EMPLOYMENT & HR

A business is only as good as its workforce. The phrase might have become something of a cliché, but as any employer will tell you, in today’s competitive marketplace, it has never been more true.

& HREmployment

One of the organisations in Cornwall dedicated to providing the local business community with the sort of raw materials it needs is the St Ives Workstation community interest company (CIC). And this development starts right at the beginning.

Director of programme and development, Rowena Swallow, explains: “There are so many wonderful opportunities for students and businesses in the St Ives Bay area, and through partnership-working the CIC is a ‘social enterprise’ which hopes to nurture the right conditions to support choice, promote sustainable approaches, and assist genuine prosperity for all, especially for young people in the area.”

Through working closely with the wider

ADVERTORIAL FOUR WAYS TO MAKE HR WORK FOR YOU

A settled, happy and engaged workforce drives and sustains growth and competitiveness. However, navigating through HR and employment law can feel like a maze. Ellie Hibberd from Stephens Scown LLP unpacks four top concerns she hears from organisations unsure how to access the best HR support for them.

Ellie Hibberd is a Partner and head of the Employment team & HRExpress service at Stephens Scown. Find out more at employment@stephens-scown.co.uk

community, schools and colleges, universities and business partners, the CIC hopes to be able to support individuals through growth in confidence and choice, in finding their voice and personal development route.

“In turn, we hope that more yearround opportunities for employment will emerge, small enterprisebusinesses and community ecosystems will thrive, and enterprise-support for sustainable, environmentally-led solutions will lead change,” Rowena says.

We hope that more year-round opportunities for employment will emerge

We are excited that the first CREW cohort will be coming together shortly

Currently, the CIC is working closely with St Ives School to deliver CREW – Community Renewal and Enrichment Workgroup – a St Ives young leaders’ development programme. In the shadow of climate change and Covid, the need to address sustainability and resilience in communities - such as the need to build-back green, to focus on free and fair trade, habitat diversity, food security and shared values in democracy - mean that tomorrow’s adults will undoubtedly have to problem-solve differently, due to the existential challenges they will face. “Arguably, educators, artists, scientists and businesses can assist opportunities, too, by routinely working together around real-world problems, in a manner rooted both in pupils’ lived experiences and in a circular economy, where the value of the environment and creative community - such as can be found in St Ives - are uppermost.”

CREW aims to train and empower a diverse range of young people as leaders, developing their skills in a societal, community and business context.

HELPING CORNISH BUSINESS GROW

WE LISTEN TO YOU

WE WORK WITH YOU

WE ADAPT WITH YOU

GET IN TOUCH

Fully funded support is available depending on eligibility

“We are excited that the first CREW cohort will be coming together shortly,” adds Rowena, “and from the very beginning will be co-working with businesses to collaborate in framing challenges, finding solutions and giving voice to their creativity and hopes for future prosperity.” At Konnect for Business we understand the importance of recruiting and maintaining good staff.

We are here to help your business aid recruitment and staff welfare, increase motivation and staff retention.

Here is a handful of the services we offer:

Creative recruitment support Mental health and staff wellbeing support Support on welfare-led leadership Webinars and workshops on leadership mindset

01209 241308

hello@konnectforbusiness.co.uk www.konnectforbusiness.co.uk

1 The odds are against me

As an employer it can sometimes feel like it’s all set up for employees to ‘win’. We work with our clients to ensure they have control over whatever situation they may be facing without riding roughshod over your employees or their rights but by working with you to devise a roadmap and manageable way forward.

2 Outsiders don’t understand my business

By its very nature HR is all about people and personalities. If you want to get the best of your HR consultancy support, it’s important that you know and trust those you’re working with. That’s why we build long-lasting relationships with our clients, who see our team as an extension of their own.

3 I can’t see the wood for the trees

Worry about HR issues can take up huge amounts of time and feel very isolated at the top.

However, getting expert opinion early on any personnel situation gives us the best chance of supporting you through it and ensures you stay prepared for any situation.

4 I have too many costs already

Having skeleton or no expert HR input is likely to be counter-productive and could lead to you facing unexpected tribunal claims. That’s why our HRExpress service comes at a fixed fee cost, set for the year and without any automatic renewal terms. It’s an affordable way of providing additional support for your organisation without adding headcount or overheads.

