Resilient teams achieve The Talent Advantage.

Thought Leadership

We share lots of topical articles which you may be interested in. Fill in the form below to receive future articles straight to your inbox.

Receive more articles like this one

First, we must recognise the work we have done throughout these difficult times, acknowledge the current state of businesses and understand how the future of work has changed. In this way, we can create a shared vision for the future and agree new expectations.&nbsp;
We now know what true disruption feels like and we have all had to adapt to agile working environments with little to no preparation or plan in place to help us navigate the uncertainty. Now, we can redefine what success looks like and acknowledge how it is different now from what is was before.&nbsp;
With the clear communication of objectives and goals and defining what the measures of success are we can inspire motivation, accomplishment and drive ensuring we are all working towards this common goal as a supportive and united team.&nbsp;

Where are we going? 

Exerting the right amount of pressure upon ourselves and our teams is crucial to achieving effective long term, high performance. As discussed in a 2019 published research article by Marie S. Mitchell et al,2&nbsp;there is a direct correlation between the level of pressure we feel and the performance we achieve.&nbsp;
Experiencing a level of pressure that stretches us out of our comfort zone can energise us and spark us into action, this is where we will find that we are operating in our peak performance zone experiencing a boost of energy, a feeling of drive and a sense of purpose enabling us to operate at our highest level of productivity.&nbsp; It is unrealistic to believe we can always operate in our maximum performance zone, periodically we need to recharge in order to re-energise. If we feel we are under too much pressure or that the challenges we are facing are too much, the stretch we feel can quickly turn into strain. That strain can affect our concentration levels, our decision-making skills, our effectiveness and our overall wellbeing. This is true for you in the same way it is true for your team.

Peak performance under pressure

Every day can bring a new challenge and an increase in pressure, how we bounce back from the challenges we encounter and the resulting fluctuations in our performance is down to resilience. Put simply, resilience is our capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.
Acknowledging how you feel enables you to recognise and accept when you are experiencing a problem or in need of recovery. It is impossible to operate at peak performance for long time periods without experiencing burnout, so take regular moments to reflect on how you are feeling. Many leaders admit they have felt overwhelmed, stressed, de-motivated, worried, pressured, challenged, un-enthusiastic, frustrated, unsure and out of control throughout the lockdown period. It is important to be in-tune with how you are feeling so that you know when and what action can aid resilience.
Taking control with actions is an excellent way to start counteracting feelings of worry and anxiety.

Building resilience in yourself and your team

<ul>
<li>Nurture a positive view of yourself&nbsp;</li>
<li>Identifying a positive takeaway or achievement each day can help to keep negative feelings and doubt at bay.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Cherish social support and interactions</li>
<li>Reconnecting with colleagues, even if it is just a quick catch-up call to talk about your day and what challenges you are tackling can really help with feelings of isolation.</li>
<li>Take positive actions</li>
<li>Create lists of things you need to do and enjoy the satisfaction of ticking each one off as you work through.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Create a routine for your new working practices</li>
<li>Research shows1&nbsp;that it takes 66 days to form a new daily habit, so for your new working regime to become second nature, consistency is key.</li>
<li>Take the opportunity to grow</li>
<li>Identify self-development opportunities and set out a plan to work on them a bit at a time.</li>
<li>Hold on to the good things</li>
<li>There have been positives to lockdown, more time spent with the family, more time for hobbies, home improvements and to learn new skills.</li>
<li>Try to hold on to this work/life balance and build it into your new working structure.</li>
<li>Re-define what success looks like.</li>
<li>Set realistic goals, define success and remind yourself of them often.</li>
</ul>
Resilience is a skill that needs to be practiced, we can all take active steps like these to build our resilience and develop a growth mindset. Each time you overcome a challenge your self-confidence improves reinforcing positive behaviours, thoughts and actions and building your resilience. If you find yourself in a difficult situation, overwhelmed by work or feeling worried and anxious, it is this resilience that will provide the ability to refocus and get back on track quickly.

Key actions for tackling negative feelings

<ul>
<li>Problems are an opportunity to learn and grow</li>
<li>Avoid making a drama out of a crisis</li>
<li>Celebrate your successes, the big wins and the small ones</li>
<li>Keep a realistic perspective</li>
<li>Practice optimism</li>
<li>Be a source of positivity</li>
</ul>

Growth mindset tips for building resilience at work

<ol>
<li>Research article: &ldquo;How are habits formed&rdquo; Phillippa Lally [July 2009] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.674</li>
<li>Research article: Can You Handle the Pressure? The Effect of Performance Pressure on Stress Appraisals, Self-regulation, and Behaviour. Marie S. Mitchell, Rebecca L. Greenbaum, Ryan M. Vogel, Mary B. Mawritz, David J. Keating. Published Online: 18 Apr 2019 https://journals.aom.org/doi/full/10.5465/amj.2016.0646</li>
</ol>

References

Leadership in a Changed World: You, The Leader

<div class="candidate-dashboard-section-heading full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h2>Why do people work?</h2>
</div>
</div>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">
Level of Activity:
Type:&nbsp;Thrives on time pressure and invests high levels of energy in every task.
Pro:&nbsp;Can be very efficient and productive - hit all deadlines and produce good work.
Con:&nbsp;Could agree to too many deadlines and end-up achieving none.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Affiliation:
Type:&nbsp;Need to belong, they relish the opportunity to work as part of a team.
Pro:&nbsp;Will invest high levels of energy when given the opportunity to work with others.
Con:&nbsp;Difficulty can arise if they need to work alone.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Achievement:
Type:&nbsp;Motivated by goals they have set themselves.
Pro:&nbsp;Will always strive to better themselves and will likely enjoy a culture that emphasises achieving targets.
Con:&nbsp;If their personal best is not to the expected level of the organisation. Lack of targets or unchallenging work could be frustrating.
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">
Competition:
Type:&nbsp;Motivated by doing better than colleagues and will be monitoring their own performance against that of their peers.
Pro:&nbsp;If they are capable of being better than their peers this will cause them to strive to be the best.
Con:&nbsp;If the individual does not have the capability to be the best, it could be destructive, and they may opt out of the competition.
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article">
Commercial Outlook:
Type:&nbsp;Everything they do has to show a return on investment, will link all tasks to a commercial return. They will question what value the task has and will strive to link this to productivity, efficiency, image enhancement or monetary value.
Pro:&nbsp;Will invest energy if the task is directly linked to a return for the organisation.
Con:&nbsp;Potentially demotivated if no return can be shown.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">Recognition: 
Type:&nbsp;Needs good work to be noticed.
Pro:&nbsp;Motivated to always produce high standards of work especially when given regular praise and feedback.
Con:&nbsp;Likely to be highly demotivated by a lack of support and praise.
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article">
Personal Principles:
Type:&nbsp;Want to work for and be affiliated with an organisation that has similar values and beliefs.
Pro:&nbsp;If beliefs and values are sound, great things can be achieved. Sense of loyalty and belonging is high.
Con:&nbsp;If the organisation and individual have fewer moral values then these will be encouraged.
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg"> 
Autonomy:
Type:&nbsp;Need to work independently and organise their own approach.
Pro:&nbsp;Motivated by the freedom to operate within given parameters, they will not seek to widen these.
Con:&nbsp;Can be demotivated by close supervision and feel devalued by close management.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">
Power:
Type:&nbsp;The need for authority in the role they do.
Pro:&nbsp;Can be motivated by the influence they have. Will work harder when faced with the prospect of widening their scope of authority. Often fit well in leadership positions.
Con:&nbsp;May seek to &ldquo;run before they can walk&rdquo; and can be demotivated if not given responsibility that they feel they need.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Ease &amp; Security:
Type:&nbsp;Need to feel secure about job and position.
Pro:&nbsp;Get it right and they tend to stay in a role for a long time.
Con:&nbsp;Any hint of job insecurity could have a negative impact. Does not easily tolerate unpleasant conditions in regard to the physical environment or the way they are managed.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Material Reward:
Type:&nbsp;Links perks and bonuses to success. Feel that their earnings should be a fair reflection for the work they do. Viewed as a measure of how valuable they are to the company.
Pro:&nbsp;With the right rewards can be consistently motivated and highly successful.
Con:&nbsp;Demotivated when remuneration is deemed poor.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">
Personal Growth:
Type: Motivated by work that provides opportunities for development and acquisition of new skills.
Pro:&nbsp;Will be looking to learn new things on an ongoing basis, will enjoy spending time with and learning from colleagues.
Con:&nbsp;Mundane, repetitive tasks with no opportunity to learn can become frustrating.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">
Progression:
Type:&nbsp;Always strives to reach the role above them.
Pro:&nbsp;Career progression and advancement alone is enough motivation.
Con:&nbsp;Slow promotion and unfair promotional decisions can be significantly de-motivating.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Interest:
Type:&nbsp;Motivated by interest and stimulating, varied, creative work.
Pro:&nbsp;Thrives on new work, processes and projects.
Con:&nbsp;Will become demotivated by many mundane tasks and high levels of repetition.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Status:
Type:&nbsp;Concerned with position and status. They enjoy having the status for themselves, but also in the knowledge that others recognise their status in the organisation and the contribution they make.
Pro:&nbsp;Strive to achieve and gain respect for the work they do.
Con:&nbsp;Demotivated by lack of respect from others.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg">
Flexibility:
Type:&nbsp;Favour a fluid environment without imposed structure and enjoy a high level of ambiguity. This can be in environment or in management structure.
Pro:&nbsp;Open to change and thrives on free open communication, will be vocal with ideas, needs and challenges.
Con:&nbsp;Demotivation can come from rigidity in structure and processes.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<div class="candidate-dashboard-section-heading full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h2>Less desirable motivational factors would include:</h2>
</div>
</div>
<article class="content-2col">
<div class="content-2col-left">
<article class="rich-text-article">
Immersion:
Type:&nbsp;Lives to work. Working for the sake of work.
Pro:&nbsp;Will put in lots of time and effort while still achieving a high standard of work. Can be very successful at what they do because of the sheer level of effort that they put in.
Con:&nbsp;Often too involved in their work. Prone to burn out and can be easily taken advantage of.
</article>
</div>
<div class="content-2col-right">
<article class="rich-text-article">Fear of Failure: 
Type:&nbsp;Invest higher levels of energy to get through the prospect of failure. Head straight towards an issue without due consideration or weighing up of the consequences.
Pro:&nbsp;Could cause really productive and innovative solutions. The risks that they take could pay off.
Con:&nbsp;Risks often lead to failing and feeling demotivated.
</article>
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h2><img src="https://www.tate.co.uk/-/media/bluearrow/recruitment-solutions/industry-insights/leadership-in-a-changed-world-part-4---understanding-motivations-of-individuals/blog-body/liacw-page-break-motivate.jpg%20style=" alt="Leadership in a changed world"></h2>
<h2>Why else do people work?</h2>
Similarly, in the 1980s professors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan from the University of Rochester distinguished their own reasons for why people work and summarised six common threads made up of three positive motivators and three negative motivators.
Positive Motivators: These increase work performance but can be easily forgotten or rather suppressed in times of crisis, uncertainty and disruption.
<ol>
<li>PLAY&nbsp;- Being motivated by the work itself.</li>
<li>PURPOSE&nbsp;- You value the work&rsquo;s impact; it fits with your identity.</li>
<li>POTENTIAL&nbsp;- The outcome of the work enhances your potential.</li>
</ol>
Negative Motivators: These will move someone to action, but they are indirectly related to the job and work. These are likely to have spiked due to the current pandemic but could lead to reduced performance as time progresses.
<ol>
<li>EMOTIONAL PRESSURE&nbsp;-&nbsp;You work because an external force threatens your identity. (Worry, guilt, status)</li>
<li>ECONOMIC PRESSURE&nbsp;- An external force makes you work. (Money, family)</li>
<li>INERTIA&nbsp;- You can&rsquo;t identify why you&rsquo;re working there is no drive, just repetition.</li>
</ol>
Motivators &amp; Personality Traits: These are just two of the models of motivational analysis, there have been many studies in the field. Both the Saville &amp; Holdsworth and the Deci &amp; Ryan models are strongly linked with personality typing, another vast side to behaviour analysis.
A combination of personality questionnaires and motivational questionnaires are often used in candidate screening and for access to higher educational programmes. The questionnaires help to evaluate a candidate&rsquo;s competencies, personality preferences and workplace behaviours.
Some of the most common personality questionnaires are;
<ol>
<li>Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)&nbsp;1</li>
<li>Saville Wave&nbsp;2</li>
<li>Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)&nbsp;3</li>
<li>Talent Q Dimensions&nbsp;4</li>
<li>Personality and Preference Inventory (PAPI)&nbsp;5</li>
</ol>
The Deci &amp; Ryan model relates to the workplace setting but humans are complex and so the Saville and Holdsworth model provides much more scope for drilling down into what really makes an individual tick.
Understanding all models of behaviour analysis and how they relate can provide a massive advantage for leaders and individuals alike.
<h2>Using motivational analysis to create a high-performance environment</h2>
When setting objectives with each individual, consider with the Deci &amp; Ryan approach, how you can reduce the impact of indirect motives and maximise the positive direct motives. With the Saville and Holdsworth approach you can create an environment that seeks to inspire the &lsquo;pro&rsquo;s&rsquo; and minimise the &lsquo;cons&rsquo; for each motivator.
<ul>
<li>Try to identify your own key motivators from the Saville &amp; Holdsworth model.</li>
<li>Ask yourself: What solutions can I put into practice that will work for me?</li>
<li>Based on your experience, can you identify motivators for individual team members? Ask yourself: What solutions can we put into practice that will work for that individual? Increase collaboration, clarity, support and direction to strengthen all motives.</li>
<li>Praise and celebrate success</li>
<li>Give people the opportunity to experiment and solve problems that really matter by asking the following questions;</li>
</ul>
Where can we deliver amazing service to our customers?
What is broken that our team can fix?
What will drive growth even in a time of uncertainty?
Why are these problems critical, valuable, or interesting?
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article secondary-bg full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h3>References</h3>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.shl.com/en/assessments/personality/shl-occupational-personality-questionnaire-opq/">https://www.shl.com/en/assessments/personality/shl-occupational-personality-questionnaire-opq/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.savilleassessment.com/personality-questionnaires/">https://www.savilleassessment.com/personality-questionnaires/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.mbtionline.com/">https://www.mbtionline.com/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/talent-q-dimensions#about">https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/talent-q-dimensions#about</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://ptc.bps.org.uk/tapi-papi-i-and-papi-n">ttps://ptc.bps.org.uk/tapi-papi-i-and-papi-n&nbsp;</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
</article>

