer of choice for tech candidates. "Nationwide Building Society have a very strong employer brand and years of heritage but their move to London is the start of a new chapter as they ramp up their tech focus. Tom Portingale, senior employer brand manager at Nationwide, agrees, ‘To continue to make technology faster and simpler for our 15 million members, Nationwide is in the midst of a large-scale digital transformation project. With a great story to tell, having a specialist RPO partner like Lorien will enable us to amplify this message to a specific tech audience base, putting us in a stronger position to engage and attract tech talent.’"
TALiNT International May / June 2020
24 PointSix promotion “Great ideas come from a variety of different minds and backgrounds and thinking. Narrow thinking gives you narrow solutions and frankly a business that’s not sustainable." Bev White, CEO, Harvey Nash
Driving D&I change
Becky Wilson speaks to Bev White, who became CEO of Harvey Nash in February 2020, about the value of culture and why she is leading diversity and inclusion from the top Prior to joining Harvey Nash, Bev White had been the CEO of Gi Group in the UK for three years. On her decision to join Harvey Nash, White reveals she has spent more than half her career in technology and in previous roles had used the company to find staff. “It’s a brand I love in areas I really understand, so it was an easy decision to join such an incredible brand,” she shares.
grow. You don’t just bring in somebody with their current skillset, you’re looking at their potential so what could they be,” White shares.
Becky Wilson, Editor, TALiNT International
Working in the technology sector, Harvey Nash are well-versed in the challenge of finding the talent that clients need. To help ease this challenge, the company’s Belgian business started up a training programme for junior talent, where they can learn the skills that clients require, from .NET to cyber security. People on the programme are able to earn and learn at the same time, and so Harvey Nash are focused on finding the right people to get involved. “We really work hard at making sure that we get the right motivation and the right skillset of people coming on to these classes. We use a lot of testing, psychometrics and interviewing to narrow down the number of people we offer these classes to, so we get the best of the best.” CULTURE IS KING When it comes to internal talent, Harvey Nash are highly focused on culture: “We always look for people that have the right values first, we’re all about family values, including real trust and integrity. The second thing we’re looking for is smart agile people who really want to learn and
“We’ve got some people that have been here a long time and people don’t stay because it’s easy, they stay because they actually enjoy the environment and they’re getting to grow and develop.” In recent years, Harvey Nash has been transforming digitally, from investing in Microsoft Teams internally to screening and remote interviewing for clients. Technology, however, is only part of the equation when it comes to improving the recruitment process. “People need people,” stressed White. “You can’t take the human out of the process.”
Bev White, CEO,, Harvey Nash Group
Despite this, she acknowledges how technology can add more value to the hiring process by increasing accessibility, which enables people to engage more with the opportunities available. CREATING AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE One issue close to White’s heart is diversity and inclusion. While she says that Harvey Nash will always be working on this , the business runs D&I groups in the UK and the US, which enable people to network and find access to roles. White is insistent that she needs to be the one to lead changes internally, saying, “I need to set the right tone and also make sure that we do everything we can to be as diverse as the client base and the candidate and contractor base that we support.
“Great ideas come from a variety of different minds and backgrounds and thinking. Narrow thinking gives you narrow solutions and frankly a The Harvey Nash business that’s not sustainable. We’ve got some Group comprises of Harvey phenomenal people with all kinds of diverse Nash Technical Recruitment backgrounds that are really growing and Solutions, Nash Tech, Alumni, emerging as fantastic talent and whilst I firmly Spinks, and Crimson believe that the tone has to be set by me and I have to ultimately be accountable, the great news is, we’ve got so many people in the business that are doing this as well naturally.” UNITING IN-HOUSE AND AGENCY While there has been discussion in recent years about the roles of in-house and agency recruitment, White believes there is a place for both in today’s world. “We work really happily in a collaborative way alongside in-house teams,” she explains. “Inside teams have finite resources and they have lots of things that they’re trying to do, which recruitment companies can support.” Looking to the future, White has plans, both internally and externally. “Inside the business, I’m looking at what I can do to make work more enjoyable for our people,” she reveals. “What can we stop doing or do in a different way, which means that people aren’t doing repetitive things or that doesn’t really add value to their day? We’ll be looking at different technologies and
processes, and ways to help people grow and develop.” Externally, White is focused on truly making a difference. “We should be one of the first places that governments come to when they want to talk about changing policies or emerging trends,” White highlights. “I want to get us to those tables more because we can do more to help governments understand what’s possible and then secondly in doing that, help our clients understand the full breadth of our expertise.” This mission is something the recruitment industry as a whole should be getting behind to encourage and influence change at a higher level, and enhance their value in the hiring market. With White focused on developing D&I, working closely with governments and supporting in-house teams as fully as possible, she’s certainly preparing for a busy few months ahead.
“I need to set the right tone and also make sure that we do everything we can to be as diverse as the client base and the candidate and contractor base that we support." Bev White, CEO, Harvey Nash
TALiNT International May / June 2020
26 PointSix Insights “The dynamic has changed since lockdown started with recruitment sales and marketing teams taking a more ‘hands on deck’ approach towards a common goal.” Darren Curtis, Enterprise Sales Director, Volcanic
You furloughed who? Why? PointSix assembled a panel of experts in M&A, investment, and recruitment technology for advice on furlough strategy and how to maximise marketing through lockdown for the upturn With the Chancellor officially extending the Job Retention Scheme to the end of October, recruiters have more breathing space to consider how best to use it. But what lessons have been learned about how to use JRS in recruitment businesses, and what is the best furlough strategy as we come out of lockdown? An industry snapshot was taken on 2nd and 3rd April by Talent Nexus who surveyed over 300 agencies, inhouse recruiters and RPOs for their response to the lockdown. It found that 50% of recruitment firms had furloughed staff compared to only 28% of employers and 34% who were not even considering it.
