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Push and pull factors for executive leaders

Jay Shah — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 13:37:05 +0000

Push and pull factors for executive leaders Jay Shah

Executive leaders are more likely to be looking for new jobs than their colleagues in more junior roles, according to recent research from Page Executive. We discovered that 54% of CEOs and 42% of MDs are taking steps to leave their current roles, compared to just 26% of all UK office workers.

Whether you hope to improve retention of star performers or attract more top executive talent, it pays to understand the factors most likely to “pull” executives toward a new role or “push” them away from their existing employer.

4 common push factors

1. Incompatible culture

One-quarter (26%) of all UK employees are dissatisfied with their current job because they dislike the company culture, according to research from Ipsos.

While our own survey discovered that executive leaders are less inclined than the average worker to be unhappy with their company culture, employers cannot afford to be complacent. When executives feel incompatible with, or disconnected from, the organisational culture, they are more likely to be disengaged and frustrated in their roles.

Not only does this increase the chances of them seeking new employment, but it also has an even more damaging effect on your wider retention goals. Indeed, research from Kincentric found that the average disengaged leader has nearly twice as many disengaged employees beneath them.

2. Non-competitive salary

At Page Executive, we see time and time again that an uncompetitive basic salary is the one of the biggest push factors for executive leaders.

This is not to say that executives are constantly looking for more money. In fact, just 7% of executive-level leaders (chairmen, chief executives, managing directors, and other board level managers/directors) are dissatisfied with their current salary, according to our latest survey on job satisfaction among UK office workers.

However, there is still cause for concern. Executives understand their worth and how their remuneration compares to that of their peers.

Often, they are less than satisfied with what they see. Our research found that two-thirds (66%) of executives agree with the statement: “I know the average salary benchmark for my specific role in my industry and it’s more than I’m paid.”

3. Insufficient flexible working allowances

Executive leaders are often portrayed as the driving force between encouraging employees back to the office. But there are two sides to the coin, because our research also found that executives are extremely passionate about remote and hybrid working.

Three-quarters (75%) of CEOs and two-thirds (70%) of MDs we surveyed said they currently work remotely, vs. 55% of all UK office workers. Of executives who work remotely, 85% are positive about remote work, while 44% feel “very positive”. Not only that, but chief executives named flexible working as the biggest factor in their current job satisfaction.

The message here is clear: if executives are unhappy with their access to flexible working, they are more likely to leave.

4. Lack of challenge

Executives are rarely happy to watch the clock and pick up a salary. To feel engaged and motivated, they need to feel stimulated in their role. Many of the candidates we talk to name lack of challenge as their biggest push factor when it comes to leaving a role.

Mark Lawson-Jones, Partner at Page Executive, commented:

"There are a couple of particularly common reasons we hear that board members and directors have reached the end of their journey with their current business. One is that there has been a change in strategy, for example, from ambitious growth towards maintaining business as usual. The other is that the individual has achieved the major objectives of their role and needs a fresh set of challenges."

4 common pull factors

1. Better salary and benefits

Our survey found that three-quarters (77%) of UK executive leaders feel satisfied about the non-salary benefits they receive, while a similar proportion (78%) are satisfied with their current remuneration. However, executives are only human. If a new opportunity with higher pay and more attractive benefits comes along, there is a good chance they will take it.

2. A new challenge

We have already noted how a lack of challenge is a key push factor for executive leaders. The desire for a new challenge is also a key pull factor, in our experience even more so than the prospect of a pay rise.

This is due to the leadership traits and skills of senior leaders. While pay is important, execs are often more motivated by the prospect of building and leaving a legacy. As such, presenting the accountability, ownership and autonomy of a new challenge can be a highly effective way to attract top executive talent.

3. Hybrid working

The desire to strike a healthier work-life balance appears to have grown in importance among executive leaders.

In our 2019 candidate sentiment survey, executives cited “work-life balance” as their fifth-biggest pull factor, cited by just 3% of respondents. Yet our latest research shows that almost two-fifths (38%) of executive leaders now believe flexible working is their most important employee benefit.

As we have already mentioned, the majority of executives are already taking advantage of remote and hybrid working. However, there is clearly an opportunity to attract executives by offering greater flexibility than their current role, allowing them to spend more time at home or less time travelling.

Likewise, do not be surprised if an executive turns down your job offer because your flexible working policies are not tailored to their own needs.

4. A company that prioritises sustainability/D&I

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way we feel about work. Research from Gartner found that since the pandemic, 52% of employees have questioned the purpose of their day-to-day job, while 56% want to make a greater contribution to society.

It therefore stands to reason that executives want to work for organisations that share their sentiments on key issues like sustainability and diversity and inclusion.

Among executive candidates, we are seeing a rising level of interest in diverse, inclusive, and responsible organisations. If a company doesn’t currently fit these criteria, the candidate will want to know what the organisation's plans are to move in this direction, and how they personally can fit into this trajectory. Forward-thinking organisations see this as a point of difference, and a method of attracting and retaining high calibre talent.

What’s next?

With so many executives actively searching for new roles, boards must take steps to retain their best talent. That means keeping them engaged, rewarding their efforts through benefits and pay rises, allowing them to work flexibly, and striving to build a more ethical, sustainable organisation.

Even if you take those steps, you can never retain everyone, so you should also build robust succession plans. To do that, you must have a clear understanding of the talent market.

Want to attract the best executive talent to your organisation? Read our guide to searching for your next executive team member.

Ready to start your executive search? Get in touch with Page Executive today.

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Survey results: How satisfied are UK business leaders at work?

kristinacrosshackett — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:43:29 +0000

Survey results: How satisfied are UK business leaders at work? kristinacrosshackett

Page Executive recently surveyed thousands of UK office workers for our Talent Trends series, including hundreds of CEOs and Managing Directors. The results are an essential consideration for any employer who is looking to attract and onboard business leaders in the near future.

Read on for a detailed breakdown of workplace satisfaction among CEOs and MDs in the UK.

How many UK business leaders are exploring new opportunities?

Our Talent Trends survey showed that half of Chief Executives and Managing Directors are unhappy in their current roles and actively looking for new jobs. Executive-level employees are therefore far more likely than the average UK employee to be searching for another position.

In all, two-fifths (42%) of MDs and more than half (54%) of CEOs said they are looking to leave their current roles, compared to just one-quarter (26%) of all office workers. This might be because leaders have largely remained in their current roles during the pandemic and are confident in their capacity to secure a new board appointment.

A further one-eighth (12%) of CEOs and MDs are unhappy in their current job but not doing anything about it, while two-fifths (39%) said they are happy and aren’t looking to move - a lower rate than for all respondents, where the figure was half (48%).

Mark Lawson-Jones, Partner at Page Executive, commented:

"Over the pandemic, the career paths and reward packages of many CEO and MDs have stagnated, and this has clearly spurred a significant number to try to progress by moving roles. It is also common to hear CEOs and MDs say that they have delivered their major objectives in their current roles, and so are eager to move to new positions with fresh business challenges that will stretch their capabilities and offer exciting rewards."

How do UK business leaders feel about remote working?

The survey discovered that both Managing Directors and Chief Execs feel extremely positive about the opportunities offered by remote and hybrid working, and are also more likely than the average UK office worker to work remotely themselves.

Three-quarters (75%) of CEOs and two-thirds (70%) of MDs said they work remotely, compared to 55% of respondents across all job roles. Of those, 85% said they feel positive about remote working - broadly in line with the UK average - while 44% described their feelings as “very positive”.

As such, it was no surprise that both Chief Executives and Managing Directors cited flexible working as one of their top job satisfaction considerations in regard to their current roles, with CEOs naming it as the most important factor. Meanwhile, MDs listed amount of annual leave as their highest priority.

Are CEOs and MDs satisfied with their pay?

Across our full sample of 5,000 UK office workers, just half (52%) believe their pay is in line with industry standards, with one in three (30%) saying they are underpaid.

Managing Directors and Chief Executives think differently. Four in five (82%) said their pay matches the standards of their industry, while just one in eight (13%) said they are underpaid. Despite this, both CEOs and MDs were more likely than the average UK office worker to agree with the statement: “I don’t feel like I get paid fairly for the hours I work.” Two-thirds (66%) of chief executives and almost three-fifths (56%) of MDs agreed, compared to half (49%) of all respondents.

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Concerning rates of pay at the executive level, Mark said:

"Pay is always an emotive topic when a CEO or MD is seeking a new challenge. It is rarely their number one reason to leave or join a business; instead, the vision and challenge of the business are normally of higher importance, and appeal to the desire many executives feel to create and leave a legacy. Pay will typically be the 3rd or 4th reason why a CEO or MD joins a new business and they are typically seeking a 10-20% uplift in basic salary.”

Is the gender pay gap on the radar of MDs & CEOs?

Our survey revealed that UK office workers are divided over the existence of a gender pay gap, with one-third (36%) believing that their organisations have a pay imbalance, and the same proportion feeling that no such gap exists.

Clearly, senior executives should have the most accurate view of whether or not their organisations have a divide in pay between the genders. So it is interesting to note that an overwhelming majority - three-fifths (63%) of MDs and two-thirds (69%) of CEOs - agreed with the statement: “I think there is a gender pay gap within my organisation.”

What’s next?

With a high proportion of CEO and MDs actively reviewing their current positions, it’s critical for boards to assess their risk of losing executive level talent.

To retain their best leaders, companies will need to be able to engage, challenge, and reward them. And if they are not confident in their capacity to retain those leaders, it will be important to lay out succession plans, which requires a solid understanding of the external executive talent market and the best talent attraction strategies.

Want to bring the best leaders to your company? Read our guide to searching for your next executive team member.

Ready to start your executive search? Get in touch with Page Executive today.

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Driving gender equality in the finance sector

Phoebe French — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 18:53:08 +0000

Driving gender equality in the finance sector Phoebe French

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) are becoming major priorities in today’s business landscape, with study after study showing the benefits of having talent from a range of backgrounds, particularly at the leadership level. In particular, research has comprehensively shown that having more women at the leadership level is correlated with more innovation and better commercial performance.