Leadership in a Changed World: Understanding Motivations of Individuals

<h2>Psychological Danger vs. Psychological Safety</h2>
<img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/0153nw3xvs66vxfc4smbd1wjmsbr" alt="Psychological Danger vs. Psychological Safety" width="900" height="444">
No-one wants to appear incompetent or negative and no-one wants to volunteer that they are struggling with their workload, or that they have made a mistake. To avoid a spotlight of attention or a confrontation we can end up sitting in the &lsquo;Danger&rsquo; zone depicted by the graphic and when in this zone, individuals avoid asking questions, contributing to collaborations and suggesting ways to improve working practices.
It is important for our teams to feel safe in an open environment where problems can be shared without fear of retribution. Failure to achieve adequate psychological safety can lead to counterproductive cycles of fear and blame.
The importance of trust in groups and organisations has long been noted by researchers (Kramer 1999). The concepts of psychological safety and trust have much in common; they both describe intrapsychic states involving perceptions of risk or vulnerability, as well as making choices to minimise negative consequences.
Social psychologists have investigated relationships between objective goals and intrapsychic and interpersonal states in a group. Dirks (1999) 4 showed that trust moderates the relationship between goals and performance: when there is a low level of trust in a group, contributions of group members were limited to achieving personal rather than cooperative goals. This can inhibit group-level learning and get in the way of accomplishing a desired organisational change.
On the whole organisations fare much better when challenges are openly discussed and where leaders can respond quickly with solutions.
Our old working practices with shared office spaces, face-to-face meetings and communal spaces offering social opportunities supported open communication for many, while for many introverted members of the team opening up has become easier since working in a remote environment.
The working practices we implement for this new future need to provide opportunities for all team members to feel confident in expressing the challenges they are facing, the solutions they have implemented and their ideas for a successful future.
<h2>Fostering Psychological Safety (FPS)</h2>
Fostering Psychological Safety (FPS) is a leadership approach that provides a collective vision for learning that encourages people to speak-up, ask questions and share ideas. No-one feels that they will be humiliated or penalised if they speak-up with ideas, questions, concerns, ask for help or admit to a mist
<img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/bqxba43hhu750425bavqi37yfy9h" alt="Create a safe environment" width="372" height="895"><img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/1ms81six4ie1vb9uo9xfv8retazr" alt="lead" width="372" height="833">
<article class="rich-text-article full-width">
<div class="l-container">* Moral curiosity is being motivated to seek knowledge for greater understanding to improve capability or performance instead of merely being content to possess the basic information needed to achieve a short-term outcome.</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h2>Psychological Safety and Accountability</h2>
We need to establish a strong balance between creating a safe environment and ensuring accountability for actions and performance. A safe environment does not mean an environment free from consequence or pressure. Without these things we risk disinterest without the drive to improve and perform at our best. Meanwhile too much accountability can nurture fear and anxiety.
<h2>Key actions for tackling negative feelings</h2>
Schein and Bennis (1965) 5 discussed the need to create psychological safety for individuals if they are to feel secure and capable of changing. More recently, Schein (1985) 6 argued that psychological safety helps people overcome the defensiveness, or &ldquo;learning anxiety&rdquo;, that occurs when people are presented with data that does not support their expectations or hopes.
Team psychological safety is distinct from group cohesiveness, research has shown that cohesiveness can reduce willingness to disagree and challenge others&rsquo; views. Psychological safety describes a climate in which the focus can be on transparency through productive discussion that enables early prevention of problems and the accomplishment of shared goals.
Teams that actively practice and nurture transparent working methods can be identified by the following characteristics:
<ul>
<li>Open communication and sharing of feelings</li>
<li>Honest provision of information and progress</li>
<li>Constructive feedback is sought and welcomed</li>
<li>Respect between team members and swift conflict resolution</li>
<li>Admitting wrongdoing and openly seeking assistance for mistakes or problems</li>
</ul>
To foster a transparent, trust-based culture within your team, start with small changes and build-up a transparency strategy over time. Choose one subject on which everyone has to be regularly updated, and let it be your starting position. Follow-up with your team and check how they feel about this initial change, you can then adjust your strategy accordingly before building on further topics.
<h2>Returning to Work and Building Trust</h2>
In the coming weeks and month, you will be drawing on all of your leadership skills to help your team navigate through rapid changes and new working practices.
<img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/ceesvcf792lpldhcd8noln66mxat" alt="Change curve" width="900" height="362">
<h3>Denial/Resistance</h3>
Indicators:&nbsp;Unclear on the need to change, resistant to change, selective listening and responding, cynicism.&nbsp;&lt;/p="font-size:&gt;
Leader approach:&nbsp;Adopt a directive approach. Focus on telling, explaining, informing, listening, instructing, asking questions and providing feedback. Remain calm and supportive, be understanding of the position the individuals are in. Support, instruct, show and demonstrate how things should be done and listen to and observe the actions of your team members. Provide gentle and considered feedback on some specific things, where doing so will be helpful and constructive.
<h3>Emotional</h3>
Indicators:&nbsp;Moral and productivity decline, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, anger, frustration and confusion, sadness, depression, helplessness, reactive behaviour. Leader approach:&nbsp;Progress through the steps shown earlier in this article to foster psychological safety. Understanding and acknowledging the mindset and morale that an individual is experiencing can help you to understand how to lead them to success. Understanding the range of emotions and responses individuals have when experiencing change is crucial as is best depicted by the Kubler-Ross Change Curve.
<h3>Acceptance</h3>
Indicators:&nbsp;A sense that things may work out OK, less negativity, moral and productivity begin to rise, understanding roles and goals, solutions oriented, sense of achievability. Leader approach:&nbsp;Support, counsel, show empathy and listen well. Start to empower team members by setting short term goals and providing space to deliver them in their own way.
<h3>Commitment</h3>
Indicators:&nbsp;Teamwork, roles, goals and linkages are clear. High productivity, positive mindset, excited to come to work. High self-esteem, changes lead to breakthrough results. Leader approach:&nbsp;Increasingly step away and give people space to perform and own their tasks. Adopt a more coaching approach to leadership. See your role as being to facilitate the success of others. Share ideas, provide feedback, advise and look at ways that you can stretch individuals to improve their performance and development. To reach a high performance, engaged and productive state we need to help individual team members to let go of limiting mindsets and embrace a forward-thinking approach.
<article class="rich-text-article full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h2>Rebuilding Your Team - Stages of Team Development</h2>
Whether you are re-building your team in its new remote working form, or re-forming your team as people return from furlough, you and your team will be working through various stages of team development.
To ensure our teams are happy, engaged and productive it is important that we as leaders understand the stages of team development and how our leadership styles will change at each stage.
Bruce Tuckman first produced the forming&ndash;storming&ndash; norming&ndash;performing model of team development in 1965. He stated that these phases are all necessary and inevitable for the team to grow, face-up to challenges, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results.
Stage 1: Forming -&nbsp;Teams are highly dependent on the leader for guidance and direction. There is little agreement on goals other than those received from the leader. Individual roles and responsibilities are unclear. The leader must be prepared to answer lots of questions about the team&rsquo;s purpose, objectives and external relationships. Processes are often ignored. Members test the tolerance of the system and the leader.
As a leader, you will direct the team.
Stage 2: Storming -&nbsp;Decisions don&rsquo;t come easily within the group. Team members vie for position as they attempt to establish themselves in relation to other team members and the leader. Clarity of purpose increases but uncertainties remain. Cliques and factions form and there may be power struggles. The team needs to be focused on its goals to avoid becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues. Compromises may be required to enable progress.
As a leader, you will coach the team.
Stage 3: Norming -&nbsp;Agreement and consensus forms among the team and they respond well to facilitation by the leader. Roles and responsibilities are clear and accepted. Big decisions are made by group agreement and smaller decisions may be delegated to individuals or small teams within the group.
Commitment and unity is strong, the team may even engage in fun and social activities. The team discusses and develops its processes and working style. There is general respect for the leader and some of the leadership is divided amongst the team.
As a leader, you will facilitate and enable the team.
Stage 4: Performing -&nbsp;The team is more strategically aware and knows clearly why it is doing what it is doing. With a shared vision the team is able to stand on its own feet with no interference or participation from the leader. There is a focus on over-achieving goals, and the team has a high degree of autonomy.
Disagreements occur but now they are resolved within the team positively, and necessary changes to processes and structure are made by the team. The team requires delegated tasks and projects from the leader but do not need to be instructed or assisted. Team members might ask for assistance from the leader with personal and interpersonal development.
As a leader, you will delegate and oversee the team.
<h3>No matter how small you may perceive a change to be or how insignificant, you will progress back through the team development stages each time a change happens, and we expect changes to continue for the foreseeable future. References</h3>
<ol>
<li>Sensor Tower [Internet]&nbsp;<a href="https://sensortower.com/blog%20/app-revenue-and-downloads-1h-2020">https://sensortower.com/blog /app-revenue-and-downloads-1h-2020</a></li>
<li>Forbes [Internet]&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/%20alexkonrad/2020/03/13/zoom-video-coronavirus-%20eric-yuan-schools/#16c47dc54e71">https://www.forbes.com/sites/ alexkonrad/2020/03/13/zoom-video-coronavirus- eric-yuan-schools/#16c47dc54e71</a></li>
<li>Amy C. Edmondson. Associate Professor, Harvard Business School. Managing the risk of learning: Psychological safety in work teams. [Internet] March 15, 2002&nbsp;<a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.%20edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.118.1943&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">https://citeseerx.ist.psu. edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.118.1943&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf</a></li>
<li>Dirks, K. T. (1999). The effects of interpersonal trust on work group performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(3), 445&ndash;455. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-05190-012</li>
<li>Amy C. Edmondson. Annual Review of Organisational Psychology and Organizational Behaviour 1(1):23-43. 5 March 2014&nbsp;<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275070993%20_Psychological_Safety_The_History_Renaissance%20_and_Future_of_an_Interpersonal_Construct">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275070993 _Psychological_Safety_The_History_Renaissance _and_Future_of_an_Interpersonal_Construct</a></li>
<li>Schein, E. (1985). Organizational culture and leadership (1st ed.).&nbsp;<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=Mnres2PlFLMC%20&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR9&amp;dq=Schein,+E.+(1985).+Organizational+cultur%20e+and+leadership+(1st+ed.).+San+Francisco:+Jossey-Bass+%20Publishers.&amp;ots=ookwOb4rSg&amp;sig=CLWMklJkhv6Y6vIL2aUTB%20yc5xWY&amp;q&amp;f=false#v=onepage">https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=Mnres2PlFLMC &amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR9&amp;dq=Schein,+E.+(1985).+Organizational+cultur e+and+leadership+(1st+ed.).+San+Francisco:+Jossey-Bass+ Publishers.&amp;ots=ookwOb4rSg&amp;sig=CLWMklJkhv6Y6vIL2aUTB yc5xWY#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false</a></li>
<li>Deloitte [Internet] Research carried out by Ipson MORI on behalf of Deloitte LLP.&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/%20consulting/articles/working-during-lockdown-impact-of-covid-19on-productivity-and-wellbeing.htm">https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/ consulting/articles/working-during-lockdown-impact-of-covid-19on-productivity-and-wellbeing.htm</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
</article>
</div>
</article>

Leadership In A Changed World - Your Team

<img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/2yde2lvu1uq664lv8xragljtiicj" alt="SMART" width="586" height="812">
The key to having a successful team is managing their performance so that they can feel and be successful. Performance measures that are effective need to be SMART.
<ul>
<li>Specific &ndash; unambiguous, clearly defined.</li>
<li>Measurable &ndash; to track and learn.</li>
<li>Agreed &ndash; all parties are on the same page.</li>
<li>Realistic &ndash; Must be achievable.</li>
<li>Timely &ndash; we know when it needs to be delivered by.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/2ko0zrmws3kt3myexpmrb3zj80s3" alt="Measuring Performance" width="520" height="660">
<h2>Measuring Performance</h2>
If we set objectives, we also need to ensure we have ways to measure performance and success. Quantitative Metrics:&nbsp;Evaluate performance based on things that can be measured numerically.
Qualitative Metrics:&nbsp;Evaluate what employees are experiencing perhaps using specific wellbeing questions. Using regular reviews to measure performance whilst gather insights on what experiences look and feel like when great performances are achieved, you will be able to focus on how you can create the experience environment for individuals in which their performance can thrive.
Using one-to-one communications to inspect what we expect&nbsp;With our current transitional working practices, it is best that we focus on setting performance indicators that are based on achieving the outputs, i.e: the end result being achieved or expected and not necessarily the steps it takes to get there. For example, place a performance indicator on the total number of sales achieved and not on defining the number of sales calls that staff are required to make.
Communicating and checking in with each individual is important but as discussed in the article Leadership in a Changed World &ndash; Your Team, fostering psychological safety (FPS) is all about trust. We don&rsquo;t want to overdo it or micromanage our teams, equally we want them to feel supported, we therefore need to create a support and review programme that works for individuals&rsquo; varying needs.
<img src="https://cdn.sourceflow.co.uk/7de36nxxzb17khsc9uuhxdpk1yf3" alt="Balancing wellbeing and performance" width="573" height="587">
<ul>
<li>How can we conduct reviews and check-ins in this new remote and hybrid way of working?</li>
<li>Plan in advance and know what you are going to cover.</li>
<li>Share documents that both parties can add talking points to prior to the review.</li>
<li>Consistency with intervals between reviews.</li>
<li>Following a structured format that becomes recognisable each time you have a review.</li>
<li>Be present when conducting the reviews and utilise active listening techniques.</li>
<li>Where possible, meet in-person occasionally.</li>
<li>Ideally in a neutral and suitable environment.</li>
</ul>
What should we be asking our team members?&nbsp;
Check-in:&nbsp;How are you feeling?&nbsp;
Reflect on achievements:&nbsp;What have been your key successes and greatest challenges?
Analyse methods:&nbsp;What are you doing differently? What strengths have you drawn on? What development areas have you identified?
Support &amp; Development:&nbsp;Are you facing any challenges? What support do you need?
Pairing this with understanding the motivations of individuals will help you develop the leadership insights to fully understand what drives your team to excel. Our next article&nbsp;Understanding Motivations of Individuals&nbsp;will take a deep look in to what motivates us and how this knowledge can further help you nurture fantastic performance across your team.
<h2>Agreeing individual expectation</h2>
How have our objectives and expectations for our teams changed in the last few months?
<ul>
<li>Increasing requirements demand more flexibility.</li>
<li>Individuals are responsible for setting their own targets taking their own circumstances into account.</li>
<li>Individuals are holding themselves accountable.</li>
<li>More frequent performance and task reviews are in place.</li>
<li>Short-term objectives with milestones are being used to keep remote teams on track.</li>
<li>Higher consideration is given to balancing work/home life integration.</li>
<li>Re-defined roles and taking on additional responsibilities due to reduced team numbers.</li>
<li>Support for those who are re-learning and adapting their skills.</li>
</ul>
<h3>References</h3>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html">https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html</a></li>
</ol>

Leadership in a Changed World: Creating a High Performance Environment

<div class="l-container">
<div class="text-content ">
In the months to com, many organisations will be navigating a rapidly changing landscape, but with change comes the potential for new and exciting opportunities.
</div>
</div>

<h3 style="text-align: center;">&ldquo;When you say YES to others, make sure you are not saying NO to yourself.&rdquo;</h3>
Paulo Coelho

Each team member&rsquo;s attention is ultimately their most precious resource. Without the discipline to focus their attention in the right direction with clarity and confidence, their productivity will always be a fraction of what it could be.&nbsp;
Applying balanced and appropriate ruthlessness is the key to focusing each individual on the end result, we want them to be selective and deliberate with their actions.
<ul>
<li>Focus on the tasks that will have the biggest impact.</li>
<li>Say no, or at least not now.</li>
<li>Prioritise important tasks.</li>
<li>Protect your time.</li>
<li>Protect your attention.</li>
<li>Don&rsquo;t take on more than you can handle well.</li>
<li>Minimise interruptions and distractions.</li>
</ul>
How we approach a task is just as important as how we work through a task. With thorough preparation we can get to work efficiently and progress through tasks quickly and attentively.

Adjusting behaviours to boost productivity

Dwight D. Eisenhower [34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961] once said:
&ldquo;What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.&rdquo;
Urgent tasks require your immediate attention: phone calls, meetings, tasks with tight deadlines, and other issues that require you to take action quickly.
Important tasks help advance long-term goals and complete serious projects. They are tasks that actually push the needle.
We have a tendency to put important tasks aside and deal with the urgent tasks that provide a rapid sense of accomplishment.

 The difference between important and urgent

The ability to analyse a task and its purpose helps us to not only prioritise effectively but also seek efficient ways to complete the task
<ul>
<li>What am I trying to achieve?</li>
<li>What value does this bring?</li>
<li>Has someone else solved this problem before?</li>
<li>Is there a better method I could use? What is the quickest way I can get this item off my list and move on?</li>
<li>Think of each component that is involved in the process and allocate time for it to be completed.</li>
<li>Examine the parts of any task and figure out step-by-step what you need to do to get it done.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Time management methods</h2>
Sharing tried and tested task management methods with your team is a great way to help them become more productive and drive their performance, particularly if they are working remotely.
Implementing time management methods prevents you from overloading your day with an impractical or impossible list of things to do. Getting to the end of the day and seeing just how much you didn&rsquo;t achieve can have a negative effect on your morale and your confidence.
&nbsp;

Asking what, why and how?

Understanding how much time a task will take is fundamental to effective time management, but it is not as easy as it sounds. Douglas Hofstadter, a cognitive scientist and author, introduced in his 1979 book G&ouml;del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, the observation
<img src="https://www.tate.co.uk/-/media/tate/clients-new/business-resilience/rich-text/quote-hof-4.jpg?h=71&amp;w=547&amp;hash=37A10084A40EE1F3108C50D46284D8EE" alt="Hofstadter&rsquo;s Law">
 Meaning that things always take longer than you expect them to, even when you try to account for things taking longer than you expect them to.
This was also the basis for the cognitive bias known as The Planning Fallacy, first proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, also in 1979. They defined this phenomenon as
<img src="https://www.tate.co.uk/-/media/tate/clients-new/business-resilience/rich-text/quote-2-wide.jpg?h=82&amp;w=549&amp;hash=1289DDF459E0A0CC4740DA716F4D3804" alt="Hofstadter&rsquo;s Law">
The best method for limiting the effects of The Planning Fallacy or Hofstadter&rsquo;s Law is to break the tasks down in to smaller time chunks. Reviewing to see if you are as far ahead as you thought you would be at the end of each chunk.

Hofstadter’s Law

Time boxing is the process of breaking the hours in your day down into time blocks. These can be 15-minute intervals, half hourly intervals, two-hour intervals or whatever is appropriate for your role and the tasks that you need to complete.
&nbsp;Next you will review your entire task list, work out which tasks are going to have the biggest impact and allocate them to a time box.
Be sure to give your tasks a little buffer space between them for breaks, over runs and unforeseen interruptions, you need to be agile and flexible for when unexpected events or tasks arrive.
This is a really useful tool to help individuals who have problems managing a workload, staying on schedule or for those who have a tendency to over engineer work. Time boxing is extremely effective when it is based upon clear instructions and set expectations for the tasks that need to be completed but it is important for the team member using the time boxing method to be involved in setting the deadline and associated time allowance for each task.
This is just one example of an effective time management method and while this may work for some or even most of your team, everyone is different. Focus more on encouraging individuals to use methods like this to organise their time but to find a method that works best for them. Go one step further and schedule a team review where everyone shares the method that works for them.

