Redefining the role of the employer in 2021

By George Ralph

It will take new solutions for employers to deliver on the experiences needed to employ and retain top quality talent as we look forward to new strategies and solutions in a hybrid working world. Workforce expectation and needs have changed, and as employers RFA ensure we innovate to now deliver a different experience for our workforce. A key factor in RFA’s own talent acquisition and retention programme is achieved by our business being early and consistent adopters of new technologies.

We want to make sure we not only recruit the best talent, but also retain it. By embracing the best external technology and investing heavily in our own DevOps and other technology specialist teams, we ensure we do not lose our internal talent to our competitors by always upskilling and internal promotion. With talent said to be in undersupply in some sectors, including technology, what we as an employer provide our teams is a direct reflection of the service they are able to provide our clients. In technology, delivering on hard and soft skills learning, knowledge transfer, hands on experience and social skill development are all key factors in delivering information to our teams to keep them at the forefront of their industry. We enable our teams to experiment, learn, grow and problem solve faster so they can support their own development but also deliver the best service and solutions to our clients.

Work life balance is also key – we track productivity and working hours through application performance, time sheets and other sources into our data warehousing systems to ensure our teams work at a level of 80-80% encouraging time for training and downtime – rather than pushing them to 110% like most firms causing a burnout.

But corporate innovation does not just rely on tech. It’s about mindset: allowing free rein and sharing ideas. Company direction and strategy need to be aligned. At RFA, we view innovation as a product of how people react to situations, not just driven by technological advancements, so giving people space to be creative in how they interact within their teams and the organisation as a whole can drive positive company culture. Leadership needs to have the courage to do things differently in the wake of our upturned working world and know that change is a long term strategy as we move towards different working practices. Every organisation has and will develop a different employee experience, as we have at RFA, and this can have an impact on recruitment as the best talent looks to secure a position with an employer who offers the right hybrid solution for their personal work/life balance and goals. This brings a freedom to the workforce to develop as a positive force for good. We must acknowledge how the lines have blurred and navigate a new approach to leadership that also defines the new approach to company culture. Our technology roadmap is a part of that.

Data is a key component of our talent acquisition and tracking. HR metrics and recruitment analytics are the foundation for change at RFA. Great stories can be told based on data, stories that inform important business decisions on how we recruit and retain our team. By improving candidate and staff experiences, we can align the benefits we offer to meet the needs of our workforce. Our workforce have different needs and commitments externally A lot of workers are looking for flexible-work schemes and work-life balance as well as an innovative environment.

RFA are a global business, with 9 offices and 350 staff, supporting over 800 clients. How different jurisdictions approach borderless working also supports our talent growth. We have not been bound by the restrictions of physical working practices for some time, but nevertheless, advanced collaboration tools and an accelerated digitisation strategy has allowed us to have total freedom in securing the best talent for our business, no matter where in the world it may be found.