We’ve just added a new Values and EVP Case Study to our website, with thanks to our client, Pulsant, for allowing us to share their story.

It’s exciting because this Values-led Pulsant—talentsmoothie project was born directly out of the pandemic and its impact on people. How have organisations responded, in practice, to unexpected shifts in their employees’ attitudes and behaviours?

This is your chance to find out.

A people-led opportunity

Pulsant experienced something very positive in the hiatus of the pandemic… and they asked talentsmoothie to help them capitalise on it.

Pulsant had noticed how their employees really came together to support each other through such a challenging period. Their leaders wanted to harness this spirit of ‘togetherness’ to create an aspirational employee experience and make Pulsant an even better place to work. 

A Values and EVP project

The project had the ideal starting point; the whole Leadership team was fully supportive and bought into the importance of putting people first. Our original brief was to look at the Pulsant Values and update them to be fit for purpose in the context of the new world of work; we were asked to marry these with a fresh articulation of their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – the work environment that enables them to thrive and deliver their best for their customers, employees and suppliers.

A lasting relationship

We developed a great working relationship with the Pulsant team. From the initial ‘post-pandemic’ Values-led project, our role has become one of a longer-term trusted advisor. We continue to work with Pulsant to make sure they embed the Values across all aspects of the employee lifecycle which is the only way to effect lasting behavioural and cultural change.

A ‘People First’ journey

This is a really good example of how unexpected adversity can bring about inspiring Values-led transformation, if an organisation is alert, ‘listening’ to their people, and willing to draw on the expert support they need to make the right changes and make them last. We are delighted to be a part of Pulsant’s continuing ‘People First’ journey.

Find out more:

And, when you sense the time is right to review your organisation’s Values and EVP, talk to us. We can help.

justinejames@talentsmoothie.com
www.talentsmoothie.com

The post Creating a great Values-led workplace culture at Pulsant appeared first on talentsmoothie.com.

Our latest Gen Z intel is here.

At talentsmoothie, we’re celebrating! It’s our 15th birthday this month.

So, it feels like the perfect time to share our brand new, ‘hot off the press’ generational insights. We’ve just published our latest research report containing what you need to know to attract and retain Gen Z talent. We think you’ll want to read it:

Generation Z What They Want from Work (2022)

• Gen Z is the generation shaping the workplaces of the future and is already close to accounting for a fifth of our global workforce.
• Gen Z’s preferences have been influenced by the pandemic and are changing.
• Gen Z’s adoption of new ways of working rubs off on and influences the attitudes of older generations; their views affect us all.

We sought the opinions of nearly 500 Gen Zs, via a combination of Survey and Interview, pre- and post-pandemic. Our report reveals Gen Z’s changing preferences, and concludes (on page 15) with six important questions that businesses MUST be able to answer if they want to attract, motivate and inspire Gen Z now and into the future.

The report is free to download, just click the button below to receive it:

Talentsmoothie was founded with a commitment to understanding different people’s perspectives – what’s important to people in the workplace – to help our clients know how they might need to flex and accommodate changing needs in their Employee Value Propositions. Since our first report Gen Y What They Want from Work (2008), we’ve continued to research and report insights with a generational and inclusive lens.

We LOVE what we do – and we are so grateful for all our wonderful clients, colleagues and everyone interested in our research and its findings. You give us our purpose and motivation to keep doing more.

We’re delighted to be sharing this research with you! Happy 15th birthday to us 😊

justinejames@talentsmoothie.com
www.talentsmoothie.com

The post <i>Generation Z What They Want from Work</i> (2022) appeared first on talentsmoothie.com.

In this article we’ll draw on some of the early findings of our talentsmoothie 2020-2021 Generation Z: What They Want from Work research, the full report is coming soon.

Hybrid working is not a panacea

If hybrid working is to be central to the post-pandemic future of work, then the complex question is what combination of where, how and when people work will your organisation adopt? Like many, you may still be grappling with deciding on what the perfect future-of-work scenario will be.