Time boxing

The continuous development of your people via coaching is particularly important in the new remote and hybrid work environments that we are operating in.
The world of coaching is complex and multifaceted. On one hand it is about helping the individual come to their own conclusion, using a specific framework of questioning to define effective performance in their role. Never telling them what to do, but instead asking them what, how, should, or could they do in certain scenarios.
On the other hand, it is helping people better understand the consequences of their actions and helping them to try and see where there might be a disconnect between the promises that they have made and the reality in terms of being able to deliver.&nbsp;The International Coaching Federation&nbsp;1&nbsp;defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their potential.&nbsp;1&nbsp; With effective coaching we want to bring all of these approaches into our leadership and coaching methods so we can maximise professional and personal potential by helping team members to actively seek to learn rather than simply teaching them.&nbsp;
<img src="https://www.tate.co.uk/-/media/tate/clients-new/business-resilience/rich-text/quote-coaching.jpg?h=57&amp;w=478&amp;hash=313B11F3DC7367D405DF15F4C5920F03" alt="">&nbsp; These words can be found in wood block books that are almost 1,100 years old written by Xunzi (Xun Kuang) a Confucian philosopher who lived in the third century B.C.E. Over a thousand years later and research shows this philosophy still to be true. In a study conducted by the University of Chicago the percentage recall of information given was measured over 3 weeks and 3 months.&nbsp;2 The research showed that the long-term recall performance greatly increased when individuals were told, shown and allowed to experience the information compared to simply being told, or being told and shown.

Effective coaching

Coaching can be a planned activity, you can set aside specific time in your day to get together with your team member and coach on a particular topic, but coaching is also highly effective if it is responsive and in the moment as individuals face challenges or blockers in their daily tasks.
In our changed world, where we are operating remotely or in a hybrid environment it can be challenging to provide responsive coaching in the moment when it is needed but there are ways to ensure that virtual coaching or remote coaching is as effective as it could be.
<ul>
<li>Make yourself available.</li>
<li>Encourage your team to come to you or to keep a list of difficulties, challenges, questions and concerns that can be addressed in scheduled one-to-one sessions.</li>
<li>Foster psychological safety to reassure team members that they&rsquo;re not going to be humiliated or rejected if they come to you with problems or issues.</li>
<li>Make sure that there is always a follow-up from topics raised.</li>
<li>Give team members your full focus, a virtual coaching conversation should be a special kind of interaction.</li>
<li>Leave time between the end of your coaching conversations and moving on to the next event on your calendar to give you both space to digest what was discussed and reflect on the conversation.</li>
<li>Make sure that you are in a coaching mode all of the time so you can spot subtle cues to coach.</li>
<li>Utilise technology, namely video calls to allow the observation of body language from your mentee and project openness in your posture on these.</li>
<li>Plan a positive focus discussion for a future session.</li>
</ul>
Accountability strongly underpins coaching for performance. Ultimately there has to be a desire or a drive to succeed, you can&rsquo;t coach someone who doesn&rsquo;t want to change. Building awareness of that responsibility is the essence of good coaching. It is the individuals own mindset shift that we&rsquo;re looking to achieve through coaching so they can approach issues, challenges and problems as well as their ongoing development in a proactive way.
<img src="https://www.tate.co.uk/-/media/bluearrow/recruitment-solutions/workforce-insights/leadership-in-a-changed-world/leadership-in-a-changed-world-managing-performance-full-article/rich-text-content/liacw-part-5-cpd.jpg%20style=" alt="leadership in a changed world">

Implementing effective coaching techniques

<ul>
<li>Lead from the front. Demonstrate that you don&rsquo;t have all the answers, but you are taking steps to actively find them. This behaviour will breed the same behaviour in your team members.</li>
<li>Share where you are going to find answers, encourage team members to share their own resources.</li>
<li>Schedule development time within a task or project, anticipate gaps in knowledge or skills and plan learning time into the task.</li>
<li>Encourage team members to be accountable for their development, continually seeking opportunities to expand their knowledge.</li>
<li>Be present, aware and engaged, always looking for opportunities to provide coaching.</li>
</ul>

Key take away advice for effective coaching

<ul>
<li>International Coach Federation [Internet]&nbsp;<a href="https://coachfederation.%20org/">https://coachfederation. org/</a></li>
<li>APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Appl. Cognit. Psychol. 14: 215-235 (2000) Untangling the Benefits of Multiple Study Opportunities and Repeated Testing for Cued Recall_WILLIAM L. CULL_Loyola University of Chicago, USA</li>
</ul>

Leadership in a Changed World: Managing Performance

<div class="l-container">
<div class="text-content ">
In the months to come, many organisations will be navigating a rapidly changing landscape, but with change comes the potential for new and exciting ways to achieve the extraordinary.
</div>
</div>

We can draw upon the key leadership behaviours discussed in earlier articles to support our customers through the crisis and lead our teams to drive business development.
<ul>
<li>Model the way with a human touch - Be person centred when communicating with customers and clients.</li>
<li>Create a shared vision - Talk with your customers and agree new expectations.</li>
<li>Focus on solutions - Problem solve with your customers. Use your knowledge and skills to help their businesses survive and thrive.</li>
<li>Enable others to act virtually - Enabling the sales cycle and the delivery of services through utilising technology.</li>
<li>Understanding customers&rsquo; mindsets - Try to understand what your customers are going through and what their challenges are to enable you to support them.</li>
</ul>
The disruption of the last few months has reshaped the landscape for sales, it has forced the use of new sales processes as we respond to the immediate challenges while putting a fresh new perspective on enduring sales trends.

Using Key Leadership Behaviours to Drive Business Development

A McKinsey survey&nbsp;2&nbsp; provides insightful detail into how sales cycles are changing and how as a result we need to take a much longer-term view of sales performance in particular.
<ul>
<li>44% of sellers now expect their pipelines to decrease in some way.</li>
<li>14% of those predict a significant decrease in their customer pipelines or their client pipelines.</li>
<li>60% of sellers report that it now takes longer to close deals.</li>
<li>55% of sellers expect to close fewer deals as a result of the crisis.</li>
<li>60% of business to business customers in Europe had already cut their budgets as a result of the pandemic.</li>
</ul>
On a positive note;
<ul>
<li>90% of customers said that they would be willing to engage earlier if the challenge that they are facing was new, risky, or complex.</li>
</ul>
To stay ahead and continue to drive business development despite decreases in opportunities, budget cuts and longer sales cycles we have to focus on longer term measures including;
<ul>
<li>Communicating and demonstrating the true added value that we can deliver to our customers.</li>
<li>Strengthening our customer relationships.</li>
</ul>

Enduring Sales Trends

Added value is an improvement or addition to something that makes it worth more. Added value is not just about giving away or discounting products and services, it is more about demonstrating how your products or services deliver an increased return on your customers investment. This return on investment is most effective as a sales tool when it is closely linked to one, some or all of the key buying motivators.
What drives a customer to buy, (motivators) can be broken down in to four main categories:
<ul>
<li>If the product or service can save or make the business money.</li>
<li>If the product or service can save time or increase efficiencies.</li>
<li>If the product or service can enhance the organisation&rsquo;s image or reputation.</li>
<li>If the product or service can help the business to survive long term in their marketplace.</li>
</ul>
To stand out in this new marketplace and ensure that every precious opportunity is maximised we need to effectively communicate and demonstrate how our services meet, benefit and support each of the buying reasons that motivate our customers.

What is added value and why is it important?

Gone are the days where we simply pick up the phone to make initial contact with a new prospect, now it is standard procedure to conduct research prior to making first contact with a potential customer. The use of social media and social networking platforms can assist us to step-up our research and reach out to a customer to begin building a relationship long before we pick up the phone.
<ul>
<li>Research the relevant sectors and businesses.</li>
<li>Keep up-to-date with current affairs, the recent government announcements and how they might impact certain sectors of your market.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Using recommendations and reviews to attract opportunities</h2>
One third of customers in the UK&nbsp;4&nbsp;state that they are more likely to select a vendor when a seller is recommended by someone in their network. The fastest and easiest way to drive an increase in recommendations and reviews is to simply ask for them. The best time to request a recommendation or a review is straight after delivering a value added service.
The same is true for Google reviews, LinkedIn recommendations and evaluations that collect evidential data on the quality of your service.
<h2>How can data drive new approaches to planning?</h2>
Data is particularly relevant with so many uncertainties, unknowns and rapid changes happening around us, one thing we can be sure of is accurate data.
With thorough planning and defined data capture processes, we can aggregate, govern and leverage data to provide valuable insights into past sales, performances and efforts as well as future forecasts. The regular capturing and analysing of data ensure that we are always reviewing what is and what is not working in terms of customer interactions.
<h2>Competitor analysis can highlight potential opportunities</h2>
Regular competitive analysis - identifying the strengths and the weaknesses of our competition, can help to identify trends, successful tactics, potential gaps and new opportunities in the market that might be underserved or not served at all.
Your competitor analysis should begin with finding out which key players have left the market, who is closed and who is open for business. Also research how your competitors service offerings or approaches may have changed and adapted in response to the pandemic.
<ul>
<li>Check their websites. What are they promoting? Are they writing blog posts or thought leadership articles?</li>
<li>Talk directly to your customers, who are they being called by and what are they being offered?</li>
<li>Ignore your own biases. Let the data and the information gathered inform your decisions. Data without action is useless. Make a strategic plan around your findings and execute that plan.</li>
<li>Periodically revisit data and reconduct analysis.</li>
</ul>

Using social media to drive a higher response rate

As budgets come under pressure and pipelines begin to reduce, shifting our focus to protecting our most important customer relationships will ensure that we have continued access to opportunities as they arise.
Adopting a customer centric approach while we are still undergoing change and fluidity in our sales and communication methods is a challenging task. The contacts you once had may be working unpredictable hours or remotely, recorded contact details may as a result be unreliable and redundancies could mean that your point of contact has now changed.
<ol>
<li>Review your existing customer base and the main relationship points within it.</li>
<li>Focus on building a personal rapport with the customer contact.</li>
<li>Create an agenda that details what information is important to draw out from each customer to assist sales teams.</li>
<li>Utilise active listening skills and be authentic.</li>
<li>Identify and provide sources of insights.</li>
</ol>
This last point is more powerful then it first appears. Customers value information that educates and enlightens them and sharing insight is an excellent way to reinforce how you can provide added value that directly links to each of the four buying motivators.

Strengthening Customer Relationships

Remote selling is not a new concept by any means, it is almost certainly a process you and your teams are familiar with and are no doubt successful in. However, remote selling was usually supported by some degree of face-to-face contact whether it is through meetings, networking, seminars or workshops. Now we are relying on remote selling and relationship building techniques without any face to face or in-person contact at all. In this virtual and technologically reliant world, trust has never mattered more.
<h3 style="text-align: center;">&ldquo;Trust is the glue of life. It&rsquo;s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It&rsquo;s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.&rdquo;</h3>
Stephen R. Covey
Earning a customer&rsquo;s trust requires strategic counsel and active listening to comprehend and respond in a relevant and constructive way to what our customers and our clients are communicating.
&nbsp;

Ongoing sales coaching

<ul>
<li>Always communicate with honesty and transparency - even if it is bad.</li>
<li>Deliver on your promises.</li>
<li>Collect reviews, testimonials and feedback.</li>
<li>Ask questions to build genuine and deep understanding of your customers situation.</li>
<li>Demonstrate your competence.</li>
<li>Show that you can give valuable advice outside of your specialism.</li>
<li>Carry out research and provide valuable insights.</li>
</ul>
A trust-based relationship is built by demonstrating and providing trustworthiness over time. If you&rsquo;re the first point of call for a client with a critical business problem, then you are in a strong position to establish credibility and trust. Through the progressive solving of problems and the provision of valuable advice and ongoing support, your customer will come to trust that you understand them and that you have their best interests at heart.

How can you demonstrate trust?

As this last article in our Leadership in a Changed World series draws to a close, now is the time to move forwards, working as a collective and embracing your role as a leader in creating high performance environments and driving business development.
<ul>
<li>Communicate and engage through a shared vision.</li>
<li>Understand what shared personal and professional challenges your team members are facing.</li>
<li>Discuss those openly with a strong focus on active coaching.</li>
<li>Share key insights and innovations that can enhance the whole team&rsquo;s conversations with their customers.</li>
<li>Communicate and share your successes.</li>
</ul>

<ol>
<li>LinkedIn State of Sales Survey 2020 Europe Edition [PDF] Accessed October 2020</li>
<li>McKinsey [Internet] April 2020&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-b2b-digital-inflection-%20point-how-sales-have-changed-during-covid-19">https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-b2b-digital-inflection- point-how-sales-have-changed-during-covid-19</a></li>
<li>&ldquo;Opportunities for banks to cross Sell insurance products in Greece&rdquo; [Internet] September 2004 Konstantinos Lymberopoulos | Ioannis E. Chaniotakis | Magdalini Soureli&nbsp;<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Ranking-customer-attitudes-towards-trust-trustworthiness-%20staff_tbl4_233658823">https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Ranking-customer-attitudes-towards-trust-trustworthiness- staff_tbl4_233658823</a></li>
<li>017 Global Online Consumer Report. The Truth About Online Consumers [Internet] January 2017&nbsp;<a href="https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2017/01/the-truth-about-online-consumers.pdf">https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2017/01/the-truth-about-online-consumers.pdf</a></li>
</ol>

Leadership in a Changed World: Driving Business Development

Whatever your specialist area, today&rsquo;s commercial environment demands that data must play a part in your strategic planning. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and big data will remove the guesswork and provide insights and visibility for setting KPIs and predicting future successes.

6 Effective Ways HR Teams Can Leverage Big Data to Facilitate Business Recovery

What do you think of when you hear the word &lsquo;hybrid&rsquo;? It is a term that has become increasingly popular in relation to vehicles in recent years but shifts in the way people work mean it is frequently used in HR circles too.

 How to use a remote workforce to propel business recovery

In times of crisis, it&rsquo;s often HR leaders that businesses look to for guidance. From employees needing personal or emotional support, to the C-suite requiring legal advice or recommendations, your HR team will be central to instilling calm and reassurance in the most testing of situations.

Three phases HR leaders must face during a crisis to aid business recovery

Business Recovery: Human Resources

We will find you the perfect blend of talent and team mate to join you and your company. Simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch.

Looking for talented staff?

Whilst a given for any HR professional the importance of communication during business recovery is particularly high.
In the wake of Covid and Brexit, employees have been left demotivated and in need of reassurance. So, when looking for a HR leader to join your company, ensure they are just that&hellip;a leader, who can engage, motivate, encourage, and inspire your staff.
One of the biggest challenges is communicating effectively across lots of different channels, and engaging employees who are now used to working remotely. Search for someone with the personality, drive and technological skills who can work closely with your marketing department to put first-class internal and external communication plans in place

1. The ability to communicate with and engage employees

A vital part of your business recovery plan is to have proposals in place for any further potential emergencies. HR leaders are the perfect people to champion policies and procedures and will have all the legal and ethical know-how to do this effectively.
Seek out HR candidates who you are confident can create contingency plans to prepare you for any eventuality. You will further want to ensure they can assist you in implementing guidelines for managing remote working (or any other working models) that mean you can continue to operate in any circumstance.

2. Exceptional organisation

Long gone are the days when HR deal with on/offboarding, grievances and training alone. Nowadays, businesses need their HR leaders to be business savvy.
To add real value and play an active role in developing your business recovery plan, HR leaders need to understand all aspects of your business. They should be strategic, with a good all-round commercial knowledge so that they can be clear on how HR can best support your company&rsquo;s growth. Look out for individuals who not only have HR expertise, but can demonstrate an understanding of finance, marketing, sales, and overall business strategy.

3. A good business acumen

Another key quality in a HR leader is the ability to manage and analyse big data. Your &lsquo;people data&rsquo; - also sometimes referred to as workforce or HR analytics - is information gathered from HR systems, salary surveys and other departments within your business. It is essential for providing important insight that will aid business recovery.
Look to appoint a HR leader with experience in analysing workplace trends and HR initiative or policy outcomes so that you can quickly highlight what works for your company.

4. Strong analytical skills

While outstanding interpersonal skills and empathy are a must, you also need to be confident that your HR leader can be assertive in making difficult decisions.
Choose a HR professional who can prioritise your business needs when making essential strategic decisions. This particularly applies when looking at staff redundancies that may be necessary. Although UK unemployment peaked at 14.5 in 1000 between September and November 2020, as of August 2021 employment is on the up again and you will need to trust that the HR leader you appoint can be decisive and prioritise the needs of your business when managing your workforce.
With many of our clients currently sharing they are &lsquo;repairing operations&rsquo; or &lsquo;planning for growth&rsquo;, we are working nationally with HR specialists who have the skills and experience to drive businesses forward through developing and implementing critical business recovery plans. If you are ready to get your business back on track after a testing couple of years, we can introduce you to talented HR individuals who can help. <a href="../../../../../../contact-us/">Contact us</a> today to start your road to recovery.

5. Confidence in making decisions

5 Top qualities of a great HR leader in aiding business recovery

Five big forces hitting HR. Can they help you bounce back?

