“Reacting and adapting due to COVID-19 – how agility paired with a strong workplace culture is key”

Earlier in the year, my conversations with leaders revolved around getting teams safely back to work and what shape our recovery might take as an industry. As the Covid-19 crisis continues to play out, it’s clear that we are likely to see significant changes to our ways of working permanently – from how we interact with one another, to training and development and the hiring and on-boarding of new staff.  

In the latest of our series of interview with industry leaders, I speak to The Adecco Group’s President and UK & Ireland Head, Alex Fleming, on her positive approach to this change and how she’s leading her business and people through these challenging times. We also explore subject of virtual hiring, on-boarding and the value of maintaining a workplace culture where everyone feels empowered and supported. 

Alex, we’re 9 months into the pandemic in the UK. I’d be interested to know how your business is doing and how you as a leader have responded to the challenges that have been placed in front of us this year?

We split our response to the pandemic into four phases: React, Prepare, Bounce Back and Reimagine. Like many businesses, we had to react very fast, adapting quickly to the changing needs of our clients and candidates and, of course, implementing virtual working for our staff. We advised on government policy to protect the interests of our clients, candidates, and the industry as a whole. Unsurprisingly, there were some areas of our business that spiked while others dipped, so we had to redeploy people onto new teams and projects and we are still continuing to do so, upskilling and reskilling where necessary. In some areas, this is now beginning to even out and people are beginning to move back into their original roles but they are better and more rounded for this new experience. We also identified new tech solutions for clients, and support structures for candidates and colleagues. There are many new transferable skills that have been learned and it has really tested digital dexterity, this has been a huge learning curve. Most importantly, we learned to be more agile than ever before and this new level of agility has now become a standard way of working.

That’s a phenomenal amount to take on – effectively re-engineering a whole business! We’ve also seen others accelerate transformation in a way that might take years of planning under normal circumstances. As Country Head, how do you make those decisions so quickly?

 It hasn’t been easy! There are certain things you have to make very quick decisions on, but also sometimes you just need to pause, think, and reflect. It’s important to take time to seek counsel from your broader business; we’re taking lots of pulse check surveys to gather feedback throughout the company. As much as we want to regain some semblance of normality, you can only move as at the pace of your people and this varies case by case. Dialing up the communication was critical for us in order to keep people reassured and motivated. People wanted to hear about the challenging things as well as the exciting Reimagine phase, and they wanted to hear it from the leadership team. In these uncertain times, it’s important that I continue to talk to the business regularly, and we’re keeping lines of communication open for people to ask any questions. If we’re unsure what the next step is, that’s okay. We aren’t perfect, we’ve never been in this situation before. People just need to see that the leadership team are in control – even if they don’t have all the answers.

I’d love to hear your thoughts around the model of virtual hiring. There’s a given assumption that just because we have to virtual hire and on-board, people know how to do it. Is this going well, and how are clients adapting to that?

I think it’s a really interesting topic. Workplace culture is a passion of mine and having the right culture – particularly as we move to a blend of in-office and digital working – is really crucial if we want to get this right. We had to really pivot our offering, and design and scale in an agile way using digital tools and automation for things like screening, video interviewing, assessment and on-boarding. What’s really important for our clients is pace and ease of application – while maintaining those human touch points is critical as there will be stumbling blocks along the way. Different clients are adapting in different ways at a different pace. Some clients are saying to us they will never go back – and that virtual hiring models are giving them increased NPS scores and ROI – despite many expressing reluctance pre-pandemic. Others have put permanent hiring on hold completely because they’re simply not comfortable doing it virtually. I think virtual hiring has proven itself to be a long-term possibility and it will be interesting to see what will happen as and when it is no longer a necessity.

You mention some customers being receptive to virtual hiring, while others have yet to begin testing. Has your team had to adjust their style with candidates and clients when virtually hiring?

We’ve been using virtual hiring for some time so the teams are pretty adept, but it’s now something we’re scaling up internally. What’s really important is that the candidates feel at ease – by giving them that experience before going into a live environment with a client. Some candidates are much more comfortable with it than others. There are certain things that you miss of course; you can’t always gain the same level of facial expression, body language or understanding. You may miss part of an answer that somebody gives, or you may jump in too quickly as an interviewer because of a delay. Therefore, it’s really important that you brief the candidates fully and give them as much prep time as possible. It’s also important that clients understand it’s a new environment for candidates, and that they take this into consideration. It brings so many time-saving opportunities, omitting travel times and the ability to deploy things quickly where somebody has an urgent hire. While it has its benefits, there are always pitfalls we have to consider, and preparation is key to getting the best out of the candidate.

I completely agree. How are your teams and customers adjusting to virtual on-boarding? Is this going well or is there room for improvement?

It’s a new area and something that companies could fail at if not managed well. You could lose good people quite quickly with the wrong approach. When it comes to communication, a 360-approach is critical. While new starters need to build a relationship with their leaders and managers, this should also be happening with their peers and the organisation as a whole to get a feel for the culture. It’s important to check in with people on a regular basis and put a buddy system in place for those going through the same experience. The majority of our people are still working from home, but when approached sensibly there is now an option for people to meet in person. I think the early phase on-boarding should be a blend of virtual and face-to-face interaction. You get so much rich learning from hearing the people around you, and just that opportunity to wander around the building, albeit in a safe way in this new world.