Despite some bold decisions and big statements by organisations, we know that any hybrid-working decision is not as simple as deciding how many days in the office and how many days at home. To get to the right solution for yourself or for your organisation, there are many factors to consider – let’s explore.

“The Great Resignation”

We’re facing a fundamental change in how we work that will have a widespread impact on our society, perhaps as significant as the industrial revolution. The pandemic has pushed us to discover what really matters, to dramatic effect. People have retired early – 3.3 million in the US (Bloomberg¹). A third of all mothers have scaled back or left their jobs (Los Angeles Times²). Almost a quarter of workers are seeking to change roles (Guardian³). “The Great Resignation” is here and cannot be ignored. With 1.17 million job vacancies in the UK, almost 400,000 higher than before the pandemic (ONS⁴), it’s essential that businesses give the future of work, and the part that hybrid working will play in it, the depth of thinking it requires. Asking and listening to what employees want is more important now than ever.

You can survey your employees to understand how they are feeling about hybrid working, but you need to make sure your survey will give you all the data you need, so you can make the right decisions for your people and for your business. Here are three aspects we think you should consider:

1. Where?

For desk workers – those that don’t have to be at a place of work to perform their jobs – what is the optimum split between office and home? This question isn’t new. We’ve been asking it of employees in our research and in surveys, to help our clients develop Employee Value Propositions, for 20 years.

Pre-pandemic versus now, surveying all employees might show a change in the average consensus, such as a shift in preference to wanting to spend more time working from home. This is what our clients are experiencing. But, if you go further and break that down across different employee segments, you will likely see differences in what people want. One size does not fit all.

For example, our Gen Z research notices this shift, but Gen Zs have a preference to spend more time in the office than at home. While it’s less marked now than pre-pandemic, their preference is still for more time in the office. The 50:50 split of home and office is now preferred by 44% compared with 29% pre-pandemic (early 2020). In addition, Gen Zs still have a very low preference to be 100% at home: 1%, compared with 21% preferring to be 100% in the office. Their main reasons stated for being in the office make total sense. Gen Zs need to learn, build networks, understand cultural norms and expectations; they learn by watching and listening, and also, logistically, some just don’t have a home environment conducive to long periods of home working.

It’s not surprising that organisations choosing to mandate a 100% return to the office are facing a backlash from their employees – people want more flexibility and know they can get it elsewhere. But, mandating any set percentages of time in the office and home, in a blanket way for everyone, might not be the way to go either.

2. How?

Too much of the current conversation about the future of work focuses on ‘where’ we work. In the midst of pandemic-related change, we have a unique opportunity to rethink ‘how’ we create great work experiences, wherever we carry out our roles. How will we create the connection we need, between the organisation and its people, to achieve a productive, motivated and, essentially, happy workforce? Don’t focus on your hybrid-working policy in isolation, rethink your whole Employee Value Proposition.

Some things are no longer nice to haves. They are essential. Ask your employees, and the different segments of your employees, how they feel about these:

• Trust. Important for employees for decades, trust needs to be taken to a new level. We want to be trusted to get the job done, but now we also want to be trusted to get the job done using the process that suits us best… including where, when and how we choose to work. This might be easier to accommodate for people who have been in the organisation for a while, and more difficult for new joiners and particularly those starting out in their careers, who haven’t built relationships and networks yet. In our team development work with clients over the last year, we’ve seen instances of high performance being hindered by the lack of trust caused by the inability of people to build relationships through remote working. Where needed, find ways to support the development of relationships, so that trust can develop – build in face-to-face experiences.
  
• Listening. It’s even more important to demonstrate you are doing this when teams are dispersed. Many organisations have increased the opportunities for people to feedback how they are feeling via surveys and are encouraging managers to build in more one-to-one time. Listening is a top need of Gen Z who rated “having their ideas listened to” as their fourth most essential quality of a manager.
  
