Talent Management and SMEs 2018

START ME UP What’s it like working inside a start-up incubator?

SHOES LIFE Novel footwear at Mövenpick’s annual employee conference

THE HUMAN FACTOR Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE on how emotional intelligence is the missing ingredient in good business

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Grow your talent and the profits will follow TALENT MANAGEMENT & SMEs Why nurturing your workforce is the key to building better British start-ups INSIDE: Malala Yousafzai at VMWorld 2018: how narrowing the gender gap makes for better business DISTRIBUTED WITHIN THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED BY LYONSDOWN WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS

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News clippings May’s Brexit contortions, trouble at Facebook, and a new fund for SMEs We take a look at the news affecting SMEs over the last few weeks

May to sell “post-Brexit, probusiness” Britain to global industry leaders The Guardian The two years since the divisive Brexit referendum have been rich in theatrics and terribly poor in future building – so bad that even Parliament’s backing of Theresa May’s flawed Chequers plan on May 7 gave the business community reason for hope that at least any plan was better than none at all. It didn’t last long: when EU leaders rejected May’s proposals as “unworkable,” the PM had a lot to explain. Luckily (or unluckily), she had a second chance, during her visit to the UN summit in New York, to sell her vision of Britain’s relationship during a forum of international business leaders. The problem, reports The Guardian, was that that vision still relied on a plan already roundly dismissed by the EU. The forum – organised by former Big Apple mayor and entrepreneur Michael Bloomberg – was attended by companies such as Google and

InBev. May’s presentation centered on selling a post-Brexit UK as a haven for low corporate tax, while still maintaining that the Chequers plan would protect jobs and livelihoods, thanks to frictionless trade with the EU. But squaring the circle of having a frictionless trade agreement with the EU while rejecting the bloc’s other core freedoms of labour, services and capital seems ever more unlikely for May as the clock ticks towards March 19. bit.ly/2QdRnjT

Instagram co-founders’ resignation signifies culture shift at Facebook CNBC

“Squaring the circle of frictionless trade while rejecting the EU’s other core freedoms seems ever more unlikely for May as the clock ticks towards March 19”

Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, who joined Facebook as C-level executives after Instagram’s acquisition by Facebook, have announced their departure from the social media giant, declaring their intent to “explore our curiosity and creativity again,” reports CNBC. Shareholders

are rattled – with JP Morgan announcing that the departure of the two entrepreneurs will shave 0.3 per cent from Facebook’s share price.

CNBC’s piece includes an interview with Jerry Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management, who excoriated Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg for replacing a culture of “courage and creativity” with one of “ambition and arrogance”.

Sonnenfeld points out that the assumption that the pair would automatically quit after Facebook’s acquisition was mistaken – citing Disney’s absorption of Lucasfilm as an example, where Lucasfilm’s senior staff have remained to contribute to the studio’s continuing success. cnb.cx/2QbqXPO

HSBC UK launches £12billion lending fund for SMEs Smallbusiness.co.uk According to research by HSBC, 72 per cent of UK businesses expect

Theresa May addressing the UN

growth in their overseas trade.

Such optimism is perhaps surprising in the midst of daily worrisome news about mired Brexit negotiations and a nosediving pound.

But HSBC UK remains undaunted, having launched its biggest lending fund of £12billion. £1billion of this will be ringfenced to support overseas growth, with a further £300,000 reserved for agriculture, reports smallbusiness. co.uk. The fifth instalment of the bank’s yearly funding commitment brings its total offering to £46billion thus far. bit.ly/1Khc7fY

Driving the change in improved air quality with low-emission vehicles How finance solutions can help commercial vehicle operators to access the very latest technology

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HERE IS a pressing need for cities to clean up air quality and commercial vehicles (CVs), including buses and coaches, have been identified as major contributors to air pollution. Citizens, however, rely greatly on CVs – recent research from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveals that restricted or reduced services from CVdriven services would significantly affect the quality of life of the majority (88 per cent) of consumers.

One way in which CVs can continue to support citizens despite cuts is through improving motor technology to enhance air quality. Of course, pollution caused by tyre wear and brake dust is also to be tackled by a new Government Clean Air Strategy, but exhaust emissions nevertheless form a key step towards air quality improvement.