Despite this, however, many sectors remain male-dominated at the leadership level, and the finance sector is certainly no exception to this. But how can companies in finance ensure that gender diversity targets result in visible progress and tangible results? What should aspiring female leaders in finance do to give themselves the best chance of progressing in their careers, and of finding employers with a true commitment to workplace gender equality?

To learn from someone who has already been on this exact journey, we discussed the topic with Rikkya Okker, Manager Director of Transformation Planning and Finance at Barclays. The conversation covered how she gauges an organisation’s commitment to D&I, how she drives inclusion as a finance leader, and the importance of a happy workforce, and much more.

At Page Executive, we work closely with C-Suite executives and top employers across a range of sectors. If you are looking to fill a senior role in your organisation, or are considering your next big career move, get in touch with one of our expert consultants here.

Diversity in finance: How to attract, support, and enable women to succeed

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What did 2021 teach us about returning to the office?

ashleysylvin — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 12:39:16 +0000

What did 2021 teach us about returning to the office? ashleysylvin

With work from home guidance once again lifting, employers are now considering how they approach the creation of a hybrid model, mixing home and office-based working.

The prospect of a return to the office may create mixed emotions. In our experience as executive head-hunters, many business leaders want their people to return to the office at least three days per week. However, most have also recognised the benefits of improved flexibility and the knock-on effects of hybrid working on staff morale and reduced labour turnover. We are also seeing that those companies that insist on a full time return to the office are having problems recruiting and retaining staff. It seems likely that the market will ultimately serve as the regulator on how companies manage the balance between office-based and remote working.

Here, we go through some of the key learnings from last year’s return to office, and discuss key success factors for a second return in 2022.

Communication is still key

The companies that enjoyed the most success in bringing people back to the office last year were without a doubt those that communicated their plans well. If you are a line manager persuading your team to come into the office for the first time in a few months, it is imperative to treat each one as an individual and communicate with them as such.

Simon Nolan, Senior Partner at Page Executive, says: “We are advising our clients to really listen to their people and understand their unique situations and any factors that might make returning to the office more difficult for them. Perhaps one is in a high-risk group. Another might have a young family or be a carer. All these questions should influence the way you engage with them and how you broach the topic of a return to the office.”

It is also important to set reasonable expectations. Don’t just announce a date when the new system will come into effect. Instead, consider phasing in office days slowly, suggesting that your teams come in for one day per week for a several weeks, before upping this to two days per week, and so on. This will ensure that employees are able to assimilate to your vision and work in a way that feels consistent as time goes on.

Sell the benefits

You shouldn’t just assume that your people are already bought in to the idea of returning to the office. The advantages may be obvious to you, but they might not be to others, especially those who have benefitted from working remotely since the onset of the pandemic. The last thing you want is for the invitation to seem like a command. Instead, ensure that your people are happy to return to the office by highlighting the benefits they will enjoy by doing so.

First and foremost, we would recommend that you retain some form of hybrid working, and reassure people that they will still have the associated perks. Nicola Wensley, Partner at Page Executive, comments: “Most workers have really enjoyed the flexibility of hybrid and remote working over the past couple of years. They have saved time on commuting, and been able to take care of certain domestic tasks during the days and spend more time with their families. It’s not about taking those benefits away – it’s about offering the additional benefits of a physical collaboration space.”

In a post-Covid world, an office should be more than a location for individuals to work as individuals. Think about ways to reformat and reconfigure your office to facilitate cooperation: this could mean creating informal breakout areas, establishing a culture of teamwork, or enabling a stronger social side to the office.

Make sure you’re ‘all in it together’

A feeling of unity, shared purpose and fairness is essential for a business to function optimally – and this extends to discussions around remote working. However, many people work in industries where certain roles cannot be performed remotely. These include retail, logistics, manufacturing, property and construction, and many other sectors based around physical processes or sites.

This creates an interesting dynamic for corporate leaders when it comes to maintaining morale and team spirit. For instance, if you run a supermarket chain with tens of thousands of workers, all of whom attend physical workplaces every day, what impression does it create to allow head office employees a far higher degree of flexibility than those on the shop floor? Many of the business leaders we work with who are in this position are keen to avoid the appearance of a ‘two-tier system’.

This makes it all the more important to ensure that those employees whose roles could be performed from home understand the value of the office, and are genuinely bought into the return. For some businesses, the morale of a large part of the workforce could be significantly affected by the way the return to office is handled.

Make returning to the office exciting

In 2021, workers across the country discovered the perfect balance that hybrid working can offer, and many were disappointed to lose this in Q4 of 2021. When offices reopen in 2022, organisations will have the opportunity to offer that balance to their employees once again.

People are social animals, and the reintroduction of the office means the re-establishment of the camaraderie which is so easily lost with totally remote working. Once in the office again, many people enjoy the opportunity to physically meet, work, and socialise with people who they may have only met virtually until now.

If handled well, the process can absolutely feel exciting. After all, the novelty of remote working is largely gone – no longer the ‘new normal’ but the ‘old normal’. Coming into office should feel like a breath of fresh air, a chance to shake up your schedule and get rid of the ‘Teams fatigue’ that so many have experienced.
Moreover, the constant self-motivation required by remote working can take its toll, and returning to an office can effectively mitigate this. A team based together in an office will tend to motivate one another far more effectively and sustainably – this is a huge benefit of hybrid working which you should be sure to emphasise to your teams. Of course, there is a growing recognition that working remotely some of the time can really improve people’s mental health – but it is also worth remembering that the human contact associated with working in an office can provide mental health benefits too.

Simon notes: “The pandemic has spurred a lot of companies to really prioritise mental health and wellness among their workforces. This is something you should look to maintain as you bring your people back to the office. Have regular check-ins, and make sure you are getting feedback from your people. You will have the most success by making it a collaborative process designed for everyone’s benefit.”
Ultimately, the inclusion of an office space in a hybrid working model generates better work, more efficiently, and from a happier workforce. If you communicate that well, you won’t be dragging people back to the office, but opening the door to grateful co-workers.

At Page Executive, we enable business leaders to take the next step in their careers, and connect leading companies with the top talent they need. If you need to fill a business-critical executive appointment fast, or are interested in a new leadership position, arrange an introductory conversation with one of our expert consultants here.

Winning the war for talent in financial services

ashleysylvin — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 12:52:43 +0000

Winning the war for talent in financial services ashleysylvin

Competition for talent in the financial services sector has traditionally been high, with skilled individuals in constant demand. Recently, this trend has become far more pronounced: hiring activity has accelerated to the point that companies are investing more than ever in partnering with expert talent acquisition professionals. At the same time, the bigger banks have begun to move away from purely using in-house hiring teams and returned to executive search firms with wider networks and specialist talent acquisition knowledge.

This trend has come to define hiring across the wider financial services market too, not just banking. Asset managers, for example, are investing far more in talent acquisition, while many private equity firms are struggling to fill roles that require employees to come into the office more than a few times a week. Travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically reduced the availability of talent from overseas locations like Australia and New Zealand, and Brexit has made it more difficult to recruit from mainland Europe. All of this is exacerbating the war for talent.

The emergence of competing sectors such as fintech has also cannibalised the traditional financial services talent pool – these firms have in the past looked to the tech industry when hiring, but are now faced with an increase in regulation, necessitating financial services knowledge and experience.

The state of financial services recruitment

A recent survey by the CBI and PWC found optimism in the financial services sector as business volumes rose steadily. Yet 22 percent cited labour shortages as a concern for future investment - in line with the long-term average and the previous quarter. A number of large banking groups, as well as smaller financial services firms, have recently put fees up for particular roles in order to further incentivise their talent partners, a trend that we have not seen since the early 2000s.

At the same time, many organisations are looking to improve their diversity and inclusion performance. This has led to especially high competition for diverse candidates, leading businesses within the financial services sector to headhunt the same candidates from one another, further inflating salaries, but not widening the talent pool.

The sector needs to do more. More remote working opportunities, more diverse candidates and more action to unlock hidden talent wherever it is located. By doing this, businesses will be able to increase the overall supply of qualified and capable candidates. This approach presents an alternative to simply competing ever harder for those already working in financial services organisations.

The pandemic introduced very rapid changes in working patterns across the industry, and in some instances educated some firms on the benefits of agile working. The challenge now is for companies to retain these benefits without losing their identity and culture. Recruitment will form a very large part of this, and the strategy will need to come from the senior management of the firm.

How to get ahead of competitors

In the race to attract and retain top talent, working effectively with executive search firms and contingent recruitment partners is your first and best head start. Expert talent acquisition professionals know their markets, both historically and at present, and can offer the best advice on how to stand out to the type of talent you are looking to attract. Additionally, they will be able to introduce you to talent from a broader range of backgrounds, empowering you to think outside the box with respect to how you define and access talent.

Beyond the brief

Working effectively with executive search firms is not just a matter of paying more – although this can help, especially with recruitment into senior and executive roles. It also depends on working with specialists that have the right depth of knowledge for the market. Benefits specific to the financial services sector, such as buy-outs, long-term incentive plans, guaranteed bonuses and shares all play a part too, and should be part of the discussion from the outset.

To choose the right partner for your talent acquisition strategies, look for experienced, knowledgeable consultants with extensive networks. Ultimately, a long-term relationship will deliver the best return on investment, but the consultant should be doing the bulk of the leg work to find and deliver the most talented candidates.

Competition will be fierce for talent in the financial services sector and related disciplines going forward. To ensure you are attracting the top talent into your organisation on terms that will ensure long-term employee satisfaction, contact Page Executive today to set up an introductory conversation or get in touch on the details below.

Tara Bagley, Partner, Page Executive
E: tarabagley@pageexecutive.com

Nina Buttle, Partner , Page Executive
E: ninabuttle@pageexecutive.com

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Forward planning and hybrid working: Key challenges for business leaders

Phoebe French — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 10:14:12 +0000

Forward planning and hybrid working: Key challenges for business leaders Phoebe French

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, business leaders across the country have been tasked with steering their companies through exceptional turbulence. This included forward planning both for their operations, and for their people, at a time when huge sections of the economy had shut down without any guaranteed timelines around reopening. But even now that lockdown restrictions have eased and the economy has returned to growth, many are facing a range of challenges relating to people management and forecasting in an uncertain economic environment.

