The human touch

You might have seen our new photography competition launch recently, aimed at changing the image of manufacturing. It got me thinking…

If you stopped and took a snapshot of your company what would it say? Is it a truly global brand? Does it reflect the 21^st century in terms of employee diversity?

Does it promote engagement whether amongst staff or the local community? Does it make the most of people’s talents? Does it have a clear perspective on what it stands for, or is the picture slightly blurred and fuzzy?

These are important questions to ask now, partly because the Equality Act has imposed more obligations on employers in terms of how they recruit and treat their staff. But also because in an increasingly competitive and global world, where corporate reputations can be undone in less than 24 hours, ensuring that your company is “doing what it says on the tin” is vital. 

What makes and sells your products - your employees – represents your employee brand and it is this, as well as your products that customers are buying into.

The importance of employee brand and its effect on corporate reputation is aptly showed by BP’s management of the oil spillage. It has not only cost them financially, but may in the long term also affect how either prospective or current employees feel about the company and its values.

So when British companies are competing with the emerging economies of China, Russia and India – doing this effectively requires an understanding of what makes these cultures’ employee brand.

Having a workforce that reflects or understands this will go some way to making this easier. Your people are ambassadors for your products - so recruiting and retaining skilled people from a diverse background makes good business sense.

Being an employer of choice in an increasingly competitive marketplace is not only about attracting the right people but also how to best engage and retain them. Engaged employees are more likely to deliver good customer service and thereby increase customer loyalty. Look at all parts of your company and consider whether you are providing opportunities for everyone to shine – whether it is more women in senior positions or managing an ageing workforce.

Check whether your people management is living up to your brand - one that reflects the customer base and preferences that you are selling into and from which you are attempting to gain market share. Only then will how you see yourself become how others see you.

Find out more about the photography competition at www.eef.org.uk/photo

Recent CIPD surveys have indicated the signs of a recovery in recruitment activity, with more companies planning to hire staff than to cut workers. This is to be welcomed.

The recession and, with it, redundancies continue to leave big holes in companies, often in the difficult-to-fill category, and this can hinder recovery and further growth.

This may be a good time for companies to reflect on who they have and how to keep them before pushing the button on external recruitment. Although recruitment is often about filling gaps in the workforce at critical points in the business cycle, it is often only planned for that recruitment campaign and not as part of a long-term strategy.

What is needed is a strategy for a recessionary climate that involves making talent management within the company a priority. This will involve not only thinking about what the business wants to achieve, but most importantly how to make this happen- the classic workforce planning exercise.

Mapping out the skills and capabilities that are needed to win business will be an absolute priority. This naturally leads onto working out whether you have the right personnel with the right skills in the right place.

Tracking down the talent in your business, unearthing what people can do and unleashing their creative, often hidden, talents can be just a matter of talking to, engaging with and motivating people.

Most companies have this in their kitbag – appraisals, internal know-how, maybe even training and development initiatives such as coaching and mentoring. If line managers are motivated to understand and support skills development, these tools can be put to work to increase internal bench strength.

This is talent management of the many, unlike the traditional view of talent management as an activity reserved for individuals with specialist skills or knowledge, or for high fliers.

The payback of using a talent management approach to recruitment issues can include a more engaged workforce, with improved succession planning and lower recruitment costs. Encouraging people to multi-skill and to coach and mentor others helps knowledge and skills circulate around the business. It can also help create a more diverse culture and facilitate a learning organisation.

EEF has a long history of helping companies develop and strengthen their internal resources – everything from training managers in specific skills to fostering team capabilities. Making the most of what you have and holding onto it will be the battleground for the future – this is the time to come prepared.