Category: D&I

Diversity and Inclusion: Building Employee Resource Groups and Driving Change

Posted on by edyson

Diversity, equity and inclusion have long been a key point of discussion in many organizations’ human resources departments. While the topic has always been top of mind, events in 2020 have shined new light and emphasis on the importance of social justice, anti-discrimination and diversity and inclusion.

Why is Inclusion Important?

employee resource groups

However, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Diversity & Inclusion Survey, two-thirds of respondents indicated their organizations have not adopted practices to reduce unconscious biases and other barriers to inclusion. Moreover, even among organizations that have adopted such practices, employees are not likely to be aware of the efforts. This illustrates the importance of inclusion in the workplace for candidates.

Creating employee resource groups (ERGs) is an approach you can use to build a more inclusive environment and addresses diversity and inclusion in a more holistic, community-based way. Employee resource groups, also known as affinity groups, have emerged in the workplace as a standard component of diversity and inclusion initiatives. In fact. according to a report from Bentley University, nearly 90% of all Fortune 500 companies have ERGs.

For many organizations, the benefits of employee resource groups have evolved from the primary intent — to provide a forum in which members of an organization who share common interests, issues, or concerns meet to address those issues — to multifaceted benefits that impact an organization’s strategic diversity and inclusion efforts in recruitment, retention, mentoring, leadership development, marketing, customer relations and return on investment.

What is an Employee Resource Group?

The first employee resource groups were initially workplace affinity groups created in response to racial strife of the civil rights era. Joseph Wilson, the former CEO of Xerox, developed the concept following race riots in Rochester, NY in 1964. Wilson and his African-American employees designed and launched the National Black Employees Caucus in 1970 to address racial tension and the issue of workplace discrimination.

Modern ERG programs are the enduring legacy of Mr. Wilson and his colleagues’ courageous efforts. In its most basic form, an ERG is an employee identity or experience-based group that helps employees within an organization build community and share a common cause.

what is an erg

ERGs are generally based on building or strengthening community, providing support and contributing to personal and professional development in the workplace. Most ERGs are volunteer based, though some companies support organizers with a percentage of paid time off or other recognition, including leadership development opportunities.

What is the Purpose of an ERG Program?

While each ERG must define its purpose and goal, common ERG drivers are:

  • An ERG program creates an open forum for employees who share a common identity to meet and support one another in building their community and sense of belonging.
  • ERG programs empower these groups by offering them financial support, organizational support and access to decision-makers.
  • ERG programs facilitate a clear line of communication from ERGs to leadership to voice concerns and solve problems.
  • ERGs provide a resource for leadership regarding employee and community issues, needs and policies.
  • ERG programs seek to advance a respectful and inclusive company culture and reinforce the importance of inclusion.

What Does an ERG Look Like?

ERGs come in a variety of forms, with some of the more popular ones taking the shape of:

  • Diversity groups that foster a sense of belonging among employees that belong to a minority group in the organization
  • Volunteer programs where employees can support charities and other volunteer initiatives
  • Affinity clubs where employees with similar interests get an opportunity to socialize
  • Professional development groups that provide employees the opportunity to share knowledge with their peers from other departments

The Value of Employee Resource Groups and Why is Inclusion Important

ERGs deliver value to organizations and their workforces in multiple ways. They build a sense of community and belonging for employees by connecting people in a social and professional way and encouraging interaction between employees.

What’s more, according to a report from the Society for Human Resource Management, 90% of companies examined said ERGs helped make new hires more comfortable during the onboarding process, and 70% of organizations relied on ERGs to build a workforce to reflect the demographics of their customer base.

ERGs empower employees by giving each group a collective voice to speak with decision-makers and management. Groups are also empowered to assemble and voice concerns as a community. ERGs support learning and development by offering formal and informal leadership opportunities and creating visibility for employees who are active.

ERGs also provide a resource for leadership and decision-makers regarding staff/community issues, needs and policies. And ERGs offer to the company their expertise and experiences to improve equality and equity. They can also be an asset in business decisions to make better, more inclusive products and services.

Lastly, ERGs can also support retention because employees are likely to stay with the company longer if they have built or are part of a strong community within the company and feel heard again, this is why why is inclusion important.

Creating an Employee Resource Group

erg diversity

If you or other employees within your organization would like to start an ERG, it can be difficult to know where to start. Below, we outline the steps to get your ERG off the ground.