COVID market presents some complex challenges but also a genuine opportunity to reset your business”.
Alex Evans, Programme Director, TALiNT Partners
DON'T CUT TOO DEEPLY This latter point was echoed by Andrew Davidson, an Investment Director at UK private equity house Dunedin, who shared some of the re-structuring advice he has given his portfolio companies. While furlough has helped recruitment firms to avoid or delay redundancies, he said, it needs to be deployed in a way that maintains goodwill and team spirit.
Unsurprisingly, cost reduction was the highest priority for 64% of recruiters, with 84% seeing a decrease in the number of roles. Preparing for the future was the top priority for 57% of in-house recruiters, highlighting the contrast between a short-term focus on cashflow for recruiters and a longer-term view for employers. “The findings indicate that recruiters have taken more of a knee-jerk reaction to cope with the impact of Covid-19,” said Rachael Moss, marketing director of Volcanic, one of the ten survey partners. “What will be equally important is that they are as swift to react when we come out of lockdown.” To help recruitment leaders make a more informed decision about how they use furlough, who they furlough, and how long for, PointSix brought together a panel of experts from Dunedin, Equiteq, Enhance Media, Volcanic, Paiger and VHR to share insights and advice. TALiNT Partners MD Ken Brotherston kicked off a session on how to re-structure and re-focus recruiters for the upturn by saying “the post-
Sohail Ahmad, Managing Director of Equiteq, offered advice on how to maintain equity value. “Client needs are changing, and businesses need to be explicit in highlighting the benefits they can deliver,” he said. “Business owners should be focusing on strong leadership, delegating effectively, and having an agile mindset; but be conscious of making cost savings that will inhibit success after the crisis.”
Under JRS rules, employers pay normal monthly wage for time spent training but it has to be agreed with the employee
“While the immediate focus has been on cashflow, recruitment is a people-based industry and it’s the culture that differentiates a business,” he explained. “It might be prudent to rotate people on furlough every three weeks to protect culture and avoid resentment. You can also use training to keep them engaged while upskilling for the upturn.” Bev White, CEO of Harvey Nash Group and a member of PointSix, recently launched an online training site for its furloughed workers developed by NashTech, its IT Solutions business. “It was really important to us that our furloughed staff, whilst not working, were still able to feel part of the Harvey Nash Group family,” she explains. “We wanted them to keep up to date with the latest news, as well as have
Top takeaways • Don't cut too deeply - consider culture and who you need for the upturn • Rotate furlough - to avoid resentment & legal issues • Content collaboration - sales can amplify marketing to a more targeted audience • Interactive video - tailor content for candidates to differentiate your offering • Enter awards - use this time to compile client case studies
opportunities to learn and grow throughout their time away from work.” Andrew warned against bringing everyone out of furlough at the same time and recommended a phased return to work as client demand picks up. He also highlighted the need to maintain brand visibility through the crisis. “If you can keep someone on from marketing, that will be beneficial,” he explained. “If you’ve protected your reputation during the crisis, it will be easier to attract top talent that might be on the market or considering a move.” Many recruiters have furloughed their marketing talent, or made them redundant, at a time when they could be enhancing brand, maintaining the profile of furloughed consultants, and working with sales to build new candidate pipelines. MAKE CONTENT WORK HARDER This was explored in a PointSix webinar on how to maximise marketing through the COVID crisis, with advice on how to use new content marketing tools and tactics, how to improve collaboration between sales and marketing, and how to optimise awards and recognition. Giles Guest, director of Enhance Media, is a recruitment marketing and content marketing specialist. He urged marketers to use the lockdown to work on the attracting, converting, and measuring key elements of content marketing to ensure the right people hear the right message in the right way. “Recruiters need to ensure they are valued by having something of value to say to employers. The question is how can you stand out?" he says. Enhancing candidate experience and employer
brand are challenges that recruitment marketers can use to differentiate their offer. Giles believes interactive video offers a competitive edge.
Bev White will share insights on digital learning and new skills for recruiters alongside speakers from LinkedIn and Access at a PointSix webinar on 11th June
“Interactive videos allow you to embed job descriptions, slide shows, thought leadership and office tours directly inside a video," he explains. "The experience changes from linear to interactive, with every candidate having an individual tailored video just for them.” “It’s something candidates and employers haven’t seen before, so early adopters will win more business and grab more attention. You can also generate more revenue by selling content back to employers for their brand activity.” Giles also urged recruitment marketers to look to their own teams for content amplification instead of paid for solutions; but it can be hard to engage sales in content marketing initiatives. “Sales and marketing need to be on the same page now more than ever, but 51% of sales professionals say they don’t have a good relationship with their marketing team, and only 30% speak to marketing every week,” said Darren Westall. Darren, former CTO of Broadbean and founder of Paiger, is a specialist in ‘smarketing’, or ‘the process of aligning sales and marketing teams around common goals within a business or organization, focused on improving revenue’.
