Powered Up

POWERED UP - AN INSIGHT BY THE IN GROUP

in the office, wearing a suit every day, being at home – you will have happy people. And if you have happy people, that’s when culture comes with it.” It’s important to allow team cultures to develop independently in order to create an interactive and authentic environment. “Every team has a subculture, so they interact wonderfully together. But you will always have people who also seek to interact with other groups. Allow teams to have their subculture while facilitating interaction without it being forced fun. You will never get it right for everyone, but if you provide the opportunity to be inclusive, you’re already winning.”

Benefits will evolve with employees

happy to go into the office. That’s where all these nuances start becoming difficult. There’s no one size fits all anymore.” Organisations have the tricky task of factoring in all these nuances to maintain an inclusive culture where everyone can succeed – but an inclusive culture means different things to different individuals. So what’s the answer? “Provide an environment where people have a voice, are respected, and feel like they can bring their true selves to work,” said Olivia. “If you enable them to do those three things, in whichever circumstances you achieve that – whether it’s five days

Of course, there will be a cost, but it’s important to recognise that it will be more beneficial to the business longer term.”

Keeping up to date with your employees’ evolving needs, and catering to them, is no easy task – especially in a global organisation. How do you develop a global benefits framework and strategy when different countries have different local regulations? “Engage with benefit providers and understand local legal nuances,” said Sarah. “You may need to engage groups such as works councils or unions. Keep the strategy agile; don’t just launch something and think ‘that’s it.’ Continually review and evolve. Ensure your strategy looks to the people you’re looking to attract too. As that changes, so should your offering. Ensure you also have a way of evaluating and changing the benefit if needed and don’t stick with one due to poorly negotiated T&Cs.” What inclusive benefits should you look to bring in? “Anything, as long as it has value for both employees and the business. I’d look at what life events people are coming across and then ensure we offer benefits that support those. An example for us would be Bippit, a complete financial wellbeing platform that our people have found really helpful. I also wouldn’t rule out a benefit just because it appealed to only 20% of the organisation. If it’s good value and seen as something that’s needed, then you should consider it.

Hiring, retention and promotion will be key to career equity

Hiring’s only the first part of the battle.

The move towards hybrid working means hiring is no longer restricted to geography, which should present organisations with more diverse talent pools. Yet as Olivia Dodd, Associate Director for Client Success, explained, “That’s not necessarily the reality. People’s priorities are changing. Before it was all about salary, now it’s about flexible working. On-target earnings can be really exciting, but if they’re split between 60% salary and 40% bonus, this might not help people who need a mortgage or are pregnant. In a cost of living crisis, some people are living paycheque to paycheque.”

Retention is a generational juggling act.

What a person wants from a job varies considerably between generations and is more of a factor as Gen Z join the workplace. “We now have different generations in the business expecting different things,” said Olivia. “The older generation are keen to be in the office, getting back to what they recognise as normality. Younger generations really appreciate hybrid working and can be quite flexible. At the same time, parents often value the ability to work from home, and some younger staff want a proper space to work instead of their bedroom, so they’re

CREDIT - PEXELS