‘Being a highly effective leader helps to reduce turnover and increases employee engagement in the business. Many team leaders are not provided any form of training to manage and lead effectively.  They also struggle to prioritise areas of importance, and often quality conversations with team members are low on the list even though they are key to employee engagement and retention in the business.’

Trish Burridge, Director, Customer Success, EMEA, Skillsoft discusses why employers should prioritise an L&D Programme within their organisation, and what they can do to maximise it’s impact.

If your organisation is yet to put in place an L&D programme, it’s behind the times.  In today’s competitive corporate landscape, where employees are conscious of career development and mobility, ensuring that your organisation caters to their learning and developmental needs is a must. Once a perk, L&D is now a necessity.

Creating a strong L&D programme requires a strategy.  To ensure that employees engage with L&D and benefit from it, employers must go further than sending their workers on ad-hoc away days or directing them to use an unmonitored online tutorial.  To make L&D a differentiator to employees – and improve retention and productivity as a result – employers need to follow three steps.

1. Ensure L&D goes at the pace of your employees

Learning on the job allows employees to solve workplace problems in real-time, and learn from their experiences.  To facilitate learning on the job, employers should look for a learning programme that allows their employees to utilise learning when and where they want.  Learning needs to be on-demand and available whenever the employee needs it.  Whilst you can let your employees turn to search engines like Google to help them with a problem, the sources that they use will often be unverified.  This process can also be very time consuming.

The best L&D programmes will also cater to employee individuality.  The workforce now spans more generations than ever before, and different generations and personalities will want to learn differently.  Some will prefer audio books, other video clips and others quizzes.  By ensuring that the L&D programme caters for all types of learners, employers increase the risk of strong engagement and ROI on their learning investment.

2. Get management onboard

The right L&D programme is integral to an employee developing his or her skills. When it comes to career development, it’s critical to ensure senior management is on board with the L&D programme. Business leaders need to understand how the L&D programme works and, more importantly, understand what their employees want to get out of learning.  That way, they can work with employees to set L&D targets and goals that will, in the long term, help employee career progression.  An intelligent L&D programme will assist managers and employees in setting these goals and demonstrate to managers how their employees are getting along with their training courses.  Without endorsement from executives and managers, an L&D programme won’t get very far.

3. Embed learning into culture

Fundamentally, a successful L&D programme revolves around a big cultural change.  Employers need to explain why learning is important and encourage employees to utilise the resources made available to them.  Employers should also be conscious of performance metrics before and after introducing the L&D programme, and measure these often. As performance begins to improve, both employers and employees will feel a morale boost.

This is because people are generally much happier when they know that coming to work every day makes a difference to the success of the company.  When employees know they are making a real difference, it gives them the motivation to continuously learn and grow.

Employers who build a culture of learning understand that investing in employees today pays dividends tomorrow.

Ultimately, to truly reap the rewards of L&D and make it a company differentiator, employers need to look at creating a cultural shift within their organisations to encourage learning.  They must also ensure that they choose the right, intelligent eLearning programme, which gives employees the needed flexibility to learn how and when they want.

I have just returned to my day job in PR after nearly 11 months off on maternity leave and I can tell you now that my maternity leave was not without its challenges (from start to finish). I started my mat leave with trepidation; fearful of losing my identity and anxious about not being able to let go of my career. But then life happened, I had my baby and all of a sudden, I had managed 11 months of being away from my career, whilst keeping a little human alive and somehow finding a way to stay sane at the same time.  

One of the things that really helped me with my return to work was doing my Keep in Touch (KIT) days. These days enabled me to feel much closer to my team, understand how the business had changed and what I needed to do to change with it and generally made the whole transition from full time parent to working parent much easier. When I spoke to my mum friends about my KIT days, it seemed I was in a small minority of people who had benefitted from a good experience with regards to KIT days. This surprised me greatly and made me want to look into this in a little more detail on my blog.  

Given KIT days are limited to just 10 days, and of course dependent on whether the parent can secure childcare, it is important for returning staff and employers alike to make the most of these days. In my opinion employers can, and should, help with this to ensure everyone gets the best possible outcome from the time spent in the office.  

