How small employers pull big talent

Punching above

our weightHow small employers pull big talent

Brenda Carter, Resourcing Partner, The Wellcome Trust

Simon Russell, Director of Consulting, Work Group

The Argument

The principles of employer marketing are exactly the

same, however big or small you are. What’s more, smaller

companies can have a clear advantage over the juggernauts of

the graduate market, especially when it comes to attracting the

entrepreneurial, buccaneering individuals who could make the

biggest difference to your business.

„I don‟t know what an SME is…‟

TARGETJobs Poll - October 2013

“When I grow up

I want to work

for an SME…”

So just how good are the

„top‟ graduate employers?

Your true nature may

only emerge when you

find yourself cornered.

<---------------18cm------------>

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A „trope‟ originally described a

figure of speech but increasingly

it is taken to mean those common

conventions, devices and clichés

found in creative works.

Trope #1A young person holds up a sign with

SOMETHING WRITTEN ON IT.

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues, 1965

2007

2008

2007

2011

Trope #2Young people jump into the air in

unison, expressing joy and excitement

that scarce may be contained.

Cultural reference: A-level results day in the local press…

2002

2002

2001

2009

The question facing creative teams in the

middle of the first decade of the twenty-

first century was, “Can we create even

more visual impact and exhilaration than

we have seen here?”

The question facing creative teams in the

middle of the first decade of the twenty-

first century was, “Can we create even

more visual impact and exhilaration than

we have seen here?”

The answer was, “Yes we can.”

THE DIATROPE

In which two tropes are combined to

create an impact that is even more

striking than the sum of its parts.

2009

Trope #3Tragic hubris that sometimes

provokes the gods to wrath.

2007

We should all feel good about this

because we can all do better than this.

2013

SMILEY, HAPPY FACE []

BRAND CHECK []

ARBITRARY RANKING []

MISCHIEVOUS WORDPLAY []

INVESTOR IN PEOPLE []

2013

2013

What makes an employer of choice?

Alex

decides.

1,800 000 people

50 people

What makes an employer of choice?

So do you want to be BIG

or do you want go SPECIFIC?

It is much more useful to focus on the benefits

to the graduates – especially those ambitious,

entrepreneurial and dynamic individuals who

have most to gain by joining a fast-growing,

successful company.

One in a thousand?

If you join a big employer, you may be one in

a thousand, with everything that implies. On

the other hand, if you join a small

company, you matter. You are really

important to that organisation. This

perspective helps to build a

compelling, three-part proposition…

Increased Visibility

Bigger Personal Impact

Greater Growth Potential

VISIBILITYThe big employers can hire graduates in their thousands.

SME businesses will recruit very few and so each one will be

more rare, special and valuable. Visibility means that you

matter to the business – and you are also far more likely to

have exposure to the leaders and decision-makers of the

organisation. You are likely to see and experience more of the

business, too.

IMPACTSmaller organisations tend to give graduates bigger challenges

and responsibilities, relatively earlier in their careers. That

means you can demonstrate your value and make a difference

to the business. Smaller organisations may have less structured

career paths, but they can also offer a steeper learning curve

and accelerated progress for high-performers.

POTENTIALThe best SMEs are those organisations which are not only

successful, but also growing fast. Business growth means

greater scope for personal and professional development; in

certain cases, it may also bring opportunities to build

substantial personal wealth. Joining an SME is always a more

entrepreneurial choice; there are greater risks and rewards.

VISIBILITY

IMPACT

POTENTIAL

What’s

that

spell?

A company that treats graduates

as Very Important People will also

be a very attractive employer.

Welcome to the VIPER list.

V.I.P.

THE VIPER LIST.

“A confederacy of high-growth, opportunity-rich

companies with something special to offer the

UK’s most ambitious, entrepreneurial graduates.”

Fast-growing

High-potential

Talent-hungry

Fast-growing

High-potential

Talent-hungry

and challenging

Give

and

Take

SPIRIT OF THE buccaneer

Entrepreneurial individuals

of flair and bravado who

back their own judgement

and stake their own skill and

potential against the world.

These are the people who

really make a difference.

SPIRIT OF THE buccaneer

big ≠ bad

big ≠ bad

but small can

be very good

The obvious response is to club

together, to pool resources, to

present a concerted front to the

graduate market as the VIPER list.

YOU’LL HAVE MORE FUN WITH A VIPER..

It turns out that

big isn’t really so

beautiful after all.

YOU’LL HAVE MORE FUN WITH A VIPER

Imagine

having

184,235

new friends.

YOU’LL HAVE MORE FUN WITH A VIPER

If you’re one

in a thousand,

nobody hears you.