“Now is a good time to work with sales teams to gather the feedback from staff, clients and candidates you need for awards entries.” Aimee Treasure, Head of Marketing, VHR
TALiNT International May / June 2020
28 PointSix Insights “Recruiters need to ensure they are valued by having something of value to say to employers. The question is how can you stand out?" Giles Guest, Director, Enhance Media
hunting to farming, with a change of emphasis to marketing to the existing candidate database, optimising CRM and improving the quality of data.”
“Your salespeople’s networks can drive more, and better quality, traffic than other methods; and you can use their networks to reduce reliance on job boards, especially with the Indeed chop hanging over you,” he explained. “By working with your sales team in this way, you can set budgets based on revenue goals.”
The upside of the hiring freeze is an opportunity for consultants to get closer to candidates and contractors, to build relationships with them, gain deeper market knowledge and a better understanding of their client’s challenges. It’s no longer about data, but what you do with it.
Darren’s advice for engaging sales in content marketing is to involve them early in the design of campaigns, keep them in the loop, and celebrate wins so they will support new initiatives. “If sales leaders are a barrier, get buy-in from the CEO to make changes from the top down,” he added. But marketers are often faced with a cultural challenge in many founder-led recruitment firms where the business owner has a background in sales but doesn’t fully understand the value and scope of their role. “Marketing has tended to be last hired and first furloughed by many recruiters, which is why you need everyone aligned around financial metrics,” Darren observed. MEASURE IT TO IMPROVE IT Darren’s advice is to work with sales to define Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), agree Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for both parties (ie number of leads vs speed/depth of follow up), track everything for monthly reports, and present smarketing updates to management. Closer collaboration between sales and marketing is helping to develop new skills in consultants that will help recruiters compete in the post COVID market. Marketing is also helping to build the personal brand of consultants, maintaining the profile of those who have been furloughed and making them more influential social ambassadors for campaigns. “The dynamic has changed since lockdown started with recruitment sales and marketing teams taking a more ‘hands on deck’ approach towards a common goal,” said Darren Curtis, Enterprise Sales Director at Volcanic. “Sales has morphed into business development or account management. We’re also seeing a switch from
TALiNT International May / June 2020
“Leads are the lifeblood of any business, but we need a more targeted approach,” adds Darren. “Marketing can help to ensure sales are focusing on the right areas, getting the right leads, and sharing content that’s right for candidates.”
The deadline for the 2020 TIARA awards is 5th June. Register now to download your entry forms at https:// tiara.talint.co.uk/ enter/
This collaborative approach has helped VHR become a multi-award-winning recruitment business. “Our sales team are closer to clients and candidates so they are best placed to provide us with the research we need to tailor our content marketing to the discussions they are having,” said Aimee Treasure, VHR’s head of marketing. “This keeps our content fresh and topical, and shows we understand the challenges facing our clients and candidates.” Aimee highlights another lockdown opportunity for collaboration that VHR will maximise for the upturn. “Now is a good time to work with sales teams to gather the feedback from staff, clients and candidates you need for awards entries,” she explained. “Awards help to boost morale, restore team spirit and remind everyone of the need to celebrate successes together.” A strong culture and collaboration have been vital in keeping consultants, clients and candidates engaged through the lockdown, so furlough must be carefully to preserve this important asset. The final word goes to Keely Woodley, Partner, Human Capital Services at Grant Thornton and a TIARA 2020 judge. “Those recruitment companies that scale quickly and grow above the £5 million net fee income line are those that have something really special going on with their culture.”
“Very thought provoking. Always good to hear from businesses outside your industry.” Ik Onyiah, Director of Corporate Projects, Oliver James Associates
“The mix of a really strong and relevant peer group with the genuine learning from experts makes these sessions extremely valuable and a great investment of time.” Luke Williams, CEO, Ignata
"A fantastic platform for networking across a diverse and relevant peer group."
"I have come away with ideas to better manage our cashflow and developed my network of senior finance professionals in the recruitment industry.” Amy Bunyan, Executive Director, VMA Group
Rob Harper, Director, CBSbutler
PointSix isn't like other recruitment networks... TALiNT’s PointSix programme is exclusively designed for leaders of the UK’s top 500 recruitment companies. We offer access to world-renowned experts, advisers and thought leaders for multi-sector insight. Our events are attended by chairmen, CEOs and directors of scaling and large recruitment businesses. We help members make connections that lead to breakthroughs and enhance their brand. To find out more about the wider benefits of PointSix membership for you and your team, call Alex Evans on 07747 187569 or email alex@talint.co.uk.
