RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION


The importance of inclusivity, mentoring and treating people in the business as individuals were highlighted in this panel session on recruitment and retention. Delegates also heard how one organisation is working to help its staffs’ big dreams come true.


Jen Briggs is head of partnerships and HR at hospitality group James’ Places. It employs a team of more than 450 with a combined turnover of more than £22m


Recruitment and retention are discussed at board level. As we try to be the customers’ first choice, we aim to be the employees’ first choice.


Our strategy includes looking at the local community and working with education providers.


Jen Briggs


We work to ensure inclusivity and that everyone in the business is aware of that. It is also about supporting individuals. We want to ensure we are an organisation


that supports people. We are supporting people who ten or 15 years ago would never have dreamed of applying for a chef’s position or a role in our head office.


We operate a ‘buddy system’ for new starters, pairing them up with someone already working in the business. We also have strategies around staff mental health and wellbeing and we operate an open-door policy. Recruitment is about growing your own network and we also like to ‘grow our own’.


Caroline Noblett is managing director of marketing and logistics firm Granby, which became an employee owned trust (EOT) in 2022


We make sure that we are listening to people. You have to treat people as individuals and ask, don’t tell.


Different teams in the business may want different things. The question is, how as a management team can we provide that?


We have employee forums and we are trying to open up communication channels wherever possible, to make sure we are listening.


Caroline Noblett


Coaching starts right at the very top. I am going on a mentoring course at the start of next month. Everyone needs to go on a coaching journey.


The biggest part of our retention strategy was becoming employee owned. Being an EOT is huge. The engagement we had during the process was just phenomenal.


We also have a ‘wellbeing charter’ which has seven pillars to it. It looks at what individuals can do to help their own wellbeing and what we can do in the business to help them in that.


Nicola Mason


Nicola Mason is HR director at Lancashire headquartered law firm Napthens


We have done an awful lot of work on our employer value proposition. The reality is Lancashire has wonderful talented people and the cities want some of that. It is always going to be a retention challenge.


You have to embrace everyone as individuals and really care about their career and what they want to achieve, to help them be the best they want to be.


We also talk to people about their own personal dreams and what they want to achieve, not just in work but perhaps beyond the workplace. For instance, if they want to run an ultra-marathon.


We have created the ‘Big Dream Club’ – mentoring them on their big dreams, not just their careers.


We have a steering group to listen to feedback we have from across the firm and feed that into our plans and our overall HR strategy.


Mentoring is also important and we have the Napthens way of coaching, so everyone follows the same pattern.


As employers we have that responsibility to help people be he best they can be. We also work to bring on future leaders.


LANCASHIREBUSINES SV IEW.CO.UK


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FESTIVAL OF BUSINESS


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