HR consultancy support – make HR work for you

new economy Falmouth’s future skills for the

Skills and employability are high on the political agenda. The Government’s recent White Paper on Levelling up outlines some of the ways universities and FE institutions are being increasingly called upon to drive a more inclusive and skills-focused education system, which delivers true impact and economic outcomes for students and communities.

With turbulent world events creating uncertainty in economic and labour markets, it’s important to consider how global events will affect regional economies and their workforce, too. Since the advent of so-called ‘Post92’ institutions, institutions like Falmouth University have become anchor institutions for their regions, with close links to local labour markets. The creative industries contribute over £111.7 billion of value to the UK’s economy and arguably more important the UK’s largest and most productive employers identify creative problem solving as one of the most in-demand skills.

Falmouth is nurturing skills which will help students thrive in the future economy. Throughout their studies, students have contact with businesses and organisations within their industries and tackle realworld challenges. They have the opportunity to develop their team-working, collaboration, innovation, problem solving and analytical skills.

In Cornwall, with its rich cultural and creative heritage and nascent digital tech cluster, there is a great opportunity to support and grow a flexible, innovative and entrepreneurial workforce.

Nearly 23.5% of Falmouth students set up their own business

Falmouth students hone their communication and creativity skills, often working with teams and start-up businesses and these are the kinds of agile and flexible skills that will put them in good stead to navigate the ever-changing world of work when they leave. Falmouth is not only deveoping highly skilled graduates, it recognises that they don’t yet have the local high-salary employment to progress into. As a consequence, many might move away to the south east or other UK cities. To combat this, Falmouth is a leader in fostering graduate start-ups that will in turn create employment opportunities for others.

This will take time, but we are on a shared journey to create of the UK’s most buoyant destinations for businesses to grow and innovate.

Business Cornwall readers will be familiar with Falmouth’s Launchpad venture studio, which is designed to develop and incubate highgrowth, high-value businesses headquartered in Cornwall.

It’s fantastic that Launchpad tech company Codices, the entertainment/streaming specialists behind the popular ‘Quiz Kit’ tool (used by 1 in 20 Twitch streamers worldwide), has just been valued at £9 million following a recent investment round.

Falmouth is also supporting budding student entrepreneurs to bring their business to life.

DATA DUOPOLY & TIM PEAKE

It recently held its Dragons’ Den annual event at Launchpad. With prizes of up to £6k, it was an exciting opportunity for students to pitch to a panel of established business leaders and secure additional support and advice from the studio’s entrepreneurs and experts in residence.

Business ideas on the day ranged from special kits prepared for emergencies during events and holidays, to an online streaming platform offering an abundance of student short films at an affordable price.

The panel of dragons awarded £2k to MSc Entrepreneurship student, Chloe Lingard for her Sustain Ability Project, which matches undergraduate and graduate talents with the needs of communities to improve the lives of people in Cornwall & Madagascar.

Sustainable Festival Management student Amelia Jones was also awarded £2k to launch Festival Hub, a website aimed at people with disabilities, to prepare them with information before attending a festival.

We want Launchpad to be the leading meeting place for business brains to collaborate and connect – and it is proving a great way for student start-ups to scale up and spin out.

Teams in the University’s Games incubator also hope to follow in the footsteps of Moonshine studios, Waving Bear – games studios established at Launchpad - and Knights of Boria (winners of the UK’s Tranzfuser Award 2020 who spun out of the Games Academy), to make a real splash in the games industry and contribute to Cornwall’s exciting digital sector.

The University also works to ensure students are developing workplace skills while they study, so has developed a Micro-Internship Scheme, which provides businesses across the UK access to raw creative talent.

Under this scheme, students and employers can take advantage of subsidised 30-hour placements that focus on delivering projects based on creative briefs. So far, students have worked with National Trust, Bounceback Food CIC, Bluefruit Software and Eightwire.

The Employability Team RealWORKS works to align students’ skills with local business needs. So far, it has connected more than 2,700 businesses with our student talent pool.

If your business would benefit from an injection of creativity, innovation or entrepreneurship you can find more information from the RealWORKS team at realworks@falmouth.ac.uk

Falmouth’s students are also doing their own thing. Nearly 23.5% of Falmouth students set up their own business, many of them here in Cornwall. Over 1.3% of all UK self-employed Graduates come from Falmouth University and we have over four-times the number of self-employed graduates than the national average.