<h3 class="p1">1. Impact management</h3>
From the second disaster strikes, almost everyone leans on HR. So, in the immediacy of a problem, HR must be prepared to respond quickly, offer guidance and support, and to activate resilience plans that will aid business continuity.
It is important to have your HR team at the forefront of any contingency policies you create. They may not necessarily own them, but they should know who does, be able to access them and be confident in rolling them out effectively on behalf of your company.
With any crisis, comes some level of panic, and the strongest HR leaders possess the perfect blend of practicality and people skills to control even the most challenging of circumstances. Impact management is about keeping your business operating, and whether that involves implementing backup processes or empowering and supporting your people achieve that, you will want a HR leader who can leap into action and spearhead the process.
<h3 class="p2">2. Crisis response</h3>
So, a problem has occurred, there are barriers to &lsquo;business as usual&rsquo;, but continuity plans have been deployed and your business must now deal with the ongoing situation.
It is at this stage when strategic and tactical plans must be implemented to deal with your crisis. If we use the start of the pandemic as an example, this stage will have involved countless HR teams taking the decision for people to work from home. It may have meant liaison with IT departments to arrange the practicalities of remote working and the monitoring of a workforce. Plus, further strategies for engaging employees, staying in touch, and boosting morale.
That is why another critical activity for HR to lead on at this stage, is a communications plan. Your employees will need reassurance and will expect to be informed on the plans your business has for dealing with the problem and how it will affect them. Effective communications are crucial to keeping your business running and speeding up the recovery process that is to follow.
<h3 class="p2">3. Recovery and future proofing</h3>
As most of us are all too aware currently, the road to business recovery is not always a quick one. The impact of a crisis, regardless of size, can ricochet through an organisation for some time afterwards and HR&rsquo;s support is essential throughout this stage.
A HR leader will not only be heavily involved in the operational aspects of business recovery, but also in identifying and acting upon any lessons learnt in the aftermath of an emergency. Were there gaps in contingency plans and procedures that simply had not been considered? Could certain stoppages have been avoided? Were there processes that could have gone smoother? And on the other hand, were there elements that were hugely successful? HR will renew policies and update procedures accordingly and steer an organisation on tactics for future proofing against further potential incidents.&nbsp;Within this recovery phase, HR should also be prepared for the possibility of a backlog of people management issues. There could be additional personal and emotional support required following individuals having worked at a greater pace, in a different environment or in a different way. There could be high volumes of accrued leave to deal with or other day-to-day HR tasks which took a back seat during the crisis response phase. People may choose to move on to new roles following a crisis, or there may even be redundancies to arrange as part of your wider business recovery plan.
<hr>
The impact that HR will have on business recovery during and following a crisis, is significant for any business, and their input, invaluable. Often the voice of your organisation and the go-to for advice and encouragement, companies with the support of a competent, organised, and resilient HR leader are achieving great success.
With links to some of the UK&rsquo;s best HR leaders we are helping to enhance leadership teams across a range of sectors. If you would like to know more about how the right HR specialist could improve your business continuity plans, and assist you on your road to business recovery, get in touch.
<hr>
&nbsp;

How to use a remote workforce to propel business recovery

Identifying critical roles to aid business recovery

The &lsquo;new normal&rsquo; is a term used daily since the pandemic and applies to almost every home and business across the UK. As the wearing of face masks and social distancing look like they are here to stay for the foreseeable, so too are numerous other now accepted practices that seemed alien to us just a short time ago.

Trends that have changed marketing and recovery for good post COVID

The concepts of innovation and adaptation have possibly never been more poignant. After struggling to recover from the disarray of the past couple of years, many businesses are realising that collaboration is necessary to succeed.

Integration and Innovation: working together to improve marketing output

Although great customer experience (CX) is a real team-effort, most businesses will rely on their marketing leaders to guide the way in elevating it. Re-evaluating and reigniting the relationships formed pre-Brexit and the pandemic will be a crucial element of your business recovery, as will developing new routes into new clients as well.

Elevating customer experience excellence for business recovery

Business Recovery: Marketing

How well does your marketing team collaborate? DivvyHQ is an app that manages the content production process from start to&nbsp;finish, helping everyone in your teams to plan, create, edit, review, and publish your content.
This means that your content creators can easily respond to feedback from content managers, and business leaders can track progress and monitor performance at a glance (thanks to their aggregated analytics reporting).
Another interesting aspect to DivvyHQ is their push towards automation, something that promises to simplify some of the routine and repetitive tasks that consume the most time.

1. DivvyHQ – content planning and management platform

How often are your colleagues restrained by your reliance on IT? Populr is a brilliant tool that gives every professional the capability to create web pages &ndash; without waiting for your technical team to build it.
This might transform how your HR team send internal updates, how salespeople share their proposals, or how your marketing team grab attention.
Pages are automatically mobile-friendly and can be password-protected.

2. Populr – create simple web pages

Video is becoming a primary form of communication online, but most businesses are still struggling to create engaging videos without spending a fortune.
Lumen5 gives every marketing executive the tools to make complete videos in-house. Their AI tool can even produce a draft video based on a blog post &ndash; giving your colleagues a huge head-start. With Lumen5 your teams can unlock entirely new ways to reach an audience online.

3. Lumen5 – video created with AI

Your marketing executives all want to create good content. But most organisations&nbsp;find this process to be hit-and-miss. Nobody knows which content will be a hit. Of course, this challenge is as old as advertising, with pioneering marketer John Wanamaker famously quipping, &ldquo;Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don&rsquo;t know which half&rdquo; &ndash; around 100 years ago.
Atomic Reach promises a more strategic approach to learning what works, and creating more effective content, by using a combination of AI and analytics to assess your library of content and its performance. Once Atomic Reach has reviewed your existing content, it builds content profiles that you can then use to review and optimise future content.
In this way, Atomic Reach works as a partner for your content marketing team, giving them a boost when it comes to crafting content destined for success.

4. Atomic Reach – uses AI to make your content more engaging

What do people really want? AnswerThePublic aims to uncover the truth behind what people want, need, and search for every day. The app uses the autocomplete data from search engines (including Google) and then merges this with every possible question that people could ask on any subject.
This is ideal for content creators who want to understand how customer interest aligns with business goals, and how to craft content to intercept this intersection.

5. AnswerThePublic – search listening tools – idea generation

Rather like DivvyHQ, ContentCal is a content and social media management platform. Key features of ContentCal include their social media management features, which are designed to simplify engagement by making it easy to respond to messages across all social channels.&nbsp;ContentCal are developing an AI-powered tool comparable to Atomic Reach, which aims to help your marketers learn from what works and create more effective content.

6. ContentCal – automation and management

There are dozens of keyword research tools available, but Mangools is commendable for being super simple to use.
By accelerating the process of researching keywords and assessing search intent, you can more easily integrate search engine optimisation into every content project, whether you are updating your website, crafting press releases, or writing case studies.

7. Mangools – keyword research

For any marketing team with big ambitions, Jarvis may be the digital assistant you&rsquo;ve been looking for. But while Jarvis does promise to create content for you, your team will always need to review, edit, and improve the raw content.
Jarvis could be an interesting addition to your content marketing workflows, particularly if you have heaps of content to produce and a limited number of content executives available. This tool is an interesting indicator of the progress that software vendors are making with AI, while also reminding us that the technology has a long way to travel.

8. Jarvis – AI-powered content creation

mmhmm puts the show back into slideshow. If your sales teams or content people want to create more compelling meetings, workshops, and webinars, you can use mmhmm to mix your own live camera with your slides, and weave in other content sources, like live video, websites, and content from your mobile device.
This means you no longer have to choose between speaking directly to your audience and sharing your slides &ndash; you get to combine the two elements and adjust the size of yourself, and your slides, on the fly. mmhmm works with the video chat platforms you already use, including Zoom, Google Meet, and many other video channels.

9. mmhmm – interactive presentations

Data is everywhere and analytics are ubiquitous, but how many of us are truly using the full power of these resources? For many organisations, our data is an untapped mine, and our analytics are a source of confusion. Oribi promises to change that by turning the&nbsp;firehose of data into useful, usable insights.
While Google Analytics can overwhelm you with data, views and options, Oribi is designed to answer the big questions that make a difference to your business. This can help your marketing executives make evidence-based decisions, and your leadership team can more simply understand the impact of your efforts.

10. Oribi – marketing analytics and attribution

Does your marketing team need additional skills or experience?&nbsp;Tate marketing recruitment services can help you find in-demand talent.

10 content marketing tools you may have missed that need adding into your marketing team's campaigns

Recent events have made travel less common and remote working the norm. Marketers can help their businesses by supporting technology that accommodates these different working styles.
Choose a marketing leader knowledgeable in software and apps for helping your business to engage with your customers and contacts - even in today&rsquo;s increasingly digital world. Appoint someone with a passion for tech and who can advise your sales team on how to best use it. You will want them to be confident in informing your workforce on VR tools, holding online meetings, or creating and hosting online presentations.
Your marketing leader should be able to help you navigate the changing work environment.

1. Tech savvy

Find a marketing leader with top-notch communication skills for creating and executing both internal and external communications plans. Alongside your HR leader, you will want to be able to rely on this individual to rebuild or strengthen trust with colleagues and customers alike who have all weathered the storm of Brexit and Covid.
Both groups will need to be encouraged, reassured, and inspired by the messages you put out, so a talented marketing leader who knows how to communicate effectively will be central to your business recovery plan. Your marketing is the voice of your company, so choose someone creative and innovative in their communication.

2. Innovative communication tactics

As mentioned, your customers have faced a tough period too, and you will want to&nbsp;find a marketing leader who will invest in client relationships.
Now is the time to revisit your customer journeys and how you work and connect with consumers. Find a marketing professional who can place themselves in your client's shoes and be imaginative in how your business can help them in the aftermath of a crisis.
Your business recovery will be most successful if you support your customers during their recovery phase as well.

3. Customer focussed

There has never been a more crucial time for marketers to demonstrate their creative ability. Businesses now need creativity to thrive, so take care to hire marketing candidates with creativity.
In a time of recovery, marketing should be used to re-engage and build trust with clients. So, make sure you are employing a marketing leader who can design and oversee innovative campaigns that make you stand out from the crowd. You may feel sales are down as companies get back to some normality, but overall demand is unlikely to have dropped. It is about tapping into what clients need in a new and attractive way.

4. Creativity

Creativity might be a vital quality for your marketing leader to possess, but it needs to be balanced with an analytical mind too. During this critical recovery stage, statistics for tracking the progress of every aspect of your business are important, and marketing is no exception.
Because of the slow-burn nature of results linked to marketing activity, a marketing leader who can track progress and link results back to initiatives is an asset to your business. Look for candidates who are data driven, as well as accountable for their outcomes, as this will hugely benefit your business and its growth.

5. Data driven and analytical

Hiring the right marketing leader for your business as you work to improve and expand is a major part of your recovery strategy. Tate is a leading provider of marketing talent in the UK with vast experience in working with companies across a wide range of industries and sectors. Take the next step on your road to business recovery and contact us today to find a marketing specialist who is a great fit for your organisation&rsquo;s needs.

5 Top qualities of a great marketing leader in aiding business recovery

<h3 class="p2">1. Rebuilding trust and customer loyalty</h3>
Whether on a personal or professional level, we have all been shaken by recent events. With a rise in mental health awareness and reminders to &lsquo;be kind&rsquo; promoted frequently, this mindset can be extended into the commercial world too.
The best marketing teams will have already or will currently be in the process of simply reaching out and &lsquo;checking in&rsquo; on existing, and even potential, clients. One of the most widely used marketing techniques is identifying customer &lsquo;pain-points&rsquo;, and there will have been no shortage of those in recent times!
Even if you don&rsquo;t have an immediate solution for your clients&rsquo; problems, being visible, interested, and empathetic is a sure-fire course to re-establishing client trust and loyalty.
With most companies re-evaluating their processes and suppliers, you want to remain firmly on your customers&rsquo; radar. Your marketing team can advise you on how to reach out, but whatever means you choose, make sure to communicate authentically and stay in touch.
<h3 class="p2">2. Carry-out research</h3>
Much like things have changed for your business, things have changed for your clients&rsquo; as well. Identify specific areas by having your marketing team conduct in depth research on what your customers require in 2021 and beyond. It is probable that they have a different focus now and elevating your CX will rely heavily on leveraging this information.
It doesn&rsquo;t end with simply gathering data though. In creating the best possible CX, your marketing team will need to be proactive in sharing client insight across your entire business. It needs to be acted upon too - information gleaned by marketing leaders should be used by every department to set strategies and objectives that drive your recovery activities.
Whether you send out questionnaires, social media polls or simply pick up the phone, increase your touch points to re-engage clients and to gather insightful feedback on how businesses are adapting to the new normal.
<h3 class="p2">3. Be agile and adaptable</h3>
Recent research carried out suggests that &lsquo;companies that adapt to changing needs of customers will recover more rapidly and be better positioned to sustain growth than competitors.&rdquo;
Once you have thoroughly explored your clients&rsquo; business needs, revisit every area of your business, and determine how you can amend your activities in response to your clients&rsquo; current priorities.
If you produce products, do they need to be modified? If you provide a service, do processes need to be adjusted? Do you need to increase your online services, produce an app, or deal with certain customers remotely in place of previous face-to-face interactions?
The reality may even be that you have lost customers because of Brexit and/or COVID, meaning the best possible route into new consumers is to now take an innovative and reimagined approach to your offering(s). To retain existing business and attract new trade, adaptability is key.
<h3 class="p2">4. Collaboration</h3>
A joined-up approach is imperative to elevating CX. There is no value in marketing leaders alone planning and executing a strategy to add value for your customers if internal departments are not aligned.
Consistency and continuity are essential for an outstanding overall customer journey, and while marketing will lead on CX initiatives it takes company-wide collaboration to elevate your CX, and especially for business recovery.
Are you looking for top marketing professionals to elevate your CX? We are actively helping lots of businesses on their road to recovery through introducing them to some of the best marketing and CX candidates available. Get in touch to start a conversation about how a marketing specialist could help you.
<hr>
Are you looking for top marketing professionals to elevate your CX? We are actively helping lots of businesses on their road to recovery through introducing them to some of the best marketing and CX candidates available. Get in touch to start a conversation about how a marketing specialist could help you.
<hr>
&nbsp;

Post-pandemic marketing: are these trends influencing your goals?

Essential marketing KPIs to assist your business recovery

Covid has impacted every department in every company, but finance teams have faced particularly tough times. Finance specialists are seen as trusted advisors when businesses are recovering from a crisis.

Collaborative working: why relationships between finance, marketing and operations matter now more than ever post-Covid

As we emerge from the upshot of COVID and Brexit, business recovery relies heavily upon the skills and abilities of your workforce. Often, in times of crises, soft skills are weightier than hard skills in determining success, and attributes such as creativity and problem-solving become the most valuable in an &lsquo;all-hands-on-deck&rsquo; approach

How to improve the finance team’s creativity and problemsolving skills to propel business recovery

The term &lsquo;speculate to accumulate&rsquo; has never been more appropriate when it comes to FinTech and business continuity. Here, we explore just some of the ways that technology could help you not only on the road to recovery, but to instil long term efficiencies to secure your ongoing success.

Investing in finance technology to improve efficiencies and aid business recovery

Business Recovery: Finance

<h3 class="p2">1. Sound analytical skills</h3>
The ability to generate and analyse the most relevant and valuable financial data is imperative for any business en route to recovery. Ensure your finance team can provide you with figures that allow you to precisely plan and budget for the weeks, months, and years ahead. Data-driven approaches are necessary for analysing industry trends, reducing prices, and increasing profit margins.
Assess if your prospective finance leader understands what needs to be measured to achieve success and whether they are comfortable assessing the impact of different business activities.
<h3 class="p5">2. A wide array of business acumen</h3>
Hire a finance leader who is knowledgeable about every aspect of the business. Your financial figures will benefit greatly from having someone who understands how each department operates.
With a holistic view, a finance specialist can pinpoint areas where expenditures can be reduced. In addition to providing advice on specific activities, they can also act as a trusted advisor to individual departments, helping them maximise profits and minimise losses.
If a finance professional can wear many hats, they are in a stronger position for supporting you in achieving your financial goals.
<h3 class="p2">3. The ability to problem-solve</h3>
The best finance leaders are those who are innovative in the way they deal with problems. Your business needs someone who can adapt their strategies to meet unpredictable and changing financial needs. You will want them to know how to best respond to complex daily accounting issues, and act ethically, legally and with integrity to find solutions for overcoming any eventuality.
The problems will hopefully not all be on the scale of Brexit or Covid, but an innovative thinker who can deal with any hitch will certainly be an asset when working towards business recovery.
<h3 class="p5">4. Adaptability</h3>
When searching for a finance leader to work with you, make sure they are adaptable. We have all had to fine-tune our approaches post-Brexit and post- Covid, and agility is key in business recovery, along with some resilience and the ability to manage setbacks.
As you interview candidates, ask them how they would manage change across your business from a financial perspective, including how they would adapt to challenges. In the event of a crisis, or even if new regulations and/or standards are implemented, you will want to know your financial professional is capable of handling the situation.
<h3 class="p2">5. Foresight and futureproofing expertise</h3>
The road to recovery, especially after events as impactful as Brexit and Covid, is not short. Repairing and improving your organisation will not happen overnight, so you need to onboard a finance expert with foresight and the ability to implement a long-term plan.
Schemes for futureproofing may include applications for funding. And, rather than cutting costs, you may find your business would in fact benefit from spending money to aid recovery; expenditure may include things like hiring new team members, training existing staff, or increasing your advertising budget to promote your new and improved offerings.
Having contingency plans has become more and more important for businesses in recent years. Ensure your finance leader can apply financial contingency plans to secure the future of your business.
<hr>
We are using our extensive network of finance leaders to help businesses to recover from the repercussions of Brexit and Covid19. If you too are ready to navigate the &lsquo;new normal&rsquo; and take your business to the next level, we would love to speak with you.&nbsp;Contact us today for a conversation about how an experienced finance leader could assist you in transforming your business.
<hr>
&nbsp;

Top 5 qualities of a great Finance leader in aiding business recovery

We will&nbsp;find you the perfect blend of talent and team mate to join you and your company. Simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch.