To dig deeper into this topic, Page Executive recently partnered with Censuswide to survey over 1000 business leaders and over 2000 office workers from around the country. Here, we discuss the major challenges business leaders are facing in Q4 of 2021 – and will likely continue to face in 2022.

Forward business planning amid uncertainty

While the future is not as murky as it was during periods of strict lockdown, there are still many unanswered questions complicating the task of business planning. The post-lockdown economy has enjoyed a steady recovery and the hiring market has picked up dramatically. But with talent shortages causing disruptions across the country, can businesses expect this upswing to continue into 2022?

Against this backdrop, it’s no surprise that many business leaders remain cautious, especially considering that many businesses will still be recovering from the financial damage sustained during repeated lockdowns. This is reflected in the results of our survey: around half of all respondents said that uncertainty is creating challenges around forward planning for 2022.

Within this group, however, there are notable differences between the responses of leaders at larger and smaller companies:

Additionally, one quarter of respondents said that they were uncertain about their business’s future. Again, leaders from smaller businesses were less confident in their organisations’ prospects, with one third of respondents from companies with 1-49 employees answering this way, compared to only 10 percent of those from companies with 200-500 employees.

Many workers are poised to leave their jobs

It’s also worth noting that in such a candidate-driven and skills-short talent market, employers may not be able to rely on a stable and consistent workforce. In our survey of UK office workers who have begun to return to their workplaces, respondents also reported a range of dissatisfactions with their current roles, employers, and situations:

With so much to consider, it’s no wonder that many business leaders are finding it hard to plan effectively for the near future. The economy remains strong and dynamic – but capitalising on this will require organisations to stay ahead of the curve and consistently attract and retain top talent at a time when candidates have their pick of roles.

Finalising and implementing hybrid working models

In our recent Talent Trends eBook, we showed that effective talent attraction and retention in a post-lockdown world hinges on the degree of flexibility employers offer to prospective candidates. When the pandemic hit, workplaces across the UK were forced to transition their entire workforces to remote working. Now, with many workers returning to the office, the bulk of employees are still spending much, most, or all of their working weeks at home. Leadership teams across a range of sectors are now deciding what balance they will strike between office-based and remote working going forward.

Executives need to know how their workforces are feeling

Each organisation is having to balance their own operational realities with the demands of their workforces. Of course, in such a candidate-short market, top talent is hard to attract and easy to lose, making it essential that business leaders remain in tune with how their workforces are feeling.

To help leaders with this challenge, we also surveyed over 2000 UK office workers, asking respondents ‘why, if at all, have you thought about leaving your current company since the pandemic began?’. Strikingly, only one quarter had not thought about leaving their company.

Moreover:

Hybrid working: essential for talent retention

Business leaders will need to move fast if they want to retain their best employees, and indeed the results of our survey with UK executives show a major drive to finalise post-lockdown ways of working. One quarter of respondents have settled on hybrid working - a flexible mixture of office and home-based working - as their preferred model. This will have the benefit of enabling workers to enjoy more leisure time and save on commuting costs whilst also reclaiming the benefits of face-to-face contact with co-workers.

On the other hand, one fifth of respondents say they will allow employees to make their own decisions regarding time spent working from home, without any compulsion. This option is clearly geared toward employee satisfaction and may have beneficial effects on talent attraction and retention. Nonetheless, it could also create complications around office space, protocols for coming into office and inconsistent meeting schedules, since patterns of employees coming into office could be unpredictable.

Meanwhile, another fifth will require employees to return to office full time, and a slightly smaller proportion will transition to fully remote working. These extremes both could have their drawbacks. Fully office-based working is a favourable option for only a minority of professionals, while fully remote working could cost organisations the benefits associated with face-to-face working. It should also be noted that while two thirds said they had made up their minds, one half specified that these plans would be subject to change. Business leaders are working hard to finalise their ways of working - but they are having to do so with the potential for further turbulence in mind.

Amid a positive but complex macroeconomic picture, it has never been more important for organisations to be able to attract and keep top talent so they can drive continued success. At Page Executive, our consultants work closely with experienced business leaders to help them take the next step in their careers. To arrange an introductory meeting, click here.

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What is UK SOX? And is your finance team ready?

ashleysylvin — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 15:18:22 +0000

What is UK SOX? And is your finance team ready? ashleysylvin

The finance market has spent much of 2021 grappling with the ongoing effects of the pandemic and the IR35 reforms. However, a major new challenge is already on the horizon with the imminent introduction of the new financial reporting framework ‘UK SOX’. In fact, recent research from audit technology firm Galvanize indicates that two-thirds of UK listed firms believe their internal controls will require improvement to ensure compliance.

At PageGroup, we are already seeing many of our largest clients starting to recruit to ensure that the necessary interim finance talent is in place to support implementation. But what exactly is UK SOX, and how can your business prepare for it?

What do you need to know about UK SOX?

In a 2019 review of the UK audit industry, Sir Donald Brydon highlighted the need to improve internal controls over financial reporting. One of Brydon’s suggestions was the introduction of a UK version of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), requiring major listed companies to provide statements on internal controls over financial reporting. In March 2021, the Department for Business, Energy and Strategy (BEIS) responded to growing interest in this possibility with a new white paper entitled ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’.

One of the many recommendations in the white paper was to move toward the implementation of a UK SOX regulation. The intention of the new framework is to “sharpen directors’ accountability”, and improve internal controls, corporate reporting, and corporate governance.

How will UK SOX affect talent acquisition and resourcing?

It is still unclear whether UK SOX will require legislative changes or just regulatory changes – in the former case, it is unlikely to come into effect fully before December 2023, at the earliest. However, at PageGroup we have seen that it often takes large, complex companies significant time to create sufficiently robust control environments to adapt to such major regulatory changes. This is reflected in commentary from the wider industry: experts from KPMG, for example, estimate that it may take up to three years for companies to reach a state of readiness.

The time to get ahead of the curve is now, and an essential early step will be to ensure that you have the necessary talent to make the transition to the new framework a success. Given the timelines, companies will benefit from hiring new talent on a more flexible, interim basis, and should prioritise gaining early access to what is a small pool of top candidates.

Of course, building an internal controls framework while the precise rules are not yet known will be a challenging task, and you will need the best people to achieve a successful outcome. At the same time, there is a finite number of candidates with relevant controls backgrounds; competition for these individuals will therefore be fierce. It will be important for companies to move fast and early to secure talent capable of guiding them through this period of transition.

What skillsets will UK SOX demand?

In order to prepare often large and complex organisations for the more rigorous reporting requirements of UK SOX, companies will need highly qualified, experienced professionals within their finance departments. Big Four accountancy trained candidates will be in high demand. So too will those that have audit, compliance, and accounting experience in large, listed businesses - especially if they have already had exposure to US SOX.

Given the scope and importance of the reporting required, it will also be important to onboard professionals with proven track records of recommending, implementing, and defining robust governance and controls. Moreover, given the relevance of UK SOX to larger businesses, candidates who have experience supporting complex business operations will bring invaluable on-the-ground experience to the table.

Many of our clients here at PageGroup are already assessing the interim market. Interim hiring is a good option for most businesses looking to ensure UK SOX compliance, as these candidates will generally be more experienced, accustomed to results-driven work, and able to work autonomously. As well as this, they provide flexibility, which is well suited to the intense windows of work involved in preparing for regulatory upheaval. On the other hand, we also work with many companies who already have the necessary professionals within their finance departments. In this case, interim hiring is a great way to backfill the roles these professionals are currently performing, freeing them up to temporarily work on UK SOX alignment.

What challenges could businesses encounter?

One of the major challenges we already see many businesses struggling with is the battle for top finance talent, particularly in what is a highly candidate-driven market. The effects of UK SOX will be widespread, requiring new, higher standards of internal control effectiveness and over financial reporting from all listed companies – and eventually all public interest entities (PIES). This means that a great many companies will be vying for a limited number of finance professionals. Add to this the small number of interim finance candidates who would be best suited to a project of this nature, and the scale of the challenge becomes clear.

How can businesses attract top talent?

Given the difficulties already outlined, it is essential that companies reassess the strength of their employer value proposition while there is still time.

In 2021, PageGroup has carried out extensive research into the finance talent market, finding that in a post-lockdown world, top candidates value flexible working options more highly than ever before.

Our findings also highlighted that by taking a flexible approach to hiring, employers will tap into a wider talent geographic talent pool, since candidates who commute less frequently are typically far more willing to undertake long commutes to meet team members where necessary. Salary and other benefits are as important as ever – but in the new world ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic, flexibility is the new currency, and employers will need to take note if they want to attract top talent.

Ensuring full compliance and alignment with UK SOX will be a massive challenge for finance departments across the UK. If you want to make sure that you are attracting the top talent you will need to support you going forward, click here to set up an introductory conversation, or get in touch using the details below.

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Is remote working really here to stay?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 May 2021 15:21:25 +0000

Is remote working really here to stay? Anonymous (not verified)

Remote working, or a hybrid model of working from home and the office, is widely considered to be a ‘new normal’. Not everyone agrees, however: Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently confirmed that that he will expect all of his staff to return to the office as soon as social distancing restrictions are lifted. Having previously described working from home as “an aberration”, he reaffirmed his desire that all US and UK staff return to their offices on the 14th and the 21st of June, respectively.

This is an interesting and somewhat controversial debate. It seems that many business leaders share Solomon’s outlook, at least in part. Even Google, whose staff were some of the earliest of any organisations to begin working remotely last year, has indicated that it will expect colleagues to be in the office 3 days a week. Of course, the challenges associated with remote working are far fewer for a middle-class director with a study to work in than for an office junior or graduate at the age of 22 living in a flat share, making the discussion of remote working’s relative benefits even more contentious.