North East England bus fleet Go North East,

“Research reveals that restricted or reduced services from CV-driven services would significantly affect the quality of life of the majority of consumers”

for example, trialled the region’s first fully electric, zero-emissions-at-exhaust bus.

Upgrading to the latest technology vehicles shouldn’t be a daunting prospect to SME CV operators. Working with a specialist finance partner with experience in this sector, such as Siemens Financial Services (SFS), will offer confidence. SFS has developed innovative finance solutions to enable CV operators to sustainably invest in low emission technology. SFS’s finance models can, for instance, look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a fleet, rather

than the cost of an individual vehicle, and analyse fleets on the basis of cost per kilometre. In this way, financial solutions can be directly compared and incorporate the full range of costs including capital expenditure, operating expenditure and any financing cost.

Similarly, low carbon, as well as hybrid and electric buses and CVs can be funded using customised hire purchase and fixedterm lease finance solutions. With hire purchase, the vehicle is acquired by paying an initial instalment, for example 10 per

cent of the total price, and the remaining balance is repaid as agreed monthly instalments to cover the full purchase cost. These bespoke, consultative models are built around the capital needs of the customer, designed to be long-term and offer the flexibility to accommodate future changes to technology. SFS is also able to offer interest-free finance for Siemens retrofits.

This sort of approach is only available from a financier with direct expertise in the field. Generalist financiers and banks are unlikely to understand the application of the technology and the benefits it can bring. Instead of viewing costs of vehicles in isolation, operators can work with financiers which analyse the whole fleet, building a collaborative, consultative approach towards energy efficient technology as it continues to develop.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Martyn Bellis is sales manager, transportation, Siemens Financial Services in the UK. If you would like to talk to Martyn Bellis about commercial vehicle finance, contact him at martyn.bellis@siemens.com

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What’s it like in a start-up incubator?

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OUSED IN an old bank branch in Cambridge, the Barclays Eagle Lab Incubator has been helping high-growth start-ups scale up and grow, creating local jobs in the area and stimulating economic growth.

Business travel platform Tripism was one of the first start-ups to join Eagle Labs. The lab, which launched in 2016, and is also the first bank-led incubator in the UK, has given Tripism a base to grow its team and provided a community and a source of advice on anything from legal matters to investments and pitching.

Founder of Tripism Adam Kerr says that before joining his team was “either working from home or coffee shops. We needed a base as the team was growing.”

The travel industry was not something Kerr was previously involved in, but he saw a gap in the market for the need to improve the tools available for business travellers. “As a small start-up in an industry which isn’t your background, it is helpful to have kind of a sounding board to be able to flush ideas out,” he says. “That has been a real benefit for us. Some of the operational things I had not

Business Reporter talks to start-ups at the Barclays Eagle Lab in Cambridge to find out about life inside an incubator done before too – laborious things like taxation, regulations and so on.

“Other things that we have benefitted from are the mentoring. When we were at quite an early stage one of the mentors here was from Thomas Cook.

He was really helpful for us in the early stages, and still continues to give us advice.”

Another start-up that has been growing in the incubator is digital therapeutic firm ElectronRX. The company has been at Barclays Eagle Lab for about nine months and has just taken on two new hires, taking their staff from seven to nine.

“As a small start-up it’s helpful to have a kind of sounding board to be able to flush ideas out.

That has been a real benefit to us” – Adam Kerr, Tripism

ElectronRX uses technology to decipher the electronic digital code that runs back and forth in our nerves, looking at how it correlates to particular diseases such as diabetes, obesity or depression, so an intervention can then be made.

“You are looking at listening to what is going on in the body and you are trying to work out what that pattern is,” Bipin Patel, founder of ElectronRX, says.

“We have a piece of innovation that could potentially touch the lives of many thousands of people.”

The company is now starting to expand to the next level and has the opportunity to take one of its products into a clinic into the next few months.

In the edtech market, another life sciences firm, CamBioScience, has been using its incubator time to help develop its online training courses about the latest discoveries and technologies. “We are facing huge skills gaps in society as they

stand today,” says Dr Chibeza Agley, CEO of CamBioScience.