• Wellbeing. The pandemic, as well as societal change, has catapulted people’s wellbeing to the forefront of every organisation’s HR strategy. No longer just “health and safety”, we expect the focus to be on our whole health and wellbeing – physical, mental and  financial. We’ve seen companies do some great work, like training mental-health first aiders and offering wellbeing classes, but the biggest difference will be made by living the mindset of ‘putting people first’ and ensuring managers are equipped and supported to deal with employee-wellbeing scenarios.
  
• Collaboration. Never easy to perfect even when we were mostly working in the office, we need to work even harder to get collaboration right in a more remote world. How we choose to communicate and connect will determine our success. Technology will support us and, as we gather more data about how our organisations are working in terms of networks and connections, we will organically find new and innovative ways. 84% of Gen Zs said it is “Important” or “ Very important” that the organisation they work for is future focused and innovative, and driving a collaborative, knowledge-sharing organisation is critical to this.
  
• Connection on a more personal level. In our pandemic-enforced video calls, it’s become acceptable for the kids, the dog or the cat to make a guest appearance. This kind of human connection has been a positive of the pandemic which people don’t want to lose.
  
• A great ethical record. Increasingly important to all of us, this is THE number-one most important factor for Gen Zs when choosing an employer. This covers diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI), sustainability and the environment, and the moral compass and standing of the organisation in society. 84% of Gen Z respondents said it’s “Important” or “Very important” that the organisation “stands for/cares about the same things” as they do.  Being able to align their values with the organisation’s is essential.

3. When?

Working hours are less talked about than place during the latest new-world-of-work debates, but the topic should not be forgotten when considering hybrid working. We think it’s important. Portugal does too! (Guardian⁵)  What does “out of hours” mean to your organisation and how do you treat your desk and desk-less workers, with respect to the hours they either must make themselves available (to the organisation and its clients) or choose to work? Could you create more options for everyone, rather than only for people who have desk-based roles? By introducing greater flexibility around working hours, you might also attract and help more women and older workers back to the workplace – especially important in the face of “The Great Resignation”.

Ask your employees what they think. Two thirds of our Gen Zs would opt for something other than the traditional “9 to 5”:

Employer flexibility on hours demonstrates real trust and empowerment, but, of course, it also has to suit the customers/clients and not hinder the ability of the individual and their teams to get things done in the most productive way.

Hybrid working is not a panacea. Keep your eye on the bigger picture. In the rush to develop a new hybrid-working strategy, don’t create process and a standard approach. Connect with your employees by listening to what they want, then build on this connection by demonstrating you have understood their needs, through flexibility of approach rather than a ‘one size fits all’ strategy.

How talentsmoothie can help

Talentsmoothie can help you define your new-world-of-work experience.

Our insight comes from 20 years of primary research and experience of developing Employee Value Propositions with our global and local clients. We understand the needs of your workforce segments including all the generations. We know how to put people at ease, so we can ask the right questions to get the answers you need. We help you get to the nub of how your business can connect with your people, faster.

Get your workplace connection right. Talk to us today.

justinejames@talentsmoothie.com
www.talentsmoothie.com

References (links will open in a new tab/window):

1. Bloomberg, October 2021 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-22/covid-early-retirees-top-3-million-in-u-s-fed-research-show
2. Los Angeles Times, August 2021 https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-08-18/pandemic-pushes-moms-to-scale-back-or-quit-their-careers
3. Guardian, November 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/nov/01/the-great-resignation-almost-one-in-four-workers-planning-job-change
4. ONS, November 2021 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/november2021
5. Guardian, November 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/15/portugal-boss-texts-work-us-employment

The post Hybrid working is not a panacea: get workplace connection right appeared first on talentsmoothie.com.

It’s amazing to think that the term Employee Value Proposition has been around for nearly twenty years. 