Align Your ERG with your Organization’s Broader Objectives

For your ERG to be successful, your purpose should be tied to your organization’s overall mission and values. Is your organization focused on giving back to your community? Or is your goal to build a more diverse workforce?

Choose a topic around diversity and inclusion for your employee resource group that aligns with overall company goals. Think about writing a mission statement for your ERG that touches on your organization’s core values. Showing how your ERG advances the overall organizational strategy will help earn support from other areas of the organization.

Secure Executive Support

Executive support for your ERG is essential for continued success. To gain buy-in, find executive or C-suite sponsors who are personally committed to diversity and inclusion or social impact initiatives. Executives are busy and oftentimes metrics focused, so it may be helpful to come with talking points and data that showcase how an ERG will make a positive impact on your organization.

Make sure HR leaders are invested as well, as you will need their support to share ERGs during the new hire onboarding process and in promotional materials for the ERG.

Building Your ERG Team

Before launching the ERG, establish a communication plan and identify benchmarks for success, including long-term goals and potential challenges. Recruit colleagues willing to take on a leadership role, such as committing to a monthly meeting or making time to plan and execute events.

Then, find other like-minded coworkers who are passionate about supporting your ERG. It’s just as important to have members who are willing to participate and spread the word as it is to have leaders and planners.

Deploying Your ERG Program

A strong communications plan is a major component of an employee resource group’s success strategy. You can begin by creating a simple presentation that outlines the ERG’s goals, events and ideas for participation. You can leverage your organization’s marketing team to use your organization’s brand standards to create a logo for the ERG that ties it directly to the organization. This is an effective way to clearly communicate that your ERG is supported by leadership and is an important initiative.

Equipped with your members and materials, generate excitement for the ERG by hosting a company event. Throwing a happy hour — virtually now, because of COVID-19 — is a great way to introduce your ERG’s mission, lay out future events and recruit attendees to grow your group’s core membership.

How Your Organization Can Support Your Employee Resource Group

Your organization can support your employee resource groups in a variety of ways. Your ERG may receive budget and organizational support. However, your organization should not dictate which groups should form, who should join each group or what impact the groups should have. That should be a decision of the group, but it’s important for the organization to provide tools to work towards and measure that success.

This could include charter documentation, purpose workshop, road-mapping templates and exercises, budget tracking tools, support in setting and tracking OKRs, a platform for communication with their group and potential members, visibility within the organization and meetings with senior leadership.

Conclusion

A sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace is important in order to empower employees and help them bring their whole self to work. Building a strong network or community is a very important step in creating this sense of belonging.

In order to truly empower and support ERGs, it’s important to give the employee resource groups the autonomy to define the scope of their group, to define membership eligibility and most importantly, to define what success means to them.

The Importance of Inclusion in Your Diversity Programme

Posted on by jpatel

The seemingly never-ending obstacle course of 2020 has been filled with highs, lows and everything in between — from a landmark ruling for LGBTQ+ workers to an international awakening to systemic racism and a global pandemic that has impacted the lives of millions. As organisations around the world face a future more unpredictable than ever before, one thing remains certain: the business case for diversity and inclusion (D&I) is stronger than ever. 

In order to face unique challenges, organisations will need unique thinking, the kind that only comes with a truly diverse team — whether in age, gender, sexuality, race or otherwise. According to a report from the World Economic Forum, companies with above-average diversity scores report nearly 20% higher revenue due to innovation. Moreover, this article from The Conversation cites research from more than 300 Australian studies that conclusively shows how workplace racism has a direct, detrimental impact on performance, accounting for an estimated 3% loss in average annual gross domestic product. 

That said, the driving motivators for organisations to foster effective D&I programmes should not be focused only on performance metrics, but rather the desire to make employees feel represented, understood, respected and cared for. While most companies are able to increase their level of diversity, they struggle with cultivating a culture in which those diverse voices are heard — leaving room for improvement in their inclusion efforts. 

D&I: Defined 

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace has been a hot topic for years, so why does it often seem like minimal meaningful change has occurred? Unfortunately, the downfall for many organisations is the misinterpretation that diversity and inclusion are synonymous. To avoid making this mistake, it is important to understand the difference between diversity and inclusion, to better understand why it’s time to shift focus to the latter. 