The downsides of working from home

Ironically, many of those most eager to retain flexible working arrangements are those arguably most disadvantaged by it: 2020 research from Deloitte has shown that twice as many millennials and Gen Z workers prefer it compared to over-55s. The major advantage of office working is, after all, the opportunity to learn through shared experiences, which is especially valuable to workers early in their careers. This does not just refer to specific events, but also to other, more intangible experiences – those career boosting moments and invaluable professional lessons that benefit those who are in the right place at the right time. It might be a chat with a superior in the kitchen while making tea or an influential conversation in the car on the way to see a client. It could be the experience of finding yourself in a meeting you were not expecting because “you’re here and it will be useful for you”, or just listening to your boss handle a challenging phone negotiation. All too often, these enormously beneficial experiences are not planned, but happen due to circumstance and the proximity of colleagues.

Whilst such experiences benefit both junior and senior employees (none of us are too old to learn new tricks), more junior members of staff are the biggest benefactors. At PageGroup, we run structured training like any business - but this only accounts for around 30% of what staff members need to know. The rest of the essential knowledge can only be acquired through shared experiences with other employees – those who have ‘been there, done that and got the T-shirt’. Indeed, we regularly identify experienced employees who would benefit from more shared experiences.

Why the new normal may not be for everyone

I believe that returning to office working may prove more popular than expected. For example, if in a highly competitive environment like Goldman Sachs, one colleague who is in the office more is promoted quicker or earns a bigger bonus, it will not be long before colleagues begin to emulate this example. Through a combination of peer pressure and natural human competition, presenteeism will become an increasingly important dynamic even in ‘hybrid’ workplaces. This will not be for everyone, and some will enjoy a more flexible environment; but if this negatively impacts career prospects, then human nature will kick in.

I certainly am not denying the positive potential of increased flexibility. Even in the last 10 years, there has been a huge change in attitudes to flexible working, and home working is clearly here to stay, at least in part. But nor do I believe flexible working to be the long-term, permanent solution that many commentators have concluded it will. By this time next year, I will be very interested to start assessing the longer-term effects.

At Page Executive, we help leaders make their next career step, and source top talent for companies to enable them to thrive in this fast-changing commercial landscape. If you are looking to fill a crucial executive appointment, or searching for your next leadership position, you can reach out on the details below, or arrange an introductory conversation with one of our expert consultants by clicking here.

Simon Nolan, Senior Partner, Page Executive
Email: simonnolan@pageexecutive.com

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Diversity of thought in the workplace: What it really means

Anonymous — Mon, 10 May 2021 08:38:02 +0000

Diversity of thought in the workplace: What it really means Anonymous (not verified)

Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally and irreversibly transformed the workplace in many obvious and often mentioned ways, one area in which its effects have been less discussed is diversity and inclusion. As recent PageGroup research has highlighted, D&I is more important than ever for staff at all levels of organisations. In turn, it is at the top of the agenda for leaders too.

But for leadership teams looking to enhance commercial performance, a particular element of the D&I discussion has become especially important: diversity of thought. In this article, we’ll discuss what diversity of thought is, and why it should constitute a key pillar of your hiring strategy.

What and why?

In a workplace context, diversity of thought refers to the range of mindsets, thought processes and perspectives that can be found within an organisation’s workforce. It is not merely a part of an effective D&I strategy - it is, in many ways, the direct result of an effective D&I strategy. Diversity in areas like gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, age, socio-economic background, caring responsibilities, disability and mental health, broaden the range of perspectives within an organisation. This often directly benefits commercial performance by involving individuals with varied skillsets and backgrounds in decision-making. It also increases the likelihood that an organisation will have staff capable of meeting unexpected challenges.

The benefits associated with diversity of thought are especially notable at the leadership level, where excessive homogeneity can result in less rigorous ideation and troubleshooting, stifling innovation, and leaving critical blind spots. For example, a 2019 McKinsey analysis found that organisations in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were a full 25 percent more likely to achieve above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.

How can businesses achieve diversity of thought?

Given the commercial benefits of diversity of thought, it is critical for businesses to hire from a variety of backgrounds, especially at senior levels. The key to making this a success, however, is to focus on bringing different perspectives and attributes to the table. Setting out targets regarding the proportion of new hires that should be women, ethnic minorities, or other underrepresented groups can be productive and will often serve to maintain momentum. This is made clear by further McKinsey data which indicates that likelihood of outperformance increases proportionally to rates of diversity: companies with more than 30 percent female executives tended to outperform companies where the percentage ranged from 10 to 30.

However, here at Page Executive, our experience working with clients suggests that target-setting should not be the extent of your company’s focus when it comes to diversity and inclusion if you want to truly benefit from diversity of thought. A more impactful way to approach hiring is to focus on what candidates will bring to your company precisely because they do not fit the standard template for a prospective candidate. By moving beyond the ‘box-ticking’ approach to diversity in hiring, your business will not only become more diverse – it will become more innovative, more profitable, and better able to confront market challenges.

Of course, the organisation itself must support this goal. This means not only empowering staff to hire outside their zone of familiarity, but also proactively equipping hiring managers with the tools, resources and training to manage, engage, motivate and retain diverse staff. This, ultimately, will play a major role in creating diversity of thought.

Where to start and how to ensure success

All businesses are different and have different blind spots when it comes to diversity and inclusion. This makes it truly essential that businesses lead with an analysis of their own limitations. Which perspectives are you missing in your workforce and leadership team? Are there any parts of your customer base that your organisation currently does not resemble or adequately represent at the highest levels? These areas are not only the ones in which your company is lacking – they are also the ones in which your company has the most to gain in customer traction and growth. Diversity is, in effect, a tool to help your business grow and thrive.

Given this, it is essential that business leaders consider the ways in which their company’s hiring processes may be excluding valuable talent and holding back performance. As we explore in our in-depth eBook on gender bias in hiring, non-inclusive cultures have an impact at the earliest stages of the hiring journey, with the language used in job advertisements. At Page Executive, we work closely with organisations to drive growth and performance through our tailored talent solutions, developing deep knowledge of each client’s unique needs. We see again and again that self-analysis is a crucial element of developing and benefiting from diversity of thought, and would therefore suggest this as a starting point.

Achieving true diversity of thought in your business will bring huge benefits, but it is also a complex challenge. If you want to make sure that your hiring plans are attracting the talent you need, reach out here to set up an introductory conversation with one of our expert consultants.

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Challenger Bank/Fintech Salary Survey 2021

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 15:24:06 +0000

Challenger Bank/Fintech Salary Survey 2021 Anonymous (not verified)

Page Executive have conducted an extensive salary and bonus review of roles in challenger banks and fintechs. This review is a comprehensive assessment of compensation across a broad variety of roles, covering specific areas of expertise and associated functions, whilst highlighting salaries and bonus averages.

Over 20 representatives from Page Executive and Michael Page conducted phone and video interviews with 1200 contacts from the financial services sector for their exclusive insights. The compensation data was then compiled and tested on a collective basis by the Michael Page and Page Executive Financial Services team.

Overall we are seeing an increase in activity across the Challenger Bank and Fintech space. The attraction of this sector has often been the lack of red tape and the ability to be more nimble, whilst innovating and keeping customers at the heart of the business. This innovative drive has enabled these organisations to adapt to the ‘new norm’ swiftly - most have already been operating semi-remotely even in pre-Covid times - and focus on BAU. However, profit margins, loan loss provisions, and capital challenges remain the bigger worry.

Traditionally, a lot of these firms have hired talent from tech businesses, fostering the fast moving and pioneering cultures that set them apart from more traditional financial services firms. Furthermore, these businesses have been “light touch” from a regulation perspective. However, we are seeing an increased focus on finding talent who understand the risks associated with operating in a regulated financial services environment.

The areas where we have seen most growth has been in anything technology related, developers are in extremely high demand and development leaders, as well as infrastructure engineers, trade floor support and IT management employees. Furthermore, areas in compliance and governance, as well as more specialist areas like capital and liquidity are also gaining pace.

Candidates need to be able to switch from the big picture to minute detail very quickly and not be afraid of getting their hands dirty. They need to bring energy and enthusiasm and apply commercial acumen, having not only the business success in mind, but also outside investors. D&I continues to be a focus, because attracting and retaining diverse talent to reflect your customer base is paramount, especially where customer experiences and opinions matter so much in a war for increased profit margins.

Download the full survey here

If you would like to explore your employment options or have any further questions, please contact someone from one of our teams below.

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Investment Management Salary Survey 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 13:36:57 +0000

Investment Management Salary Survey 2021 Anonymous (not verified)

Page Executive have conducted an extensive salary and bonus review of roles that sit under London’s investment management and corporate functions umbrella. This review is a comprehensive assessment of compensation across a broad variety of roles, covering specific areas of expertise and associated functions, whilst highlighting salaries and bonus averages.

Over 40 representatives from Page Executive and Michael Page conducted phone and video interviews with 8000 contacts from the financial services sector for their exclusive insights. The compensation data was then compiled and tested on a collective basis by the Michael Page and Page Executive Financial Services team.

The insights revealed that we are now seeing a stream of robust compensation activity across the private capital space, which we expect to continue right through 2022 and beyond. The significant acceleration in environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related fundraising last year is now beginning to reinforce a significant change in the overall value attributed to ESG roles and underlying skill sets.

It is clear that the demand for this is multi-year and structural, rather than cyclical, in light of the wider policy support and investor appetite. Moreover, we have seen that the market value for those able to drive tech transformation within asset management also on the up, and this is consistent with other sectors.

Download the full survey here

If you would like to explore your employment options or have any further questions, please contact someone from one of our teams below.

Tara Bagley – Partner

T: +44 (0)20 7645 1434
E: tarabagley@pageexecutive.com

Julian Chittock – Senior Manager

T: +44 (0)20 7645 1453
E: julianchittock@michaelpage.com

Robin Lovegrove – Business Manager

T: +44 (0)20 7645 1411
E: robinlovegrove@michaelpage.com

Simon Lindrea – Senior Partner

T: +44 (0)20 7776 5959
E: simonlindrea@pageexecutive.com

Sumrana Saleem – Partner

T: +44 (0)207 776 5973
E: sumranasaleem@pageexecutive.com

Aaron Lowry – Director

T: +44 (0)20 7776 5929
E: aaronlowry@michaelpage.com

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Top tips on successfully managing a hybrid team

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 10:08:36 +0000

Top tips on successfully managing a hybrid team Anonymous (not verified)

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing measures have driven a workplace revolution by forcing organisations to shift to home and hybrid working models. For managers now overseeing their teams remotely, this has posed numerous challenges, from communication and inclusivity to remote onboarding and training.