I recently spoke to a new joiner of ours who clearly felt vulnerable as he hadn’t met the team and didn’t know the culture. It’s intimidating starting a new role without the touch points that help us build that connection – which has certainly given us more to think about.

Absolutely. I did a webinar with the CIPD recently and we discussed virtual on-boarding. Some said that their experience was so poor they would be looking for a new job as soon as lockdown was lifted – managers checking in once a week just isn’t going to cut it. This is why HR and leadership teams need to review that on-boarding process and adapt it fast; it can’t be the same process as it was pre-lockdown. Culture and connectivity are so critical, which is why I continue to believe in a blend of in-office and virtual touchpoints in that early phase.

As we’ve seen recently, youth unemployment has been particularly impacted. I’d be interested to hear about your experiences with this demographic, especially your CEO for One Month campaign.

The CEO for One Month programme is a global programme open to all major countries in the Adecco Group. The successful candidate in each country can then be put forward to become the ‘Global CEO for One Month’ – to shadow our global CEO Alain Dehaze. This year we received over 6,000 applications, which we reduced to our chosen top 10 candidates, who then went through an assessment day in order for us to agree our chosen candidate. Our assessment day is a blend of group exercises, small group presentations, and one-to-one interviews, which we always do face to face. This was the first time we did this in a virtual environment, and it was interesting to hear the feedback from candidates. The main concern was the need to interact with one another prior to and during the assessment day, they wouldn’t get that level of interaction managing this virtually. Interestingly, many of the candidates we spoke to afterwards said it was less nerve-wracking doing it virtually, as opposed to face to face. Of course, there are challenges to consider when not meeting in person – but I personally found it easy enough to engage with candidates. It’s important you ask the right questions to test their competencies like ambition, curiosity and resilience. I also got to be one of the panel judges for France during this year’s programme, and while we received positive feedback from those candidates, some struggled to make that connection. It’s often down to personal preference.

What I’m also seeing – whether that’s through hiring or internal/external engagement – is improved one-to-one experiences as people get more tech-savvy. Will you experiment more with tech interactions to generate new experiences for candidates?

Recently we had our global strategy and action conference with 100 leaders, and the whole day was done virtually using Microsoft Stream. We had various breakout areas where we worked in small groups – it was very interactive. We also ran some networking sessions to ask questions back and forth to the presenters on the day. The person who’s facilitating needs to think about how they best manage this to engage all parties in the conversation, which is yet another area of upskilling for leaders. The tech can work incredibly well, and you’ve got huge amounts of saving around time – and not forgetting the carbon footprint! One of the elements key to its success was the pre-read and the video content re using that technology, with more buffers in place to address tech issues and even a 24/7 concierge service available beforehand and throughout the session.

How did the candidates you assessed feel about the COVID situation? Are there any specifics we should be aware of so as to support them?

One of the CEO for One month group exercises was based around this exact topic so we were able to gain some really valuable insight. One thing we heard loud and clear was their concern around unemployment – particularly youth unemployment – and what we were doing to support this as an organisation. What was really important to all of the candidates was a company’s purpose and social values. Now more than ever, it’s about having that understanding and making a commitment to social purpose. It’s not just about having a strapline, it’s about practicing what you preach with a focus around action. They also expressed an interest in career transition and how we progress with digital upskilling and reskilling – as opposed to immediately moving to outplacement.

There’s a lot of energy around CEO thinking and around what culture looks like. When it comes to employee engagement, you’ve seen phenomenal results thanks to human connectivity. How do you plan to keep that culture alive?

Of course it’s a worry as it’s a huge area of passion for me, but what really drives me is creating that strong and sustainable workplace culture which allows people to have a voice – empowering people and recognising that everyone is different. But I don’t think you have to be physically present to continue that culture – you just have to engage with absolute regularity. Call people to see how they are and how they are coping personally. This environment we find ourselves in is different for everyone, with its own unique challenges – whether that’s the dog barking or a child walking in mid-pitch! We should all recognise that and remain sensitive, checking in on a regular basis. A call for no reason is really important and is hugely appreciated!

Yes, we knew our industry needed to re-write the rulebook – and this has forced the tipping point. It’s important we protect early-in-career people, especially with offices now looking very different.

I’m a big believer in driving people to play to their strengths. Not only will they find it more rewarding, but it also means improved productivity and better results for the business. Now more than ever, it’s important people recognise where those strengths lie, and that ‘soft skills’ – whether that’s flexibility, resilience or thinking creatively – are what will help us to accelerate out of this. You’ve got to create environments where people can be their best selves, and every leader within the business has a part to play. Be purposeful when it comes to setting up those meetings and interactions. If you do this in the right way, you can absolutely keep that culture alive.

We’re in a situation that none of us could have predicted, but I’m curious to know – what have been your “silver lining” moments – and what have you implemented in response?

I’ve learned more about my direct leadership team than ever before, which has been a real gift. Never before have we been stress-tested like this, and I’ve learned what’s really important to my leadership team, and what they need during times of crisis. I’ve personally recognised that you don’t need to be present in everything, and it’s given me more space to really consider what’s right for our business moving forward – rather than constantly jumping from meeting to meeting! People really respect definitive leadership at a time like this, and I’ve learned there are times to seek counsel, and there are times you need to make a decision.

Is your business new to virtual hiring/on-boarding? How has this impacted your workplace culture, or ability to attract new talent? If this sounds familiar, I’d love to hear your story. Please share in the comments below.

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