“Employers are not able to get the people with the right skill sets to meet the needs of their organisations anymore, because higher education can’t keep up with the pace of change.”

The three founders of the company put just £500 of their own money into CamBioScience, and from that initial investment have since generated almost £800,000 in revenue. Now they are raising £1million for the next stage of expansion. “We are in that first phase of getting our pioneering customers, which are going to demonstrate the value,” says Dr Agley. “We want to build a £1billion platform.”

Dr Agley says that CamBioScience has greatly benefitted from the mix of different businesses housed in the incubator, having developed valuable relationships with some, in particular the Judge Business School. “You can have great conversations with other founders and learn about some of their challenges and the techniques they have developed for overcoming many of the problems of start-up life,” he says.

Another success story from the lab, which is starting to head

SEPTEMBER 2018 Publisher Bradley Scheffer | Editor Joanne Frearson | Production editor Dan Geary | Client manager Maida Goodman | Sales director Paul Aitken | Contact us: info@lyonsdown.co.uk

towards scale-up phase, is AI outfit Intellegens, which uses deep-learning methods to understand data-sets in the healthcare and materials industry.

Ben Pellegrini, co-founder of Intellegens, says: “We have a number of projects we are just about to complete. At that point, we will be looking to grow more aggressively and push the project

into more verticals in materials and drug discovery.

“It has been pretty good at providing a lot of support. I have a great team, but it is nice to speak to different people. They offer lots of events and talks from people who have done it all before. There is always the opportunity to find someone to help you with your specific problems.”

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The expanding challenges for project professionals What project managers can expect for their changing roles

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S DISRUPTIVE technologies reshape industries and markets in unprecedented ways, organisations must increase their ability to anticipate and manage change in order to achieve strategic objectives. All strategies in an organisation are implemented through sound and effective project, programme and portfolio management. Yet research from Project Management Institute’s (PMI) 2018 Pulse of the Profession® global survey shows that on average, organisations waste £99million for every £1billion invested in projects.

Results are slightly worse in the UK, where organisations waste an average of £108million for every £1billion invested in projects.

The implications for project leaders, who implement strategy and change within organisations, are considerable. Achieving better results with projects demands new ways of thinking and operating. As a result, the role of the project manager is expanding to be one of an innovator, a strategic advisor, communicator, big thinker and versatile manager. Titles are evolving as well: we see project managers, team leaders, scrum masters and product owners, delivery, implementation, and change managers, and transformation leads, among others.

We also see the lead project role morphing from project manager to project lead – and even project executive in some organisations – a reflection of the expanded, essential role these professionals play in managing through disruption.

Some of these changes are a result of advances in technology that have automated many of the more routine – sometimes tedious – aspects of the project manager’s job: scheduling, gathering requirements and identifying resources. Research conducted by the Harvard Business Review has found that as much as 54 per cent of a project manager’s time is dominated by administrative concerns such as scheduling.

In this new professional reality, project leaders – regardless of their title – must continue to demonstrate the competencies that form our Talent Triangle®: technical project management, leadership, and strategic and business management skills.

At the same time, organisations also need project leaders with an ability to learn and keep pace with technology. PMI recently undertook research to understand how forward-thinking organisations are leveraging disruptive technologies and managing their impact, and what enables success.

In our most recent Pulse of the Profession in-depth report, Developing Digital-Age

108m

£

UK organisations waste an average of £108million for every £1billion invested in projects

Project Management Skills to Thrive in Disruptive Times, we discovered that the successful management of disruptive technologies relies on “a digital skillset”.

When we think of digital skills, we traditionally think of computer-oriented tasks such as coding or software development. But building a truly digital skillset that enables success in today’s digital environment requires a combination of skills.

Innovator organisations – those that rate themselves as effective in managing the impact of disruptive technology – have identified critical digital-era skills for prospective project leaders. The top six are: data science (data management, analytics, big data), an innovative mindset, security and privacy knowledge, legal and regulatory compliance knowledge, the ability to make data-driven decisions, and collaborative leadership. Innovators also report investing in formal processes to develop project management competencies in these skills.