30 Emerging Talent Review “Candidates demand authenticity. They also expect to be able to give and receive meaningful feedback.” James Gordanifar, Head of Student Recruitment at EY
Emerging successful
What is the next generation of talent looking for from employers and roles today? The answer lies in learning and development, honest branding and regular communication As COVID-19 continues to reshape the world of work, on Thursday 23rd April, TALiNT Partners held two Emerging Talent webinar sessions. Despite the changes to hiring happening at present, youth and graduate talent continue to look for roles, and employers are preparing for an upturn when they can begin to re-engage with these individuals. CONTINUOUS LEARNING This is certainly the case for Steph Ryde, Emerging Talent Consultant at Lidl. The company runs a graduate scheme each year, which receives over 5,000 applications across the country for 30 roles. The cohort for this year’s scheme has already been selected, and Ryde shares that they will be being flexible around when this talent joins them “because we want them to join us.” They work hard to find the right individuals who are going to be the business leaders of tomorrow. They each try out the three areas of the business (supply chain, sales and logistics) so that they can trial what different careers will look like with Lidl. In addition to the variety they provide on the programme, graduates are also continually learning; they are paired with a regional training consultant throughout and also complete development courses over the two years. For Lidl, it’s all about maintaining that interest from their graduate talent. “We need to keep justifying that this programme is right for future
talent,” stresses Ryde. Twentyeight per cent of of students are anxious about entering the labour market, JobTeaser research found
For 31 per cent of Generation Z, learning new skills is a sign of progression, according to Milkround
RETAINING TALENT Chris May, Strategic Team Leader at Milkround, followed on from this by sharing some of the company’s latest research into what success looks like for graduates. The research, completed in February 2020, found that when it came to securing their first job, 55 per cent of students had relied on work experience or previous work experience. A key part of this is internships. “Internships need to be accessible for all,” May said. “This year, 37 per cent of internships have been terminated.” The challenge for employers, however, isn’t simply finding talent, companies need to be able to retain it too, and a major part of this is learning and development. When asked how long they expect to stay in their first role, 84 per cent of Generation Z said under two years, and for 29 per cent, they’ll be leaving in pursuit of new skills. “Make sure you’re communicating and making it clear what their development options are, and let them have input into what they really want,” shared May. GOING DIGITAL The second session of the day combined insight from James Gordanifar, Head of Student Recruitment at EY, and Michelle Craig, Marketing Manager at JobTeaser. Gordanifar shared his honest experience of embedding a digital
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recruitment process. Prior to doing this, the company’s recruitment process was taking 12 to 14 weeks and they were using a requisitionbased applicant tracking system (ATS). “The consumer and candidate worlds are converging and previously we weren’t in a place to deliver what candidates have come to expect from a best in class recruiter,” revealed Gordanifar. “Candidates are demanding authenticity. They also expect to be able to give and receive meaningful feedback.” As part of its updated digital recruitment process, the company developed an immersive online platform and job simulation where the content candidates engage with can be used as part of the assessment process. The business also moved away from traditional assessment centres and launched EY experience days, assessment events hosting up to 128 candidates where all the exercises candidates take part in during the day are completed on an iPad. As a result of these changes, the pace of delivery in the online stages of the recruitment process has accelerated to between one and two weeks, versus four to five weeks before. To assess effectiveness, the business has been using net promotor scores (NPS), which it uses to refine processes accordingly. Reflecting on the experience, Gordanifar stressed the importance of having set objectives from the start and deciding what you do and don’t want (EY said no to AI and gamification because they were focused on being authentic and realistic with candidates).
Graduate positions have decreased 76 per cent in the past 11 weeks, according to Adzuna. This is the equivalent of 11,278 positions
“We were guilty of not involving the business enough, make sure you include them as this is a massive transformation,” he said. “Tech is only part of the answer – recruitment is peoplecentric.” This transformation has proved priceless for EY in the current climate; during the current lockdown in the UK, the company was able to induct 90 students virtually in April using technology. AUTHENTIC CONNECTIONS Michelle Craig considered how students, universities and employers are reacting in the current crisis. Understandably, students are worried about completing their degree, but they are still optimistic about their career prospects. At the start of lockdown, JobTeaser saw a decrease in traffic to its website, but this is now higher than it was at this time last year, and video content consumption on its website is up two times that of last year. Universities, in response to the crisis, have switched to online to try and keep student engaged and motivated. This includes looking at online careers fairs. As Craig highlighted, “Universities need to consider if this is the right thing to do and whether it’s was employers want.” Employers need to be leveraging their employer brand and increasing visibility with graduates. “Employers need to be authentic and honest to become trusted,” Craig stressed. “Look at the needs of students and see how you can provide the information they need, including useful resources, advice and updates.”
TALiNT International May / June 2020
32 Industry interview "The newer generations are more likely to listen to their connections – if someone in their trust pool shares a bad story, it’s going to be even more damaging than something on Glassdoor. And the same is true on the positive side.” JC Townend, CEO, LHH, UK & Ireland
Mentoring better connections JC Townend tells Becky Wilson why emerging talent doesn’t have to mean youth and the value of investing in the talent you already have Heading up LHH (formerly Lee Hecht Harrison Penna) in the UK and Ireland, JC Townend knows the importance of having the right talent, and supporting them throughout their journey with a business. The company’s focus is on career transition and outplacement, with global operations across 65 different countries. Not only do they support other companies, but Townend’s goal is also to “practice what they preach” in building their talent. Around half of the business’ hires each year fall under the traditional ‘early careers’ description, and for Townend, emerging talent shouldn’t just mean those coming out of university. “It’s really important that when people think of emerging talent, they’re not just thinking of those in their early careers,” she stresses. “Now, people at all stages of their career need to continue to progress or they can be left behind.” Through their work with talent development, and supporting those made redundant at all levels who need to find a new job or career, LHH and Townend realise that everyone can benefit from the opportunity to relearn, retrain and reskill. DEVELOPING INTERNAL TALENT In addition to supporting their clients to successfully develop their talent, LHH has brought their commercial services in-house too. For example, the company offers training programmes for entry- and mid-level managers, which focus on a different topic each month over six months. “This gives them the chance to learn one component of management, learn it well and practice those skills, before learning the next skill,” explains Townend. “With a lot of
emerging talent rising through the ranks quickly, this has been really beneficial.”