The definition for diversity is relatively straightforward, and simple enough for most organisations to achieve by tracking demographics and collecting concrete data to ensure they hire and promote people of varying backgrounds. 

However, the definition for inclusion is more difficult to effectively measure results against because every organisation can interpret words like “including” and “accommodating” differently.  

According to Deloitte, “without a shared understanding of inclusion, people are prone to miscommunication, progress cannot be reliably evaluated, leaders can’t be held accountable and organisations default to counting diversity numbers.” 

Deloitte goes a step further by using its research to create a holistic definition comprised of four distinct yet connected elements:  

  • Fairness and respect: The starting point for effective inclusion is ensuring people are treated equitably and with respect — in both nondiscrimination and basic courtesy.  
  • Valued and belonging: People will feel included when they believe their authentic self is valued by others and they feel a sense of connectedness with their peers. 
  • Safe and open: Inclusion is experienced when people feel safe to speak up without any fear of embarrassment or retaliation. 
  • Empowered and growing: True inclusion happens when people feel empowered to grow in their role and do their best work — diversity of thinking can emerge.  

By looking at the depth of these definitions, it’s clear that building and maintaining an effective inclusion programme requires considerably more time and effort than it does to reformat a hiring process to increase diversity. While diversity can be measured and those metrics can be used to set and achieve goals, inclusion calls for a continuous cultural reset.  

Inclusion Requires Action 

In a 2020 report by McKinsey & Company, data from three industries with the highest levels of executive-team diversity — financial services, technology and healthcare — showed that “while overall [employee] sentiment on diversity was 52% positive and 31% negative, sentiment on inclusion was markedly worse, at only 29% positive and 61% negative.” Furthermore, the levels of negative sentiment about equality and fairness of opportunity, key indicators of inclusion, were also particularly high — proving that even more diverse companies struggle with effective inclusion.  

So, what are some steps organisations can take toward fostering better inclusion? To gain some insight, LinkedIn asked Black talent leaders their thoughts on what talent acquisition teams can do to accelerate diversity and inclusion. Here are three of their tactics: 

Change how and where you look for talent  

This starts with having diverse recruiting teams. Having recruiters from a wide variety of backgrounds will help employers change the way they think about how and where they find talent — shifting their sourcing beyond the geographies, companies and schools they’ve become accustomed to. 

Make a “top-down investment” in diverse employees 

To build diversity into the succession plan, organisations should invest time, money, training and executive sponsorship into their diversity efforts, ensuring representation across the business. By hiring and promoting diverse talent, an organisation sends a message of inclusion that ripples throughout the company and into the industry — positioning you as an inclusive workplace that recognises the value of diverse talent. 

Leverage the power of remote work  

Continuing distributed work strategies beyond the current crisis will allow recruiting teams to source, engage and hire talent where they are. Organisations will no longer be limited to talent that lives in the same geographies as their physical offices, meaning they can expand their scope to locations that are historically diverse.  

These tactics may seem like large feats, and that’s because they are. Building an organisation that is truly diverse and inclusive is a huge undertaking that takes time, effort and serious commitment. While you work on the organisational overhaul, keep in mind that there are also some smaller steps you can take along the way: 

  • Provide resources. Inclusion can’t be mandated; it requires the “changing of hearts and minds.” Organisations can do their part by encouraging open dialogue and providing educational resources, like this anti-racist reading list from DiversityInc. 
  • Break up cliques. We are naturally drawn toward others who are like us, which can often result in cliques. Create opportunities to position employees outside of their comfort zone and into work groups made up of people with various backgrounds. 
  • Form inclusive groups. Create a dedicated task force focused on updating policies that promote your company’s values. Project Include offers more suggestions for creating systemic inclusion here. 
  • Offer professional development. Offering development programmes and mentorship opportunities to underrepresented employees who may have a steeper hill to climb can help them in their career ascent.  
  • Showcase diverse talent. Representation matters, and employees and candidates will understand how you value diverse talent when you celebrate and share their stories. 