Another driver of success in managing through disruption is project leaders’ use of multiple approaches, including collaborative platforms and work-management tools, along with emerging, hybrid, and traditional methods. Our research shows that project leaders consider themselves ready, willing, and able to use these tools and approaches to manage the impact of disruptive technologies.

Innovators are creating a culture that views disruption as an opportunity to enable dexterity. They value the technological shift toward a digital environment as they encourage their project leaders to take advantage of flexible practices and new tools, and pave the way for a continued evolution to an environment where people and machines work together towards more successful outcomes.

While we view an emphasis on digital-era skills, the use of multiple approaches, and a general cultural shift as “next practices,” it is also critical that organisations continue to rely on “best practices,” such as the effective use of executive sponsors. These senior individuals act as a champion and provide support before, during, and after project or programme implementation.

PMI research consistently points to involvement of actively, appropriately engaged executive sponsors as the most important factor contributing to success with projects and programmes.

Effective executive sponsors have thorough knowledge of a project or programme and how it connects to strategy. And owing to their position and experience, they have the necessary skills and authority to clear roadblocks, the confidence to make quick and effective decisions, and the influence to champion the project with senior management.

Organisations that succeed in this age of disruption are those that embrace and employ the value delivery landscape – the full spectrum of competencies needed to deliver their projects and programmes in a digital environment. They do this to create needed change and achieve strategic goals while adapting rapidly to new opportunities and challenges. This enables organisations to build better products and create stronger customer relationships with a speed that hasn’t been seen before.

Most importantly, they invest in their talent to enable increased productivity, create greater efficiency, promote innovation, foster better decision-making and automate mundane tasks. Forward-thinking organisations empower employees to experiment with different ways of organising work and offer robust training to broaden their capabilities. They create roles, assign titles, and empower their teams to select the project management approach most appropriate to ensure success. Such organisations are not only embracing the future but are shaping it through successful implementation of projects.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Mark A Langley (inset) is president and CEO of the Project Management Institute For more information, please visit www.pmi.org/uk

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JOANNE FREARSON

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ALKING AROUND the Zurich Mövenpick for the hotel company’s SHIFT 2018 conference, the first thing you notice is that everyone is wearing red Converse shoes.

SHIFT 2018 is Mövenpick’s annual general manager’s training event, bringing together all of its GMs from around the world with its executive committee, in order to examine the shifts the hotelier needs to make to deal with the changing nature of the industry – from operations and technology to guest experiences.

Craig Cochrane, senior vice president of human resources at Mövenpick, tells me the reasoning behind the distinctive trainers everyone has on. “If we want people to shift, change, move a bit quicker and adapt to a very dynamic landscape, they need to have the right footwear,” he says.

“We thought it was a bit of fun. It’s immediately different when the CEO puts a letter in your room saying you can only come to the conference if you wear these shoes.

“We wanted to get people intrigued, feeling comfortable and in partnership. If you look around the room and see all of your colleagues from different hotels, countries and functions represented, but we all have the same shoes on, it means we are all in this together and we will shift together.”

General managers are given training and advice on everything at the event, from social media and finance to CRM systems. Many sessions are based around gamification, where the GMs win prizes for creating great moments for customers, or knowing the best social media hashtags.

“One of things we are talking about in this meeting is the key touch points the guest would have when they stay in our hotel,” explains Cochrane. “We really want the experience to be memorable for the guest, and for them to say they had a wonderful experience.”

Social media is having a profound impact on the way hotels operate, with customers who have had a bad experience not shy to share their ire on Twitter, Tripadvisor or Instagram to let people know about it. “In the past, companies could get away with things that they shouldn’t have been able to get away with,” Cochrane says. “Now they can’t.”

Genuinely great customer service, Cochrane points out, starts with hiring the right people – those with a passion for the industry, regardless of background or personality types. “We want introverts in the hotel,” he says. “We want extroverts in the hotel. We want people who are passionate about food. We want people who are passionate about art.

We want people who like computers or science. Then whatever kind of guests walk through the door we will have someone who can identify with them.”

To keep up with changing guest demand, Mövenpick has also recruited a special “EXCom-Y” committee, to come up with innovative strategies to attract both guests and talent from the millennial generation. Millennials make up about 30 per cent of the hotel’s total guests, and the shadow group works alongside the hospitality group’s executive committee to look at ways to attract them.