Becky Wilson, Editor, TALiNT International
It's not only about developing talent for the business’ benefit though – today, younger generations expect this support and investment. “I think the current younger generations are coming to work and are expecting their career to be a lifetime of learning. They’re going to need to keep reskilling and there’s a hunger for that,” reveals Townend. One highly beneficial scheme for attracting and retaining emerging talent is a mentoring programme, which LHH has recently introduced. Townend herself is a mentor, and thinks it is the opportunity to “give back” while building successful talent.
JC Townend, CEO, LHH UK and Ireland
She also feels putting emphasis on relationships between very different levels, and across units, builds the company in unique ways. “It also gives people an avenue to pitch their ideas at board level, and with a bit of coaching, they can help implement some really ground-breaking initiatives.” BUILDING THE RIGHT BRAND Company profile can be a challenge when it comes to attracting emerging talent, particularly attempting to be heard above the noise of major brands. “A strong consumer brand can help attract interest in a company,” Townend shared, “but it can also be a drawback if there is a stereotype surrounding the brand which may have nothing to do with what the company is really like to work for.” But now with social media, there is a better
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chance for people to learn about how a company works that goes beyond the outside perception. Emerging talent today are even more likely to do their research before deciding to join a company. This could be anything from online reviews to asking their networks. “The newer generations really pay attention to branding and profile,” warns Townend. “They’re also more likely to listen to their connections – if someone in their trust pool shares a bad story, it’s going to be even more damaging than something on Glassdoor. And the same is true on the positive side.” The other challenge that businesses mustn’t forget is the retention of emerging talent. “If you spend so much time and effort bringing someone into a company, and then they only want to work for you for 18 months,” she highlights, “they’ve hardly delivered a return on the investment you took to bring them in.” The challenge increases when companies have a high performer that they’re happy with, but the individual wants to continue advancing and they are impatient for what’s next. Companies, therefore, cannot afford to rest on their laurels when they think they have the talent in the places they need. ASSESSING EMPLOYEE HAPPINESS To monitor their employees’ engagement, LHH asks its employees to complete a pulse survey
LHH is now present in 65 countries and acquired Penna in the UK four years ago
every other month. This encourages the company to continually assess where they’re performing well, and where improvements are needed. One area it covers, for example, is how well managers are performing. “This isn’t about blame,” stresses Townend. “it’s about trying to support a manager and give them the coaching they need to become a more supportive and engaging supervisor.” Focusing on this area has led to managers’ scores rising over the past year and a half. Instead of always focusing on finding and hiring new talent in today’s rapidly changing world, Townend emphasised that there is also success to be found in retraining current talent. “Rather than letting people go while hiring in other areas, many people can be effectively repurposed into another part of the organisation,” she says. But instead of simply expecting an employee to be able to make a transition, companies can have more success by providing them career transition support to ensure they are successful in their new role. By investing in the talent a business already has as much as possible, companies will see increased loyalty and commitment, as well as a reduction in staff turnover, and therefore recruitment costs. Businesses need to be focused on getting things right for all talent when they join the company. The current workforce are the leaders of the future, and it’s in a company’s best interests to invest in them, encourage their development, and enable them to continually grow.
TALiNT International May / June 2020
34 Industry views - Investment in talent “We have invested into an online learning platform which is accessible at any time by our staff. The content has been updated to help support and motivate staff on furlough." Darren Topping, Business Solutions Director, Lorien
Accessing future success
There is a lot of speculation about the skills and attributes needed after this crisis. The best way to prepare is to provide staff with opportunities to upskill and find new ways of learning One of the key pieces of information from the furloughing rules has been that employees can still partake in training and online learning. Companies of all sizes have been seizing this opportunity, which provides the opportunity to keep employees engaged whilst also ensuring they’re upskilling and preparing for the future. A major concern from the employee’s point of view is that, after furlough payments stop, they may be made redundant, should the business not see them as business critical. By encouraging training, employers are showing a degree of investment in their staff, and employees are more prepared, regardless of what the future brings. But, training doesn’t have to be solely for furloughed employees, why not offer all employees they opportunity and time to invest in themselves and their skills? EASY LEARNING The key thing when it comes to any form of online learning is that it’s easily accessible, and relevant to your teams. Make sure that it’s not only accessible during work hours, or requires permission to access from another team member. “We have invested into an online learning platform which is accessible at any time by our
Darren Topping, Lorien
staff, whether they are at home or in the office, on a computer or on a mobile device. The content has been updated to help support and motivate staff on furlough and they can undertake all manner of courses from live sessions to full learning paths and 10-minute bitesize classes,” reveals Darren Topping, business solutions director at Lorien. “Through encouraging our furloughed staff to undertake online learning, our primary aim is to take care of their mental health and wellbeing. The motivation, increase in skills and retention of staff is just the result of this.”
Matt Trott, Recruitment Juice
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT This support of mental wellbeing is vital – as news we’ve been sharing shows, many employees are currently struggling with their mental health, as they feel isolation and stressed at home. Being on furlough, in some cases, will only add to this concern, but support and training can help to ease this. “Current challenges have rattled people’s sense of emotional safety, the need to control and direct their lives and the best leaders are focused on what they can control for their people - creating a sense of connection and achievement, of being valued and stretched to develop new skills and fresh ideas,” highlights Matt Trott, managing director at Recruitment Juice.
