THAMES VALLEY 250
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money at our superstars because they want some of what we’ve got. It’s quite bizarre that we are doing well in an expanding economy and we’re having to resist the people who created that recovery, going to other companies.”
Tinniswood: “Actually, the perceived inconvenience and cost of operating flexible working arrangements are more than made up for by the amount of time and money you save from not losing those valued employees, and not having to recruit and pay agency fees.”
Dowling confirmed that recruitment competition was tough in the legal field too. “All the firms which cut back in the recession are now beginning to ramp up, especially in the area of M&A activity and commercial property so today it’s all about trying to make your workplace more attractive.”
Sue Dowling
Opportunities: how to fight chequebook recruitment
Stradling: “In all our business it comes down to people, people, people. Money is not everything in recruitment, but you do need to pay a market rate to get good people.”
Lucking agreed. Cash didn’t have to be the most important element of recruitment, especially if a company could build on its positives as perceived by its staff.
Fourfront Group had recently undertaken an anonymous employee engagement survey amongst 200 staff. It showed only 16% wanting more money to keep them with the company for another five years; 47% wanted career training and progression.
“We are now looking to create more synergy within our group. You can always get paid more money somewhere else, but what else is the company offering?”
Fourfront provides bonus incentives, a two-day employee seminar abroad, career progression, and staff-chosen charity workdays. “It’s a mix, a balance but what we are focusing massively on now is enjoyment.”
Successful work-life balance . . . on the slide?
Lawyer Sue Dowling considered work-life balance often meant more to younger employees than a high salary. “Recent legislation means that all employees can now request flexible working arrangements and the more successful organisations have really taken that on board. Sometimes there may be an additional cost to the company but if the concept is properly embraced, and approached in the right way, it can really pay off because businesses get better performances out of happy employees.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2014
The battle for talent was translating into much more innovative and attractive offices, said Lucking. “If you think back 20 years, offices today are nothing like what they were then with the boss in his oversized office and communication stifled by poor design. Today offices are fantastic places to work; there is even one office in the City that has taken out a stairway and uses a slide.”
Romans relocated its head office in 2008 to attractive modern offices in Crowthorne and Kavanagh admitted that key to the relocation was improvement of the company’s corporate image and provision of better facilities for the staff. “Easy to drive to, and with on-site parking for all, the offices have a restaurant and coffee shop – such things do matter – and we are looking now at how we can further improve the environment for the people who work there because that is important today.”
Engagement with employees was vital said Kavanagh. Management teams should not be aloof. “Working together, being involved, is important because company loyalty comes from the people you work with. We have recruited people who have become star performers for us and their performance has never been about money.”
Also, people don’t always leave for extra money. Broken promises, lack of opportunity, or unfairness of workload can all be reasons – each relatively easily resolved, if addressed early.
Are happier workers, more productive?
Murray queried why UK productivity continued to lag behind some European workforces, if such efforts were being made to improve employee working environments.
O’Hanlon revealed that a French executive had suggested to him that British workers might actually be more productive, but simply put in far more hours at work, which get combined with socialising. The French simply work at work, then go home and socialise.
Although Ridgeway did monitor its sales and technical productivity, he felt the difficulty was in measuring true national productivity, bearing in mind today’s vastly different and evolving business sectors, flexible working, home-working, and global 24/7 markets.
John O'Hanlon
Opportunities: looking forward and further afield
“We don’t hunt in Europe, but we get taken there by clients who have offices or projects abroad,” said Lucking. “We tend to design and manage the process but appoint a local contractor, whereas in the UK we will do everything. So, we are not an export business, but we have been working in France, Holland, Denmark and Italy.” In the
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www.businessmag.co.uk
Dowling said productivity in the legal profession with its chargeable units of time was relatively easy to determine, but it didn’t necessarily provide an accurate KPI measurement. “It’s not about the hours spent on advising a client that matters, it’s the quality of the advice, and overall service, which is important.” The true assessment of productivity is about getting repeat business by providing excellent service that your client appreciates.
Regulatory pressures add costs to professional services
Hart: “Over past years there has been massive price competition in professional service markets as people fight for the work that’s there. We have had more or less static wages, with some inevitable salary inflation, which comes with additional graduates arriving each year for whom we have to compete.”
The growth of regulation in the accountancy sector, to demonstrate audit accountability and good governance, had also heightened the need for quality work while increasing procedural bureaucracy. “And all that’s got an expensive time- cost attached to it, which has had a real industry impact.”
“Historically, the biggest cost in banking has always been bad debts, but globally now that is just part of broader potential conduct-risk costs,” said Stradling, referencing the Basel banking requirements. “Satisfying the regulatory regime is where the cost is now in our business, and we have to grow the topline to pay that.”
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