Pick of the bunch Business Reporter travels to Zurich to find out how hotel chain Mövenpick trains its senior leaders, and why it’s a good thing that social media is forcing the industry to up its game But perhaps a starker reason for getting talent management and training staff right, Cochrane explains, it that it is good for the profitability of any business. “There is a direct correlation to the bottom line,” he says. “We call it the value-profit change, which is a scientific way of saying if your employees are happy then you make the customers happy. And if the customers are happy they are happy to spend more money – everyone wins.

“The minute the customer starts to lose, the business starts to lose. The minute the business starts to lose then the employees start to lose, and then the shareholders, and then that’s it. Then you might as well stop.

“When a company gets talent management wrong it does not end well for the talent – the people in the organisation – and it does not end well for the bottom line.”

What is important when it comes to talent management, Cochrane points out, is that an organisation’s staff need to be working towards the same goal. At Mövenpick’s event, it seems, the red Chuck Taylors everyone is sporting are a neat symbol of the hotelier’s commitment to this.

But, snazzy co-ordinated footwear aside, the best way to do this is to decide, says Cochrane, what sort of company you want to be, and what you want to achieve. “Make sure you hire against that. You train against that. You reward people against that and you discipline against that.

“If people don’t follow the kind of values that you say you want to portray as a company, then you pull people up on that and not let it slide. The word is consistency – being consistent around what you said you would do is the key to that.”

Employees also need to be given the chance to develop their own career aspirations, explains Cochrane.

For example, if they have a burning desire to be a chef or to work in human resources, the company should give them the opportunity to pursue and train for these things.

Above: Mövenpick’s SHIFT 2018 conference, with red Converse trainers all round; below left: Craig Cochrane, senior VP of human resources

The alternative, says Cochrane, is to slide towards a make-do style of management where staff are hurriedly slotted into roles that may not particularly suit them. “It sounds very simple, but very often people make the mistake of putting a body into a job that needs to be done,” he explains. “You can get away with that for a very short amount of time, [but] then don’t be surprised if they do leave. If they have told you this is not what they want to be doing [and that their passions lie elsewhere], if you want them to stay you need to try and realign those things.”

Indeed, in today’s hyper-critical world of social media, businesses themselves can be subject to the same scrutiny from employees that they face from customers. If a company isn’t looking after its staff, it could find itself the subject of a harsh write-up on review sites such as Glassdoor – and find it hard to attract new people as a result.

Training, therefore, is critical to both keeping good staff and attracting new employees. “People love to learn, when you learn you are exercising your brain, you are getting better,” says Cochrane. “It gives you a sense of fulfilment. Any company that wants to keep people needs to show them that it is not [just about] working there but developing as well. It is critical.

“Fundamentally, we all want self-respect. We all want meaning in our lives and dignity. We all want to be challenged and have responsibility. Responsibility makes people blossom – whether you are Generation Z, a millennial or a baby boomer, you want responsibility.

Treat your staff well, says Cochrane, and the rest will follow. “Good people, led properly, given their dignity and allowed to go and do their jobs will do it, so just let them go,” he says. “We overcomplicate things, sometime with too many systems and too many constraints. If you think someone is a good person, give them a shot. Let them know how important they are to you and watch them grow.”

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The end of the work as we know it?

Business Reporter travels to VMWorld 2018 in Las Vegas to discover how the technological revolution in the workplace won’t mean a catastrophe for humans

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HE EVENT centre at the Manadaly Bay in Las Vegas is buzzing with at least 12,000 people, all here to hear CEO Pat Gelsinger’s keynote speech at VMWorld 2018.

With such a huge atmosphere, complete with DJ, you’d think you’d walked into a nightclub, if it wasn’t for the fact it’s 8.30 in the morning.

There are around 25,000 people here in total for the event. After his keynote speech, Gelsinger tells me most of them are here for the hands-on labs and training. “Do you think they’re coming here for my keynote?” he laughs. “They are coming to get certified on our latest products, so they get to go home to their jobs and add another certification to our resumes. That is why so many people come here.”