But with all its difficulties, hybrid working has proved popular with both employers and employees. A recent Guardian survey found that some 62 percent of senior executives and 58 percent of entry level workers favoured alternation between office-working and home-working. Remote work may also have the potential to drive improved workplace performance: a study published in the Harvard Business Review has shown that remote working has in certain cases yielded an average 13.5 percent increase in productivity.

With hybrid working here to stay, it’s imperative that managers adopt a communicative, inclusive approach to leadership which ensures the productivity and morale of all staff.

To dig deeper into this essential topic, we ran a webinar hosted by Jonathan Firth, Managing Director for Michael Page, and Sandra Hill, Managing Director for Page Personnel, which you can view by entering your details in the form below this article. Jonathan began with an overview of businesses sentiment toward hybrid working, before Sandra dived into the essential Dos and don’ts of managing a team remotely.

Here are some essential tips which came up throughout the session:

Communication is Key

Many of the challenges posed by remote leadership can be surmounted by clear communication between a manager and their team.

It has been proved that that communication is more streamlined with hybrid work. People do communicate less when they work remotely - but they communicate better.
– Jonathan Firth, Managing Director, Michael Page

As workers migrate to their homes, organisations may adapt their performance measurements to incorporate a greater focus on outcomes. This can be a positive development when carried out correctly, but it is incumbent upon managers to ensure their teams are aware of priorities and expectations. Ultimately, doing so will facilitate a more efficient and effective style of workplace communication.

Empathy and Inclusivity

Covid-19 brought enormous change and often anxiety and insecurity. Against this backdrop, it’s crucial that managers lead their teams with individual circumstances and needs in mind. Empathy is now a top skill companies are looking for in leadership hires, and inclusivity is empathy put into action. An inclusive leader is careful not to assume that the productivity of office-based workers will outstrip that of home-based workers, or to exclude remote workers from decision-making.

Spotting signs of burnout can also be harder in remote workers but is more essential than ever as the boundary between work and home becomes ever more blurred. If a usually talkative employee colleague seems quiet or a normally chirpy team member gloomy, it may be a sign of a strain on their mental health. This complicated issue underscores the need for a sense of fun in the workplace. Consider ways to bring the social side of office-working into home-working, whether this be through lunchtime Zoom rooms or sharing amusing experiences.

Rethink Onboarding

Successful talent onboarding is a huge priority for any organisation. Inductions, however, can be difficult to replicate under hybrid working conditions, both for managers and new starters. The informal discussions and immersion which normally help new employees to find their feet are gone, as are the classroom-style training days which help them upskill. Remote onboarding can, however, prove highly successful with the right approach.

Having the basics in place will make someone feel valued and welcomed. – Sandra Hill, Managing Director, Page Personnel

A good onboarding process begins before the first day. Sending a new starter important information about the company can familiarise them with its values, mission and structure. It’s also useful to assign them a ‘buddy’, someone beside their line manager to answer questions and explain unfamiliar processes. Here too, an empathetic approach is essential. Never assume, for instance, that the new starter will have access to their own tech; when delivering equipment, ensure it is done in a timely manner. Be in regular touch and ask for feedback in order to personalise the process and create a welcoming experience.

Management of a remote team can be challenging, but a manager who prioritises communication, inclusiveness, and empathy can drive productivity and high morale in their team. In the on-demand webinar, Jonathan and Sandra consider all this in detail, with an extended audience Q&A introducing the experiences of a variety of business leaders into the discussion.

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Diversity in finance: How to attract, support, and enable women to succeed

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 16:58:53 +0000

Diversity in finance: How to attract, support, and enable women to succeed Anonymous (not verified)

Diversity and inclusion are topics that are regularly discussed by senior leaders. However, action is the most important step when it comes to building and sustaining a truly diverse and inclusive organisation. This is particularly true in the current climate, where leaders are contemplating how to shape their strategies to a changing workplace, with a high degree of remote working.

Companies that not only discuss the topic but ask questions to determine how to make it a great place for everyone and how to enable everyone to be themselves at work, are the most successful in attracting and retaining top diverse talent.

On the topic of diversity in finance, Nina Buttle, Business Director at Page Executive – Banking and Financial Services, spoke to senior women in finance operating at a managing director level for multinational investment banks and financial services companies. The discussions explored how they assess a company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and how they drive inclusion as a leader in finance.

What attracts diverse talent to an organisation?

When assessing an opportunity, it is becoming much more important to candidates that their values align with that of the of organisation they are in conversation with. In traditionally male-dominated sectors, such as finance, actively showcasing diversity and highlighting opportunities to female candidates is so crucial.

On reflection of their approach to assessing new opportunities, women highlighted that they were very thorough when asking questions about a company’s diversity and inclusion commitment, and always approached interviews with a healthy level of scepticism.

When discussing what stood out as a positive sign of a diverse and inclusive organisation, an emphasis on both content and culture during discussions was highlighted as key. This is demonstrated when conversations touch on as much about career history and experience as they did on: ‘would this be the right cultural fit?’

If the balance is equal, it becomes apparent that an organisation is very conscious of the culture it has, and the culture it wants to have.

In addition to this, when hiring for diversity, it is important that those conducting the interview are representative of diverse groups. When looking to hire, everyone we spoke to emphasised that it is important to ensure they have a balanced candidate list, highlighting that if you do not have women on the list, you will not hire a woman.

Supporting women into senior finance roles

On the topic of getting more women into finance, conversations with some women highlighted that the mindset of many female professionals is: “I would never want to be interviewed for a job just because I'm a woman.”

However, some senior contacts in the industry have very different advice, stating that: “If you ever get the chance to go to an interview, you should take the chance - once you're in, you can prove yourself.”

One contact in finance stated: “Women face many disadvantages in life, so you should take any opportunity you can, because everyone else will. Some people are given an opportunity because they have wealthy parents, others would have an opportunity because they went to a certain school, and some may have an opportunity because they happen to have a connection to someone who works somewhere. In life, take it, wherever you can get it.”

As a director, it becomes a core part of the role to ensure that diversity is supported by an inclusive culture. Hiring a diverse team is one thing, but enabling them to succeed is key.

In a senior role within finance, role modelling is crucial, and this means setting your own boundaries between work and your personal life to encourage others to find their own balance.

One of the senior women interviewed said that setting boundaries is crucial to this. As a standard, she does not work on weekends. Apart from checking emails with half a glance sporadically, her SIM card is changed so that she cannot be contacted on the weekends.

Emphasising the importance of role modelling the message that finding your balance does not stop you from building a career.

How to create an inclusive environment in finance

Setting boundaries

Setting boundaries helps support professionals in better managing their work-life balance, but it also makes it easier for managers to accommodate for their team. This will mean different things for different people:

It could be ‘I want to go to yoga on these days a week’, or, ‘I am not a morning person, so please don't book anything before nine in the morning’.

By being very open about it, you start to understand other people's boundaries and by sharing them with others, it is much easier to stick to them.

Performance boards

In addition to ensuring everyone is empowered to set their boundaries for work, a ‘performance board’ was introduced by some senior leaders to better support individuals in managing work-life balance and stress.

Each week, every person logs a score on Excel for the following questions:

How happy do we feel?
How challenged do we feel?
How supported do we feel?

By assessing personal scores from a scale of one to 10, conversations about what things are getting in the way, or where help might be needed, naturally follow. Access to these insights enables management to identify which teams are overstretched and which teams might need more of a challenge, as well as assess the following:

How could we manage these?
How can we help?
How can we remove these blockers?

Tracking success through a D&I lens: Happy, motivated employees

Motivation is key to the performance of an individual and the success of every team. Asking your people, ‘what drives your motivation’, is so important in making the environment more enjoyable.

From conversations with their team, one leader was able to clearly identify what they were motivated by and explained that most people were motivated by working with colleagues, with the business, and they get a lot of energy out of those interactions. A lot of people highlighted that there is an intellectual challenge in what they do, and that they enjoyed learning about new things.

So, for this leader, making that easier and more enjoyable was really the key to getting better performance from her team.

As in any finance team, it is important to track performance from the view of: are we achieving our targets? But what some have found to be more effective to focus on is: do we have a happy team that is not falling over because we load too much work on them? And, do they know how to ask for help?

While this doesn't have to be tangible learns, tracking whether there has been more or less stress leave, whether people are taking their holidays, or if people leave on time and don't log on at the weekend anymore, highlights how effectively they manage to do their work during the week.

If you would like to discuss this topic further or find out how we can support you in achieving a more diverse and inclusive recruitment process, do not hesitate to get in touch for a confidential discussion.

Nina Buttle
Business Director, Page Executive – Banking and Financial Services
ninabuttle@pageexecutive.com

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UK financial services sector trends: How are businesses navigating fast change?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 10:14:34 +0000

UK financial services sector trends: How are businesses navigating fast change? Anonymous (not verified)

Across the globe, businesses continue to adapt and evolve to the ever-changing market we now operate within as a result of the global pandemic. At Page Executive, we have continued to work closely with our partners to ensure that we can quickly offer support and guidance where needed.

In this article, we highlight four topics that have been key areas of concern for many of our customers and the approaches that some originations are choosing to take.

Working from home vs office-based teams

Working from home arrangements versus going back into the office has been a hot topic amongst the financial services businesses that we are partnered with. We have seen a contrast in approaches, though all have been vigilant in adhering to Government advice and adapting their policies where required.

In the UK, larger banks have not planned for any support staff to go back until 2021 at the earliest and employees have been discouraged from going into the office at all. Most are asking front-office staff to come back to the office working flexible days, with some days in the office and some from home. Some have also allowed regulatory and product front-office-aligned staff to return, although all voluntarily.