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“Digital learning has proved to be a vital tool in achieving just that; to upskill, motivate and retain furloughed recruiters as well as to support those continuing to work through the crisis. At Recruitment Juice we’ve seen a significant spike in online learning activity and a 113 per cent increase of logins on our platform.” Cornerstone have also seen an increase in people using its learning platforms. “We know from our research from the Cornerstone Institute for People Development that in March 2020, learners spent 27.5 million hours on Cornerstone Learning,” reveals James Wilson, VP at Cornerstone, “and almost half (40 per cent) of Cornerstone Learning clients worldwide saw an increase in March compared to February, so there has definitely been a hunger for learning during the pandemic as organisations adapt to new challenges.”
can be reassured that new hygiene and safety measures are being taken seriously and that protection will be in place once they return,” shares Sandra Kelly, the company’s UK director.
James Wilson, Cornerstone
“These changes require a great deal of preparation, as companies will need to re-train staff and put in place the new health and safety procedures and social distancing measures at the same time as getting their businesses up and running again.”
Sandra Kelly, People 1st International
It may be difficult during the current crisis to consider a world where businesses and trading open up again, but only by focusing, and preparing for this, can businesses be ready to face what the future brings. By continuing to support and invest in your employees, they’ll put more trust in the business, and be more future-fit, which is what companies are going to need in the months ahead.
FUTURE READY Investment in staff doesn’t just have to involve training. During these uncertain times, companies are also taking the time to prepare their staff for the future as best they can. In certain areas, this will involve more planning than in others. People 1st International, for example, has a number of clients who operate in the hospitality, travel and retail sectors. “Preparation is already underway so that customers in these sectors
“Digital learning has proved to be a vital tool used to upskill, motivate and retain furloughed recruiters. We’ve seen a significant spike in online learning activity and a 113 per cent increase of logins on our platform.” Matt Trott, Managing Director, Recruitment Juice
TALiNT International May / June 2020
36 Industry views - candidates "At a time of uncertainty, there is even more of a need to manage the expectations of candidates, keeping them continually up to date on the latest information regarding their role to try to make the process as stress-free and easy as possible." Stuart Bell, CEO and Founder, Robertson Bell
Talent pathways
The actions businesses are making now will impact their ability to attract and retain talent as we come out of the COVID-19 crisis. What will your pandemic legacy be? Whilst hiring may be somewhat muted at the moment, as we come out of the crisis, there will be roles that will need to be filled and candidates will once again look to move. What will be different from the last couple of years is that there will be more candidates on the market looking for work. Many of these workers will be highly skilled, providing recruiters and employers with more choice. “For the last decade, the industry has been working with a very candidate-driven market – until the COVID-19 crisis hit and transformed the market virtually overnight!” says Wendy McDougall, CEO and founder of Firefish Software. More candidates, however, doesn’t simply mean more opportunity. With higher numbers of applications comes the potential for poorer recruitment experiences. While there may be more choice for employers, this does not mean that candidates can be treated as a commodity. They still need to be treated as individuals and receive regular communications and updates. LIFE-LONG REPUTATION Plus, businesses need to be doing the work now to ensure they’re an employer of choice postcrisis. With more time to review the market, candidates are focusing on how businesses
are treating staff and clients now, which will influence decisions later. For those not taking the candidate experience and employee wellbeing seriously, the damage may cause longer lasting hiring effects. Wendy McDougall, Firefish Software
Adam Shay, Resource Solutions
Charotte Schaller, Aon's Assessment Solutions UK
As Resource Solutions’ global marketing director, Adam Shay, highlights, “The pandemic has emphasised the need for organisations to be humanising their brands and connecting with candidates on a personal level. Even in the buyer’s market to come, brands that want to seize the initiative will still need to attract the best talent.” Shay, however, does highlight that it’s not only companies that need to be working on securing the best talent, candidates also need to be working now to try and secure roles with companies they want to work for. “Candidates will need to engage with employer brands more closely than ever,” he stresses. “To be in the best position for whenever the post-pandemic world begins, candidates need to be developing relationships with the brands they aspire to work with – and doing so right now.” TECH SOLUTION Most companies have been investing in tech as they moved to work remotely. "Our recent survey found that 74 per cent of the 1,889
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now is the time to get on top of this! Use any downtime you have now to get your database cleaned up, and you will come out the other side of all this with a serious advantage.”
organisations surveyed have implemented a virtual interview and recruitment process, with most moving quickly to onboard these virtual hiring tools," reveals Charlotte Schaller, MD of Aon's Assessment Solutions UK. There is also likely to be a move towards more investment in technology to support hiring and the candidate experience. “If there is now an increased reliance on tech, then this tech must have much more personality, branding and subtlety,” explains Andy Randall, CEO of eArcu. “Candidates will not have the patience to spend time with clunky, inconsistent and inappropriate tools.” The technology a company uses will also need to be able to help review applications and sift through candidates. As Wendy McDougall, CEO and founder of Firefish Software, highlights, individuals need to be meeting the technology halfway. “The focus will be in setting up highly-targeted talent pools that sift out the candidates within your database who boast even the most niche skills and experience that you’re looking for and maximising on any job-matching features available to you,” she says. “But in order to do this effectively, your recruitment database will need to give a true and up-to-date picture of every candidate on your system. And it goes without saying that
Andy Randall, eArcu
Stuart Bell, Robertson Bell
KEEP UP COMMUNICATION What hasn’t changed during this crisis is candidates’ desire for regular communication. “The significance of communication to the candidate experience has not lessened. We have noticed that, at a time of uncertainty, there is even more of a need to manage the expectations of candidates, keeping them continually up to date on the latest information regarding their role to try to make the process as stress-free and easy as possible,” reveals Stuart Bell, CEO and founder of Robertson Bell. “Throughout the past few weeks, our consultants have shown serious empathy and understanding to all involved in the recruitment process. This is hugely important as for many candidates, removing the in-person interaction associated with the traditional recruitment process is a daunting prospect.” While the future may be uncertain, candidates will, at some point, begin looking for roles again. It may well be a jobs-led, rather than candidateled market, for the next few years, but that doesn’t detract from the role and responsibilities that hirers have when it comes to looking after candidates and providing them with the best possible experience.
