I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of “inclusion” in the DE&I equation. There is little point hitting diversity numbers with respect to hiring externally if the environment, once a candidate joins, is not reflective of the experience through the recruitment process. Ultimately this can have the opposite impact than the one intended. Focusing on behavioural and cultural change has to be key in ensuring tokenism doesn’t set in.
Diversity & inclusion is hard work, partly because it’s challenging to meet a diversity quota without slipping into tokenism
Talent shortages and skills gaps are well documented; this report looks at where L&D is developing throughout 2022 to support organisations through these challenges, with some employees stating that they are taking their training into their own hands.
With two thirds of HR Managers stating that they have an increased L&D budget for 2022, there is a need to ensure that the training offered meets the needs of the 76% of employees who have stated that they would be more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training.
Creating a culture of continuous learning is a key business imperative, and should no longer be something that occurs in the background. The normalisation of mental health needs in the workplace, created through the pandemic, has been seen as a great stride forward for many. Focusing on life skills, in conjunction with practical role based training, enables companies to proactively address mental health at work. According to the Epignosis survey, 78% of employees find it important that they receive life skills training, this is in line with the 77% of HR managers who are planning to offer this training in 2022.
Employees will be actively seeking out opportunities for L&D in a buoyant job market, its a key aid to retention for organisations to proactively work on their own programmes.
Workforce training, always a significant player behind the scenes in a company’s success, is about to have its day in the limelight. According to a new study, employees now see a vibrant learning & development (L&D) culture as a key part of what makes a company a great place to work in 2022—and beyond
The pace of technology change and adoption is fast changing how we as consumers interact with consumer led businesses. For example, technology has fundamentally changed the way that I interact with my bank – I can’t remember the last time I walked into a branch – I manage all of my personal banking through an app on the phone.
Organisations need to continue to drive greater inclusion for all – especially those in lower socio-economic levels. We have seen during the pandemic that children from poorer households have struggled to access online learning resources compared to those in higher socio economic levels.
Driving a robust innovation strategy makes good commercial sense, the quote from this linked article is very compelling:
As a global TA RPO and advisory, innovation is key to how we deliver services to our clients. It’s also a key enabler for delivering greater access and inclusion. We’d love to hear from you, please get in touch with any thoughts or feedback you have.
Most successful innovations have come from brands that have figured out how to mix multi-disciplinary thinkers for breakthrough ideas. The next wave of meaningful innovation is rooted in inclusion
Social mobility is not a new issue, but it is certainly one that continues to gain momentum in the wake of Covid-19 and the current cost-of-living crisis, both of which have only served to widen the gap between social classes.
With the focus on social mobility not going anywhere anytime soon, employers need to start taking steps now to drive social mobility in their own organisation.
At AMS we have been working with our customers in the public sector for some time on a DEI and Social Mobility programme and establishing diverse routes to talent in the recruitment of contingent workers, as well as continuing to look at what adjustments we can make in the hiring process to ensure it is more inclusive.
More recently we have conducted our first DE&I survey for the contingent workforce across the Public Sector Resourcing framework that includes questions related to social mobility. We hope to understand the demographic of the workforce giving us a “data” starting point which feeds our wider Social Value roadmap.
This article by Dr Anne Sammon highlights some great points around how organisations can have a real impact in addressing social mobility – with insight into how to improve the hiring process, and considerations for training and the promotion process.
I was particularly interested to read that several companies, in addition to reporting on the Gender, Ethnicity and Disability pay gap, are also looking at reporting the Class pay gaps. This is a great way to drive targets and improve representation of individuals from a lower socio-economic background in senior leadership roles.
The key for employers is not to wait until they are forced into action on D&I issues like social mobility by legislators, but to be proactive on social mobility. There are benefits to the business as well as its employees from having a more socially diverse workforce.
Much has been written in the press over the last 12 months about the Great Resignation and the significant increase in employee turnover. Many have speculated that trend is a direct result of the COVID pandemic – a pent up demand for new roles following a period of stagnation. But there is evidence to show that employee turnover was increasing before COVID turned the world upside down. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the share of workers voluntarily leaving jobs has risen year on year since 2009 and, in fact, a reduction in leavers in 2020 as caused by COVID was nothing but a blip in an otherwise clear upwards trend.
The more worrying statistics today for talent leaders will be those focused on inflation. A recent report on graduate hiring showed that not only is graduate turnover at an 11 year high but with average pay rising at 3% and inflation rising today at >6% graduates effectively earn less today then they did in 2008/2009. The sad reality for many workers, in the face of increasing inflation and an increased cost of living, is that in order to secure better pay they are likely to need to change employers.
High employee turnover is likely to be with us for many years and the result will be increased pressure on Talent Acquisition teams and yet more competition for skills and talent. The companies that will win will be those focused on long-term talent strategies. That means investing in early talent programs, investing in reskilling and upskilling existing talent, investing in better internal mobility programs and it means a smarter approach to external hiring.
Talent Acquisition leaders today are struggling to deliver the talent that their businesses need but they need to find space and capacity to focus on these strategic imperatives, without that focus and impact they will struggle for years to come.
Senior talent is most likely to be participating in the ‘Big Quit’, with 70 percent of employees who reported managing teams of managers reported they were actively looking for a new role.