The smaller boutiques and challenger banks have largely reopened their offices and are welcoming staff back in. A number of them are stipulating that they prefer people to avoid commuting by tube/public transport if possible. Everyone is adhering to strict schedules to avoid everyone being back in at the same time.

Some organisations are splitting employees into bubbles by functions and then working in three-week rotations. Again, nobody is being forced into the office, however, a large number have been going in.

In light of recent Government announcements, the majority of those that had been going into the office are now either deciding to only work from home or reducing the number of times they go to the office in a week. Some of our clients were planning to increase the office time, however, all plans have been put on hold for the time being.

Talent hotspots across the UK

Hiring has largely resumed across the financial services sector, with both the larger organisations as well as boutiques and challenger banks, hiring for a number of business-critical roles. The majority of our current mandates are across financial control and regulatory reporting.

Many large banks have received a Section 166 and “Dear CEO” letters focusing on liquidity and capital. Furthermore, the increased focus on prudential reporting, especially Pillar 3 from a UK bank perspective, has narrowed this candidate pool even further. We are anticipating this trend to continue into 2021. A couple of large banks are hiring in this space, and candidates who resign are often being bought back with large salary increases.

None of the banks are giving golden handshakes or guarantees, however, letters of intent (LOIs) are being given and expected to secure senior candidates in this area.

In addition to the above, candidates from these backgrounds are increasingly moving into roles helping to shape policy development back to UK regulation away from the EU regulation in response to Brexit.

Staff retention during a crisis

Retention is always a big focus for organisations, including PageGroup. During the global crisis, this has become a slightly fraught topic as businesses are trying to cut costs, at the same time as managing the retention of their current and future talent.

As we adapt to a new normal, it seems clear that our customers sense an opportunity to lead the sector in a new, more positive, and impactful way. What was a huge logistical challenge in getting very large numbers of employees set up to work from home, was achieved relatively easily and the focus is now shifting to ensuring everyone remains engaged, motivated, and feels supported while operating remotely.

A number of our customers have voiced concerns about their more junior staff and we know that some have brought their graduates back into the offices where possible – again, on a voluntary basis. This is as much to ensure that they remain productive as well as ensuring that they build a sense of corporate identity and culture.

Unforeseen challenges

During a crisis, individuals will automatically revert to type. Unfortunately, this has highlighted what some of our partners are referring to as a leadership void; EQ is becoming increasingly important when managing large teams of varying levels all working remotely.

Some of our global customers have found that their people are now logging on earlier to make the most of the time that they would normally be commuting to the office. However, this is leaving the lines between work and home blurred and employees exhausted. The support system at work is now moving to advise employees about how to successfully balance work and home life.

If you would like to discuss any of these topics further, or for more in-depth insights into your market, please do not hesitate to get in touch for a confidential conversation.

Nina Buttle
Business Director, Page Executive – Banking and Financial Services
ninabuttle@pageexecutive.com

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Your D&I initiative might be doomed: Eight ways to promote a diverse and inclusive pipeline

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 16:02:16 +0000

Your D&I initiative might be doomed: Eight ways to promote a diverse and inclusive pipeline Anonymous (not verified)

The impacts of biases in the workplace can cause ripple effects right throughout the recruitment process, but they are particularly detrimental to an organisation’s talent pipeline. Diversity and inclusion (D&I) have never been higher on the agenda for business leaders than they are today. Ensuring a diverse and inclusive pipeline of talent is key to ensuring the longevity of any D&I initiative and securing the very best professionals.

To ensure that we can best advise our clients and support them in achieving their D&I initiatives we regularly host D&I-focused events, and work with external experts to provide comprehensive insight and guidance. At one of our recent D&I events, which explored the impact of bias at work, ethnicity pay reporting, and ways to create an inclusive workplace, we partnered with Dan Robertson, Director at VERCIDA Consulting.

As a key aspect in the future success of organisations, we asked the question: how do you future-proof your talent pipeline? In this article, Dan suggests eight ways for businesses to build diverse talent pipelines that will boost the employee value proposition and support an inclusive culture.

1. Use people analytics

In building a diverse and inclusive pipeline, it is crucial to ensure that biases are avoided wherever possible. By using data to assess trends in decision-making, you can identify the number of hires being made by diverse groups and the demographics of high performers.

It is also possible to assess the inclusivity of your culture using key metrics around retention rates and the participation of your employees at work events.

Identifying any pain points or areas where biases are influencing the diversity of incoming talent and promotions, is key in implementing the right changes.

2. Adopt the principle of amplification

A practice that was started in the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency; amplification comprises several areas of intervention. The goal is to ensure that contributions from minority groups are amplified by their peers to ensure they are heard.

By championing such a principle in your organisation you are ensuring that diverse groups are given the platform to have their voices heard, which also means you benefit from equal contribution from all key stakeholders in your business. Amplification is key to an inclusive culture and positively influences business outputs.

3. Change the default by making agile working the norm

Looking past the benefit of appealing to great employees and boosting your employer value proposition, agile working fosters trust among employees, ensures output is rewarded, and supports every individuals’ differences by allowing them to work around what is important to them.

Workplace barriers to participation extend to working arrangements, and agile working is one solution that allows professionals to work as and how they need to.

4. Less mentors, more sponsors

When looking at building your diverse and inclusive pipeline, sponsors are key. The difference between a mentor and sponsor is that sponsors not only provide guidance, they also make their peers visible to leaders within the company. In other words, they actively sponsor the careers of those around them.

This might mean highlighting their work, promoting their ideas and acknowledging their skills. Sponsors act as business partners to their peers, driving them to success and facilitating the opportunity for promotion where possible.

5. Building psychological safety

In an inclusive working culture, employees will feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work, which also means putting forward new ideas. What is crucial here is ensuring that psychological safety is present.

Employees feeling comfortable and safe in being themselves at work, ensures that they feel able to make mistakes without worrying that it will limit them in their careers. If your people do not fear that they will be rejected due to their differences, or for having different ideas, then you will get the most out of them in the workplace.

6. Trust building through integrity

Integrity is a trait that has been identified as a key quality that professionals seek in their leaders. Integrity also helps promote cultures of belonging.

Through authenticity, challenging biases, and promoting a speak-up culture, you demonstrate integrity. As a leader, demonstrating and truly embracing this quality builds trust which, in turn, builds psychological safety.

7. Find ways to create insight

Gathering insights into the experiences that minority groups have within your organisation is a simple yet crucial step in improving the diversity and inclusivity of your business. Through a deeper understanding of your workforce, you will develop your empathy and emotional intelligence, which means as a leader, you will better relate to the diverse groups of individuals in your organisation.

8. What gets measured, gets done

Bringing about change can be challenging, but establishing clear metrics to drive your D&I agenda can be instrumental in making strides to achieve your objectives.

When creating your metrics, focus on pay, recruitment, retention, advancement, and representation within your organisation.

If you would like to have a confidential discussion about how we can support your D&I agenda, or would like to explore your career options, get in touch with your local Page Executive office today.

Helen Schwarz, Partner Page Executive

To explore the eight steps to building your talent pipeline in further detail, with a focus on how to build trust, ways to develop insight, and how to establish a set of metrics to drive change, you can download the full VERCIDA Consulting guide here.

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Are your business leaders driving the D&I agenda?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 13:15:52 +0000

Are your business leaders driving the D&I agenda? Anonymous (not verified)

Not only do C-suite executives develop the strategies for the businesses that they run, but they also set the tone for the organisation’s culture and this is key when it comes to diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. Alarmingly, recent PageGroup research has found that just 34% of C-Level execs say their company has a D&I policy and know what it is.

With two key strategic assets – one being clients and customers, and the other their talent – why are so many business leaders failing to acknowledge the importance of a sound D&I policy?

The business case for D&I

Elimination of ‘groupthink’ is one of the key benefits of a diverse workforce. This occurs when a team is predominately made up of individuals who look, sound and think the same, narrowing decision-makers’ field of vision. As a result, this reduces an organisation’s ability to tap into the constantly changing needs and wants of their diverse customers and clients.

There are extensive business case studies that prove diversity within the workplace significantly improves performance and drives success. There are clear benefits of D&I including; improved and faster decision making, boosts in innovation, new insights, open communication and higher revenue to name but a few.

Ultimately, by adopting an inclusive leadership style, C-suite execs can build smarter and more profitable businesses.

DOWNLOAD: You can access the full eBook, ‘Inclusion in the UK workplace: Common challenges and how to tackle them,’ produced by Michael Page in partnership with VERCIDA Consulting here.

UK D&I challenges

In the UK, there are a number of sectors that fall behind when it comes to diversity and inclusion. From the PageGroup survey of over 2,000 UK workers, individuals were asked to score their employers on inclusivity. Legal, logistics, and procurement and supply chain sectors were found to be the least inclusive. Many of these industries that struggle with D&I also face a significant challenge in changing longstanding perceptions of what it is like to work within that industry, which are specifically male-dominated cultures.

In addition to this, it was also found that due to the lack of inclusion within businesses, employees don’t feel comfortable revealing why they are leaving a company. Honest and open communication is key in any business, and to ensure that you are receiving accurate feedback from employees to improve attraction and retention rates. Inclusive cultures support this flow of conversation and ensure that all employees feel comfortable to open up about any issues they may have.

One obstacle to this is office cliques as they can be damaging to office morale and in turn, hinder an inclusive culture. Despite how common office cliques are, organisations are not equipped to manage them. The trouble with cliques is that if not managed, they can lead to exclusion and can be damaging to the productivity of a team.

Considering these challenges, it is surprising that business leaders are not driving the agenda for D&I.

Challenging unconscious biases in the recruitment process

As individuals, we all have our own biases, most of which we are not aware of. These are influenced by our upbringing including factors such as the beliefs our parents have, the schools we went to and even the subjects we studied. Unless challenged, an individual’s unconscious bias will sway decision making and in a hiring process. This is likely to result in great candidates being overlooked if they don’t fit with what a hiring manager’s picture of an ‘ideal’ candidate.

In recruitment there are a vast array of areas that unconscious biases can influence: the job description, advertising, the interview process, the types of questions asked, reviewing a CV, and even the way an individual performs in an interview. If biases are not challenged at each stage, then like-for-like people will continue to be hired and diversity will not be achieved.

