It's time to walk the walk on gender equality

RSG Director Adam Meadows says that new CIPD findings on lack of diversity shows how much still needs to be done to help women achieve career goals.

The CIPD’s report Gender Diversity in the Boardroom launched yesterday, and demonstrates how much business is letting women down; not just at senior level, but across the workplace in general.

The researchers spoke with 452 senior HR professionals and found that more than a quarter of businesses do not monitor the gender profile of their organisations, and that nearly half (44%) are unaware of the Government’s target to have 25% female representation on company boards by the end of this year.

It also points out how dramatically far from this goal UK Plc actually is by referencing the Government’s October 2014 interim review; which shows that only 8.4% of executive directors in Britain are women. The Government review stated that more success has been made in non-exec positions, with 27.9% of these being filled by women.

Most businesses, it seems, are also unaware of the government’s Think, Act, Report initiative; a step-by-step framework for improving gender equality in the workplace. Only 17% of businesses said they had heard of it, despite it having been launched in 2011.

And yet, the research also shows that 89% of the HR professionals surveyed think that a good level of gender diversity can improve boardroom effectiveness. Just 6% disagreed and 5% were ‘unsure’. This clearly shows a massive gap between how businesses are ‘talking the talk’ but are unwilling to embrace the practical implementation of gender diversity by ‘walking the walk’.

However, if we don’t want to be forced into dealing with EU mandatory targets, the time to act on these issues really is now. At RSG, we share the opinion of 60% of the CIPD’s survey respondents in disagreeing with such measures. Almost universally, we find that women want to be appointed for their skills and talent.

Instead, we believe that the glass ceiling will never be removed unless the daily working lives of women are improved and that they are given the tools and support they require to climb, as the CIPD put it, ‘the glass staircase’ to be within the grasp of senior level positions in the first place.

In truth, it feels as if this conversation is already getting old. It’s time for leaders and businesses alike to work with what we’ve got to understand how to create a sustainable framework for equal female representation. And then to just get on and do it. 

- Adam Meadows, Director at RSG

Why you never forget a good line manager

Written by Richard Roberts (Employee Engagement Specialist and Employer Branding Expert).

You might recall an advertising campaign from a few years back. It was to encourage people to take up teaching - using the headline “No one forgets a good teacher” with famous figures describing the impact inspiring teachers made on their school days. It was a hugely emotive campaign - we can all remember a good teacher and the positive effect they had on our motivation, confidence and future development. After all, aren’t teachers our first experience of ‘people’ managers?

Fast-forward to the world of work and I think there are strong parallels between good teachers - and good line managers. I am often asked ”Rich, what is the one thing we can do that would have the biggest impact on engaging our people?” It’s a tough one to answer - as so many factors influence engagement - however I usually suggest they invest time and energy in up-skilling managers to be motivating and great ‘people’ managers.

Looking back at my career, the times I was the most engaged (and disengaged!) relate to how I was being managed. Dan Pink’s recent book ‘Drive - the surprising truth about what really motivates us’ outlines a wealth of research that looks at what really gets us up in the morning to come to work.

He discusses having autonomy over what we do on a day to day basis in our jobs and becoming an expert in what we do - both of which your line manager has a direct influence on. You can watch his video on the topic here. This reminds me of one of the best manager’s I worked for at Virgin Mobile. His style represents what I think are the main characteristics of a great line manager - the traits you remember and want to take with you. They are:

• Recognising my strengths and enabling me to play to them. He knew what I was good at and he knew what I was not good at - but did not make this an issue or something that would hinder my career. Like a good teacher, he saw where my potential was and encouraged my development in these areas.

• Being really good at giving feedback and giving me advice on what I could do to develop. This made me feel motivated to improve rather than feeling I was being told off. This is a real skill.

• Having the ability to step back and let me get on with my role - but also being there if I needed him. For example, I used to come up with lots of ‘off the wall’ engagement ideas and despite his look of bewilderment he let me run with them. He did minimise the risk by saying “Go and pilot that in that area - if it goes horribly wrong you can always say it was a pilot”.

One of my favourite quotes is from Jack Welsh who said of leaders “give your managers the tools and then get out of the way”. For me, these tools go beyond the obvious requirements of training and development - they mean offering support and guidance, giving inspiration and demonstrating trust - in short, recognising the potential to achieve that’s within all of us. Of course in the end it is up to the individual to do this and to quote an old Chinese proverb “Teachers open the door but you must enter by yourself”. This is actually what your manager should do.

Richard Roberts is passionate about helping organisations create engaged, inspired and productive teams with a positive, can do, values based culture. He set up en:Rich HR (www.enrich-hr.co.uk) in 2009 following twenty plus years in HR roles, including ten years with Virgin Mobile.

Employment Law; the three major changes you need to know about

Jobseekers and employers alike must keep an eye on the laws which shape their working lives. The problem is that for most of us, laws tend to be written in a different language! We’ve tried to make sense of these three important changes in Employment Law, so you don’t have to.

The past…
Back in April 2014, regulations on the treatment of workers supplied by agencies underwent change.
If a worker is supplied to their end user by an agency, then it is up to the agency to account for tax and National Insurance Contributions. They must report to HMRC if the worker is not on the payroll of any other person, and must declare any workers from whom tax has not been deducted and the reason for the non-deduction.