It’s exciting to witness this level of ambition, curiosity, and collaboration here in Cornwall and we can’t wait to see what’s next for these creative innovators and entrepreneurs.

Group head of Talent Tide, Tamsin Pond, talks about employee expectations, a thriving jobs market and attracting the right people

matchThe perfect

It’s no secret that recruiting staff in the first quarter of 2022 hasn’t been easy; with vacancy numbers hitting record highs¹, many businesses are struggling to fill posts across the UK.

In fact, between October and December 2021, open vacancies in the UK were 109% higher year-on-year - signs that employer confidence is growing despite everfragile and changing economic conditions. Here in the south-west, we’re seeing a similar picture. Job openings are on a steady rise, which, though great for candidates looking for new challenges and opportunities, often means recruiters face more competition to attract the right people for the right roles. This is a new world for some businesses who may have, in the past, never struggled with recruitment before. However, many are now being forced to look at what they’re offering potential candidates, from increasing salary budgets to offering better staff incentives upon employment. For others, retention is the problem. Around one in four employers say they’re struggling to hold onto staff in 2022, hindering their ability to meet targets and grow as the year progresses² . This is no surprise in an abundant job market, where changing attitudes in a post-Covid world have also resulted in many people seeking new adventures, starting up their own hustles or re-evaluating their work-life balance. For business, though, this current employment environment can be detrimental to success; after all, you’re only as good as your workforce. Having a strong and reliable team with the right skills is what every business needs to continue to grow and hit key milestones. So, how do you tackle these big issues and get the right people into your business (who are going to stay)? If you’ve already begun a recruitment campaign and you’re not getting anywhere, review what you’re offering. Is the salary competitive with similar roles in your industry? Do your incentives reflect what people are looking for in a job today? Do you offer the Real Living Wage? Some staff may want a hybrid work scheme, where they can spend some of the week working from home (which isn’t a bad thing – it means you no longer have to rely on location, with a wider pool of candidates to choose from than ever before). Others want a focus on employee wellbeing, while training has also become increasingly important, with candidates keen to see progression opportunities. If you’re not sure where to start, or you don’t have a hiring specialist on your team, handing over to a professional recruiter can go a long way to reaching the people you need for your business. And, here at TalentTide, we could be just what you’re looking for. We know that the key to good performance is driven by good people, which is why our approach is totally personalised to your needs. From our outstanding knowledge of the finance, tech and people management

Having a strong sectors, to our extensive overview of the south-west jobs market, our team provides an and reliable team innovative and market-leading service to each and every client and candidate alike. with the right Plus, our income generation gets redistributed skills is what every into the Cornish community, helping to support a better economy; putting money business needs back into projects, investing in local businesses and helping candidates land jobs. It’s all about putting people first. That’s why our team builds valuable long-lasting relationships that deliver for our clients time and time again.

To discover more about our approach and our latest job opportunities, visit our website at www.talent-tide.co.uk/

References:

1. Recruitment and Employment Federation,

JobsOutlook January 2022

2. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), Business

Insights and Conditions Survey (wave 46)

EMPLOYMENT & HR

worksInclusivity

Did you know…

… that around one in five people of working age is disabled? That’s nearly 9 million people. Disabled people have an unemployment rate that is nearly 30% higher than non-disabled people. This under-representation of a huge potential workforce reveals what is referred to as the disability employment gap. Similarly, the Office for National Statistics has also just released evidence that 80% of the growth in people out of work and not looking for work is in the over-50s population. However, a recent international report found that age-diverse workforces could raise GDP per capita by 19% over the next 30 years.

Overcoming the barriers Could hybrid working offer a solution?

