Gi Group embeds altruism in company culture
27 August 2015
The chief executive of multi-sector recruiter Gi Group is proud of the company’s record in helping disadvantaged individuals to find employment. Among a host of achievements, last year the company put 759 unemployed people through sector-based work academies around the country, with 45% going on to work for Gi on its clients’ sites.
Thu, 27 Aug 2015
But Jess Watts admits the company’s success in this area came about more by accident than by design. “We almost fell into a greater awareness of this area, initially through our apprenticeship programme that began several years ago,” he explains.
Gi’s initial efforts have since morphed into a number of company-wide initiatives to help various disadvantaged groups, ranging from prisoners to the long-term unemployed and people with disabilities.
“There has been a genuine culture change,” says Watts of the company, employing around 300 staff across 76 UK sites and which in 2014 generated revenue of £273m. Gi staff took the initiatives to heart, Watts says, “because they genuinely feel they are adding something through their skills”.
Among the various strands of its work with those who face barriers into employment, the company has developed its own work-experience programme called Inspire. During 2015, the company plans to put 50 people through the programme, Watts says, and six people have been taken on permanently or on long-term contracts so far this year.
Another initiative is Gi’s partnership with HMP Sudbury, where staff deliver presentations about the roles it has available and then interview prisoners. If successful, inmates can work for Gi on day release, with the job continuing after their release.
The company also provides the long-term unemployed with pre-employment training, including the opportunity to gain a qualification. Watts says this makes a big difference when it comes to persuading employers that “they are worth taking on”.
He accepts that the strength of the UK labour market has contributed to the company’s success, with employers more inclined to give those they might not previously consider a chance. However, he is clear that it goes much deeper than that. “People really want to use their expertise to help — whether it is the long-term unemployed or disabled people or whoever,” he says.
Watts says the company is tapping into a high level of genuine social consciousness among its predominantly young workforce. “I don’t think there is any way I could get them to do any of this simply as part of marketing or PR activity. Employees also like to see their own company hiring people from a range of backgrounds as it reflects well on them as an organisation.”
At the same time, he recognises this would not have been possible without the company’s support. “Giving people time off to support the company’s charity Help for Heroes, to attend Business in the Community ‘give and gain days’, as well as running training courses for employees has gradually got under people’s skin, and they are now keen to put something back,” he says.
The company has supplemented this general sense of altruism by adding organisation and rigour to the initiatives. For instance, as a matter of course, people with disabilities, both mental and physical, are identified at the enrolment stage of the firm’s apprenticeship programme, and then provided with targeted additional support — so
people with dyslexia are given 25% more time during exams, for example.
Gi Group has also set up a corporate and social responsibility committee, which co-ordinates the various initiatives under a broader strategy: The Emerging Talent Programme.
Volunteering plays a big role in the company’s efforts to support those facing barriers into work, with employees spending 1,400 hours volunteering in 2014. This included groups of senior managers mentoring pupils in schools in disadvantaged areas, and
helping with CVs and their interview skills, says Watts.
When it comes to embedding such behaviour into company culture, Watts is not a great supporter of targets for individual staff. The only specific target, set at board level at the beginning of the year, is to recruit a minimum of 50 people into the company’s work experience scheme and to find jobs for at least 10% of them internally. No targets have been set for placing different groups with clients, Watts says.
And in his view, there is no need. “My feeling is that the task here is to try and make this process as much a part of our normal operation as we possibly can. I think that one of the things that characterises the company’s approach is that people are more than happy to embrace it.”
Tips for embedding employability initiatives:
• Lead from the top. It is vital that employability initiatives are championed at the top of the organisation.
• Helping disadvantaged groups into employment requires more than platitudes and fine words. Make sure initiatives are properly funded. Last year Gi Group allocated more than £350k to its employability programme.
• Whether it is going into prisons or in building relationships with schools and colleges, give staff the time they need to volunteer as part of their job.
• Involve as many employees as possible. Last year, 371 Gi Group employees spent a total of 1,400 hours in volunteering activities.
• Be patient. It takes times to build successful employability initiatives.
• If you want to inspire other organisations to follow your example, make sure you practise what you preach. Then don’t forget to tell others about it.
• Don’t get hung up on targets. A few high-level targets can be a good idea, but staff are more likely to be motivated by the desire to help others and by their work being recognised. Entering awards can also inspire and motivate.