Is this the future of the finance function?

Why this finance tech is transforming the finance manager role

How are these 5 trends changing finance?

How to improve the finance team’s creativity and problem-solving skills to propel business recovery

Equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&amp;I) has certainly been a hot topic in the HR field of late. Shocking world events have triggered developments in the world of work to better embrace diversity and attract wider talent (though there is, of course, always room for improvement). But ED&amp;I has been widely accepted as a key attribute of a successful business.
Indeed, there&rsquo;s been a wealth of research reports showing why equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace is so important. And unconscious biases are now widely recognised as a trait that we all have. But recognising that it exists is the first step in helping address the ED&amp;I agenda. This has, in part, led to more forward-thinking employers investing in the development of inclusive workplaces which naturally result in more diverse workforces. And the benefits have been widely documented.
In fact, McKinsey&rsquo;s latest inclusion and diversity (I&amp;D) report, the third in a series of research papers, sets out the business case for diversity. According to its<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20wins%20How%20inclusion%20matters/Diversity-wins-How-inclusion-matters-vF.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&nbsp;'</a><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20wins%20How%20inclusion%20matters/Diversity-wins-How-inclusion-matters-vF.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Diversity wins</a><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20wins%20How%20inclusion%20matters/Diversity-wins-How-inclusion-matters-vF.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">'</a>&nbsp;paper, the corporate value of these initiatives is greater than ever in a post-pandemic environment:
&ldquo;The business case for inclusion and diversity (I&amp;D) is stronger than ever. For diverse companies, the likelihood of outperforming industry peers on profitability has increased over time, while the penalties are getting steeper for those lacking diversity.&rdquo;
The research revealed some highly interesting trends:
<ul>
<li>There is a 48 percent performance differential between the most and least gender- diverse companies.</li>
<li>In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, companies in the top quartile of diverse leaders outperformed those in the fourth by 36 percent in terms of profitability.</li>
<li>There continues to be a higher likelihood of outperformance difference with ethnicity than with gender diversity.</li>
</ul>
This is just one recent example of data that shows why implementing an efficient equality, diversity and inclusion strategy is so important. But in these uncertain and constantly evolving times, knowing how to get ED&amp;I right and ensure its future is a challenge.
<h3>The many facets of ED&amp;I</h3>
It&rsquo;s important to begin with a look at the many levels of diverse talent. When many businesses look at building a diverse workforce there are common characteristics or demographics that are considered. The more widely recognised &lsquo;areas&rsquo; or &lsquo;projected characteristics&rsquo; (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity) already make executive discussions.
But there are so many more strands to diversity:
<ul>
<li>Disability inclusion: According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/outcomesfordisabledpeopleintheuk/2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ONS</a>&nbsp;the unemployment rate for disabled people was 46.5% between July and September 2022. This compared to an unemployment rate of 18.4% for people who are not disabled.</li>
<li>Ex-offenders: In the UK, roughly 11 million people have a criminal conviction. This shows that a large portion of society is vulnerable to unfair recruitment practices.</li>
<li>Social mobility:&nbsp;This segment often gets overlooked, and the impact of this is certainly being noted. In fact, in 2021, the Social Mobility Commission &nbsp;warned that the UK has struggled with the &ldquo;damaging impact&rdquo; of Covid-19 and as a result social mobility which is &ldquo;already stagnant&rdquo; could move backwards.</li>
<li>Neurodiversity: According to recent estimates, around 15% of the UK population are neurodiverse. That means a significant proportion of the workforce also fall into this category. While there&rsquo;s been an encouraging move towards better inclusion initiatives to support neurodiverse talent, creating an environment that is appropriate and appealing for this audience remains a challenge for those businesses that are yet to fully understand and appreciate the adjustments that are needed.</li>
<li>And much more!</li>
</ul>
A truly inclusive workplace, then, isn&rsquo;t one that focuses on a particular segment, but rather creates a work environment that welcomes and nurtures&nbsp;all&nbsp;talent. One where employees feel valued and empowered by equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. But how can you achieve this in your firm?
<h3>The key to a successful diversity and inclusion strategy: Trust</h3>
&nbsp;
One of the biggest factors in achieving a successful diversity and inclusion strategy is trust.
Indeed, diversity and inclusion specialist, the Clear Company, outlined in its 'Guide to flexible working' that trust is a key trait of an inclusive leader. The presenteeism culture that has long existed in too many workplaces has certainly been removed for many, and we&rsquo;ll only continue to see this shift as remote working remains in place. But to make it work and to ensure that an inclusive company culture is truly nurtured, there needs to be trust in your employees.
It&rsquo;s important to add that this extends to the equality, diversity and inclusion strategy that&rsquo;s built for your business as well. As seasoned talent experts know, you can&rsquo;t simply force a business culture on your workforce and assume everyone will fall in line.
A company&rsquo;s culture &ndash; and in turn, its ability to be diverse and inclusive &ndash; is driven by the talent the business engages. And it needs to be defined by them, not by the executive team. Senior leaders need to create an inclusive environment and to do this, they need to trust their staff to drive ED&amp;I themselves.
<h3>Getting it right</h3>
&nbsp;
Beyond the need for trust, there are many other ways that those involved in talent acquisition and management can create a meaningful equality, diversity and inclusion strategy:
<ul>
<li>Involve managers from the start: If you&rsquo;re to get buy-in from the whole company, ED&amp;I needs to be welcomed and adopted at the top and filtered down to the business, from the CEO to the most junior employee. By involving managers from the start, it is much easier to get their support for any initiatives.</li>
<li>Make it natural: As mentioned above, truly inclusive cultures can&rsquo;t be designed, they evolve. Forcing views and initiatives on the workforce won&rsquo;t have the desired impact.</li>
<li>Consistency is needed: While ED&amp;I is constantly evolving as the world of work shifts and adapts, consistency in terms of the message and stance of the business is needed. The communication to the entire workplace &ndash; whether that&rsquo;s permanent, temporary, contingent or external &ndash; needs to be aligned to avoid conflicting messages.</li>
<li>Passion is a key driver: Diversity and inclusion efforts will be wasted if they are not driven by those who are truly passionate about the subject. It&rsquo;s important to add that this doesn&rsquo;t have to be someone at management level or in the talent team. Instead, look at the resources in your business and identify who has a personal desire to create an inclusive workplace.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The future</h3>
&nbsp;
While equality, diversity and inclusion has certainly moved up the corporate agenda recently, the business environment we find ourselves working in now could see ED&amp;I continue to change rapidly in the near future.
The pandemic has created a level of equality that has long been battled for by some audiences. With travel requirements and geographical borders now irrelevant for many in a remote working environment, it will be interesting to see how the disabled community will benefit, having always required a degree of flexibility from employers for remote work environments. It is also encouraging to see mental health becoming a much greater consideration by employers.
However, the economic climate does present some concern. With cost-cutting a priority for many businesses and budgets tightening, ED&amp;I could be impacted. However, it&rsquo;s crucial that employers keep diversity on the executive agenda. In the short term, letting inclusion drop off the priority list could impact productivity among existing teams. In the longer term, it&rsquo;s likely to impact your employer brand. People will remember how your business handled this time of change and uncertainty. If your company is to be in the best position to compete for top talent in the future, its actions on D&amp;I now need to be strategic (note that this doesn&rsquo;t have to be costly, though).
In fact, McKinsey&rsquo;s 'Diversity wins' report, echoed this sentiment:
&ldquo;Some of the companies we have spoken to are viewing I&amp;D as a &ldquo;luxury we cannot afford&rdquo; during the crisis. We believe that these companies risk tarnishing their license to operate in the long term and could lose out on very real opportunities to innovate their business model and strengthen their business recovery.&rdquo;
And with the makeup of the workforce changing &ndash; with a greater reliance on contingent and external talent, as well as an increasing use of service providers &ndash; future proofing your equality, diversity and inclusion strategy to cover all areas of your workforce is now vital for your competitive stance.

How to build an equality, diversity and inclusion strategy for the ‘better normal’

Today, we see businesses across the globe undergoing rapid transformation as they adapt to meet the new normal. The most talented individuals remain in high demand with firms crying out for experts in business areas such as digital, marketing, IT, project management, and, in some industries, niche STEM skills &ndash; albeit, not necessarily on a permanent basis..
Anyone with the high-demand skills that facilitate wide-ranging organisational transformation and success is going to be highly selective when choosing to either stay with the company they&rsquo;re at or deciding which company to switch to. They know their true value, even in today&rsquo;s uncertain market.
To attract and retain this highly-skilled talent, and indeed others, you need to make your organisation an employer of choice within your industry and beyond &mdash; ensuring you can tap into the right talent and future proof this pipeline.
So how can HR and Talent Acquisition leaders attract and retain talent in today&rsquo;s skill--short, competitive talent market?
The answer: by creating a compelling Employer Value Proposition (EVP) that facilitates the retention of your best current employees and attracts future employees who will drive real organisational change.
In this piece, we&rsquo;ll address some of the most important questions for HR leaders today: what is an EVP, why should your organisation invest in one, and how do you create an attractive and unique EVP that will attract and retain top talent in the years to come?
Read on to find out the answers.
<h3>What is an Employer Value Proposition (EVP)?</h3>
An EVP, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://linkhumans.com/category/blog/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link Humans</a>,&nbsp;can be defined as &lsquo;the unique set of benefits which an employee receives in return for the skills, attributes and experience they bring to a company.&rsquo;
The most successful EVPs are holistic, people-focused and culture-driven. Gone are the days when the core competencies of an EVP were remuneration, bonus, holidays and personal development. Expectations have changed dramatically &mdash; especially as millennials and Generation Z become an increasingly integral part of modern workforces.
Aspects such as supporting a company&rsquo;s purpose-led mission, being part of a high-performing team or working in an inclusive environment, flexible working practices, remote work opportunities, wellness programs and a desire to work for businesses that work for more than just profit have all come into play.
In addition, many workers, particularly those that are highly skilled, now demand the latest technology, innovative working practices, meaningful work, and a company that has a positive reputation both within their industry, and the wider community.
Of course, no employer can be all things to all people. Your EVP should, therefore, be directed to your target market, while incorporating some of the elements just discussed.
To answer demands effectively, companies need to clearly define where they stand. The EVP should be aspirational but also grounded in the reality and reflective of the genuine experience of your employees. Anything less will be called out as inauthentic!
Broadly, positioning territories can be put into these nine categories:
<ul>
<li>Purpose</li>
<li>Teamwork</li>
<li>Autonomy</li>
<li>Innovation</li>
<li>Learning</li>
<li>Progression</li>
<li>Performance</li>
<li>Reward</li>
<li>Status</li>
</ul>
Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://universumglobal.com/">Universum</a>
Employers usually select one territory as their core stance, with several supporting pillars that further reflect their EVP themes and priorities. These components then need to be brought to life and demonstrated by proof points, employer brand content and employee story telling.
An EVP is useless if not effectively activated - it must be an integral part of how a company operates and proactively targeted towards relevant talent segments, not just how a company wants to be seen.
<h3>Why should your organisation invest in creating an EVP?</h3>
&ldquo;Your company needs a strong employer value proposition &ndash; a compelling answer to the question, &lsquo;Why would a highly talented person choose to work here?&rsquo;&rdquo; Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones and Beth Axelrod, The War For Talent
An effective talent strategy requires a clear and concise EVP. This is important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it gives people a clear rationale to join the company and to stay.
It also acts as a consistent platform for all employer brand communications to ensure that any potential new hires are absolutely clear as to what it&rsquo;s like to work at the business. It prevents mixed messages or potential increased attrition rates due to a miscommunication around the likes of corporate culture, for example. It is also a business&rsquo;s opportunity to be different and to positively influence how it is perceived as an employer.
Without a clear EVP, businesses will find it increasingly difficult to attract, hire and retain the talent they need to drive success. But done well, an EVP can lead to real business benefits.
According to research by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/insights/employee-engagement-performance/employee-value-proposition" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gartner</a>,&nbsp;organisations that effectively deliver on their EVP can reduce the compensation premium by 50% and reach 50% deeper into the labour market when candidates view an EVP as attractive.
In other words, by defining a clear, compelling and attractive EVP, a business can attract more highly skilled workers, without needing to break the bank to do so.
As businesses look to hire in-demand talent to drive transformation, while simultaneously cutting costs in response to an uncertain global economic outlook, investing in an EVP should, in this light, be business-critical.
The same Gartner study also reveals that organisations that effectively deliver on their EVP can decrease annual staff turnover by 69% and increase the commitment of new hires by almost 30%. Though some businesses are laying off non-essential workers, they still need to ensure they don&rsquo;t lose their best talent, particularly if they want to develop and grow their business. Once again, investing in an EVP makes good business sense.
It&rsquo;s now increasingly vital that your EVP shouldn&rsquo;t solely be seen as an investment exclusive to your permanent workforce.&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/blog/northern-consulting-blogs/2021/the-future-of-work-and-workforce-ecosystems.html">Recent research</a>&nbsp;reveals that the shift towards organisations using a holistic workforce ecosystem to deliver on key strategic objectives shows no sign of slowing.&nbsp;And, with the demand for remote and flexible work set to increase following the impact of the pandemic, coupled with businesses looking for greater agility and flexibility, engagement with external contractors and temporary workers is set to rise. As a snapshot, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/homeworkingandspendingduringthecoronaviruscovid19pandemicgreatbritain/april2020tojanuary2022">ONS</a>&nbsp;revealed that&nbsp;between 19th&nbsp;and 30th&nbsp;January 2022, more than a third &ndash; 36% &ndash; of working adults reported having worked from home at least once in the last seven days.
Given this current environment, it&rsquo;s vitally important that businesses invest in an EVP for both their permanent and contingent workforce.
A remote DevOps engineer or a cybersecurity expert working on a six-month contract may not ever come physically in contact with your business but they are still likely to be interested in how well your company remunerates, how their work with your business can help them develop their career, and increasingly, how your business is seen in the wider world (and thus, on their CV).
For businesses, it&rsquo;s vital to be seen as an outstanding employer for contingent workers, particularly as contingent worker engagements grow in the years to come.
<h3>How to design an outstanding EVP?</h3>
Having defined what an EVP is, and why your business should invest in one, we&rsquo;re now going to discuss how you can create an outstanding EVP for your business.
<h3>Understanding your current position</h3>
Understanding how powerful your offering is to present and potential employees is an essential first step to designing an outstanding EVP.
To do this, you need to assess what it&rsquo;s actually like to work at your organisation, how attractive your current working environment is, and how communicable your company culture and vision currently is.
By doing so, you will be able to get a better understanding of what your company is, and isn&rsquo;t, and learn which of these elements are currently strong.
This process should not be done by HR professionals and leadership teams alone. It&rsquo;s important that you get critical feedback from current employees, former employees, and even candidates who have turned your company down. By going through this process, you can get a true understanding of your current standing.
The most common approach is utilising employee surveys, workshops and focus groups. In the case of current employees, asking questions such as &lsquo;what motivates you at work&rsquo;, &lsquo;what improvements would you like to see&rsquo; &lsquo;how important is career growth to you&rsquo; and &lsquo;how important is the company culture to your work&rsquo; is a good place to start.
This is by no means the full extent of questions you could be asking, and you should, of course ask different questions to those in different positions, and tailor them to your own business.
But through assessing some of the key drivers for workers today (as alluded to in the &lsquo;What is an Employer Value Proposition&rsquo; section), and creating questions that align with these motivations, you&rsquo;ll be able to gain a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses in the eyes of current, former and potential employees.
<h3>Defining the individual points of your EVP</h3>
Once survey results and focus group sessions have been analysed, you can start building your new EVP. This should, done well, truly reflect who you are as a business.
It&rsquo;s also worth analysing the careers pages on your competitors&rsquo; websites at this stage, to learn how they address the concerns, wants and ambitions of people working in your sector.
Ideally, your EVP should be able to flex in order to suit different audiences you need to appeal to. A technical director is likely to have very different priorities to an accounting intern, for example. Likewise, workers who are permanent or contingent will have differing priorities (though there is often some overlap).
Creating an EVP is far from a straightforward process. As with all strategic endeavours, it takes time. But done well, it can set your business on the right path for years to come, allowing you to continually attract, hire and retain the best talent
<h3>Write and promote your EVP</h3>
Once you&rsquo;ve fully defined what matters to people in your industry and organisation, how you differ from your competition, and what sets you apart, the logical thing to do next is write a statement that encapsulates your EVP.
Importantly, you need to ensure that your EVP statement is unique to your business. While it&rsquo;s fine to research and learn from best practices, your EVP statement needs to be truly authentic. It also needs to be clear, positive and inspirational &mdash; in alignment with what your ideal employee desires, and what your business actually offers.
Put simply, it needs to be memorable and grounded in reality.
Once your EVP is clearly defined, activating and promoting it to the wider world is the next step. Failing to do this renders the whole process a potential waste of time. After all, if no-one is aware of your EVP, what is its purpose?
Even businesses who do go to the effort of investing in an EVP often communicate it solely on their careers page, which is a mistake. To create an exceptional EVP, you need to take things a few steps further.
Start by promoting your EVP on your company blog, social media accounts and company newsletters. At the same time, share your EVP internally through internal communications platforms, and assign employee ambassadors to communicate your EVP with their own personal social networks.
Ultimately, your EVP should be a core component of your business&rsquo; content, social media and communications strategies.
<h3>Regularly review your EVP</h3>
As we know, companies shift direction on a regular basis. Your business might undergo a rebrand, for example. Equally, it could be acquired or merged, or a newly appointed CEO or People Director might arrive with a new vision for who you are as an employer.
As a result, it&rsquo;s important to periodically review your EVP to ensure it continues to reflect who you are as a business, and also, to re-examine the priorities of talent within your business and the wider industry. As before, feedback from surveys and focus groups are key to this.
Regularly measuring the impact of your EVP is also vital. Are you getting higher quality and a higher volume of candidates for roles? Are you seeing a positive impact on employee attrition? Is your EVP content gaining traction through your blog and social media posts?
These are all important factors to consider to ensure that your EVP is leading to a real-world impact.

