50 roundtable: business analysis
Hosted by The Business Magazine and Thames Valley 250 sponsors HSBC, Blandy & Blandy and Grant Thornton, this Roundtable did something of a SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats – on the Thames Valley, although one conclusion kept cropping up ...
A company’s people are its greatest asset
Participants
Sue Dowling: Partner, Blandy & Blandy
Wendy Hart: Partner, Grant Thornton
Nick Hicks: Head of mid-market Thames Valley, HSBC
Peter Kavanagh: Managing director, Romans Professional Services
Clive Lucking: CEO, Fourfront Group, office design fit out and furnishing
John O’Hanlon: Chief executive, Ridgeway Motor Retail Group
Jon Stradling: Head of corporate banking Thames Valley, HSBC
Lined up to debate: our roundtable team Journalist John Burbedge reports the roundtable highlights
It may be a hackneyed business cliché that seems to have been around forever, but the reason it is still in use is that it’s true.
Nothing would happen within the business world without the interaction of people, and nothing successful tends to happen without experienced, skilled or talented people.
Hence, with most businesses now looking to boost their workforces with talent that will help drive their growth ambitions, the key Thames Valley focus at present is on ‘people’ – and how to attract, maintain, and retain winning teams.
Attracting, maintaining and retaining great people
With CH&Co employing more than 3,000 people Nicki Tinniswood acknowledged that “one of our company’s biggest challenges is attracting, and retaining the right people in the business. The right appointments will always enhance the prospects for a fruitful partnership.”
To meet some of the challenges in securing a pipeline of good candidates in hospitality, CH&Co has started a long-term plan to develop its own talent through apprenticeships. “And we are trying to make sure that they have a really great
experience with us so that when they come out of their apprenticeship they choose to stay with the business, rather than seek alternative opportunities elsewhere.
“We do lose people to greater wages, but often there’ll be a little tap on the door and they’ll be wanting to come back. Positions can sound great, promises can be made in recruitment negotiations, but the real job . . .”
Banker Nick Hicks said recruitment and retaining a good team was certainly one of the hot topics of discussion among HSBC clients. In recent years employees have been grateful just to get a pay cheque rather than a notice of redundancy, but now engagement and rewards are on employees’ minds – and employers need to understand that those subjects are not the same thing.
“The employee age profile across the Thames Valley is probably lower than the national average and the things that make people buzz in their 40s-50s are very different to what makes 20s-30s buzz.
“Social interaction, working with like-minded people with similar value-sets can be hugely important in creating sustainable teams and retaining quality people.”
Nicki Tinniswood: Head of finance, CH&Co
David Murray: Managing editor and publisher of The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion
Nicki Tinniswood
Some businesses have as many conversations about seating plans and car parking spaces as their salary bands, said Jon Stradling. Workplace environments, flexible working, social activities and so on were now becoming important differentiators for businesses aiming to grow and recruit while retaining their established teams.
John O’Hanlon said Ridgeway carried out an
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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2014
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