A Continuous Journey 

It can be easy to get lost in the mindset that inclusion is a “one and done” activity. That mindset has a certain allure, because it would mean we could all rest assured knowing we’ve created a workforce that is 100% diverse and effectively inclusive. In reality, inclusion is a continuous journey that requires a concerted effort, focus and determination to effect meaningful change. You can think of it like a long road trip — one that requires multiple checkpoints, refuels and stops to check you’re still going in the right direction. To ensure you’re always on the correct path, it can be helpful to perform a regular inclusion audit that asks: 

  • Does the organisation have a continuous representation of diverse talent? 
  • Is diverse talent represented in leadership roles? 
  • Is there room to remove bias in the hiring process? Promotion process? 
  • Are we listening to employee concerns? 
  • Are we regularly surveying employee sentiment on D&I? 
  • Do we know what’s working? What isn’t? 
  • Have we asked employees what they want and need? 

It’s clear that simply hiring diverse talent is not enough. While it’s a start, it’s only part of the solution. Workplace experience and true inclusion is what will help employees feel represented and valued, leading to diverse hires that stay, grow and thrive. The road ahead is a long one, but by implementing the strategies outlined in this article, your organisation will be well on its way toward a better diverse and inclusive workplace. 

London College of Fashion: Shedding Light on Potential Barriers to Engagement

Posted on by mhill

We worked with the London College of Fashion to understand what factors might be preventing them from recruiting a more diverse workforce and advising on how to start addressing them.

The London College of Fashion, part of the University of the Arts London (UAL), wanted to increase the number of its employees from BAME backgrounds. Specifically, they were finding it challenging to attract applications from ethnic minority candidates in sufficient numbers. As part of their journey to addressing this issue, they commissioned PeopleScout to help them understand the experience they offered to existing ethnic minority employees and to advise on whether the insight gained could shed any light on potential barriers to engagement amongst external BAME audiences

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • COLLEGE-WIDE RESEARCH REPRESENTING ALL AUDIENCES.
  • IDENTIFYING DIFFERENCES IN EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE.
  • INSIGHT INTO FACTORS CAUSING POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO RECRUITMENT.
  • ADVISING ON ADDRESSING THOSE FACTORS.

SCOPE AND SCALE

We conducted research amongst a sample of people from both BAME and non-BAME backgrounds, to identify any differences in how they experienced the College as an employer. Our research took the form of 1-1- interviews and involved academic and non-academic staff, as well as a selection of alumni to provide somewhat of an external perspective.

SITUATION

While the initial focus was on ethnicity, it turned out that this was not the key challenge.

Where differences appeared to exist in the employment experience, they were not between BAME and non-BAME colleagues. They appeared to be related to socio-economics
or ‘class’, with non-BAME members of staff who (unprompted) identified themselves as working class sharing very similar perceptions of senior management to their BAME counterparts. The common perception was that to do well at the College you had to have a certain background and set of social experiences. Without these, there was a sense that the top of the organisation was unattainable. This sense appeared to be reinforced by the comparatively optimistic perspectives of those BAME staff members who had achieved senior positions in the organisation.

The challenge was not therefore about ethnicity, it was about addressing seemingly class-based factors.

SOLUTION

IDENTIFYING AND BREAKING DOWN PERCEIVED BARRIERS

Following completion of the research, we advised the College that, from a communications perspective, they needed to focus on breaking down any perceived barriers between senior management and the wider staff body. We recommended using, if possible, personal stories to position the latter group as more relatable and their level within the organisation as achievable with hard work. We also recommended that the College check its internal promotion processes for any signs of unconscious bias.

CHALLENGING MISPERCEPTIONS

During the research staff suggested that the College’s challenge around attracting BAME candidates might to some degree be caused by a sense that the organisation only wanted a certai
‘type’ of person – i.e. that the external perception might mirror the internal one.

TAKING A PERSONAL STORY-TELLING APPROACH

We therefore advised the College to extend the personal story-telling approach beyond internal communications into its recruitment communications; and to review the channels through which these stories are disseminated.

RESULTS

We advised that the key to success was to position the College as more accessible to people from all walks of life, including those with BAME backgrounds.

The College is now taking this approach for their attraction and engagement activity.

Transport for London: Recruiting to Represent Modern London

Posted on by mhill

We worked on TfL’s entry-level talent employer brand and attraction activity to recruit a higher proportion of female and BAME applicants.


TfL values the importance of diversity and inclusion. Being representative of London is something their success is measured on, and the same standards apply to their apprenticeship and graduate schemes.