The complete guide to building a unique Employer Value Proposition (EVP)

<article class="blog-article">
<div class="blog-article-body">
The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage increased in April 2023, with the National Living Wage seeing its biggest increase since it was first introduced in 2016. Employers across the UK need to prepare for these increases to ensure all employees are paid in line with the new legislation.
Statutory sick pay, maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay rates also increased in April 2023, along with increases to employment tribunal limits.&nbsp;
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article light-grey-bg full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h3>Increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage</h3>
The minimum wage an employee should get depends on their age and whether they&rsquo;re doing an apprenticeship. The National Living Wage is higher than the National Minimum Wage, and workers would receive this if they&rsquo;re aged 23 or over.
From 1 April 2023, the new rates are as follows:
<table border="1" width="668" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom">
&nbsp;
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
Rate from April 2023
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
Increase from 2022 (&pound;)
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
Increase from 2022 (per cent)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom">
Ages 23 and over (NLW)
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
&pound;10.42
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
0.92
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
9.7
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom">
Ages 21-22
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
&pound;10.18
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
1.00
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
10.9
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom">
Ages 18-20
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
&pound;7.49
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
0.66
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
9.7
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom">
Ages 16-17
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
&pound;5.28
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
0.47
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
9.7
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom">
Apprentices*
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
&pound;5.28
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
0.47
</td>
<td valign="bottom">
9.7
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*There are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/become-apprentice/pay-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">different rates of pay for apprentices</a>&nbsp;depending on their age and what year of their apprenticeship they are in. The rate mentioned in the above table applies to apprentices that are either aged under 19, or aged 19 or over and in their first year of their apprenticeship.
The UK government website offers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-calculator-employers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a calculator tool</a> to help you check that you&rsquo;re paying the correct minimum wage or if you owe a payment from the previous year. If you&rsquo;re currently a Tate client, your account manager would work with you to ensure that all vacancy pay rates are advertised at the relevant minimum wage rates or higher. There are repercussions for employers who do not implement these changes in the form of fines and court orders by the HMRC.&nbsp;
<h3>What is the new statutory sick pay (SSP) rate?</h3>
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article primary-bg full-width">
<div class="l-container">
From 2 April 2023, SSP will rise from&nbsp;&pound;99.35 a week to &pound;109.40 a week.&nbsp;Employees may be offered SSP up to 28 weeks. This is the minimum amount that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/entitlement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eligible employees</a>&nbsp;could receive, however you could offer employees more if you have a company sick pay scheme. SSP is paid when an employee is sick for at least 4 days in a row (including non-working days).
You can use the UK government&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/calculate-statutory-sick-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SSP calculator</a>&nbsp;if you need help with working out actual amounts or daily rates.
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article light-grey-bg full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h3>New statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay rates</h3>
New statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay rates come into effect from 2 April 2023. These rates will increase from&nbsp;&pound;156.66 to &pound;172.48 a week.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.gov.uk/employers-maternity-pay-leave" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Statutory maternity pay (SMP)</a>&nbsp;for eligible employees can be paid for up to 39 weeks, where tax and national insurance still need to be deducted. There are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-maternity-pay-how-different-employment-types-affect-what-you-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">different rules</a>&nbsp;for casual (or short contract) employees and agency workers.</li>
<li>Employees may be eligible for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/employers-paternity-pay-leave" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statutory paternity pay</a>&nbsp;if they and their partner are having a baby, adopting a child or having a baby through surrogacy.</li>
<li>When an employee takes time off to adopt a child or have a child through surrogacy, they may be eligible for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/employers-adoption-pay-leave/eligibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statutory adoption pay</a>.</li>
<li>Employees may be able to get&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay-employer-guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statutory shared parental pay</a>&nbsp;(ShPP) if they&rsquo;ve had a baby or adopted a child.</li>
</ul>
You can use the UK government&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maternity, paternity and adoption calculator</a>&nbsp;to work out an employee&rsquo;s SMP, paternity pay or adoption pay.
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article primary-bg full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h3>Increase of limits on tribunal awards</h3>
On 6 April 2023, the latest round of annual increases relating to the maximum awards available at employment tribunals came into effect &ndash; perhaps not unsurprisingly given the current inflationary environment. Under the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023, the following figures apply from 6 April 2023:
<ul>
<li>the statutory limit on a week&rsquo;s pay, which is used to calculate statutory redundancy payments and the basic award for unfair dismissals, increased from &pound;571 to &pound;643 </li>
<li>the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissals increased from &pound;93,878 to &pound;105,707. However, unfair dismissal compensation remains capped at the lesser of the compensatory award or a year&rsquo;s pay.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</article>
<article class="rich-text-article full-width">
<div class="l-container">
<h3>Next steps</h3>
Statutory pay rates increased in April and all employers need to ensure that they&rsquo;ve prepared for the changes. As part of our passionate, professional and personal service, we work closely with our clients to help communicate and implement these changes for our candidates.
If you&rsquo;re a Tate client and have any questions about these rate increases, contact your account manager for more information. If you&rsquo;re new to Tate, learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tate.co.uk/clients/our-services">our services</a>.
</div>
</article>

We will find you the perfect blend of talent and team mate to join you and your company. Simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch.

National Minimum Wage Rates Increased in April 2023

Those operating in talent acquisition and management have long understood the benefits of building diverse teams and fostering an inclusive culture. However, since the pandemic the world of work has changed significantly &ndash; and this has created both fresh opportunities and new challenges around diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&amp;I).
A global boom in demand for talent, and a wholesale shift to hybrid working have all impacted how businesses find, engage, and manage their people. Add to the mix the &lsquo;Great Resignation&rsquo; as workers around the world reassess their priorities and ambitions, and it is clear that businesses must urgently reassess their DE&amp;I efforts to keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape.
We spoke to Ann Bookout, Impellam&rsquo;s Head of Culture &amp; Fulfilment, about the actions needed to improve workforce DE&amp;I in 2022. Here&rsquo;s what she had to say.
<h3 class="p4">Ann, how would you describe the state of workforce DE&amp;I today?</h3>
Ann Bookout (AB): While we are now witnessing greater diversity at entry and mid-career level, we continue to see a lack of representation on executive leadership teams. That&rsquo;s not to say businesses are not working to address this, particularly where racial and gender representation at board level is concerned.
However, we desperately need to expand our efforts to ensure we are attracting, retaining, and growing other underrepresented groups such as disabled talent, veterans, and those with varied sexual orientations across all levels.
&ldquo;OF COURSE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO MEASURE SUCCESS WHERE WORKFORCE DE&amp;I IS CONCERNED. HOWEVER, I MUST CONFESS I HAVE A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH DATA CAPTURE.&rdquo;
The goal for inclusion is often beyond what can be measured on paper. Moving a figure from 23% to 24% is great, but what does it really mean? We need to tie data into the programmes and initiatives of organisations. Do employees feel engaged and connected? Do people feel a sense of belonging? These are the questions we need to be asking if we want to get a true idea of employee experience on the ground.
There&rsquo;s also a current issue that has the potential to impact true diversity: attrition rates are so high that companies are just trying to get people in the door. I am concerned that decision makers are not doing the appropriate due diligence to ensure they are finding diverse talent and creating and sourcing from diverse talent pools.
I fear that businesses may be missing opportunities to strengthen DE&amp;I as they are, understandably, trying to react so rapidly. However, in some ways, attrition is helping as people are having to look &lsquo;outside the box&rsquo;, so there is a real opportunity here if action is compromised by necessity.
<h3 class="p4">What will it take to create true board-level diversity?</h3>
AB: Board-level diversity is now being demanded by customers and employees. But I don&rsquo;t see many companies doing it really well. Over the last 20 years we have seen investment in gender diversity, with organisations actively growing, identifying and promoting female talent to increase numbers at senior level. We now need the same investment in other areas such as LGBTQ+ and people of colour.
There was a very dedicated push to get women on boards and we need to replicate that for all elements of diversity: when you make a targeted investment like that, you do see the needle move. We need to take what we know about women in leadership and apply similar thinking to other elements of diversity.
<h3 class="p4">What else do you think is driving DE&amp;I workforce trends?</h3>
AB: Of course, there is still a need to focus on diversity officers and chief diversity officers. But, honestly, I think the issue is bigger than that today. Now is the time to reframe what work means to people and how we work. Covid has caused a lot of people to think, &lsquo;What do I even want to do with my life?&rsquo;
Everybody needs a pay cheque, but there is a whole group of people who are taking a step back and talking about culture and purpose and finding meaning.
&ldquo;HOW DO WE EQUIP PEOPLE, SO THEY FEEL THE JOB THEY DO IS MEANINGFUL?&rdquo;
If you are going to spend time away from your family or the people and things that you love, what you&rsquo;re doing has to have meaning &ndash; and this is what we need to communicate to all existing and potential employees. That is why we are witnessing the rise of the chief purpose officer; businesses are investing in drivers for retention in the new world of work.
<h3 class="p4">How should organisations be rewarding DE&amp;I success?</h3>
AB: When it comes to DE&amp;I success, the biggest barrier is people&rsquo;s time and resources. So, you have to make it part of everything you do. You can&rsquo;t just reward people for hitting their financial targets. You have to also recognise them for their contribution to culture and bringing diverse talent to the business.
My job is to constantly challenge and change the questions we are asking of our workforce. You need people who are willing to question the status quo and the time and resources to make change happen. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and not everyone has the time, or the interest, or the capability to make that happen. There needs to be willingness to invest and ask some of the harder questions to achieve impactful DE&amp;I.
<h3 class="p3">Is there a role for greater storytelling in DE&amp;I action?</h3>
AB: When it comes to an effective DE&amp;I initiative or programme, data is only part of the solution. Uncovering and telling people&rsquo;s stories is also vital.
Focusing on the individual brings data to life. I&rsquo;ve personally witnessed the transformative power of storytelling, seeing hearts and minds change in a few moments. The cultural impact cannot be measured but it is felt more than any data on a PowerPoint slide. Creating an organisation where people can share themselves and their identities will have a much greater impact.
<h3 class="p2">&ldquo;PEOPLE CRAVE AUTHENTICITY, TEXTURE, AND TRANSPARENCY.&rdquo;</h3>
We need to hear people, in leadership roles in particular, stripped back and being more vulnerable to inspire the people employed underneath them. The message should be: &lsquo;There is not a perfect path to success, but build your career here and we will help you navigate that&rsquo;.
<h3 class="p3">Finally, how do you think we should be measuring DE&amp;I success?</h3>
AB: Ultimately, to realise the full advantages of any DE&amp;I programme, enterprises need to:
<ul>
<li class="p2">Clearly define their vision</li>
<li class="p2">Develop strategic plans and a formalised framework</li>
<li class="p2">Measure key metrics tracking the impact of the programme based on employee feedback and continue to improve</li>
</ul>
It&rsquo;s a cliché, but what gets measured gets done. You have to tie diversity to reward and compensation and hold people accountable. There is a column A and a column B: delivering on your business objectives in one column and contributing to your culture through creating a diverse and inclusive environment in the other. They have to be balanced; they go hand in hand and can&rsquo;t be siloed. When that is done well, and supported by leadership, it will start to trickle down.
&ldquo;THE IDEA OF PURPOSE OVER PROFIT IS BIG AT THE MOMENT, BUT THE REALITY IS THAT BUSINESSES MUST FOCUS ON PURPOSE AND PROFIT &ndash; THEY ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.&rdquo;
We all want to make money and have stability and I truly believe that companies ultimately generate profits through finding purpose. I don&rsquo;t think there is a complete business case there yet to prove that, but I want to be part of making one.
Amid the new world of work, we need to do things in a better way to attract and retain the best people and build robust, diverse, equitable, and inclusive businesses.

What does workforce DE&I action look like in 2022?