Whilst arranging KIT days sounds simple enough, I have actually heard some real horror stories about them so far (from friends and people contacting me via my blog). Some for example didn’t bother to arrange their KIT days because they were scared about having to go back to work when their heads weren’t properly back in the game, others tried to organise KIT days but didn’t ever hear back from their line managers about when to go in, others went in on their allocated day only to be told that their line manager had forgotten about it and sadly others who did manage to get in for their KIT days were given menial tasks, left alone for long periods of time and made to feel unwelcome. Surely it shouldn’t have to be like this? 

Now, I do not pretend to be a human resources specialist, but I am a line manager myself and I am also a mum who has recently gone through this.. So direct from the horse’s mouth; here are some simple tips you can follow to help those returning feel at ease and also make the most of their time in the office:  

1.      Put yourself in their shoes: Don’t make it hard for your staff to arrange their KIT days. I have heard so many stories about employers not getting back to their staff about what dates and times are suitable for KIT days and many who haven’t taken into consideration that they need to sort childcare well in advance. Those who are off on maternity leave are already most likely stressing out about returning to work, so the easier you can make these conversations the better.  

2.      Plan ahead: Recommend to them that they book meetings in before they return to the office so that their day is orgnaised and runs smoothly. Encourage them to book in regular breaks in between each meeting in case something runs on. You don’t want to burn them out on a KIT day given they will most likely have to go home to bath the little one and deal with nighttime feeds.  

3.      Computer says no: There is nothing worse than scrabbling around trying to make your PC work the morning you arrive because you haven’t logged on for a while. Sorting out little things like this can make all the difference between a stressful day and a relevantly smooth day for your returning staff members.  

4.      Money talks: Agree on how and when they will be remunerated for their KIT days in advance of them coming in. They may feel embarrassed asking how they will be reimbursed, so take this topic into your own hands and make it easy for them. Legislation is a little blurry as to how much one should be paid for a KIT day, so try and be as transparent upfront as possible.   

5.      Welcome home: Imposter syndrome can really set in when people return to work after an extended period of time off. Don’t heighten that by making them feel like an outcast or reminding them about how much has changed whilst they have been away. Remind them how valuable they are to the business as much as possible.  

6.      Inbox hell: if they are required to use email whilst they are on their KIT day, be sure to recommend to them to have a clear out in advance of going into the office. Or if they don’t wish to do this in their own time/ they are too busy to do it, then make sure you factor in some time to wade through the millions of emails they will have received. Give them the time to do this rather than jumping straight into meetings.  

7.      Don’t cooo over baby too much: Ask them a few questions about their baby to show you are interested, but don’t talk about baby all day. Chances are they just want to talk about normal things for once and leave thoughts of the bambino at home.  

8.      Fancy a cuppa?: Take it from me, something as simple as making them a coffee will instantly relax them and make them feel welcome. Sounds silly and perhaps obvious, but they will no doubt enjoy being able to drink a whole cup of coffee without leaving half of it to go cold whilst they attend to baby. Also ensure they make the most of having a ‘grown up’ lunch where they don’t have to hand over half their food to their baby. Better still why not shout them to lunch to really make them feel welcome.  

9.      Gently does it: When getting them up to speed, try to ease them in gently. Run through things in order and don’t overload them. Likewise, if they are meeting with clients, make sure you have spent time with them to catch them up in advance. You don’t want anyone to be taken by surprise if your clients throw a curveball their way.  

10.  Remember they are still on maternity leave: Don’t forget that they are still on maternity leave. Most importantly don’t let them leave with loads of tasks to do or actions on their ‘to do list’. This day is about keeping in touch, rather than them taking on a load of work.  

KIT days are of course optional to both the employee and employer, but in my opinion, they are an incredibly valuable and effective method for employees to keep in touch with their workplace and ensure their actual return will be easier. Mine certainly has been.  

Most importantly, KIT days will make your returning staff feel more confident, remind them of how valuable they are to the business and prove to them that they can make a success of being a working parent.  