These schemes had proven successful in the volume of applications received but weren’t reaching talent from all walks of life – TfL needed a diverse pipeline that truly represented modern London. It was time to rethink their entire student attraction activity.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • CREATED A NEW DIVERSITY-CENTRED EMPLOYMENT BRAND.
  • DEVISED NEW OUTREACH PROGRAMMES TO APPEAL TO WIDER DEMOGRAPHICS.
  • REDESIGNED RECRUITMENT AND ASSESSMENT PROCESSES TO HELP FEMALE AND BAME CANDIDATES BETTER SHOW WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY’RE CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING.

SCOPE AND SCALE

London’s population is projected to reach 10.5 million by 2041, and naturally TfL play a major role in contributing to London’s growth. Supporting this growth means recruiting, retaining, and developing a next-generation workforce but also giving Londoners a chance to take part in the design of their city.

SITUATION

TfL needed to recruit 32 graduate roles, five placements, and 109 apprenticeships. Our primary objective was to champion these fantastic opportunities to a broader apprentice and graduate talent pool in order to increase female and BAME applicants. To achieve this, we needed to challenge stereotypes and overcome negative perceptions. That meant not only changing TfL’s attraction and assessment processes but overhauling their entry-level employer brand as well.

SOLUTION

A NEW BRAND TO MAKE BETTER CONNECTIONS
Together, we transformed the way TfL recruit diverse talent. Ensuring skilled people from all walks of life have a chance to shine in the application and assessment process, our creative team used their audience knowledge to build a dynamic unexpected youth brand, ‘The Next Move’, designed to better connect with female and BAME applicants. We then shaped
a comprehensive outreach programme and a completely new assessment process with the aim of helping these candidates show TfL who they are and what they’re truly made of.

ENABLING CANDIDATES TO SUCCEED IN ASSESSMENT CENTRES
From experience, we know that young people often need to build their confidence by filling gaps in their knowledge. To address this, we created ‘Route-into-Work’, a pre-employment programme for all candidates, that would help them succeed in assessment centres – and the results were astounding.

A MORE TARGETED APPROACH We also targeted universities with higher rates of female and BAME students, rather than promoting opportunities at all UK universities.

RESULTS

We achieved amazing results with the graduate recruitment campaign, comfortably filling all of the roles.

DOUBLE THE PERCENTAGE OF BAME GRADUATE HIRES
Most importantly we doubled the percentage
of BAME graduates from 27% to 54%, and we substantially grew the proportion of female hires from 18% to 29%.

GROWING FEMALE APPRENTICE HIRES BY 16%
Similarly strong results were achieved in the apprentice pool, as we dramatically grew the proportion of female hires from 20% to 36%,

The Route-into-Work programme delivered 9% of the apprenticeship hires (12 individuals), of which 33% were female and 67% were BAME.

Transport for London: Recruiting Talent from Every Walk of Life

Posted on by mhill

How we overhauled TfL’s entry-level talent brand and attraction activity.


TfL values the importance of social mobility. Being representative of London is something their success is measured on, and the same standards apply to their apprenticeship and graduate schemes.


TfL’s entry-level talent activities had proven successful in the volume of applications received but weren’t reaching talent from all sectors of society – TfL needed a diverse workforce from every social background that truly represented modern London. It was time to rethink their entire student attraction activity.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • REDESIGNED RECRUITMENT AND ASSESSMENT PR
  • PROCESSES TO HELP CANDIDATES FROM A WIDE VARIETY OF BACKGROUNDS EXCEL.
  • DEVISED NEW OUTREACH PROGRAMMES TO CONNECT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE IN AREAS OF HIGH DEPRIVATION, THEREBY APPEALING TO A WIDER DEMOGRAPHIC.
  • CREATED A NEW SOCIAL MOBILITY-CENTRED EMPLOYMENT BRAND.

SCOPE AND SCALE

London’s growing population of 16-18-year olds is set against a backdrop of rising youth unemployment and some of the most deprived areas in the country. Naturally TfL play a major role in contributing to London’s growth, and so opening doors for people from disadvantaged areas was absolutely vital.

SITUATION

Our primary objective was to make TfL more relevant and accessible for our target audience. This meant removing barriers to recruitment, challenging stereotypes, and overcoming negative perceptions. We needed to change TfL’s attraction process so that people from every pocket of society would be interested in the unique opportunities available.
And we needed to re-position their entry-level employer brand as a progressive organisation in which everyone – regardless of background or financial situation – could excel.