Employer branding is the process of promoting an organisation to attract, recruit and retain talent. Though a longstanding concept in HR, it&rsquo;s moved significantly up the corporate agenda as businesses understand they need to do more to attract and retain valuable talent in challenging conditions.
Having a solid employer brand is a must for any company that wants to succeed at the talent game. Increasingly employer branding is seen a vital tool to attract not just permanent employees but flexible workforces too as businesses seek ever greater business agility.
Defining your Employer Value Proposition (EVP), identifying proof points and then showcasing real employee stories, helps to create a sense of pride about working for the business and reduces attrition while also drawing in the right kind of prospective talent. Given that employer branding can reduce employee turnover by 28% and boost employee engagement by 120%, investing in an employer brand is a no-brainer.
The typical job candidate of today is more mobile, autonomous and knowledgeable than ever before. If the employer brand doesn&rsquo;t stand up to scrutiny and reflect the true employee experience, talent will see right through it. Authenticity is key. According to a study by Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CR Magazine), 69% of job seekers would likely turn down an offer from a company with a bad reputation &mdash; even if they were unemployed.
In the age of widespread social media usage, online review platforms such as Indeed, Glassdoor and Feefo, and increasing work-life integration, safeguarding and strengthening a brand&rsquo;s reputation has never been more important.
<h3 class="p4">What is employer branding?</h3>
Despite being in use since the 1990s, the term &ldquo;employer brand&rdquo; has often been misconstrued by businesses looking to enhance their candidate-facing image.
The CIPD describes the concept of employer branding as &ldquo;the way businesses differentiate themselves in the labour market to attract talent.&rdquo;
With talent shortages becoming increasingly acute, differentiating a business from competitors &mdash; in the eyes of clients, customers and potential candidates alike &mdash; is much more than a question of aesthetics. Employer branding is a strategic necessity.
It&rsquo;s useful to distinguish the employer brand from the consumer brand. The consumer brand is how an organisation delivers value to clients and/or customers via key elements such as mission statement, tone of voice, design colours and logo.
While the employer brand often leverages these elements, it also combines them with creative storytelling and a robust EVP to demonstrate why a company should be the employer of choice for candidates in the sector.
Employer branding is no longer a case of creating an inspirational narrative and listing employment offerings on the company website and social media channels, however. Without first-hand, verifiable feedback, candidates have no way to separate fact from fiction.
In today&rsquo;s always-on, 24/7 business environment, branding the business as a great place to work boils down to the day-to-day experience of employees and what they say about the organisation. Encouraging employees to do most of the branding themselves, then, is the essence of employer branding.
<h3 class="p4">What does a good employer brand look like?</h3>
&ldquo;Your brand is what other people say about you when you have left the room&rdquo; &mdash; Jeff Bezos
Getting top talent through the door is undoubtedly important, but there&rsquo;s more to the employer branding process than hitting hiring targets. Here are some best practices to turn employer branding into a worthwhile activity that drives business growth.
<h3 class="p4">Telling a compelling story</h3>
The most crucial aspect of employer branding &mdash; on which all success hinges &mdash; is the perception of a company among prospective talent.
The most direct way to influence perception is to appeal to people&rsquo;s emotions through creative storytelling. According to research, telling stories is up to 22 times more memorable than facts. By capturing a company&rsquo;s uniqueness and vision in a thoughtful, memorable and authentic narrative, employer branding can plant the brand firmly in the minds of top candidates.
Creating a UX-friendly careers page (replete with employee testimonials, company values and the perks of the job) is a great way to convey this, as are company events and awards ceremonies that celebrate the business&rsquo; most valuable asset: its people.
A recent trend among the best employer brands is making a company&rsquo;s most talented people accessible to candidates at the job application stage &mdash; through channels such as chat sessions, &lsquo;live&rsquo; videos on social media or informal outreach events.
By being given the opportunity to speak to potential future colleagues, candidates are made to feel connected and valued within an organisation before joining.
<h3 class="p3">Getting buy-in from employees</h3>
Though targeted towards a specific candidate, a good employer brand should display the company&rsquo;s credentials to a broad audience through a range of channels, including official communications, office visits, social media, and, most importantly, word of mouth.
That&rsquo;s why employer branding cannot be a top-down endeavour. It requires buy-in from all employees, from the CEO to the contractors who clean the canteen. If pressed, individuals in a company should want to be brand ambassadors and paint a positive picture of their employer in an out-of-work setting.
<h3 class="p3">Reflecting company culture</h3>
This doesn&rsquo;t mean holding employees to a code of silence, either: if an incorrect picture of day-to-day life at the company is being presented, people can spill the beans once they leave the company. And it doesn&rsquo;t take much to completely tarnish a brand&rsquo;s reputation on social media.
With networking being so important in the labour market of the future, people are likely to recommend or denounce a company to a job-seeking friend, family member or colleague based on the merits of employer brand alone. Moreover, bad experiences are more likely to trigger an emotional reaction than a good or &ldquo;okay&rdquo; one. For people to leave positive feedback online, the candidate experience needs to consider all candidate touchpoints.
In this sense, employer branding is a dual activity that involves building and maintaining an inclusive culture and then truthfully sharing it with a candidate audience. This isn&rsquo;t a quick win &mdash; it needs to be constant.
<h3 class="p3">Tapping into values</h3>
Brand loyalty underpins the new economy. Consumers, particularly those in the Millennial and Generation Z cohorts, have an increasing affinity with consumer brands that stand up to ethical scrutiny (aside from age-old marketing strategies such as slick commercials and celebrity endorsement). Before purchasing a brand&rsquo;s products or services, people seek authenticity.
The same principles can be applied to employer branding. Just as values-driven consumers can spot an unscrupulous brand a mile off, candidates can uncover the true nature of an organisation&rsquo;s working environment with a simple Google search. Leadership must live and breathe the values it espouses.
<h3 class="p3">Harnessing technology</h3>
As with any competitive area of business, deploying the latest tech is crucial in people management. Making full use of integrated platforms and data insights will speed up workflows, bolster collaboration and demonstrate to tech-savvy, digitally native candidates that the company embraces innovation and change.
<h3 class="p3">Perpetuating a pattern</h3>
Employer brand doesn&rsquo;t finish with an employer brand identity and EVP. It requires a constant, drip-feed approach which needs to be visible, evolving and current. With business priorities frequently flexing in line with the changing job and economic trends, the employer brand needs to do the same.
As an ongoing exercise, employer branding should be a holistic, self-perpetuating process. Investing in an attractive EVP while neglecting the interview process, for example, will lead to a propositional mismatch &mdash; an imbalance that employees (and, by extension, candidates) will no doubt pick up on.
A strong employer brand, therefore, should be the foundation for all people strategies. It should take into account:
<ul>
<li class="p2">The entire end-to-end candidate experience (from job adverts to onboarding/following up with rejected candidates)</li>
<li class="p2">Appraisals and management styles</li>
<li class="p2">Company culture</li>
<li class="p2">Diversity &amp; inclusion (D&amp;I)</li>
<li class="p2">The use of technology across the business</li>
</ul>
By optimising these bases (all of which are major flashpoints for potential discontent), employer branding can drastically improve the employee experience &mdash; and draw in more candidates in the process.
<h3 class="p3">Conclusion: how does employer branding enable business growth?</h3>
In these uncertain times, allocating time and money towards building a positive employer brand may seem unrealistic for many business leaders. Others may have dabbled with elements of employer branding, but seemingly lack the resources to create a holistic EVP.
Though certain skills and industries continue to hold sway in the talent game, any business can create an EVP based on many different pillars depending on what they stand for. By forging an EVP around core values, businesses can attract candidates who also have similar priorities.
The pillars of an EVP can be anything from company heritage to L&amp;D, from global mobility to being ethical and responsible. Building on these pillars, client stakeholders can add proof points to each of these areas including career progression, innovation and teamwork, and develop their EVP further.
From Series A start-ups to century-old multinationals, employer brand is the most cost- effective way for businesses to consolidate a robust, sustainable talent pipeline &mdash; and employer branding success stories prove this.
Aside from hogging the headlines and garnering critical acclaim, Heineken&rsquo;s stylish &ldquo;Go Places&rdquo; campaign acted as a manifesto for prospective talent. By focusing on the candidate&rsquo;s personality and professional ambitions in a way that resonated with the target audience, Heineken received over 300% more job applications via LinkedIn than in previous years.
Etsy took a different approach by actively demonstrating the company&rsquo;s values in action. By celebrating its unique six-and-a-half-months&rsquo; paid parental leave policy and showing the positive effect it had on employees, the company set an inspirational example to other businesses and attracted a niche candidate audience.
Finally, Unilever&rsquo;s inventive Power of U campaign encourages candidates to share their own stories of how they bring purpose and passion to their work. By individualising the recruitment process and setting an inspirational, aspirational agenda that enables prospective candidates to showcase their personalities, Unilever lives up to the four pillars of its Employer Value Proposition: &ldquo;Purpose Power,&rdquo; &ldquo;Be the Catalyst,&rdquo; &ldquo;Brilliantly Different Together,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Go Beyond.&rdquo;
With a laser-focused commitment to enhancing the emotional, intangible aspects of the candidate journey, it&rsquo;s perhaps little surprise that Unilever is the #1 employer of choice in more than 40 markets.
As these examples demonstrate, effective employer branding doesn&rsquo;t have to be complicated. It simply needs to drive home an honest narrative &mdash; both internally and externally &mdash; that makes people want to work for a business. Candidates and employees seek companies with a strong culture, clear values, flexible working arrangements and the opportunity to make a difference. Most of all, they want an emotional connection with where they work.
Yes, employer branding requires investment, collaboration and strategic thinking. But by putting the human element at the forefront of all business processes, the brand reputation will take care of itself.

What is employer branding and how can it help grow your business?

Since April 2017, organisations in England, Scotland and Wales with a headcount of 250 or more on a certain date of the year (known as the snapshot date) are required to publish their gender pay gap information by the following year.
For businesses operating in the public sector, the snapshot date each year is 31 March, and the snapshot date for businesses in the private or voluntary sector each year is 5 April. This means that public sector companies need to publish their reports by latest 30 March, and other businesses by latest 4 April. 
If companies form part of a larger organisation or group, a gender pay gap report would need to be published for each separate &lsquo;legal entity&rsquo;.

What is the deadline to report on gender pay gaps?

Businesses must include the following types of employees when calculating their headcount for gender pay gap reporting:
<ul>
<li class="p2">people with a contract of employment with you (including those that work part-time, job-share or who are on leave)</li>
<li class="p2">self-employed people that have a contract to do work for you themselves</li>
<li class="p2">any partners on a salary, or limited liability partnership (LLP) members who you treat as employees on your payroll</li>
</ul>
You should not include any agency workers towards your headcount (such as the candidates that Tate places to fill temporary roles) as they would be part of the recruitment agency&rsquo;s headcount. You must include employees on leave, such as sick leave or maternity leave, whilst they are on full pay. If any employees are receiving reduced pay because of leave, only include them in your headcount and bonus pay calculations, and not in other gender pay gap calculations.

Which employees could you count towards the 250 headcount?

When reporting on your gender pay gap, the key&nbsp;figures you need to submit include:
<ul>
<li class="p2">A mean gender pay gap for hourly pay (the percentage difference in average pay of men and women across an organisation)</li>
<li class="p2">A median gender pay gap for hourly pay (the difference between the midpoints in ranges of hourly earnings of men and women in a workforce)</li>
<li class="p2">A mean bonus gender pay gap</li>
<li class="p2">A median bonus gender pay gap</li>
<li class="p2">Proportion of men and women receiving a bonus payment</li>
<li class="p2">Proportion of men and women in each hourly quartile band (a pay quartile is calculated by listing the hourly rates for everyone across a business, then dividing them into four equal sized groups. The percentage of men and women in each group is then calculated).</li>
</ul>
Businesses (except most public sector employers) also need to submit a written statement that&rsquo;s signed by a senior employee to confirm that all calculations provided in the report are accurate. Most companies choose to provide a narrative along with their written statement to explain why any gender pay gaps are present, and what action plans are in place to close the gaps.
When ready to be published, the gender pay gap report needs to be published on a company&rsquo;s website for it to be accessed by employees and the public, and it needs to be available for 3 years. If companies that meet the criteria do not publish their gender pay gap reports on time and with accurate data, there will be penalties (court orders and&nbsp;fines) along with a reputational risk by receiving a &lsquo;late badge&rsquo; on the gender pay gap service that&rsquo;s visible to the public.

Information to include in a gender pay gap report

Businesses shouldn&rsquo;t be hesitant or afraid to publish their gender pay gap reports. It should be seen as an opportunity to identify any pay discrepancies within the organisation, and help to create a roadmap to help combat gender inequalities. Gender inequality is an issue that cannot be tackled by businesses alone, and will require society as a whole to address the wider social and economic causes of gender imbalance.
At Tate we welcome the opportunity to report on our gender pay gap figures each year, staying committed to creating an inclusive and diverse business that involve initiatives such as:
<ul>
<li class="p2">creating a workplace environment that encourages positive conversations that drive clear action to tackle any inequalities</li>
<li class="p2">addressing unconscious bias across all our recruitment processes</li>
<li class="p2">encouraging flexibility, including part-time work and hybrid working</li>
</ul>
For more insights, browse our&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../clients/thought-leadership/">thought leadership articles</a>. Or to learn more about gender pay gap reporting requirements, visit the UK <a href="https://www.gov.uk/">government website</a>.

Playing your part to reduce the gender pay gap

Creating and Publishing Gender Pay Gap Reports

With freelancers, independent contractors and consultants making up a substantial part of the post-pandemic workforce, HR and staffing agencies must engage and nurture their temporary talent pools if they want to keep up with the competition.
An often-cited report by financial software firm Intuit predicted that contingent and temporary workers would account for 40% of the US workforce by 2020. The global pandemic will have only pushed these figures higher as individuals turned to contingent opportunities as permanent options dried-up &ndash; and realised the real benefits of this form of work.
So, how can businesses build a robust contingent workforce management process that will enable them to tap into highly skilled professionals as and when they&rsquo;re needed? Or to look at it another way, what factors will persuade the top contingent talent to choose one employer over another?
It may come as a surprise to some, but employer values will play a big role.
<h3 class="p4">Getting your employer value proposition in order</h3>
With the war for talent raging across many different industry sectors, it has never been more important for companies to offer a compelling employer value proposition (EVP) to not only make their organisation attractive for permanent workers, but also for their flexible, contingent labour. Whether you need to bring in digital, tech or project management skills, wouldn&rsquo;t it be great if you could call on these specialists when you need them most, without concerns around availability?
A strong EVP plays a crucial role in a firm&rsquo;s ability to do this.
And as Millennials and Gen Z workers are likely to account for the majority of the working population over the next decade, employers need to appeal to this demographic of tech savvy professionals who want to work flexibly. These generations are driving the contingent workforce movement in a post-pandemic environment, and they expect as much from a temporary employer as they do from a permanent one.
They want exciting challenges and purposeful roles. And they want to join diverse companies that have a strong track record in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) matters. To attract these individuals requires more than just paying top dollar for their services &ndash; it requires a genuine commitment to their needs and wellbeing, and to doing good in the wider world.
While a return to office life is already happening, flexible working is also here to stay &ndash; especially for contingent workers in white collar occupations. So, what can leaders and organisations do to enhance their EVP in a remote world? Communication is always a key component of any effective engagement strategy, so regular company updates are a must &ndash; it&rsquo;s important to be transparent about the good and the not-so-good news. Workers appreciate honesty and authenticity, so leaders must be prepared to be upfront and show some emotion if necessary.
Video content and storytelling, with leaders sharing company values and celebrating examples of them in action, is a great way to connect with both internal and external audiences. Virtual learning will also help keep employees engaged and motivated and make them feel that you&rsquo;re investing in their development, especially now when upskilling is so important for all &ndash; contingent workers included.
<h3 class="p4">Becoming an employer of choice for contingent workers</h3>
Providing skills development for the non-employee workforce will play a critical role in attracting these individuals, and it&rsquo;s something that many now expect as standard from a future employer. Providing opportunities for your contingent workers to learn and develop professionally, while also showing that you care about their wellbeing, will mark your organisation out as an employer of choice.
What&rsquo;s more, making sure your people - contingent or otherwise - have the tools to do their job, catering for their working preferences, and providing them with opportunities for internal mobility will make a significant difference to your ability to retain your top talent. Contingent workers may be with your business temporarily, but it&rsquo;s highly likely that you&rsquo;ll need their skills again at some point. Proving to them that working for you will mean more than just a temporary gig and a few pay cheques is going to be increasingly important in convincing them to come back in the future.
Adopting a total talent approach so that all hiring &ndash; including contingent, permanent and written statement of employment particulars &ndash; is under the same roof will ensure that visibility and control can be maintained efficiently, streamlining your processes, generating efficiencies and saving you substantial costs. Such a methodology would also facilitate redeployment as you can easily see which skills you have readily available across the enterprise before having to look externally to plug those gaps.
Organisations must clearly re-evaluate all aspects of their EVP, not just rewards and employee benefits packages but their actual physical office space and remote working set up. In this way, they can provide a fit-for-purpose environment for their people to collaborate and socialise and be able to work optimally and flexibly &ndash; no matter how these individuals are engaged to work. For this to happen, though, employers must listen to what their talent wants.