Technology is undoubtedly changing business processes and practices and the way people work, and Gelsinger sees it as a force for good, as opposed to taking a dystopian view about the changes we will see in the workforce. In his keynote speech he points out that technology in itself is neutral, neither good or bad, and it is up to us to make sure we use it for something positive in the workforce.

“There is a McKinsey report recently where they talk about the loss of 500 million jobs in the age of AI and machine learning and the creation of 600 million jobs in the age of AI and machine learning,” he says. “If you are an optimist you say 600 million, if you are a pessimist you say 500 million.”

Ray O’Farrell, CTO of VMWare, agrees with Gelsinger that these technological changes will be for the better. He explains that if you look at the technologies that have been introduced over the years and how they have impacted what people do, new jobs have always emerged.

“If you think of the amount of email and the amount of documents you write yourself,” he says. “In the past a large company would have had a bunch of people in a room somewhere typing up those documents. Now they don’t do that.

“What I see is not so much jobs disappearing [but] shifting – for the most part from a productivity point of view into something higher, something more productive, something greater in that mix.”

Gelsinger thinks the key is to ensure that workforces are properly retrained, and that the old educational norms we take for granted need

“You go to high school, you go to college, you learn a career, you do that for 30 years – that is over, because you are going to need to be retrained three or four times in the course of your lifespan” – Pat Gelsinger, VMWare to be shaken up. “You need to be reskilled three or four times over the course of your career,” he says. “You go to high school, you go to college, you learn a career, you do that for 30 years – that is over because you are going to need to be retrained three or four times in the course of your lifespan. This is a very different educational model.”

One emerging technology which is already changing the workforce is edge computing, says Chris Wolf, VMWare’s CTO, global field and industry. Edge computing works by analysing data in devices itself, rather than sending it to the cloud. It is already being used in the medical industry, enabling doctors to gain more accurate diagnostics.

“We are already seeing this with X-rays and radiology, where a person does not have to go and look at an X-ray to confirm a broken bone,” he says. “This is good – some people can say, well, it has taken the humans out of the equation, but if we can improve the quality of healthcare and make it more reliable then that it is positive. If you take some of the burden from doctors doing some of the mundane work then that is good too.

Above: VMWare Pat Gelsinger addresses this year’s VMWorld conference

“In some ways it is changing the skillsets of people, because we are putting more intelligence into the technology.”

Wolf sees a growing demand in the field of data science, which is where he sees the next hotspot of talent and innovation emerging.

“They are the ones that are trying to interpret the data and make adjustments to automation based on what they are trying to mine out of the data too,” he says.

“Companies definitely see machine learning, influencing technologies and datadriven decision making as a new way of creating a competitive advantage. It is a new way of being able to create intimacy with customers, and because of that there is a massive demand.”

Wolf isn’t joking – any company not employing data scientists in five years time will probably be out of business, he says.

But this won’t be the kind of revolution so transformative that it leaves dead companies in its wake – many things will remain the same for the most part, says O’Farrell. Even when people are connected with new ways of telecommunications, he points out, they still have to work together and as groups. Indeed, he says, more and more we are seeing big projects being handled by communities of people, such as with the success of open-source software.

And, at the end of the day, human beings will still remain at the centre after the technological revolution. “No matter what happens in the advancement of technology, successful engineers and technologists have to be in a position to be able to say ‘I need work as part of the community,’” he says.

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Solutions to make work pay – for businesses and employees alike 44% The amount of workforce spend today that is external (spent on contingents, freelancers, consultants, independent contractors and so on)

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USINESSES WANT to make sure they have the right people in the workplace – and today, more than ever, they want the process of finding and keeping hold of those people to be as efficient and reliable as possible.

The digitalisation of many aspects of our lives brings new opportunities for businesses, employees and prospects alike. For so long, the human resources (HR) sector revolved around the individual vetting of candidates and laborious means of monitoring staff progress. This ate up precious man-hours, and diverted energy from the tasks at hand.

But with the digital revolution, and in particular the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, this is becoming much more efficient.

“In the old world of human resources, everything was dependent on the employee giving feedback,” says André Robberts, head of SAP SuccessFactors, UK & Ireland – a leading provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions. “Before, appraisals were done once a year, and that meant that we were constantly looking backwards into the past. That made it much more difficult to fix things that had already gone wrong.”