The Inclusivity Project funded with support from European Regional Development Fund and the SW Academic Health Science Network, is a partnership between the University of Exeter, Age UK Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Disability Cornwall and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership. We are exploring why older people, disabled people and people with long-term health conditions find it harder to get work than the rest of the population. Dr Esmaeil KhedmatiMorasae has examined the barriers to work for people with disabilities and those who are over 50 in Cornwall. He comments: “We have found that people are falling through the cracks of the employment system.” His findings have demonstrated multiple interconnected factors that produce barriers to inclusive employment. One being that businesses are often fearful of navigating the processes that underlie inclusive employment. However, reasonable adjustments often cost less than £50. Other interconnected factors of Dr KhedmatiMorasae’s work showed that wider issues such as transport also affect the employment gap and highlights the need for policymakers to consider these wider system issues when working with businesses and people looking for work. Since the pandemic, hybrid work (work based both in and away from the office) has become common. It can offer a more inclusive culture due to its flexibility but can also exacerbate inequalities if not thoughtfully implemented. Dr Shruti Raghuraman has worked with Age UK Cornwall in developing a hybrid work culture that is fair and equitable and promotes positive connection and inclusion.

Make work “Hybrid work provides the opportunity to make work more accessible, more accessible, more inclusive and more enriching more inclusive and to our lives,” she says. more enriching to Hybrid working is still experimental and a need for our lives a planned systemic approach has been vital to navigating the transition. Through engagement and co-design events with the AgeUK Cornwall team, we found both benefits and challenges to hybrid home and office working. This can include a more flexible balance and less commuting, but also the potential for silo working, and a reduced sense of connectedness and opportunity for innovation. With this workforce, we are exploring how we can re-imagine connection, productivity and performance monitoring structures in this transformed work context. Many teams are navigating this transition as they respond to the lasting impacts of the pandemic. We are working with our partners to develop a resource for organisations wanting to transition to a hybrid work culture that prioritises workforce wellbeing.

Find out more about how to make Inclusivity work for your business

This is only a small snapshot of our research and we will be sharing our findings with the business community, policy makers and influencers. Our research has shown some of the causes of inequalities. By being aware of these barriers businesses can actively work to address them, and by following and increasing inclusive work practices, businesses can widen their recruitment net and benefit from a more diverse workforce.

To find out more about what we’ve learned and how you can boost inclusivity in your business visit our website and use our digital resources at: www.theinclusivityproject.co.uk or contact us at inclusivity@exeter.ac.uk

Closing the People Hub is helping job seekers and career-changers Skills Gap in Cornwall with training and employment support to get people into work.

Global events have had a huge impact on local businesses and the county’s workforce over the last few years, with Covid-19, Brexit, the energy crisis and rising living costs each affecting trade, employment and standards of living in the region.

Through funding received from the European Social Fund, The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly People Hub is on hand to help local people develop their skills and improve employment prospects, through dedicated services including their Skills For Growth programme, remote-working opportunities, and support for jobseekers claiming Universal Credit who may be affected by the recent policy changes announced by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The updates to the policy require claimants who fail to find work in their chosen sector within four weeks of claiming Universal Credit to look for employment in other sectors or potentially face sanctions and a reduction to their benefits, under the new Way to Work programme.

There was a 97.9%

Help close the increase in Universal Credit claims in Cornwall and gaps with a focus the Isles of Scilly between on learning and March and December 2020. The DWP expects development to see 500,000 people back in work by the end of June as a result of the updated terms. The pressure put on job seekers by these changes, and the effects that such changes can have on mental and physical health is something that the team at Cornwall and Isles of Scilly People Hub fully understand. We can’t change Government policy, but we can change how we react to it. People Hub is committed to getting long-term unemployed people into a career they love. Aware that rushing people into a job that doesn’t suit their skillset could lead to unhappiness and an increased likelihood of resignation. People Hub’s supportive Connectors are on hand to help find solutions that work for the individual to alleviate the excess worry these changes may cause.

As well as supporting jobseekers in adapting to policy changes and securing employment, People Hub have launched their Skills For Growth programme, aiming to help people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly improve their career prospects through tailored support and funded qualifications and training, overseen by one of People Hub’s Connectors, who offer support throughout the entire process.

We are currently experiencing a growing skills

shortage among young people in the county, with a greater reliance on less productive, lower paying sectors.

The programme aims to help close the gaps with a focus on learning and development.

Upskilling, retraining and supporting confidence growth so that participants are able to reach their career goals, whether they’re looking for a career change, facing the possibility of redundancy, or wanting some help moving up their chosen job ladder.

There is an opportunity within the region to take advantage of a major change in the way we work that occurred as a result of the pandemic – remote working – which for people in rural and remote areas such as Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has opened up opportunities that they did not previously have access to.