BIO: Holly Pither is a new mum to baby Amelia and similarly new to the blogging world. She started her blog when she first went off on maternity leave. Unlike many of her friends, Holly was very fearful of going off on maternity leave, scared about losing her identity and panicked about just being mum. She writes all about the trials and tribulations of maternity leave and finds it very therapeutic. In her day job Holly is a PR associate director at an agency in Oxford, England. She loves her job and she loves her baby. It is her belief that all parents can love both their kids and their career and, with the right flexibility, neither should suffer.  

Today she wants to offer some advice to employers and HR departments on how they can help people returning to work after their maternity, adoption or additional paternity leave, with a specific emphasis on arranging their Keeping in Touch (KIT) days.  

James McGill, VP International Customer Success, EMEA & APAC at HireVue discusses the steps recruiters can take to increase diversity in their hiring process

Diversity and inclusion are all too often the cause for many a sleepless night in the world of recruitment. Recruiting leaders know that if their companies aren’t sourcing and hiring for diversity, they are missing valuable talent and experience. However, current diversity initiatives are often inadequate, leaving companies to face a range of barriers from struggling to find diverse candidates in the first place, to failing to convince them to accept a role once you’ve got them through the door. Sound familiar?

In order to overcome this challenge, organisations typically implement a range of corporate strategies to attract a more diverse pool of candidates, including employee training, diversity policies, “CV blinding” and compliance-based reporting. Whilst they sound impressive on paper, these solutions rarely affect meaningful behaviour change within a company. For this, the main obstacle recruitment needs to overcome is the impact of unconscious human bias, which previous studies have shown to influence up to 40% of hiring decisions.

So what more can be done to overcome employees’ existing unconscious bias and make hiring more equitable for all candidates?

1. Ensure there is diversity in the hiring team

It’s obvious once you think about it, but if you want to attract more diverse candidates, you must ensure that the interview panel reflects diversity. Many organisations mandate a diverse interview panel in order to bring unique experiences to the discussion, and help candidates feel more comfortable. It also sends a message to prospective employees and your current employees that you are committed to an inclusive culture. More importantly, recent research suggests that organisations that implement diverse interview panels are seeing a 41% increase in the percentage of new female and minority hires. When you consider the significance of this number, diverse hiring becomes so much more important than a box-ticking exercise and one which can drive real business impact.

2. Create inclusive job descriptions

An often overlooked strategy, but one that’s relatively simple to execute, is to review your job postings with fresh eyes and omit any phrases that could indicate bias and deter candidates from applying. It’s a good idea, for example, to remove aggressive words such as “decisive” or “superior” from your job applications, and instead try to use more inclusive terms like “committed” and “responsible.” Similarly, terms such as “rock star” or “ninja” tend to have masculine connotations and may discourage some female candidates from applying for a role within your organisation. If you are looking to attract a more diverse pool of talent, these words should be removed or switched with more gender-neutral terms.

3. Expand your hiring sources

Whilst we all have our own tried-and-tested methods for finding candidates, you may need to diversify your platforms for advertising new roles if you want to reach a broader mix of talent. For example, if a company exclusively promotes new roles on social media, it may receive a greater volume of millennial and Gen-Z applicants, as they are generally more actively engaged on these platforms. Similarly, companies which heavily recruit via internal referrals may find they are hiring many similar candidates over a period of time. It’s also worth bearing in mind that some job seekers still use (sometimes highly niche) job boards or learn about positions through word of mouth – so there is no catch-all solution. Instead, it’s important to make as much noise as possible across a wide variety of platforms, including the traditional methods of recruitment websites, as well as LinkedIn and other social media.

4. Rely on video interviews over CVs in order to expand your talent pool

Designed as a quick way for recruiters to judge potential employees based on factors such as work experience or education, the CV has been a mainstay in the recruitment process for many years. However, studies have shown that rating candidates by these incidental factors is one of the worst predictors of performance. In fact,  rating candidates based on core and soft skills is a far more relevant way of qualifying them, and allows you to open up the talent pool for people to apply based on ability, rather than background. But how can you do this?