TALiNT International May / June 2020
38 HR tech “There are a number of benefits of video interviewing, which is why they’ve become so popular in recent years (reducing time to hire, improving brand engagement). That’s not taking into account that high-calibre candidates want to work for cutting edge organisations who embrace technology, not avoid it.” Craig Morgans, Global Head of Recruitment, IWG
Making tech connect
The true value of talent tech can only be seen if it's properly implemented and everyone understands why they need it. What impact has the lockdown has on adoption and what new problems need solving? candidate no shows, consistent interviewing process etc). That’s not taking into account that high-calibre candidates want to work for cutting edge organisations who embrace technology, not avoid it.”
There have been numerous releases around the number of businesses that have bought and invested in different technology solutions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and surge of people working from home. This has had to cover everything from keeping teams connected, sharing relevant data, and hiring / onboarding candidates where necessary.
Whilst IWG are using technology for candidates, Ignata have been using it to develop relationships internally. “It is noticeable how much closer we have become as a team, supporting our individual home working experiences with the use of video technology for daily catch ups and team social activities,” shares Jacqueline Weller, associate director at the company.
Any technology businesses are using needs to do more than simply help them survive, it needs to enable them to thrive. With many teams working remotely, businesses don’t have the time or capacity for poor processes or implementation delays. THE ART OF VIDEO One of the key adoptions for many firms has been in video software, whether that’s for interviewing candidates, or staying in touch with teams. “Video has fixed itself firmly as a part of many recruitment processes. Firstly, as the platform to assess in a virtual world. We’re in the middle of some very uncertain times and some organisations find themselves continuing to recruit, with significant hiring numbers to achieve and no doubt a larger pool of candidates to assess,” reveals Craig Morgans, global head of recruitment, IWG. “There are a number of benefits of video interviewing, which is why they’ve become so popular in recent years (reducing time to hire, improving brand engagement, reduction of
Walters People has seen a 67 per cent increase in video job interviews in March 2020
For some companies, however, having to make decisions around technology and the right solutions for them isn’t at the forefront of their mind. Fortunately, for any companies with an RPO partner, this is something that they can support with. “RPOs have the unique opportunity to scale alongside their clients by offering new and lower cost solutions during this crisis. Technology, of course, will help make most of these solutions possible,” explains Ross Dzurko, executive director of talent services at Sevenstep. “With the anticipated influx of applicants over the coming weeks and months, the RPOs that power their solutions with innovative technology to streamline processes will be better able to more strategically support their clients by creating a positive candidate experience while protecting and contributing to the company’s employer brand.”
39 Top five takeaways • Value assess: What technology will enable your business to thrive now and in the future? • Promote the benefits: HR tech firms need to find ways to highlight they value they can bring • Video view: How could video help you to hire remotely? • Time to act: Investing in the right technology will provide you with an advantage as we come out of the crisis • Outsource support: Could an RPO provide the tech you need without the large investment?
Just because technology is enabling businesses to carry on operating during the pandemic, it doesn’t mean that the ‘sell’ from the HR tech provider’s point of view is always easy. When asked how providers are highlighting their value, Hugh Fordham, CEO of Hollaroo, reveals, “With difficulty! Because everybody is under stress and when organisations are desperate to conserve cash then any new investment is tricky to get signed off. But as it becomes clear that organisations need to adapt to the new reality, and the leaders start to stand out, then this will become easier.” Whilst some providers may be appearing to struggle to highlight the value the provide at the moment, according to Adam Shay, global marketing director at Resource Solutions, some companies may have left it too late to adapt. “The most efficient, technology-led businesses are finding that they’re able to weather the storm. Their reliance on remote-working and video calls is merely increasing, rather than seeing them need to start from scratch,” he reveals. “More traditional businesses are struggling to cope right now; and they’ll struggle to emerge from the crisis unchanged.” THE NEED FOR SPEED Lorien, however, are more convinced by the benefits that technology is bringing to all teams at the moment. “Talent tech providers have enabled recruiters and organisations to respond to the crisis with speed and agility,” explains Darren Topping, business solutions director at Lorien.
According to Capterra, 43 per cent of SMEs have bought or implemented new software for remore working in response to the COVID-19 crisis
“A significant number of organisations still need to hire critical heads and talent tech providers assist with this. In particular, video and assessment technologies stand out. Video tools such as Hinterview allow hiring managers to still meet and engage with candidates screen to screen.” THE NEW ABNORMAL As we come out of the crisis, it’s unlikely that business will go back to any form of ‘normality’ with any speed, and therefore businesses need to understand that they’re in it for the long haul with the technology partners and providers. The technology you choose now, will shape the business you are in the months ahead, so companies must ensure they’re reviewing options carefully. This doesn’t, however, mean avoiding making decisions around technology – it is a vital part of our world today that is needed for survival and success.