There is an exception; for Personal Service Companies (PSCs), that is, a tiny limited company set up by a single worker who owns most or all of the shares, these rules will only apply if all four of the following conditions are met:

• The worker personally provides, or is personally involved in the provision of, services to the end user, and receives remuneration for it.
• That remuneration does not constitute employment income, apart from under the agency legislation.
• There is a formal contract between the PSC and the end user.
• The worker is supervised in the provision of their services.

The present…

As of 6th January 2015, ‘overseas only’ recruitment has been banned.

The government has decided to create a level playing field for workers in Great Britain by banning employment agencies from advertising jobs solely in other EEA countries. Employment agencies are now prohibited from advertising a ‘GB vacancy’ in an EEA state other than the United Kingdom, unless certain conditions apply. With the current skills shortage, employers are understandably trying to tap into the international talent pool, but these measures will make sure that there is no discrimination against UK workers by opening job vacancies up to everyone.

And the future…

Travel & Subsistence allowances for temporary workers

HMRC may remove the Travel & Subsistence tax breaks available to temporary workers, as they believe that certain sectors are exploiting the rules.

However, some employment businesses are concerned that if the Travel & Subsistence tax break is simply abolished, this could force a number of umbrella companies out of business. If this happens, more contractors may turn to using PSCs; this means that HMRC will receive less tax. The contractors who can’t use a PSC (generally those who are paid less) may be forced into using PAYE instead, and taking home a smaller wage. We have a nasty feeling that both outcomes would limit the flexibility of the UK labour market.

This is a summary of recent legal changes which may be relevant to UK employers. We are providing this for general information purposes only and specialist advice (such as legal, financial and/or tax advice) should be sought before it is relied on in any way. Neither Resource Solutions Group PLC or its associated group companies accept liability for any inaccuracies in the above information.

Long term vision needed to solve skills shortage

‘Skills, skills, skills’ – or rather the lack of them – remains the burning issue from 2014 that is set to continue causing challenges for employers in the year ahead.

Although the economy is slowly growing, predictions are that across the board in 2015 industries will experience an all-too-familiar reaction of turning on the ‘pilot light’ to recruit positions quickly in line with expansion, but at what cost?

A recent CBI Employment Trends Survey has highlighted businesses concerns about skills shortages as the biggest threat to UK competitiveness for the first time in 17 years, with worries about regulation a close second.

It is expected to remain so for the near future.

At the time the CBI released their report, Katja Hall, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: “Businesses across all sectors have identified raising productivity and addressing skills shortages as crucial to ensuring the recovery continues and is felt by all.

“It’s a concern that the UK’s growing skills gap is now seen as the number one workforce threat to the long-term health of its economy. Companies and the Government need to work together to find ways to develop skills within the workforce and help employees move into higher skilled and better-paid jobs.”

Alongside this insight, there is also growing recognition that forecasting demand within businesses urgently needs to be addressed and that key individuals responsible for recruitment need support to move away from this ‘pilot light’ mentality.

This is especially important around times of significant change, such as when new legislation is introduced late and when a business needs to quickly launch new projects or initiatives.

While these may be understandable consequences, there are other ways of planning ahead that create more sustainability both within organisations and within the talent market itself.

Given that, particularly at higher levels, there are only so many people with specific sets of skills in the market, for example, in organisational change, competition becomes fierce for these individuals and companies regularly pay over the odds for people who may not be right for the job in hand.

Ultimately, this ‘turning on and off’ process creates a vacuum effect that results in far lower ‘skills’ versus ‘demand’ ratios. In fact, the situation can be so severe that recruiters and employers now universally agree that we need to find candidates from outside UK borders.

Chief executive of RSG Mike Beesley said: “Disruption caused by what can be seen as ‘feeding frenzies’ often gives recruitment a bad name and allows unscrupulous contractors and agencies to exploit the situation financially.

“Businesses can avoid these types of scenarios by better planning and forecasting but it has been shown that despite strong aspirations to achieve this it is extremely difficult to implement, especially within large institutions.

“In response to this some of our customers have been taking advantage of a number of our services to overcome these challenges.

“The increased use of pre-screening, talent pooling, contractor interviewing and selection built in to resource-on-demand solutions allow customers to get ahead of the curve and ensure that when the resource demand comes they are ready for it. We also have a division of the business dedicated to providing these solutions and allowing the customers to remain agile in the market.”

Over the longer-term, it is also essential that businesses and influential people within them recognise that it is never too early to start engaging with young people letting them know about the opportunities on offer to help them in the future.

In fact, many business are already taking this seriously.

RSG is also doing its bit through its own Training Academy and the company has actively signed up to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) Youth Employment Charter and has a programme of outreach and activity planned for 2015 to ensure we are helping as many young people ‘skill up’ and get work ready as possible.

Kate Shoesmith, Head of Policy at the REC, said: “Employment levels are at an all-time high, and our latest data shows that 80% of employers are planning to hire more permanent staff in 2015. At the same time, the UK is suffering from skills shortages across the economy, so the priority must be to make sure that businesses are able to recruit the talent they need.

“That means making it easier for businesses to employ workers from overseas and the UK remaining part of the EU. At home, we need to focus on improving our education and training system so that the next generation is equipped with the kinds of skills employers need. The next government needs to deliver on these areas if the UK is to build the best jobs market in the world.”