Employer Engagement a strategic human resource management perspective

1. Employer Engagementa strategic human resource management perspective Richard Pettinger

2. Purpose, aims and objectives • Presentation of a body of experience • Addressing some perceptions and pre-conceptions • Many of which are very influential and affect the creation and implementation of HR strategy • Proposing a possible way forward that places SHRM at the core of effective engagement

3. A note on methodology • A synthesis • Not fully evidenced • ‘The plural of anecdotes is not evidence’ However: • Enough of substance and resonance to: • provide a basis for discussion • suggest possible ways forward

4. The foundations of an SHRM approach to employer engagement • Define the nature of SHRM as the starting point for evaluation of kind of approaches needed to and with particular organisations • Define the stakeholders • Specific roles and functions for NGOs, schools, colleges and universities • Define the cohort(s) to be targeted • Cohort differentiation • Specific interests for different education levels • Define the investment and returns demanded

5. The components of engagement • Organisational attitudes and priorities • Actual, not stated • Employability of cohorts targeted • The nature of investment in employee and organisation development • The attitudes and approaches of other stakeholders • schools, colleges, universities, NGOs

6. Strategic HRM and employer engagement • SHRM at the hub • Fully institutionalised and integrated • Strong focus/priority on employee and organisation development • Identity and empathy with the cohorts of young people • A focus and hub for managing and developing engagement

7. A note on the cohort(s) • ‘Young people’ • Of all ages; bottom of range may be getting younger; and top of range is getting older • Many different qualification ranges and types • From PhD to nothing • Many different experiences along the way for all parts of the cohort • Which part or parts of the cohort are in question?

8. Levels of engagement • Skunk working • Present, though not actively engaged • Some lip service • Some engagement • In some activities • For some types and kinds of staff and expertise • Fully and actively engaged and participative

9. Levels of SHR influence • Fully integrated with organisation strategy and priorities and business drives • Partly integrated • Problem solving • Parallel • Policies in place but ignored • Not influential

10. Foundations of effective engagement (1) • Identify the SHR approach at the organisations in question • Relate approaches and proposals from other stakeholders to the SHR approach • Know the desired outcomes • Know and understand what is likely and possible from the SHR organisational approach

11. Identify the level of engagement that the organisation presently has Identify and structure the response accordingly Identify levers for change for those that are either skunk working, passively or partly engaged only Foundations of effective engagement (2)

12. Foundations of effective engagement (3) • The need for engagement to be adopted and internalised by the organisations in question • Without this, all takes place around them • Stakeholders are continually frustrated • The need for empathy on the part of other stakeholders in relation to the organisations in question

13. Foundations for ways forward: some conclusions • The critical position of SHRM in employer engagement • The attitudes of employers to engagement • The critical nature of relationships • The management of these relationships • The nature of the involvement of all parties • A collective shift of attitude on the part of all stakeholders

14. Critical factors • Availability of potential employees • Approach of NGOs • Intended outcomes on the part of all involved

15. Carrots and sticks • What works and does not work • Targets • Grant and levy systems • Everyone must want to be involved and see the value of being involved • Value of carrots and sticks is therefore limited