Structured video interviews are a great way to screen candidates based on their skills and attributes versus experience, but also make the job application process more accessible to a broader range of applicants. Candidates record answers to a structured question set at a time and in a place that suits them, and recruiters and hiring managers can review the responses (and any data the platform collates around them) at their convenience. Not only does this allow you to consider more candidates since all qualified applicants can take a video interview, since all candidates answer the same questions, you create a more objective and fair evaluation process that ensures consistency in hiring decisions.

5. Introduce AI to reduce bias and support human decision-making

There are many discussions in the media about the use of AI in recruitment and the fear that it could replicate human hiring biases if coded or implemented without rigor. However, the reality is that unconscious bias is most common in interviews with humans.

Whether deliberate or not, even well-intentioned recruiters and hiring managers have biases that play a significant role in their hiring process. Perhaps the interviewer had a tough weekend with their family – this tension could bleed over to a Monday morning interview and result in the candidate not having the full attention of the interviewer despite being perfectly suited to the job. In contrast, AI doesn’t have a bad day and will offer the same consistent experience to every candidate.

It’s important to ask any vendor offering an AI-driven recruiting technology to describe the ways that they combat bias in the development and implementation of their algorithms. Some have developed and are stringently following strong best practices in the mitigation of bias in their technologies, and some are not. Then ask whether any of their customers are increasing diversity through the use of these technologies, as well. The proof is in the metrics.

From small tweaks to larger technology implementations, there are a number of ways companies can significantly reduce unconscious bias in their hiring – so why not take the first step toward reimagining your recruiting processes today?

Over half (58 percent) of UK businesses say that hiring and onboarding overseas staff is challenging, according to new research from Elements Global Services.

Surveying 500 UK businesses across seven key industries, including technology, finance and manufacturing, the research revealed navigating political and economic uncertainty as the most common barrier to future expansion plans (cited by 36 percent), followed by difficulties in hiring and onboarding overseas employees, and overcoming language and cultural barriers (both cited by 29 percent).

When it comes to the biggest challenge involved in employing staff overseas, setting up global payroll, benefits programmes, and other HR essentials; costs and time involved in recruitment; and overcoming cultural barriers between overseas and domestic staff were cited as equally difficult (24 percent each).

Despite these difficulties, 69 percent of businesses report plans to expand internationally within the next three years.

“It’s a less than ideal time for UK HR”, said Rick Hammell, CEO of Elements Global Services. “For many organisations, the ambiguity brought on by Brexit and other geopolitical circumstances has complicated processes which were already quite difficult to begin with: navigating the legal and cultural environments of other countries is already a complex undertaking. Nonetheless, it’s very reassuring to see that businesses are still planning to pursue global growth in the face of great uncertainty.”

Brexit’s uncertainty troubles a substantial minority of businesses, with 49 percent claiming that it has already had a negative impact on their prospects. However, over half (51 percent) are untroubled, claiming that Brexit has had either no impact or a positive impact so far. These results were almost identical when businesses were asked about the likely impact 12 months from now.

If the UK’s exit from the European Union is untroubling for many businesses, many more still see opportunities for growth in Europe: 82 percent cited it as their most strategically important region for international expansion, with North America (31 percent) and the Middle East (20 percent) coming in a distant second and third.

When asked about the three most important factors when choosing a country for international expansion, 60 percent cited economic stability and potential for economic growth; 34% cited access to local employees with desirable skills; and 29 percent cited the region’s reputation for enterprise-friendly governments and institutions.

“Enthusiasm for international expansion is fantastic, but it should always be tempered by practicality”, added Hammell. “Global expansion always comes with challenges and costs for HR: there are always systems to expand, cultural barriers to lift, and laws and regulations to comply with.”

“With Brexit looming large over most businesses and most HR functions, effective resourcing and substantial preparation are more important than ever.”