At Page Executive, we work closely with our clients during the recruitment process and are well placed to assist in improving the diversity of your business. In fact, we actively challenge our clients’ ways of thinking to not only support an inclusive and diverse approach to hiring, but also to ensure that the best candidate is selected in the process. Find out how we have helped our partners boost diversity in the financial services sector.

If you would like to discuss how we can support your diversity and inclusion agenda, get in touch with your local Page Executive office for a confidential conversation.

Jessica Whitehead

Partner, HR Practice Page Executive

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The voice of your talent: HR needs a seat at the table

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 08:13:20 +0000

The voice of your talent: HR needs a seat at the table Anonymous (not verified)

The HR function has evolved significantly over the last few years, but so too has the world in which businesses operate. This has led to significant changes in terms of the roles and responsibilities that fall into the remits of professionals today. Traditionally viewed as a somewhat back-office function, HR is now much more strategic, forward-thinking, commercially focused, and business aligned. As the fourth industrial revolution continues to evolve the working world, it is also crucial that HR is tuned into the impacts of new technology. Not only in the way we do business, but also in how it has changed the way we live our lives.

So, why should HR have a seat at the table? To ensure that you are getting the best out of your people, by enabling and empowering them to create more for the bottom line. If the people within your business are unsuccessful, then your business will be unsuccessful. This is why you need diverse leadership, including the voice of a Chief People Officer (CPO).

The people-centric business model

The working world is changing. More businesses are placing people at the heart of their strategies and this includes the staff working for them too. Professionals working longer hours, are now more connected than they have ever been, operating on a global scale. The millennial workforce is unique in terms of the expectations they have of the businesses they work for and the people who manage them. They want different things and have different needs, so it is important to keep tuned in. The rise of concepts like, live – work – play, is one example of why being tuned in to the shifting attitudes of the workforce is so important.

With remote working now much more commonplace and an increasingly expected work benefit, it is crucial to ensure that processes and policies are in place to support the business in managing this new way of working. In addition to this, the mental health of employees is now also very high on the agenda. Businesses are now seen to have an increasingly crucial role to play in supporting individuals to maintain a positive work-life balance and manage their mental health. And finally, another challenge that businesses are prioritising is the diversity and inclusion of their teams. If you don’t have an HR professional guiding strategic decisions at the top, you are missing out on valuable insights about how to attract and manage the people you need to drive business success.

Recognising the value of HR at the top

Today, there are many more forward-thinking, disruptor businesses such as Monzo and start-ups that truly recognise the value of empowering people in a business. Companies like Facebook and Google have led the way in terms of the value placed on hiring the right people and managing them throughout their careers. It is all about the mindset at the top. However, with the evolution of leadership styles, we are now seeing a lot of inconsistency.

The HR function owns the culture and employee experience of an organisation. They are responsible for the effectiveness of people, organisational design, company mission, purpose and values which all help drive the business and recruitment retention. All of those things have a direct impact on the bottom line but are not directly tangible. But ultimately, if you don’t have the right recruitment strategy, you won’t hire the right people. If you don’t have the right employee value proposition, the right people won’t want to work for you.

The new world HR function and professionals should be:

Innovative and commercial.
Partnering with the business and key stakeholders to enable employees to perform to the best of their ability.
- Especially viewed as a partner of the area of the business area it is supporting.
Integrated and valued by the business and part of the team, not separate.
Highly emotionally intelligent.

Pushing for a seat at the table

If you are considering bringing in an HR professional at the CPO level, it is important to assess the current state of your business and take the following steps:

Identify what your people challenges are.
Be honest about what the business is like, where you want to go, and what the people landscape is like both positive and negative. From here, identify what skills are therefore needed and what strengths a CPO would need to have.
- If the business is experiencing a high level of legal issues – CPO will need a high level of employment relation and legal experience.
- If you have a growth agenda and a good culture – you will need someone who has international experience in managing growth.
Partner with the right search firm to come up with the best strategy for your business, identify the right professionals, and approach the market in the right way to engage with these individuals. They’re representing your business.

Set your CPO up for success. Believe in the value that this role can add to your business and empower them to drive the HR agenda. There are many specialist HR roles that can add huge value to the modern company and we are currently running searches for D&I specialists, employee experience specialists, and a director of culture. Some businesses are even hiring chief happiness officers. The CPO is the conjugate to ensuring that these roles thrive.

The new HR mindset

Through innovation and creativity, the new generation HR function looks at the latest ways to develop people. Having a seat to communicate this at the board/executive level will enable businesses to make better-informed decisions to benefit their workforce.

This might lead to the implementation of HR systems to better engage staff, revolutionise people analytics to identify top performers, or a more forward-thinking organisational design to drive productivity. The HR function holds a wealth of knowledge and data, and these professionals are in tune with the latest trends in the market and people related opportunities.

People are the heart and soul of every company. Considering the role of a CPO, can businesses in the world of today afford not to have a leader in their team guiding decisions at this level?

If you would like to explore how we can help find the right HR professionals for your executive team, get in touch for a confidential discussion.

Sim Lamb
Associate Partner, HR Practice, Page Executive
T: +44 117 906 5507
E: SimLamb@pageexecutive.com

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The rise of the gig CMO: marketing leading from the top

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:30:36 +0000

The rise of the gig CMO: marketing leading from the top Anonymous (not verified)

“In the current landscape, where businesses are reinventing themselves, diversifying in order to remain competitive, and acquiring start-ups to survive, there has been a significant shift towards C-suite level execs in ‘gig’ roles.” – says CMO Consultant Joelle Coldicott

What is a gig CMO and how can executives in these roles drive real value within a business? At Page Executive, we have seen a rise in the number of industries that are opting to recruit for temporary CMO positions, the FinTech sector in particular is one in which we have seen the highest growth surge. This may be in direct correlation to market growth, but also the fact that there are a high number of organisations which have received funding and need to recruit a senior management team to deliver against growth targets over a short period of time. Mid-sized firms looking to drive further business growth are also hiring for gig CMO roles. While historically these businesses may have had a marketing team in place, they are unlikely to have had someone sitting on the board at the CMO level.

On this topic, Joelle shared her insight:

“The changing business landscape and so-called ‘gig economy’ is enabling organisations to mix new and emerging skill sets, agility and passion with traditionally experienced visionaries. Engaging a gig CMO can transition a business through significant change, including a merger or acquisition, or to simply audit and shape an existing marketing function in alignment with the changing market.”

Why consider hiring a gig CMO?

Many companies feel the need to recruit a CMO, but for those that haven’t previously had someone in this position, there can be a degree of reservation about acquiring someone at this level on a full-time basis. A CMO is a significant investment, so often businesses decide to hire these individuals on an interim basis.

This approach can yield results, as gig CMOs are often highly skilled in spotting key issue(s) upon starting in a role and then defining a strategy to overcome this in a short period of time. However, this is short term and is likely to only be a temporary fix to any issues. If an organisation will only pledge to a CMO position on an interim basis, it can demonstrate an unwillingness or a lack of intention to fully commit at this level, which may deter some professionals.

Employers often debate the extra value that a CMO can bring in comparison to a marketing director. Sometimes this can be hard to quantify, but CMOs are experienced professionals, used to holding their own in board meetings and demonstrating the results that marketing is contributing to their organisation. They are often at the frontline of identifying opportunities for how things can be changed and improved, as well as forecasting what this transformation could deliver to the organisation.

Moving from temporary fix to permanent value add

A full-time CMO can become part of the DNA of an organisation. Understanding what the short-term objectives are and then delivering against those, as well as truly defining a strategy that can deliver against a five-year objective and see it through. The industry shift to become more customer-centric has placed marketing teams in a key position to truly understanding who the customer is, what they want, and how the company can deliver this. With a permanent CMO in place, a company can truly transform and even reinvent itself, if needed. This often has a cultural element linked with an external perspective. Cultural shifts often happen over a longer period of time, again making it important to hire the right person who can deliver against the objectives of the role.

“A CMO who supports the long-term growth and aspirations of the business will add significant value through a modern marketing approach and skill sets that drive longer-term engagements in both existing customers, and net new customer acquisition,” Joelle explained.

The future of gig CMOs

As more companies begin to recognise the value of CMOs in temporary positions, we are likely to continue to see the rise in demand for this resource. This will then begin to broaden to more firms recruiting CMOs on a full-time basis. Often organisations do recruit a CMO for a purely gig role, but if a CEO is considering hiring a CMO the advice we would offer is simple - be brave and commit to it.

Gone are the days whereby FTSE 100 companies are the only organisations with the financial flexibility to invest in a CMO or to appreciate the value that they can bring. Start-ups are looking at the market in a completely different way and are willing to invest in someone at this level. They believe that CMOs can strategically deliver against their plan from both a short-term view as well as assist with their long-term vision.

As ever, there will always be a place for the gig CMO, though looking forward it will be key for organisations to increase their commitment to these professionals at this level on a full-time basis.

Joelle shares this sentiment stating: “As long as businesses define the 'when’ and ‘what type' of marketing they need, now and in the future, there should always be a place for the 'gig' and the permanent CMO.”

If you would like to discuss this topic further, or find out how we can help source executive talent for your business, get in touch for a confidential conversation.

James Harrington
Associate Partner, Page Executive
T: +441932264117
E: jamesharrington@pageexecutive.com

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The push and pull factors for executive leaders

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:08:13 +0000

The push and pull factors for executive leaders Anonymous (not verified)

The current market is one of uncertainty and rapid change, with the UK preparing to exit the EU in March 2019, and November’s IMF update on the UK’s economic outlook stating that growth has moderated since the 2016 referendum. This has shifted the UK to near the bottom of the G7 growth leagues with growth forecasted at 1.5% for the coming years. It may therefore seem surprising that the UK’s employment rate has hit new historic highs. As candidate availability declines, and wage growth increases, it is unsurprising that organisations remain challenged by their recruitment processes.

CEOs recognise that top talent is fundamental to the success of growth and transformation strategies, which aim to extract higher productivity in a market with an uncertain economic outlook and technology disrupting routes to markets, and customer interaction.