Why contingent workers care more about your values than you think

The employer brand is a big part of a business&rsquo; DNA. Get it right, and your company can successfully navigate today&rsquo;s talent shortages. Get it wrong, and staff turnover will inevitably become an insurmountable problem.
Every business needs to attract candidates with values that align with those of the organisation. However, if staff and candidates see a role with a business as a &ldquo;maybe&rdquo; rather than a firm &ldquo;yes&rdquo;, they are unlikely to choose your business over your competitors. And even if you manage to get them in the door, they&rsquo;re unlikely to stay with the business for long.
Just because people do not want to join a business does not make them bad candidates. Instead, they may not align with what the business stands for. Creating a clear employer brand can help win over the right candidates and reduce the risk of employing misaligned staff.
Businesses need to be honest to attract people that align with their values. We all have faults, companies included. Relationships are built through a mutual understanding and acceptance of these faults.
Attempting to withhold these faults from candidates, customers, clients and partners will lead to disappointment and inevitable separation.
Despite this, the majority of employer brands do not allow company imperfections to surface. More often than not, they are propped up with meaningless terms and corporate jargon.
To take an example, consider how often businesses use the terms &ldquo;best in class&rdquo; and &ldquo;best in practice&rdquo;. These are mere platitudes that do not offer any definition, edge or clarity. If anything, they serve to alienate potential candidates &mdash; particularly the highly intelligent, highly skilled candidates required for business growth.
Given these considerations, how can businesses effectively bring their employer brand to life? In this article, we outline nine ways in which businesses can grow a successful employer brand that lives and breathes the company vision, mission and values.
<h3 class="p4">1) Tell the organisation&rsquo;s story </h3>
There are 5.6 million businesses in the UK and 32.5 million in the US. In such a crowded market, there&rsquo;s a significant chance the majority of the public has never heard of your company.
Though this may sound like a bleak outlook, the anonymity that being unknown brings can actually turn into a competitive advantage. For relatively unknown businesses, employer brand can be changed without causing too much disruption to customers or clients. This gives businesses of all sizes scope to tell their story and bring their brand to life.
The only people who truly know how great a business is are those steering the ship. Leaders, therefore, need to consistently embody the company narrative, including where the business has come from and where it is headed. Doing this with conviction and candid honesty will, in turn, attract candidates who are aligned to the business&rsquo; ethos.
Telling the company story doesn&rsquo;t necessarily require hiring a skilled writer to draft a 400-page glossy brochure. Something as simple as a 30-second video on the business&rsquo; homepage can quite easily convey what a business stands for. If a business gets its story across to the right people via the right channels, it can radically shift people&rsquo;s perception of its employer brand.
A great exponent of this is Netflix, whosejobs page contains videos where employees offer candidates a glimpse of the company culture and the day-to-day at the business. Though this is simple and doesn&rsquo;t require thousands of pounds of investment, it&rsquo;s incredibly effective.
<h3 class="p4">2) Pay attention to the company reputation</h3>
Understanding what people are saying about the company is vital. In our omnichannel, hyperconnected world, a company&rsquo;s profile on anonymous review sites like Glassdoor &mdash; as well as its social media interactions &mdash; can tell someone all they need to know about the reality of working at the business.
Instead of sweeping negative reviews under the carpet and carrying on as usual, leaders should confront the true reality of their business&rsquo; reputation. This involves taking both the positive and negative reactions to the business into consideration, and responding strategically and appropriately.
<h3 class="p4">3) Aim for emotional impact</h3>
For most people, changing jobs is an emotional decision. To attract candidates and start meaningful conversations, businesses need to appeal to these emotions.
Employers should interact with candidates on a direct level and engage them in their career aspirations. Sharing the company&rsquo;s mission and values with candidates will help them understand the impact of their work and demonstrate that they can make an active contribution to the business &mdash; regardless of the product or service that a business offers.
<h3 class="p4">4) Be clear about what the company stands for</h3>
A great employer brand provides clarity; it says we believe in something and therefore we do not mind losing out on candidates who don&rsquo;t believe in it.
For example, a company that makes a statement such as &ldquo;we are so committed to saving rainforests that we refuse to work with people and companies who aren&rsquo;t&rdquo; would likely be a good fit for candidates that are environmentally conscious. Conversely, candidates who don&rsquo;t care about the environment are less likely to align with this company&rsquo;s vision.
By forming a clear brand identity and avoiding ambiguity, businesses can separate the candidate pool into those who really want to work for them and those who do not.
<h3 class="p3">5) Identify the candidate persona</h3>
Businesses need to be very clear about the type of person they are looking for. For example, is the ideal candidate a problem-solver who will sacrifice everything to find solutions to a particular business problem? Or are they an outgoing, confident character with exceptional social skills?
In trying to figure out who will best fit in at the business, an in-depth candidate persona should go beyond basic demographic information and aim to ascertain what motivates candidates to perform at work.
Mapping candidate personas into relevant motivational categories &mdash; such as career, status, performance, development, innovation, empowerment, values, and support &mdash; will help businesses fine-tune their talent acquisition strategy and select candidates who align with the organisational mission and vision.
<h3 class="p3">6) Ensure the brand reflects company culture</h3>
The importance of company culture is something we&rsquo;ve all become aware of over the past decade. Almost every leader now recognises this. What many businesses fail to achieve, however, is how to build, amplify and celebrate a culture that is truly organic, and people focused.
For the employer brand to reflect the company culture in an honest, healthy way, businesses need to think about what their culture really looks like.
This involves considering how company policies and procedures reinforce culture, as well as understanding how it is reflected in day-to-day working conditions. If employers claim to offer a work-life balance but staff have to navigate painful bureaucracy to work from home, the business is not being honest. Culture cannot be an enforced, top-down endeavour. It needs to be honest and transparent.
After clarifying what the reality of company culture is, social media can help to leverage it as a competitive advantage &mdash; bringing yet more life to the company story. Through blogs, photos, graphics and videos, businesses can provide insider insights and start conversations about what it&rsquo;s like to work for the business. Have a loveable office dog? Show it off on the company Instagram page. Host an office quiz every Friday afternoon? Show the world how fun it is!
Being authentic and giving employees a say in framing the narrative is vital. Given that tech-savvy millennial and Generation Z candidates can spot insincerity a mile off, authenticity will prove the key differentiator between companies that say they have a great culture and those that show it.
<h3 class="p3">7) Define the business&rsquo; USP</h3>
In the collaborative business world, we all learn from other&rsquo;s successes. When it comes to employer branding, however, it&rsquo;s best to avoid imitating other companies&rsquo; strategies. After all, the whole reason for creating an employer brand is that it is unique to the business.
An effective employer brand is a business&rsquo; way of differentiating themselves from the competition. If the website looks and feels exactly like a competitor&rsquo;s, neither business will stand out.
Of course, some companies inevitably have a more exciting employer value proposition (EVP) than others. But not everyone wants to work for super-competitive, high-demand companies like Facebook. Some people would rather work for a small family business where the CEO is on first-name terms with the entire workforce, while others want to work for an established company with a strong ethical stance.
To stand out in a crowded market, businesses need to answer the &ldquo;so what?&rdquo; Why should candidates care about the business? To provide a credible answer to this question, an effective employer brand should seek to justify the business&rsquo; existence.
<h3 class="p3">8) Create a single, unified vision</h3>
The most effective employer brands all have one thing in common: they are simple. By focusing on one particular aspect of their organisation &mdash; no matter how granular &mdash; and then building the employer brand around it, leaders can convey a powerful message.
Whether it focuses on the best break-out area, the best coffee, or the best pension scheme, if the employer brand stays true to what the people in a business actually care about, the company will naturally attract the kind of people that will thrive in such an environment.
Just as a pearl starts with a grain of sand, a successful employer brand starts with one seemingly insignificant yet hugely influential element.
<h3 class="p3">9) Define the channels and touchpoints</h3>
Many companies believe that employer branding is the same thing as candidate experience. This isn&rsquo;t the case. Employer branding takes much more into account.
Candidate experience forms part of employer branding, while employer branding encompasses the full gamut of how businesses appraise, engage, onboard and staff; how they advertise new roles, how they devise company policies and procedures; and how they promote the company on their website. In short, employer branding is the foundation of a business&rsquo; people strategy.
Most candidates&rsquo; first interaction with a business is typically a job advert, and yet scant consideration is given to how the company is reflected in it.
Before posting a job ad, businesses should reflect on how the company comes across in the language and layout. Does the ad say why someone should take the job? Is it truly authentic? Does it outline realistic expectations?
All of these probing questions should be applied to every candidate, client or customer touchpoint across every channel. Consistent messaging is crucial for an effective employer brand.
Only you get to actively design and manage your employer brand. Failure to do so leaves the power of your brand in other&rsquo;s hands &mdash; and which business wants that?

9 simple steps to build a better employer brand

Ongoing skills shortages, along with a desire to build more diverse workforces, are arguably two of the biggest challenges facing in-house talent acquisition teams today.
According to the Future Workplace 2021 HR Sentiment Survey, more than half of leaders said talent acquisition is a top strategic priority, while 67% cited diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&amp;I) as a main concern. Meanwhile, Mercer&rsquo;s latest Global Talent Trends report paints a similar picture, with DE&amp;I analytics and &lsquo;defining future workforce needs&rsquo; highlighted as top priorities. However, while these distinct issues are often tackled separately, taking a joined-up approach could hold the key to success in both areas.
<h3 class="p4">Acute skills shortages</h3>
It is no secret that employers across the UK are grappling with unprecedented talent shortages. Official figures reveal that the number of job vacancies in May to July 2022 hit well over a million with 1,274,400 job roles unfulfilled. Indeed, since vacancies fell to an all-time low in April to June 2020, they have increased by 945,000 in a little over two years.
Beyond these headline numbers, skills gaps are having a tangible impact on both our everyday lives and the wider UK economy. Small businesses are limiting operations because of staff shortages, hospitality venues are restricting opening hours, and a shortfall of HGV drivers is leaving gaps on supermarket shelves.
The reasons behind this evident lack of candidates are, unsurprisingly, complex. Insufficient talent pipelines, an exodus of EU workers post-Brexit, and the fact that many professionals retrained or switched sectors to find work during the pandemic have all helped to contribute to the current situation.
But many businesses are also struggling to source staff because they are fishing for talent in the same small pond as their competitors. There simply aren&rsquo;t enough people to go around. Organisation must explore the potential of untapped talent pools for a better way of doing things.
<h3 class="p4">Untapped talent pools</h3>
While businesses across the UK scramble for talent in skills-scarce silos, there are entire groups of people who, for one reason or another, completely rule out certain career paths or find it difficult to access employment altogether. Archaic recruitment processes, outdated job specs, and even the channels used to communicate opportunities can all act as a barrier to applicants.
Specific sectors can unintentionally deter jobseekers depending on their gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Meanwhile, disabled talent, former military personnel, ex-offenders, individuals returning to work after a career break, older professionals, and care leavers are just some of the groups who statistically find it more challenging to secure a role. What&rsquo;s more, the individuals most likely to be inadvertently side-lined by legacy hiring practices are also most likely to be able to bring new and valuable skills and perspectives to teams.
<h3 class="p4">Engaging a diverse workforce</h3>
Actively seeking out individuals from these underrepresented groups will not only have a positive impact on the volume of jobseekers available, but also on the breadth, depth, and quality of your talent pools.
There is a wealth of evidence that supports the fact that companies with diverse workforces outperform the competition. Make no mistake, even in times when talent is plentiful, DE&amp;I initiatives aren&rsquo;t just &lsquo;nice to have&rsquo; &ndash; they have a positive and measurable impact on a business&rsquo;s bottom line.
Diversity breeds innovation. People with a wide range of backgrounds, skills, and experiences will all approach challenges in dynamic ways, see different opportunities, and bring unique insights. Plus, only companies with a diverse range of talent can honestly claim to be truly representative of the customers and communities they serve.
However, in order to tap into new or underutilised talent pools, engage with a wide range of jobseekers, and take advantage of the benefits that diverse workforces bring, talent acquisition teams and hiring managers must identify why they are not reaching these people already. Unnecessary role requirements, your ability to upskill and retrain applicants, use of language or imagery, and job ad placement all need to be reviewed and reconsidered. Get it right, and your reward will be access to a whole new world of quality candidates.
<h3 class="p4">Seize the opportunity to build a diverse workforce</h3>
By doing things in a better way, it&rsquo;s possible to reach previously overlooked segments of the workforce.
And, while the skills shortages employers are facing are less than ideal, they provide a perfect opportunity to build a more diverse workforce. By joining the dots, and seeking help from the experts, talent acquisition professionals can take a fresh look at recruitment practices and build better processes to boost not only applications, but also inclusion.

Skills shortages: the perfect opportunity to build a more diverse workforce

Your employer brand has always been important. But post-pandemic, getting it right is now imperative.
As businesses look to bounce back from the pandemic, and with lots of staff and skill shortages, now is a key time for organisations to carefully manage their employer brand strategy with an eye on the future and longer-term goals.
<h3 class="p4">How organisations respond to today&rsquo;s world of work will have long-term implications for their employer brand</h3>
Businesses need to keep existing employees engaged and communicating in a human way is an important way to do so. If your business reacted to the Coronavirus pandemic in an authentic way, the logic suggests that people are more likely to want to work for your business in the future.
<h3 class="p4">The digitisation of the workplace</h3>
Rapid digital transformation is happening across almost every industry with businesses across the globe using technology to help bring people together. Workplace conversations have shifted online, both within businesses and through trusted networks like LinkedIn to share and view content.
So rather than shrink back for fear of saying the wrong thing, it&rsquo;s important to be part of the conversation, be transparent and share how your organisation and your people are managing post-pandemic. This is an ideal opportunity to showcase the best of your company and to connect with your audience on a more human, organic level.
<h3 class="p4">Four content themes to consider</h3>
1. Executive leadership response 
What are your people at the top doing to reinforce company values during this economically challenging time? How did they lead during the pandemic and how they leading now during times of financial struggle, while communicating a sense of community and shared purpose?
Encourage your leaders to share stories of hope and optimism about the future, both internally and externally. Video content is a great way to engage in this way and showing senior people in a less formal context makes them more approachable and accessible.
2. Corporate social responsibility 
Are you showing solidarity with other areas of the community, fundraising or offering support in other ways? If so, share your stories.
3. New ways of working 
Have you streamlined a recruitment process that reintroduces personalisation since the pandemic accelerated adoption of entirely virtual hiring activity?? How are you encouraging virtual learning and doubling down on wellbeing initiatives?
4. Culture 
The best people to tell your brand story and showcase your culture? Employees. Loosen your grip a little by trusting your employees to set their own narrative, albeit in an interesting and coordinated way. A story series based around a particular # for example is a creative way to drive and direct employee engagement via social.
While this approach may unsettle some business leaders, content consumption behaviour has changed substantially over the last decade.
Instead of trying to gain full control over the narrative, brands are now learning to harness raw and unpolished content channels such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok for their corporate brand and employee advocates. Even on LinkedIn, we&rsquo;re seeing raw, realistic content come to the fore as people work remotely from their sofa or garden shed.
<h3 class="p4">Authenticity, authenticity, authenticity</h3>
Whatever you choose to focus on, authenticity is vital. Your employer brand content needs to be both personal to your company and relevant to your audience, otherwise, it will fall flat.
This is also a great opportunity to sense check the validity of your Employer Value Proposition and your company values if you haven&rsquo;t yet established one. Are they authentic, do they hold up, are you behaving and communicating consistently with the values you&rsquo;ve expressed or is it time for a re-think?
Above all else, be true to your organisation and focus on the quality of your employer brand content, not the quantity.

Employer branding in a remote world

Health Adjustment Passport

The Government&rsquo;s Access to Work grants can help an employee gain employment or stay in work if they have a physical or mental health condition or disability.
It does this by funding one or more practical support needs depending on the individual. Applications are made via the Gov.uk website and for April 2023 to March 2024 funding can be up to a maximum value of &pound;66,000.
The support needs that can be funded include:
<ul>
<li class="p2">Special aids and equipment requirements such as assistive technology and software or coloured overlays for dyslexic workers.</li>
<li class="p2">Travel to and from work such as taxi fares or adaptations to your vehicle.</li>
<li class="p2">Communication support at interview such as a sign language interpreter or note taker.</li>
<li class="p2">Access to a variety of support workers helping with British Sign Language, professional coaching or dyslexia coping strategies.</li>
<li class="p2">Support with managing mental health at work including one-to-one sessions with a mental health professional or a tailored plan to help individuals attain employment or stay in their job.</li>
</ul>
Employers should incorporate awareness and understanding of this support in managers&rsquo; annual training or induction programmes, so that everyone has knowledge of the support available.

Access to Work Grants

The Government has built a new online portal, which is in live testing and offers employers advice and guidance on managing health and disability in the workplace.
The guidance supports employers to manage health-related absences and establish supportive keep-in-touch arrangements, have conversations about challenges in the workplace or with the role, that if supported differently, may retain staff or support them back into work.
By taking part in the testing of this new service, you willl receive free information on disability and health-related employment matters and support the development of what can become an excellent staff management tool.
Visit the site &lsquo;Support with Employee Health and Disability&rsquo; to find out more and make your contribution to its development.

Employer guidance portal

Disability Confident employer scheme

Click on each option below to read more:

For a copy of the factsheet please complete your details below:

References&nbsp;
1. www.gov.uk
2. Department for Work and Pensions

Supporting disabled people in employment

How to improve your online hiring experience and access hidden talent

Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023&nbsp;
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 formally comes into force on 24 July 2023, however timings on when the government would provide information around how it would work in practice is still unknown. This new Bill provides those who are pregnant or recent returners from parental leave priority status for redeployment opportunities in a redundancy situation.
Currently, those on Maternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave or Adoption Leave have protections in a redundancy situation, where they are required to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy if one is available before they are made redundant. The new Bill extends this priority protection status to pregnant employees, an employee who has recently suffered a miscarriage and those who have recently returned from Maternity, Shared Parental or Adoption Leave.
How can employers prepare? 
There is nothing that employers are required to action until the government publishes the relevant regulations, however it may help to consider how these new employee rights would affect your internal policies and procedures. For example, you may want to start developing procedures to keep track of those employees who are pregnant or who have recently returned from parental leave.
You may require better systems to help identify alternative suitable vacancies when a role is being made redundant. And, when the new regulations are provided, your internal policies would need updating along with managerial and HR training.

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023&nbsp;
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 provides eligible employed parents whose newborn babies are admitted to neonatal care, 12 weeks paid leave in addition to their other leave entitlements such as Maternity and Paternity Leave. This new Act is expected to come into force in April 2025, however charities and trade unions are urging the government to implement this sooner.
Parents would be eligible for these rights if their baby receives neonatal care in a health setting for more than seven continuous days before they reach 28 days old. The amount of leave and pay would be based on how long the baby receives neonatal care. However, to be eligible for paid leave, employees will be required to have worked at the same employer for at least 26 weeks.
How can employers prepare? 
Employers can start to consider how these new rights would affect their internal policies. You also don&rsquo;t need to wait for the new regulations to come into effect to implement a neonatal leave and pay policy that works for your business. For example, you may want to start providing unpaid leave or flexible working arrangements to staff whose babies require neonatal care to start off with. This ensures that the leave that parents take is more predictable and it would improve.

Which employees are entitled to these new rights?&nbsp;
Workers would be entitled to these new rights depending on their employment status. Most permanent staff would be classified as employees and would have these rights available to them, as opposed to workers&nbsp;working on a temporary basis or fixed-term contracts.
However, after 12 continuous weeks in an assignment, temporary workers are generally entitled to receive the same basic working and employment conditions as the hirer&rsquo;s employees. And, to qualify for many maternity rights, a temporary worker would need to have worked for the same employer for 26 weeks.

Next steps&nbsp;
The two new Acts seek to reduce disadvantages and unfair treatment in the workplace. The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 seeks to specifically tackle pregnancy discrimination and disadvantages that expectant parents and those returning from family leave are reported to have experienced in the workplace. The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 aims to help parents who are spending a significant amount of time in a neonatal unit focus on their baby&rsquo;s care and their own wellbeing without fearing financial instability.
We will continue to keep our clients informed of any new employment rights developments. In the meantime, have look at our other industry insights.

Thought Leadership

Find a job

Recruitment Solutions

Contact Us

About Us

Corporate Governance