SOLUTION

A NEW AND VIBRANT YOUNG TALENT BRAND
We started by transforming the way TfL recruited, ensuring talented people from all walks of life got a chance to apply. This resulted in a dynamic, unexpected youth brand – ‘The Next Move’ – which was designed to look different from other TfL communications, using vibrant, colourful graphics.


A CONFIDENCE-BOOSTING PRE-EMPLOYMENT COURSE
We then created a programme called ‘Route-into-Work’, a pre-employment course helping 16-25 year-old NEETs fill gaps in their knowledge and get the tools, insight, and confidence to be successful at assessment centres.


A NEW SCHOOL’S OUTREACH PROGRAMME STRATEGY
For their Apprenticeships, we designed a new strategy for our schools’ outreach programme, ‘Moving Forward’. We identified 251 of the poorest secondary state schools and ran over 50 events, with additional events in three of the most deprived boroughs in London: Newham, Tower Hamlets and Haringey.

RESULTS

We achieved amazing results in the recruitment campaign, comfortably meeting the social mobility criteria we had set out to achieve.


As a result of our targeted activities, we filled 32 graduate roles, five placements and 109 apprenticeships.

Bristol City Council: Recruiting the Manager at the Heart of a Mayor’s Vision

Posted on by mhill

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • SUCCESSFULLY RECRUITING IN A COMPETITIVE SECTOR
  • NAVIGATING SMALL CANDIDATE POOL FOR THE LEADER THE CLIENT NEEDED
  • IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE WILLING TO RELOCATE

SCOPE AND SCALE

The Council’s Housing Delivery Plan identified a need for 800 new affordable homes per year. The Housing Strategy and Enabling Manager provides the strategic leadership to develop, enable and deliver this ambitious annual programme.


This role is all about sharing responsibility for affordable housing strategy across the public and private sectors. We needed to find a professional who could build great relationships in both areas and work collaboratively with partners and local communities. A persuasive advocate of the need for more homes to meet real human needs – today and tomorrow.

SITUATION

We were looking for an individual with in-depth knowledge of town planning policy and regulations; a qualified Chartered Town Planner (RTPI) or Chartered Surveyor (RICS) with membership of a relevant association. Finding an impressive professional working at the scope and scale of a large Unitary Authority was the key challenge. This person had to hit the ground running
in a new structure.

SOLUTION

The hiring manager brief highlighted three essential search criteria:

  • Detailed knowledge of housing and planning legislation in local authority and housing association sectors
  • Proven leadership track record in a local authority, housing association or housing organisation
  • Exceptional stakeholder management skills to advocate for the housing sector at a local, regional and national level

Candidates who met the first two criteria were numerous.
But most lacked the senior stakeholder experience. So we searched at a national level, positioning Bristol as a city where people could make a real impact on reducing inequality through housing strategy. This message really resonated. And we found good levels of gender diversity in the field. The final shortlist of four had a 50/50 male/female ratio.

RESULTS

We found healthy numbers of potential candidates in similar roles in other councils and housing associations, but few were willing to consider a new role at the time of the search.
Nevertheless, and shortlist of four excellent professionals was created and the role was filled with the outstanding candidate. They start in July 2020.

Developing & Leading Diverse, High Performing Teams with Olympian Annie Lush

Posted on by mhill

Annie Lush is an Olympian, round the world sailor and quadruple World Champion.

In 2014/15 she competed in the Volvo Ocean Race with Team SCA, becoming part of the first ever female team to win a leg of the race.  She went on to race with Team Brunel, a mixed crew in the 2017/18 edition, as well as racing on the World Match Racing Tour, with Team Magenta, the first female team to earn a place on the World Tour in its 23 year history.

At university Annie was part of the successful Cambridge University rowing crew who beat Oxford to the finish line of the Boat Race by the smallest recorded margin in the race’s history. It was winning with this team that inspired her to pursue a career in competitive sport and she has been on the water everyday since.

Alongside racing Annie works with teams and business to explore techniques for performing, team building and leading under pressure. She has worked with International business from a range of industries, with National sports teams, and also mentors younger sailors as well as speaking in schools and clubs.

Annie’s main passion is to utilise sport for social change. Annie is one of the founders of The Magenta Project, a charity set up at the beginning of 2016 to advance women in sailing and the marine industry. She is also an educator and ambassador for the 1851 Trust, working with low income children in schools to foster interest in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) through the sport of sailing. Recently she has been delivering workshops across the UK targeted specifically at inspiring girls into STEM and Maritime careers.