Planday’s Christian Brøndum explains why access to cloud based technology is transforming the role of HR Managers 

It is often said that someone who worked in Human Resources forty years ago wouldn’t recognise the current HR Management sector as it is today. Gone are the days where their role was limited purely to ‘hiring and firing.’ Now, HR departments are responsible for establishing the procedures that generate the culture of a work environment. Having an employee-orientated approach that encourages a productive work culture has never been more important.

And with the third industrial revolution well underway, it is now essential that management in any business uses technology to keep apace of a fast-moving commercial world that shows no signs of slowing down. Tech is an indispensable part of every business’s work culture. In fact, a recent survey revealed that HR departments have been working hard to decide on the most effective strategy to maximise productivity and avoid outdated modes of working alongside this technological wave.

The most common solution has been to take your business’s data onto the Cloud, a decision which has a profound impact on productivity as well as work culture. Having your business’s data live purely online is obviously an attractive prospect, as you can access all your data on any device with an Internet connection. And your work culture becomes an accessible, dynamic, and adaptive network of employees all working in real time to achieve the best possible results for themselves and your business. Making your business’s data accessible for all your employees allows them to align their personal concerns with your business needs, creating an environment where they have more control over both parts of their life, work and home. It’s no surprise that employee turnover is 25% lower at businesses that support remote work. Going cloud-based transforms, expands, and protects your work culture.

Just ask Alyssa Costello, Assistant Director for Caring Inc, a care home provider for developmentally disabled individuals across New Jersey. Before switching to cloud-based HR software, every six weeks she created schedules for her part-time shift workers in Microsoft Word, afterwards printing them out and delivering them to each of the 51 care homes under her purview. Obviously, this method was both time-consuming and expensive, with printing and postage costs ramping up over time. Going paperless and switching to the cloud was the obvious answer.

Alyssa began using specific shift and their managers were able to see who had requested which shift when, allocating work on a first come first served basis and thereby avoiding unfair management decisions. The cloud-based technology of the Planday platform revolutionised the work culture at Caring Inc., keeping each employee in the loop and keeping everyone organised.

New technology has changed every sector and HR is no exception. And although we deal with human resources, the switch to tech-based methods hasn’t held us back. With three quarters of European businesses now planning on implementing policies where employees are required to use their personal smart devices at work, there’s no point in being left behind.

Employees can save directly from their salary at no cost to employer

Neyber, the UK’s largest financial wellbeing provider, today announced a partnership with investment platform, Smarterly. The first product available will be an investment ISA through Smarterly so that employees can save directly from their salary at no cost to the employer. This new addition will compliment Neyber’s range of workplace financial education and direct-from-salary low-cost loans.

New partnership will tackle UK ‘savings gap’

By partnering with Smarterly, Neyber aims to address the nation’s ‘savings gap’ by providing a range of saving vehicles, these include Adult ISAs, Junior ISAs and a general investment account, soon to be followed with a Lifetime ISA and Cash ISA.

The portal has been designed with the workplace in mind, making it simple and convenient for an employee to save and invest money, whether they are a novice or experienced investor. Employees also benefit from SmarterCare – the platform’s automated monitoring service – which alerts the employee should there be any notable changes to their investment, helping them feel more supported throughout the life of their investment.

Option to transfer existing ISAs

There is the option to transfer existing ISAs into the platform and take advantage of the competitive platform fees which have been discounted for employees from a typical market rate of 0.79% to 0.40% pa.

Monica Kalia, Co Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Neyber, said:

“Financial wellbeing is a key topic for HR teams, yet they are grappling with the amount of products and services available in today’s market. By partnering with Smarterly we are now providing a holistic offering that encompasses saving, borrowing and education, which are the foundations of any good financial wellbeing strategy. We chose Smarterly as they share our ethos of providing the most inclusive and competitive financial wellbeing solutions to employees in the market.” 

Phil Hollingdale, Director of Smarterly, said:

“Joining forces with Neyber supports our joint goal of helping the UK workforce save for the future. Consumers are clocking the fact that investing in stocks and shares ISAs provides the potential for much better returns and that they can do this through the workplace with the convenience of payroll. 