Before the pandemic, the vast majority of full-time, permanent jobs were based in cities or on the outskirts of large towns, making it difficult for those that didn’t live in these areas to get the work.

Workers had to endure an expensive commute or move away from their home to be closer to their workplace in order to secure a decent wage. The increase in workfrom-home roles has changed this, and the opportunities that remote working offers those living in rural areas are far more numerous.

The People Hub team are committed to making sure that the people of Cornwall are given the same opportunities as people anywhere else. Working together with SmartMatching Cornwall, People Hub have access to over 100 customer service focussed remote-working roles for people in Cornwall. Preceded by an empowering remote working skills programme to ensure that people have the abilities, confidence and mindset for success in a remote working environment.

For jobseekers in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and those looking for a change of career, People Hub are on hand to supply training and support to help people get the most out of their working life, with £4,290,593 of funding from the European Social Fund to help stimulate local economic development and support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations.

Get in touch with People Hub today – https://peoplehub.info – to find out more about the help and support on offer.

The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Skills Hub offers tips and advice for working in a post-Covid world. productivityFocus on

With our working world turned upside down following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, only now are we beginning to fight our way through the weeds and return to a semblance of normality.

Productivity now sits front of mind for many businesses and their people. How do we make our businesses more efficient amidst the new ways in which we find ourselves working? A recent Deloitte survey of 1,248 UK workers showed that while 38% found the Covid lockdown periods to be difficult on their mental health, 55% believed that both themselves and their colleagues were more productive than what they were prior to Covid-19. In fact, according to a series of reports from global management consultancy firm McKinsey, Covid-19 helped turn around workforce-productivity-growth rates that were at near historic lows prior to 2020. The idea of the traditional 9-5 is being thrown out the window, with the four-day work week and flexible hours to be much more of the norm moving forward. Hybrid working, or working from home full-time, another two things that could be added to a post-Covid world. So how can we be more productive, making the most of our time wherever we work, and how do we find that elusive equilibrium between work and home life? How can new skills and training play their part as a contributor to innovation, productivity, and wage growth? Here are a few tips from the team at the Skills Hub to help make you and your team thrive.

How do we make our businesses more efficient?

SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS

New skilling, up-skilling, pre-skilling, re-skilling, levelling up; call it what you will but a culture that pushes its people to continually learn new things will be one that thrives in future ways of working.

For employers, you too play a vital role in job-related training and development. The UK, and particularly Cornwall, has long suffered from low skills investment, and a decline in skills development prior to the pandemic was identified as one of the likely contributors to reducing rates of productivity.

Low productivity and low skills are interlinked, so let’s flip the switch and think about how investing in skills can help drive future profit.

RECOGNITION AND RELATIONSHIPS

When building your post-Covid-19 workforce, it’s those businesses that continue to prioritise employment engagement – such as effective and inclusive communications, staff recognition, employee-to-employee relationships, and staff wellbeing – who will prosper most.

Businesses that create platforms for open and honest communications that reach people wherever they might be working, with the right message, at the right time, will cultivate trust and confidence in the direction of the business and, ultimately, boost productivity.

Employers need to build on the camaraderie that was formed during the initial stages of the Covid-19 period, and the creativity that came about when solutions were needed for problems many of us had never considered before.

Leaders need to take active steps to ensure continued relationship building, as well as creating both space and resources for employee creativity to take hold.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO MAKE THE SWITCH

Making the switch has been a phrase we have heard a lot of these past six-months. Predominantly this switch is in relation to tariffs and energy providers, but the switch we speak of here focuses on technology.

As we have spoken about previously in Business Cornwall, businesses will need to further their strategic thinking on the impact that technology will continue to have on both their workforce and their businesses future prosperity.

Whether you are an employer or an employee, don’t be afraid to re-train, up-skill or implement new technologies in your business. The past decade has delivered an astonishing cluster of technological breakthroughs so think long and hard about how you can leverage digitisation, tech and the innovation space to make your business better. The reward for such efforts would see you with a more resilient, more talented, and more productive team.

Contact the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Skills Hub; the independent and impartial specialists when it comes to all things skills, training and workforce development. We can equip you and your team with the skills needed to ensure that you’re ready to tackle whatever comes next.

www.ciosskillshub.com – 01209 708 660