Case study: Penna Global Human Capital Management Consultancy

Interview

The case study below is based on an interview with one of the practice’s partners and the office manager. The views expressed are those of the interviewees, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department.

Driving diversity

Penna has developed a strong reputation for both commitment to diversity and understanding of best practice and innovation in this area. This reputation has been built on its involvement with a strong diversity network, commitment to research and its work with a broad range of organisations from policy evaluation and specifically targeted initiatives through to the development of the broadest attraction and engagement programmes.

A key area of work for Penna continues to be helping organisations to drive diversity through the development of employer brands, communications and attraction strategies that are designed to drive inclusion. Heather Staff, Media & Research Director, believes that driving diversity effectively is not for the faint hearted:

"It demands ownership and commitment by everyone from the top down, a shift from the reactive to the strategic, and a shift from talk to action. Those employers most effectively driving diversity appear to place confident communications at the heart of their strategies. They mainstream strong diversity messages into their employer brand and tend to use their website and internal communications particularly well to reflect the actions and evidence behind a commitment to remove barriers, promote inclusion, and drive talent management."

Heather suggests that those driving diversity best practice create communications that deliver:

• maximum visibility and awareness of employment opportunities
• clear understanding of the roles and competencies required
• full opportunity to engage with the employment 'experience'
• confident messages of inclusion that can be evidenced

While there is no blueprint for best practice, Heather believes there is an emerging methodology that will increase the effectiveness of diversity strategies and actions for most organisations. The key considerations of this methodology are:

Clarity on mission and objectives

Is there a clear vision of what the organisation stands for and wants to achieve? Whose vision is it? Is it shared? For example, a vision to mainstream equality and diversity requires a different strategy from a vision to address under representation or poor employer reputation among certain target groups.

Commitment from the top down

Having defined what diversity and success will look like for your organisation, work to achieve buy-in and consistency of message from all parts of the organisation.

Research and understanding

This can help fill your knowledge gaps and inform your action plan. Understanding your current culture, environment and reputation, the positives you can build on, the negatives you may have to tackle, and the motivations and values of the people you wish to attract are fundamental issues. For example, strategies to attract more young people into local government, women into some sectors such as IT, and black and minority ethnic (BME) individuals into some organisations such as the police service are likely to fail unless they are underpinned with knowledge and honest insights into these target groups and the real and perceived challenges, barriers and opportunities that exist for them.

Attraction and retention strategies

It has been an uphill struggle for some employers to move from apologetic and tokenistic communications, but we are now starting to see ad campaigns, websites and internal communications that really look and sound like they understand the people they are trying to speak to, and that work hard to say something relevant and persuasive to the people they are trying to welcome and include.

Reaching people through a much broader mix of channels

If you understand your target audience and you have something compelling to say to them, then making sure you reach them in the right way is crucial. The recruitment media mix now includes a whole raft of press, online, outdoor and digital channels. Using community reach events is an increasingly effective way to engage with a broader and diverse audience. Consider also editorial, advertorial and PR initiatives to reinforce tactical recruitment marketing.

Build and manage your employer reputation online

Campaign micro sites and employer sites are increasingly used to offer greater insight into the employee experience and, importantly, to engage, interact and evidence your commitment to inclusion.

Identify barriers to inclusion

An honest appraisal of both real and perceived barriers to inclusion for your organisation is crucial if the reality is to match the promise. Are some people resistant to working for you because they think they would not 'fit', or because they don’t really know what you do or because the application process is not universally engaging? Take a close look at the requirements of the job, the recruitment and assessment process, and the whole candidate experience to ensure it supports inclusion.

Review your internal employee communications

It is recognised that internal employee communications are one of the biggest influencers of employer reputation and one of the top ten drivers of employee engagement. Penna is keen to combine an internal communications audit with the development of external, brand-led attraction strategies to ensure that the whole people brand is consistently 'lined up'. This audit can be used to review all existing employee communications – online, electronic, print, event and training collateral.

Conclusion

Penna's experience suggests that while most smaller employers may not have the resources to engage consultancy firms to help them to drive diversity, there is a staged framework that can help many organisations think about and implement a greater level of diversity.

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