“With a growing millennial workforce focused on mid-short term savings, more so than thinking about retirement, as well as reducing annual and lifetime pension allowances which impact an increasing number of higher earners, workplace ISAs are becoming increasingly attractive as an employee benefit.

“We are excited to be working with Neyber in helping the UK workforce save for the future.”

To find out more about Neyber, please visit www.neyber.co.uk.

To find out more about Smarterly, please visit: https://www.smarterly.co.uk/workplace/employers.

Guest post from Will Shepherd, CEO, Cohesion

The Early Talent market is changing and becoming increasingly competitive.  In fact, in 2017, the number of students planning to go to university fell to its lowest level in 8 years. Companies are having to adapt and evolve to this changing marketplace where competition and demands are high.

When it comes to making changes, increasing Early Talent Diversity represents both a priority and a significant challenge for many businesses.  Diversity within an organisation is about encouraging a wholly-inclusive workforce – embracing employees of different backgrounds, ethnicities and cultural beliefs.

Yet, Early Talent Diversity runs much deeper. It’s about recruiting people from different backgrounds and making your application process accessible to all groups who embrace different perspectives, ideologies and beliefs about how and why things work the way they do.  Its about bringing different ideas and opinions together within your organisation and allowing them to work cohesively towards common business goals.

Adding value through diversity

Part of the motivation for a company wanting to increase Early Talent Diversity comes in understanding of how it truly adds value to the core business.  There a number of concomitant benefits of a diverse Early Talent workforce which many businesses are surprisingly unaware of, including;

• Increased productivity, work rate & efficiency; in fact 72% of private sector companies said there was a direct link between diversity and productivity
• Innovative thinking; through alternative perspectives and ideas on the same issue
• Positive employer branding; once diversity begins to increase, it becomes easier to attract a more diverse pool of candidates
• Giving your business the competitive edge; diversity enhances the competitiveness of your business both within your workforce and as an organisation
• Reduction in employee turnover; when compared to pre-diversity statistics
• Increased employee morale & teamwork

Without a doubt, diversity is and should be an organisational priority.  As an employer, it will be necessary to implement recruitment strategies and initiatives to help you achieve your diversity goals. But, given all of the above, it would seem crazy that a company wouldn’t invest resource and time into developing their Early Talent diversity.

With 37% of students and graduates who planned on starting a new job or career within 12 months, saying they hoped to work for an SME – now is the time to attract the best talent, or risk missing out, according to The Health Insurance Group.

Many graduates will be on the hunt for their first role in September, once they find out their exam results over summer, and SMEs are in prime position to pick from the best from Generation Z (born around 1995 to 2004). But how can SMEs attract the freshest talent to enter the workforce? What motivates Gen Z and what benefits do they want from an employer?

Saving money

Economic uncertainty, witnessing a recession and near tripling of university tuition fees has been the landscape for Gen Z over the past decade. This set of circumstances has made them particularly thrifty as a result, so any money-saving benefits SMEs can offer will appeal to them. Providing discounted gym membership, shopping vouchers, cash plans that give money off things like dentistry, can all help to make their salary go further.

SMEs should clearly highlight what money-saving benefits they offer during the recruitment stage and ensure they keep on communicating what perks are available to them once hired too. Reminding employees near Christmas, for example, to maximise shopping vouchers and make savings on buying presents can give them the nudge they need to utilise the benefits on offer. Communicating such messages, via internal newsletters for example, demonstrates further why it is a great place to work – aiding retention.

Technologically inclined

A technologically savvy generation, the true digital natives, Gen Z grew up with mobile phones in their hands and they want to see what organisations can offer. SMEs need to make an impact quickly to attract the best of Gen Z too, as research finds they have an eight second attention span when using digital platforms. Having clear and punchy online portals provide a great way of displaying all the benefits available to employees, whilst making it mobile friendly means information can be accessed when it suits the individual, keeping them engaged in the process.

Discounted health trackers and fitness wearables can be a great way to encourage the tech-savvy health conscious gen Z to keep fit, either competing with others for motivation or simply keeping track of their own progress. Some benefit schemes can even offer rewards, which can tap into the Gen Z money-saving mentality.