Employee Value Proposition (or EVP) is the jargon commonly used to describe the characteristics and appeal of working for an organisation. It describes the ‘give and the get’ between organisation and employee, with the aim of creating a ‘win-win’ solution. When delivered well, this win-win is thought to make for more highly engaged employees, resulting in better financial performance for the organisation. Although it’s hard to put a figure on this, it has been suggested that a company with a well-defined and delivered EVP could add up to 5% to its value. It’s surprising then, that it’s also thought that less than 50% of organisations have a long-term plan in place to support the on-going implementation of their EVP.  

From our experience of delivering EVPs in a wide range of organisations, here are

9 top tips for a successful Employee Value Proposition:

1. Make sure your leaders really want it to work. You need to invest time up front to ensure your leaders understand how important the EVP is to the business. This isn’t an HR initiative – it really is for the business to deliver and keep alive. Senior leaders need to take responsibility, because without their full commitment the EVP will be of limited value.
2. Build it into everyday behaviours and make it stick at the leadership level. When you are doing team updates, start with your people achievements and highlight the behaviours you’ve seen that you value and that demonstrate the EVP, before you talk about the figures and finance. Refer back to your EVP when you speak about people-related issues such as personal development, performance, or people projects – keep your EVP high on the agenda throughout your conversations.
3. Create a common language that people understand and call the EVP a name that means something in your organisation. It doesn’t have to be called an EVP. Be clear about what you want the EVP to achieve and communicate it; the use of a meaningful name could help you do that. Examples that some of our clients have used are ‘People Deal’ and ‘Employee Promise’.
4. Develop the behaviours you want to see that will deliver the EVP and ground it for people so that they understand ‘so what does this mean for me?’. For example, if an element of your EVP is about working collaboratively, be specific about what good collaboration looks like in your organisation. Is it about being pro-active in the relationships you expect employees to build across departments or business sectors, or about sharing ideas in an open way, or about co-creating new ideas with teams you haven’t worked with before, or simply about creating an inclusive and energetic team environment? Maybe a mix of all of them! Your EVP should be clear about what you value and what you want employees to experience. 
5. Create EVP champions across a mix of grades. Lower level managers as well as senior leaders can get involved at the launch, help implement the EVP and sustain its impact.
6. Embed these behaviours across everything. Examples from our clients include:
   • Train managers on the behaviours that underpin your EVP and what it means to them and their teams – build this into manager training. 
   • Link the EVP to performance management and hold leaders to account for delivery.
   • Use the EVP language in internal communications including conferences.
   • Tie the EVP into your employee survey, to measure how well it is being lived across your organisation.
   • Link the EVP to everyday rewards, such as how you thank people for a job well done. One of our clients created thank you cards for employees who demonstrated aspects of the EVP, and recipients were then nominated for a larger Global Award – the reward was something related to their business, in this case travel.
7. Identify your ‘Employee Experience Moments’ to ensure employees can enjoy the best possible employee experience at each point of their journey with you. Good segmented research will tell you if different employee groups value different experiences more than others. Then you can channel the experiences in the most effective and relevant way.
8. Create the processes to support your EVP, for example:
   • Recruitment
   • Induction
   • Performance management
   • Leadership development
   • Career development
9. Create a communication channel to demonstrate the impact the EVP is having, for example, on your intranet or social media channel. This can be used for the launch and to share great employee stories where the EVP is brought to life. Video can be used to explain the EVP journey and make the connection to your business mission, vision, purpose and values, so that the desired outcomes of the EVP are clear, understood and, most importantly, motivational for your people.

The wider value of a successful Employee Value Proposition

When you are confidently doing all or most of these things, it’s much easier to talk about your EVP externally, as well as internally. The positive effect of a successful Employee Value Proposition implementation will radiate out to build and improve your Employer Brand, so that you will find it easier to attract talent as well as retain it.

The post How to deliver a successful Employee Value Proposition (9 top tips from talentsmoothie) appeared first on talentsmoothie.com.