"The RPOs that power their solutions with innovative technology to streamline processes will be better able to more strategically support their clients by creating a positive candidate experience." Ross Dzurko, Executive Director of Talent Services, Sevenstep
TALiNT International May / June 2020
40 VSix Insights “Invest in the exploration and understanding of the ‘pain chain’. How does the solution not only fix the problem but deliver value across all stakeholders?” Chris Gray, Sales and Marketing Director, ManpowerGroup UK
How to win more pitches
The first in a new series of webinars for TALiNT's VSix network for HR tech founders presented insights on how to work with procurement and hpw to help HR leaders build an investment case for talent tech With cash reserves depleted, corporates will be looking for short term direct and indirect cost savings. This means there is even more emphasis on the business case, the tangible impact of your solution, and quick wins.
Chris Gray, Sales and Marketing Director of ManpowerGroup UK, has led transformation in the creation and delivery of innovative workforce solutions and services. He shared insight on what a large recruitment company like Manpower is looking for in talent tech.
This was the scene-setter for an insightful webinar on how to build the business case for HR tech in context of a more challenging market from Mike Lander, CEO of Piscari.
“In the past 10 years, we’ve seen improvement in the application of integration, more of a focus to improve the capture and analysis of data, and a greater adoption of apps like chatbots," he observed. “There is a strong desire now for a single store front and there is a greater use of intelligence where tech can guide users and assess outcomes.”
A former Procurement Director for Alexander Mann Solutions and a Strategic Procurement Advisor to RPOs, MSPs and Recruitment Agencies, Mike presented tactics for winning more deals and making more money when negotiating with procurement in big companies.
PINPOINT PITCHING
"Savings are always on the agenda, but vendors need to understand that just because I asked for it, doesn’t mean I need to get it," said Mike.
So what's his advice to Rec Tech providers who want to pitch a solution to Manpower? “Invest in the exploration and understanding of the ‘pain chain’," he said. “Tech is the enabler, but it’s people that make the decisions, so get all stakeholders together early to understand their individual challenges to be clear on what they need and how they want to use it. How does the solution not only fix the problem but deliver value across all stakeholders?”
A key theme of the session was that vendors need to understand the pain and motivations of all of the stakeholders involved - from finance and IT to HR and procurement - so they only pitch what they really need. Procurement also has a responsibility to get everyone on the same page. “The end-to-end journey needs to be transparent, and procurement must educate the wider stakeholder community,” he said. “Make sure that the financial case you put forward is strong, and don’t avoid procurement – help them to build the case with you.” Mike was joined by two corporate HR and recruitment leaders who offered a buyer's perspective.
The total value of the global HR tech industry in 2019 was $400 billion according to research from Josh Bersin
This is where it's tempting to over-sell and scope creep comes in. “Scope creep of any sort is difficult to manage. You need to have a line in the sand that you set at the beginning." HR and procurement should also be wary of trying to cover too many bases. "There is a danger of building the perfect house before you move in, so it will already be out of date," added Chris. "Start, assess, adapt, and build. If you try to build perfectly, you’ll miss the boat. Over
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complexity compounded by inflexibility means you won’t be able to move forward.”
Six points from VSix
But how easy is it for HR to not only build the business case but get it pushed through? “HR functions often lack in the ability to develop strong, measurable outcomes over a certain time frame so they need a strong, executive level sponsor," said Alex Wilson, former Group HR Director for BT plc and a specialist in organisational transformation. What criteria will corporates use to assess providers, and will it become harder for smaller vendors to compete? “I want procurement teams to have searched for the best in class, do referencing and measure a track record of success," he added. "They also need to assess the financial stability of the vendor. If it's an early stage business, I would recommend the FD attends the pitch."
TALiNT VSix and Piscari have co-produced a white paper on how to win more HR tech pitches. Email alex@talint.co.uk if you would like a copy
1. Vendors can help HR to build the business case by defining tangible, measurable outcomes – engage an executive sponsor and involve IT and Finance in defining success metrics 2. Savings will be a higher priority for corporates with depleted reserves – how will your solution deliver quick wins and reduce short and long term costs? 3. Understand the ‘pain chain’ – how does the solution solve a problem for all of the stakeholders involved, including HR, IT, Finance and Procurement?
HOW TO AVOID TIME WASTERS
4. Avoid functionality or scope creep – it can undermine the initiative and discredit the in-house sponsor so focus on key pain points and beware of forward selling
And how can smaller vendors decide if you're a client worth making the effort with? “Make sure that HR has an understanding of the proposition you’re offering and that they have the autonomy and budget to make decisions," said Alex.
5. Don’t try to build the perfect house before you move in – over-complexity compounded by inflexibility means you won’t be able to move forward
“Tech providers need to find organisations with similar cultures and mindsets and look for sustainable relationships," added Chris. "This is not just about price and margins, it’s about output; it needs to be clear what the proposition will offer. The flip side of success is failure if expectations aren’t managed.”
6. Necessity is the mother of invention – all of the TA and management challenges related to remote workers present opportunities to innovate and add value
TALiNT International May / June 2020
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