Health focused

Gen Z is a health-conscious group, smoking and drinking on average 43% and 33% respectively less than their Gen X counterparts. They also take a keen interest in what they are eating, and understanding in how food has been sourced, more than any other generation.  SMEs can tap into this health-conscious generation by offering a holistic array of benefits such as nutrition talks, corporate sports days, workplace health checks, smoking-cessation programmes and so on, in order to feed their ongoing desire to be healthy. Highlighting these benefits clearly, up front, in the recruitment process can be a real draw to Gen Z.

With under-19s seeking treatment for mental health issues, more so than any previous generation on record, it’s important that benefits packages include support here as well. A two-pronged approach, utilising employee assistance programmes (EAPs) and mental health training can help. EAPs can provide support if employees feel they need support, by accessing tailored and confidential counselling, and mental health training can teach managers how to identify when there is a concern – giving them the knowledge and tools needed to signpost employees to additional support available.

SMEs are renowned for being more supportive places to work, and highlighting such benefits available to employees can act as a great attraction and retention tool. It’s important to explain benefits clearly too, as for some in Gen Z it may be their first full-time role and they may not have a comprehensive understanding of what employee benefits are and how they work. Providing clear examples can make or break their decision to accept a role or not.

Brett Hill, managing director, The Health Insurance Group said:

“If SMEs want to attract the next generation of talent, they should make sure they bring all the benefits this age group values to the fore when recruiting and clearly showcase why it is a great place to work. Just like every generation, the latest tranche of graduates enters the workforce with their own set of values and ideals about what they want from work in the future. Continuing to communicate benefits in new and interesting ways, not only helps to retain Gen Z as a workforce – but all ages that work within the business too.” 

Small Business Advice Week has partnered with British Business Bank to celebrate ambition in smaller businesses, and to encourage them to explore ‘what’s really possible’.

The British Business Bank is a Government-owned, independently-run development bank that is supporting around £5.2bn of finance to nearly 75,000 smaller businesses. Its mission, which fits perfectly with Small Business Advice Week, is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity.

The Bank’s new interactive website – the British Business Bank Finance Hub – has been built to help businesses, and particularly scale-up businesses, understand and discover the finance options that could help them fulfil their growth potential. Through expert insights, it offers independent information on a range of finance options best suited to support these ambitions.

At the centre of the site is the British Business Bank’s new Finance Finder, a simple six-step tool that enables smaller business to explore a range of the finance options, both equity and debt, that might work for them.

Keith Morgan, CEO of British Business Bank said:

“For many bright and brilliant businesses across the UK the financial landscape can be complex, daunting and misunderstood, meaning they miss out on the finance they need to fulfil their growth ambitions. We want to celebrate ambition in smaller businesses and encourage them to explore what’s really possible by increasing awareness and understanding of their finance options.

Our Information Hub website is an easy to use tool that helps small, high-growth businesses understand their finance choices and, through clear practical tips, puts them in the best position to access the right finance successfully.”

During Small Business Advice Week, former Dragons’ Den investor, and member of the British Business Bank’s Board, Piers Linney will be giving UK-based companies the opportunity to win half a day of his time, during which he will offer advice and support about how they might best fund their business.

Piers Linney, Non-Executive Director at British Business Bank said:

“Getting investment for your business does not have to be as scary as going into the Dragons’ Den. There are plenty of ways to get finance and access support – the challenge is knowing where to look, making the time to find out about them and getting investor ready. That’s where I hope I can be helpful; with practical support and advice on some quick wins to grow your business.”

Small Business Advice Week is in its fifteenth year, running from September 3rd to the 9th, and is continuing its aim of empowering UK small businesses to grow and drive the economy forward.

Founder of Small Business Advice Week, Adam Cox, explains why British Business Bank is such a good partner:

“One of the key areas of confusion and frustration for small business owners is accessing the right type of finance for their needs. We’re delighted that British Business Bank is a partner for the awareness campaign as together we can to educate and inform millions of business owners about accessing funds to grow their businesses”.