Annie speak to Talking Talent to share her take on how organisations can develop and lead diverse, high-performing teams.

Department For International Trade: Securing the UK’s Future Trade Deals

Posted on by rharris

The Department for International Trade (DIT) commissioned PeopleScout to help them with a key resourcing challenge. In preparation for the UK’s departure from the European Union, DIT needed to find a large volume of high-quality candidates to staff a new trade authority. Their dilemma lay in the fact that these roles hadn’t been seen in the UK for over 45 years, so candidates might struggle to understand whether they were qualified to do the jobs. Through the creation of an ‘match me’ innovative tool and targeted approach to supporting candidates, PeopleScout supported DIT in recruiting 75 exceptional individuals.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Dedicated account team
  • Creative candidate engagement
  • Bespoke tools
  • Exceptional candidates and enhanced diversity

SCOPE & SCALE

In preparation for Brexit, The Department for International Trade (DIT) needed to create a Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) that would govern and monitor the UK’s future trade deals with the rest of the world. This newly created function needed around 75 exceptional Lawyers, Investigators and Economists to join them in their new Reading office.

SITUATION

We faced a complex challenge. Firstly, many candidates might not know which role they were best suited to, as these opportunities would be new concepts to them. Secondly, we had to populate a department that could operate post-Brexit.Thirdly, we faced an extremely tight deadline. PeopleScout and DIT agreed that a bespoke solution was needed.

SOLUTION

DEDICATED ACCOUNT TEAM

We provided a dedicated account team that was responsible for every element of the process including: an attraction campaign, application management, assessment and selection material, a microsite, candidate management, interviewing making the offer and onboarding process including BPSS security checks. Crucially, we trained the team in how to deliver the right message, explaining what they could and could not say in case journalists tried to ‘apply’ for the roles to find out more about
this high-profile organisation

CREATIVE CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT

Our approach was two-fold. We combined free and paid-for advertising with a strong social media campaign. At the same time, we undertook a market mapping and candidate
identification activity whereby we engaged with key candidates directly. All activities ultimately directed candidates to our carefully crafted microsite which detailed the uniqueness of the roles.

BESPOKE TOOLS

As these roles were brand new in the UK, we developed a ‘Match Me’ tool that helped candidates understand the role that would best suit their ability, skillset and experience. We also devised a tailormade application process that included killer questions, an online SHL ability test (Numerical, Verbal and Inductive reasoning), a telephone or video interview, and a face-to-face assessment. Throughout the campaign, we provided DIT with weekly updates, reviewing the success of the campaign on a monthly basis.

RESULTS

OVERWHELMING INTEREST

From the start of the campaign in May 2018 to its completion in January 2019, we witnessed a staggering 47,522 visitors to the microsite, with 1,597 applications being made. Candidates remained engaged throughout the process, with an impressive 92% assessment centre attendance.

EXCEPTIONAL CANDIDATES

43% of candidates passed the assessment centre process, meaning that DIT were spoilt for choice. They eventually made 93 offers, with 75 of those being accepted. As a result, they now have 75 high-calibre members of staff who are committed to governing and monitoring the UK’s future trade deals.

ENHANCED DIVERSITY

Diversity was very high on the priority list for both DIT and PeopleScout, and while we didn’t have specific targets, we did track applications. To everyone’s delight our diversity statistics were extremely positive, with 38% of applicants being female, and 48% being BAME.

Delivering Diverse Early Careers Applicants

Posted on by akessler
Delivering Diverse Early Careers Applicants in Financial Services

Delivering Diverse Early Careers Applicants in Financial Services

A leading UK financial services group partnered with PeopleScout to improve the candidate experience in their early careers programme, resulting in improved candidate diversity.

36% % Increased in Total Applications
39% % of Candidates Identified as Female
47% % Identified as Coming from an Underrepresented Group

SITUATION

Twelve years ago, we began supporting the client with candidate management within their Emerging Talent programme to attract more graduates and interns into the their workforce. As recognised leaders of employer brand and candidate experience, our client delivery team presented some recommendations to the organisation on how they could improve their hiring journey based on ad-hoc feedback received while interacting with early careers candidates.

SOLUTION

Crafting a Better Candidate Experience

We started by creating a candidate experience audit to measure the informal comments we’d heard. Through a series of internal and external focus groups with graduates and interns who had recently been through the recruitment process, we identified gaps in the candidate communication schedule. Candidates revealed that they were often unsure of where they were in the process, what was coming next and how they should prepare.