YOU’LL HAVE MORE FUN WITH A VIPER

The obvious response is to club

together, to pool resources, to

present a concerted front to the

graduate market. But the true way

of the viper is more subtle…

Strength is not always

found in the numbers…

Things we’ve noticed about successful smaller graduate recruiters

Senior people are interested and involved in graduate recruitment. The assessment

process is rigorous and specific. The business thinks through what kind of graduates it

wants and what it wants them to do. It also thinks carefully about what the right graduates

will get out of the experience. Training doesn’t necessarily have to be formal or highly

structured, but there is always high-quality mentoring and coaching provided. There is

clear and specific accountability for the well-being and progress of graduates. Graduates

get to move around and experience different parts of the business. Graduates are given real

jobs to do, often with substantial responsibility and impact. They are not seen as cheap

labour and may earn quite as much as their big-company peers. There are clear career

paths for graduates, although they might well leave to pursue them. There is a sincere pride

and satisfaction in seeing graduates grow and prosper.

Wellcome Trust

Graduate Development Programme

Brenda Carter

Resourcing Partner

About us

We are a global charitable foundation dedicated to

achieving extraordinary improvements in human

and animal health.

We support the brightest minds in biomedical

research and the medical humanities. Our breadth

of support includes public engagement, education

and the application of research to improve health.

Why hire graduates? (or interns….or apprentices!)

How….?

What will you do? UK Researchers, GM,

PolicyFunders

UK & International

researchers

Funders,

LMIC

researchers

Deans,

VCsLMIC

Researchers,

GM,

Policy

And many more other exciting opportunities!!

What lessons has the Trust learnt

about strengthening research

capacity in LMICs? Anna

How successful are institutions

in LMICs at obtaining Trust

grants? Alexis

Mythbuster: Are researchers

really more successful if they

change institutions? Sarah

Antimicrobial resistance is

a major global threat! What

can the Trust do? Jemima

Impact?

Things to consider

Your graduate

is worth more

than PwC’s.

JARGON

ALERT!

Employee

Value

Proposition

Employee

Value

Proposition

Why work here?

What makes you special

as a business is what makes

you special as an employer.

WHO

WHAT WHERE

WHY

Why should the people you want to employ, choose

to build a career with you, rather than anyone else?

THE PEOPLE

YOU NEED

THE WORK

THEY WILL DOTHE COMPANY

THEY WILL JOIN

Engage the entire organisation

Design the working experience

Define what you offer as an employer

Identify the people you want

Get in front of your audience

Choose the right people

Look after them, coach them, mentor them

Give them interesting things to do

Measure and improve the results

Tell the story and share the glory

Towards

the VIP…

Trainee Business Writer

What can you do with an English degree?Work is the engagement and resourcing business that helps employers find, keep and motivate the people they need.

Our consulting team is now looking for a Writer-Analyst to work on a range of internal and external communications

tasks, from employee engagement campaigns to business change programmes. This is a hugely rewarding way to write

for a living that offers substantial scope for personal and professional development.

Chaos and teaseYou will rarely be working from a formal brief because part of our job is to clarify the communication challenge.

Correlating information and research from many different sources, you will bring order out of chaos and tease coherent

themes from even the densest corporate undergrowth. And then you‟ll write something clear, fresh and vivid to get your

message across. After which, we will probably cover it in red ink and encourage you to have another go.

What you hopedConsulting with Work requires absolute commitment to client fortunes and a belief in the importance of what you are

doing. You will soon be working on client-facing projects, although you will be very closely mentored at first. We are

looking for a bright, highly motivated graduate who already has at least a year‟s business experience; it may be that you

have embarked on a career path in some other field of professional services which wasn‟t quite what you hoped.

Pundits carpingWherever you are coming from, you must be one of life‟s high-achievers, who is already using words – spoken and

written – to get what you want. A good degree in English will count in your favour, not least because we are tired of

pundits carping about useless arts graduates. Join us and you will be helping to put the wheels back on the economy in

a very tangible way. To apply, please send a CV and a piece of writing that shows what you can do but isn‟t a poem

about your cat.

One online posting cost £475

There were over 200 applications

Most were poor-quality or irrelevant

10 invited for first interview

5 taken to final assessment

3 jobs filled, good candidates to spare

Pra

ctisin

g w

hat w

e p

reach

Just last week...Royal Academy of Engineering Round Table

on Overseas Recruitment 21st November 2013

Why don’t the big

companies supply

their suppliers?

7,000 applications

for a hundred jobs

Although we weren’t able to offer you a role on this occasion,

we were very impressed with your application and we would be

happy to work with you in the future.

So here’s the thing: there are several brilliant precision

engineering companies in our supply chain who are looking for

graduate engineers with exactly the kind of qualities and

potential you have already demonstrated to us.

We can make an introduction and, if you are happy for us to

share your application data, you could also benefit from an

accelerated selection process. If you would like to know more

about opportunities with our partners, please visit talentlink.com

Simon Russell

Director of Consulting

0207 492 0017

[email protected]