The incorporation of AI into the workplace means that the business community will be able to receive accurate information about employee engagement, well-being, and efficiency much faster than before.

With some 100 million daily users around the world, SAP SuccessFactors holds a uniquely broad data pool in the cloud, with granular detail on the kinds of jobs people are looking for, what new opportunities are emerging for job seekers, and more.

But SAP understands that the market is changing. Today, roughly 44 per cent of average workforce spend is external – on contingent staff, freelancers, consultants, independent contractors and so on. Furthermore, expectations are also shifting as new generations enter the workplace.

“How will these contingent workers be supported?” Andre asks. “What about programmes for millennials and Generation Z? They’re not so interested in corporate life, but instead look to a healthier work-life balance, continuous feedback and development, and to progress quicker in their professions.”

Advancements in system-generated intelligence and people analytics means that key information on employees – how

long they’ve been in their role, what recognition they’re getting from colleagues, whether they are satisfied in their position – can be mined far more efficiently than before, and as a result, problems can be dealt with quickly.

The core of SAP’s mission is therefore to draw on the digital revolution underway to make life easier for both employer and

employee. The company places a strong emphasis on employee well-being, recognising that without this, the business will suffer.

Clients therefore need to marshal the right technology and understand the value of the information they hold to ensure they are better in tune with their staff.

Robberts points out that employees are all too often anxious about how they’re viewed in the workplace, and whether their output is being valued. As a result, SAP SuccessFactors champions regular check-ins between managers and employees for continuous feedback and coaching.

The intention is to show the staff member that their work is being constantly recognised.

Businesses will be successful only if they place the kind of employee information provided by SAP SuccessFactors at the forefront of their operations. This will help ensure that employees are tied to the business strategy and purpose, and a healthier, more engaged and efficient working environment is born – and maintained.

INDUSTRY VIEW

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Digital campaigns from Innovative Britain

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Emotional intelligence: the key to managing a successful business Business Reporter talks to Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE about why building a business needs entrepreneurs to take a more nurturing approach to their employees

SPECIAL REPORT JOANNE FREARSON

“It’s amazing how many people I meet on my journey who believe being hard, ruthless and pretty horrible as a human being makes you a better businessperson”

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ROFESSOR STEFAN AlleschTaylor CBE knows a thing or two about starting up a business, having co-founded or invested in more than 40 of them across 15 different countries. His ventures have seen him gain an impressive reputation in international business and, in late 2016, he was appointed the first-ever professor in practice for the Entrepreneurs Institute at King’s College London.

So when he says entrepreneurs need to have a nurturing approach when it comes to running a company, it might be a good idea to sit up and take note.

“The ruthless businessman [you see in Hollywood films] really has no place in the world,” he says. “It is just so stereotypical and cliched.

Business now needs to be populated by people who care as much about social impact as they do about profitability. That is a new way of looking at talent management.

“When you look at television shows, for example, where the boss points the finger and says ‘you’re fired!’ – that has no place in any business I have operated in. It would probably get you a very nice court case. It’s amazing how many people I meet on my journey who believe being hard, ruthless and pretty horrible as a human being makes you a better businessperson.”

Instead, explains Allesch-Taylor, there needs to be a greater emphasis on emotional intelligence and creating an environment where everyone understands what the organisation is about. “If you do not have a scenario where your people share your values as an organisation you are going to be pulled apart,” he says.

And for those that just want to chase the bottom line at all costs and don’t think about the impact, he has a stark warning:

“Ultimately the consumer will punish you for it.”

At King’s College, Allesch-Taylor is currently helping to lead a study researching the kinds of brain activity that underpin business success.

The joint project, between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and the Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College, will examine what happens in the brain when someone is thinking entrepreneurially.

The five-year study aims to understand what might stimulate entrepreneurial thinking, creating evidence-based entrepreneurial learning materials and training programmes which can be used in academic curricula around the world.

“As entrepreneurship becomes increasingly important to the global economy, so too does the understanding of how an entrepreneur’s brain works,” explains Allesch-Taylor. “The results of this study have the potential to influence every aspect of not only business, but anywhere entrepreneurial skills are encouraged.