With our client first, not process first philosophy, we created a customised plan to address these concerns. We produced a candidate journey guide to help the candidates understand each step of the process. To go along with this, we developed a content plan to provide candidates with the right information at the right time, keeping them informed about next steps.

Supporting the DE&I Directive

We also took the opportunity to boost candidate engagement by personalising email communications and adding visual content which promoted organisational programmes that would appeal to this young audience, like their well-being initiatives. In addition, to support the client’s DE&I directive, we chose to highlight stories about women and BAME employees—especially those in finance and technology focused roles—to decrease the likelihood of these candidates dropping out of the funnel. 

Implementing Candidate NPS

Since we’re always focused on delivery, we implemented a new candidate Net Promoter Score® (NPS) survey to measure the candidate experience and uncover more opportunities for improvements going forward. All candidates, whether hired or not, are asked how likely they are to recommend the bank as a potential employer based on their recent experience with the early careers recruitment programme.

RESULTS

Since taking on the management of the Emerging Talent programme for this client, we generated a 36% increase in total applications from the previous year, with 39% from female candidates and 47% from candidates from a underrepresented background.

The new candidate survey provided a candidate NPS of 57, which is considered excellent.

“The PeopleScout team are proactive in talking to us about new ideas and at the same time are brilliant at being reactive to business hiring needs. PeopleScout are a true trusted partner and have been fundamental to our hiring delivery and service over the last 20+ years.”

– Senior Resourcing Manager

AT A GLANCE

  • COMPANY
    Leading UK Financial Services Group
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    1,500
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    A leading UK financial services group has been partnering with PeopleScout for over 20 years, making it one of our longest-standing client relationships. What started as a Talent Advisory engagement has now expanded to include end-to-end volume Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services, with over 1,500 hires annually across 16 sites, 50 shift patterns and multiple banking brands.
Contact Sales

Virgin Media: High-Volume RPO and Professional Recruiting for Improve Diversity

Posted on by rharris

CHALLENGE

After publishing their gender parity report, Virgin Media set us the challenge of recruiting more female technicians into a role which has a pronounced gender bias, with 99% male incumbents.

At the end of 2017, Virgin Media changed their approach for vetting new starters. Sales starters would now have to complete full vetting before starting. vetting was completed after the start date.

In 2017 we successfully hired 275 Field Sales Advisors, in 2018 we were challenged to increase the number to 450, with a smaller attraction budget than we were granted in 2017. This was a sizeable challenge as field sales are one of the tougher areas to recruit for. Typically it uses up a higher percentage of our media budget.

APPROACH

Setting up a ‘Women in Field’ working group and regular project calls with the client were key. We explored every avenue to tap into a market which previously wasn’t engaged with this opportunity. We wanted to be bold and disruptive in our approach, particularly around how the role was advertised and positioned. We listened to existing female employees and involved them in the recruitment process, making sure they were present for female candidates attending assessments.

Fully vetting new joiners before they start on induction makes for a fantastic candidate and hiring manager experience. We used our existing partnership with ‘Security Watchdog’ to identify how to dramatically reduce the three-week clearance period. With better signposting and a clearer process, we reduced the clearance period to just 11 days.

We developed new channels to engage people who previously would not have applied. We streamlined the application process and introduced the option to register interest in hotspot areas. We used our internal SNAP team to post across social channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Our Field Sales recruiters were then able to engage those interested and convert them into applicants.

‘We’ve made more than 30% more hires in 2018, with a 20% smaller attraction budget.’

RESULTS

‘Women in Field’ was launched in four key locations and in just two months, we received triple the number of applications from women that we received in the whole of 2017. And by the end of the pilot, we had more than doubled the number of female employees.

The new vetting process has helped to reduce early attrition by up to 20% across sales channels.

In field sales we’ve made more than 30% more hires in 2018, with a 20% smaller attraction budget compared to 2017.

Overall, we’ve dramatically improved our application to hire ratios across all of the UK. And in 2018 (year to date) hiring managers have saved 376 hours in interview time.

The campaign was shortlisted in the ‘Diversity’ category of the 2018 Recruitment Marketing Awards. We’re now seeing more regions across the UK using a similar approach in order to increase their gender diversity.