In order to assess the sentiment of professionals in the market, we surveyed over 160 senior executives to find out what their push and pull factors were when considering a new job opportunity. This has enabled us to identify the challenges and opportunities that organisations are facing when attracting, hiring, and retaining high calibre people. It has also allowed us to compare the results from our 2016 survey which was conducted prior to the Brexit decision.

To find out what senior executives are looking for and what is driving to explore their options, download the full report below.

Download Free eBook

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How to run a successful mentoring programme

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 09:37:06 +0000

How to run a successful mentoring programme Anonymous (not verified)

Offering a mentoring programme to your staff is a way to connect your business between levels, and offer advice and knowledge to professionals at any stage of their career. Offering your time and expertise to the junior members of your organisation shows that you are ready and willing to help their career progress. It also allows you to share your knowledge and skills, whilst building relationships across the business.

Implementing a mentoring programme at your company has a range of benefits. Ranging from better communication, boosting productivity, and improving office culture. Extending this branch of knowledge across your business can also have a positive impact on staff retention rates.

Pair the right professionals

It is crucial that you put professionals together that will both benefit from the programme. It isn’t beneficial to randomly pair your employees based purely on job role or level in the business. It is important that the people you are choosing as mentors are enthusiastic about the role, and are able to give time to their mentee.

Once you have discovered who is interested in joining the programme, it is important to get to know them professionally. Be sure to pair them with the professional that will be most beneficial. Consider their professional interest and knowledge gaps, with this in mind you will be best placed to pair them effectively. Considering these factors when pairing employees will make the programme more likely to succeed.

Outline the responsibilities

Second to pairing your staff, it is important to discuss, with both parties, what they each want to achieve from this union. This could be sharing knowledge and skills, career coaching, or learning about the wider business model. You should be clear about the end goal of the programme for each pairing, as this will push the mentorship in the desired direction.

It is important to define the role of a mentor in the business. A mentorship isn’t about taking over the management of the individual in any way. The relationship should be about offering guidance and sharing advice from one professional to another. Finally, the mentorship should have an agreed end date, to achieve goals and give the mentor a chance to meet with a new mentee in due course.

Allow the programme time to grow

Similar to most business developments, it takes time to see the true benefits of a mentoring programme. Professional relationships aren’t built in a day, and it is important to allow both parties to get to know each other on a professional level. Be sure to give your professionals and the mentorship time and space to grow. This will ultimately reduce pressure on the individuals, and allow them to get the most out of the programme.

Seek feedback from both parties

One of the key ways to improve your mentor programme is to ask for feedback from those involved. If there have been problems with the programme, or people aren’t meshing well professionally, it is important to recognise this, as it might influence the way you pair professionals in the future. Ask yourself what management could be doing to improve the efficiency of the programme as it progresses. This will only enhance the experience for future participants of the scheme. Seeking feedback throughout the relationship will also encourage both parties to get the most out of the mentorship.

A mentoring programme is a valuable tool for professionals throughout a variety of stages in their career. Utilising the findings of these relationships properly is a great way to improve your business culture and the development of your staff.

The recruitment market is as competitive as ever, so it is important to ensure that you are offering both your current and potential employees the opportunity to grow and develop within your business. Mentoring is a great tool that can be utilised to upskill professionals at any level and is equally beneficial for the mentor as it is the mentee.

If you would like to explore how we can help with your recruitment processes and boost your employee value proposition in the market, browse our latest insights or get in touch with one of our expert consultants today.

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What will the retail CEO of the future look like?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 May 2017 13:34:09 +0000

What will the retail CEO of the future look like? Anonymous (not verified)

Few sectors are as fast-paced and dynamic as retail – and therefore its leaders need to be innovative, future-facing and capable of making key decisions based on genuine insights from their ever-growing data stack. These were among the key takeaways from Page Executive’s recent annual Retail Dinner at the Houses of Parliament (May 18th), titled The Future Retail CEO. Held in the famous Churchill Room, the event saw some great guests and fantastic speakers discuss the challenges and opportunities retail leaders are set to face in the coming years. Click above to see our highlights video from the event.

The evening begun with an address from Steve Ingham, CEO of PageGroup, who spoke about the ways in which the retail sector has evolved over his many years in recruitment, especially at the senior end of the spectrum. Guests were then welcomed to the dinner by Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, the sponsor of the evening. Formerly CEO of Mitie Group, Baroness McGregor-Smith was nominated as a Conservative life peer in 2015 and until recently operated as Non-Executive Director at PageGroup.

Embracing innovation

Next up, Eleanor Winton, formerly of KPMG’s Future Institute and now running her own business, Foresightfully, gave a glimpse of the technologies and innovations that could prove truly disruptive for the retail sector over the coming years. “The future is already here, it’s just not very evenly distributed,” she opined, borrowing a quote from noted sci-fi novelist and essayist William Gibson. To illustrate her point, Eleanor gave examples of how companies both inside and outside retail are finding new and exciting ways to capture the imagination, from the Impossible Burger (a vegetarian option that mimics meat so closely it bleeds) to silkworms which are fed graphene to produce super silk which could drive the wearable tech sector in the future.

Eleanor closed with another famous quote, this time from philosopher Thomas Aquinas, who reminded leaders that, “if the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in a port forever”. The importance of innovation was further underlined by the evening’s second speaker, Sir Ian Cheshire, Chairman of Debenhams, Senior Independent Director of Whitbread plc, Chairman of the advisory board of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and most recently appointed as non-executive Chairman of Barclays. His address covered three key challenges retail leaders are set to face over the coming years.

1. Displaying authentic, effective leadership

Sir Ian remarked on the fitting setting for the evening, given that like Winston Churchill, retail CEOs need to be “authentic leaders”. He explained: “When you’re engaging with thousands of [staff] you have to start with being a real, authentic person. You cannot be a fake leader. We are literally the company that we create. You can have the freshest, most brilliant idea and if you can't get people behind you and your vision in the retail world, it won't work.” Staff motivation is key, as it leads directly to creating satisfaction among consumers, he continued. “Be an effective leader,” Sir Ian stated. “Inspire on one hand, but give the reality on the other and be willing to make decisions.”

2. Being customer-led, not product-led

This has never been so important, Sir Ian claimed, going on to comment that although many of the UK’s great retail organisations have grown up on being product-led, there has been a marked shift in the sector. “If you know what your customer wants, you work out what you want to sell as opposed to being captivated by product,” he explained, before going on to suggest that businesses which cannot reinvent their entire model around the view of the consumer will never thrive in the modern world. “My view is if you can understand your customer well enough that you buy them the Christmas present they didn't know they wanted - but they end up loving - that’s being truly customer-led.” He continued: “If you know what your customer wants, you work out what you want to sell as opposed to being led by product. People can be obsessed by being in a particular sector or business opposed to being in a customer business.”

3. Using data effectively

In the digital world, retail leaders have more data at their fingertips than ever before and attempting to run businesses on “anecdote and intuition” is no longer possible. On the other hand, however, being purely data and analytics-led is not favourable either. “The days of the intuitive merchant prince that can somehow do stuff magically in retail and still sail through are over,” Sir Ian explained. “There is huge importance in using data to be creative, but if you don't understand the process of how data now drives businesses, and the test and learn principles needed, then you’re not going to get the most out of it.”

The evening concluded with a Q&A session, with workplace diversity proving a particular hot topic in the room. “Most businesses I’ve been involved in that have been troubled or failed is where people have been hired around the leaders image,” Sir Ian said, predicting that gender, racial and sexual diversity at CEO level will only continue to improve over the coming years. Hiring principles for senior leadership roles were also keenly debated, with Sir Ian concluding: “Force yourself to hire people who you don’t understand and spend time understanding them - doing so will turn you into a great leader.”

To discuss your hiring challenges - or if you are interested in attending one of our upcoming Page Executive events - please get in touch with Nicola Wensley.

Nicola Wensley
T: 01932 264 059
E: nicolawensley@pageexecutive.com

We’ll be posting further content from the event on this site in the coming weeks – keep an eye out for our video interviews with Eleanor and Sir Ian, where they go into more depth on the discussion points raised at the dinner.

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UK

Push and pull factors for executive leaders

4 common push factors

1. Incompatible culture

2. Non-competitive salary

3. Insufficient flexible working allowances

4. Lack of challenge

4 common pull factors

1. Better salary and benefits

2. A new challenge

3. Hybrid working

4. A company that prioritises sustainability/D&I

What’s next?

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Survey results: How satisfied are UK business leaders at work?

How many UK business leaders are exploring new opportunities?

How do UK business leaders feel about remote working?

Are CEOs and MDs satisfied with their pay?

Is the gender pay gap on the radar of MDs & CEOs?

What’s next?

Looking to hire your next leader?

Looking for your next leadership challenge?

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Driving gender equality in the finance sector

Diversity in finance: How to attract, support, and enable women to succeed

Looking to hire your next executive?

What did 2021 teach us about returning to the office?

Communication is still key

Sell the benefits

Make sure you’re ‘all in it together’

Make returning to the office exciting

Winning the war for talent in financial services

The state of financial services recruitment

How to get ahead of competitors

Beyond the brief

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Forward planning and hybrid working: Key challenges for business leaders

Forward business planning amid uncertainty

Many workers are poised to leave their jobs

Finalising and implementing hybrid working models

Executives need to know how their workforces are feeling

Hybrid working: essential for talent retention

Looking to hire your next executive?

What is UK SOX? And is your finance team ready?

What do you need to know about UK SOX?

How will UK SOX affect talent acquisition and resourcing?

What skillsets will UK SOX demand?

What challenges could businesses encounter?

How can businesses attract top talent?

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Is remote working really here to stay?

The downsides of working from home

Why the new normal may not be for everyone

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Diversity of thought in the workplace: What it really means

What and why?

How can businesses achieve diversity of thought?

Where to start and how to ensure success

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Challenger Bank/Fintech Salary Survey 2021

If you would like to explore your employment options or have any further questions, please contact someone from one of our teams below.

Nina Buttle – Associate Partner

Sumrana Saleem – Partner

Tara Bagley – Partner