COLIN COTTELL
FROM SEPTEMBER 2015'S RECRUITER MAGAZINE
The chief executive of multi-sector recruiter Gi Group is proud of the company’s record in helping disadvantaged individuals to find employment. Among a host of achievements, last year the company put 759 unemployed people through sector-based work academies around the country, with 45% going on to work for Gi on its clients’ sites.But Jess Watts admits the company’s success in this area came about more by accident than by design. “We almost fell into a greater awareness of this area, initially through our apprenticeship programme that began several years ago,” he explains.
Gi’s initial efforts have since morphed into a number of company-wide initiatives to help various disadvantaged groups, ranging from prisoners to the long-term unemployed and people with disabilities.
“There has been a genuine culture change,” says Watts of the company, employing around 300 staff across 76 UK sites and which in 2014 generated revenue of £273m. Gi staff took the initiatives to heart, Watts says, “because they genuinely feel they are adding something through their skills”.
Among the various strands of its work with those who face barriers into employment, the company has developed its own work-experience programme called Inspire. During 2015, the company plans to put 50 people through the programme, Watts says, and six people have been taken on permanently or on long-term contracts so far this year.
Another initiative is Gi’s partnership with HMP Sudbury, where staff deliver presentations about the roles it has available and then interview prisoners. If successful, inmates can work for Gi on day release, with the job continuing after their release.
The company also provides the long-term unemployed with pre-employment training, including the opportunity to gain a qualification. Watts says this makes a big difference when it comes to persuading employers that “they are worth taking on”.
He accepts that the strength of the UK labour market has contributed to the company’s success, with employers more inclined to give those they might not previously consider a chance. However, he is clear that it goes much deeper than that. “People really want to use their expertise to help — whether it is the long-term unemployed or disabled people or whoever,” he says.
Watts says the company is tapping into a high level of genuine social consciousness among its predominantly young workforce. “I don’t think there is any way I could get them to do any of this simply as part of marketing or PR activity. Employees also like to see their own company hiring people from a range of backgrounds as it reflects well on them as an organisation.”
At the same time, he recognises this would not have been possible without the company’s support. “Giving people time off to support the company’s charity Help for Heroes, to attend Business in the Community ‘give and gain days’, as well as running training courses for employees has gradually got under people’s skin, and they are now keen to put something back,” he says.
The company has supplemented this general sense of altruism by adding organisation and rigour to the initiatives. For instance, as a matter of course, people with disabilities, both mental and physical, are identified at the enrolment stage of the firm’s apprenticeship programme, and then provided with targeted additional support — so
people with dyslexia are given 25% more time during exams, for example.
Gi Group has also set up a corporate and social responsibility committee, which co-ordinates the various initiatives under a broader strategy: The Emerging Talent Programme.
Volunteering plays a big role in the company’s efforts to support those facing barriers into work, with employees spending 1,400 hours volunteering in 2014. This included groups of senior managers mentoring pupils in schools in disadvantaged areas, and
helping with CVs and their interview skills, says Watts.
When it comes to embedding such behaviour into company culture, Watts is not a great supporter of targets for individual staff. The only specific target, set at board level at the beginning of the year, is to recruit a minimum of 50 people into the company’s work experience scheme and to find jobs for at least 10% of them internally. No targets have been set for placing different groups with clients, Watts says.
And in his view, there is no need. “My feeling is that the task here is to try and make this process as much a part of our normal operation as we possibly can. I think that one of the things that characterises the company’s approach is that people are more than happy to embrace it.”
Tips for embedding employability initiatives:
• Lead from the top. It is vital that employability initiatives are championed at the top of the organisation.
• Helping disadvantaged groups into employment requires more than platitudes and fine words. Make sure initiatives are properly funded. Last year Gi Group allocated more than £350k to its employability programme.
• Whether it is going into prisons or in building relationships with schools and colleges, give staff the time they need to volunteer as part of their job.
• Involve as many employees as possible. Last year, 371 Gi Group employees spent a total of 1,400 hours in volunteering activities.
• Be patient. It takes times to build successful employability initiatives.
• If you want to inspire other organisations to follow your example, make sure you practise what you preach. Then don’t forget to tell others about it.
• Don’t get hung up on targets. A few high-level targets can be a good idea, but staff are more likely to be motivated by the desire to help others and by their work being recognised. Entering awards can also inspire and motivate.
COLIN COTTELL