Corporate teams, medics, lawyers, educators, public servants and

Main image: Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE, who is leading a study into entrepreneurial thinking at King’s College London (above)

others in leadership roles are increasingly seeking the skills needed to innovate and challenge – there has never been a more pertinent time to unlock the secrets of the entrepreneurial brain.”

Allesch-Taylor describes his own experience as an entrepreneur as very similar to “playing chess, but you can’t see the other guy’s pieces.

It comes back to risk analysis. What is my plan B? If that doesn’t work what is my plan C? A very foolish general has only one battle strategy.

Business is highly combative. Not everybody out there wants you to be successful. Not everybody out there cares about the greater mission.”

Allesch-Taylor’s own businesses have been driven by far more than just profit. His charities have led change in Africa for more than 10 years, and in 2017 he was named as one of London’s most influential people in the London Evening Standard Progress 1,000 list for his work there and in the UK. In 2010, he launched The Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, with the goal of balancing social impact and commercial success. He also provides scholarships for the best

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Prepare for a huge cost if you ignore skills and talents The Local Government Association (LGA) says that unless UK businesses are prepared to nurture the talent of their employees and spend on closing the skills gap, Britain will be far less competitive – and proposes that the government should hand over the management of the issue to local authorities and municipalities…

The skills gap could cost the UK £90billion per annum after Brexit.

£90bn

9m £10.5bn

1.2m start-ups in the King’s20 accelerator programme.

For anyone starting out as an entrepreneur, his advice is to balance the ruthless efficiency of running a decent business with caring about the people in your company as human beings. “You must measure the human being against the role you want, not the role against the human being,” he says. “You cannot be an entrepreneur without really understanding talent management.”

But he concedes that managing talent is not always easy. “I have employed people who I thought were lightweight and they have surprised me,” he says. “Equally, I have employed people with heavyweight CVs that I would not let loose with the remote control on my television after knowing them for more than a month operationally.”

Allesch-Taylor believes it’s important to make the distinction and see senior staff members as partners in business, rather than just another tier of employees.

“People may not be equal equity partners, but intellectually they are certainly partners,” he says.

“In a 32-year career I have had way more partners than I have had employees at a senior level. Now in the businesses in which I operate, I would be embarrassed to call my leadership team my employees.

“I would much rather call them my partners because that is a much truer view of their contribution to what I do and my respect for their views.”

“I don’t know anybody in any business of any shape or size who thinks they have a job for life. You have to work to keep them.”

Nine million people in the UK today do not have a satisfactory level of numeracy and literacy skills

Government programmes to close this skills gap have currently cost £10.5billion

From the UK’s 3.4 million skilled migrant workers, 1.2 million are planning to leave the UK in less than five years

Another great challenge for employers when it comes to talent management is that people think more transiently about their jobs.

In the Eighties and Nineties, says Allesch-Taylor, leaving a big corporate such as Marks & Spencer would be unthinkable, with people commonly spending their entire careers at the same big company.

“Now I don’t know anybody in any business in any shape or size who thinks they have a job for life,” he says. “Therefore you have to work to keep them – by basically engaging their values.

“We live in a global economy – it is highly competitive, we have to go the extra mile and let people fly. If you are really encouraging people then – shockingly – you have to give a toss about them as human beings.”

In the longer term, AlleschTaylor sees people’s roles changing as companies increasingly use technology to automate functions.

And it is those employees with an entrepreneurial mindset who he believes will do well. “Entrepreneurship needs to be embraced, because over the course of the next generation the focus is going to shift from getting a job to creating one,” Allesch-Taylor says. “[With] the rise of AI and robotics, even if you have a job, being entrepreneurial in it will ensure that you probably keep it and you don’t end up being automated out of every sector. Entrepreneurship is the future and it is here, and if you ignore it, it is going to roll straight over you.”

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Why going green is good for business How choosing certified 100 per cent clean renewable power can improve your bottom line

C

LEAN RENEWABLE energy comes from zero-carbon sources – wind turbines, solar panels, and other technologies such as biogen or hydro power.

With the UK committing to reduce its carbon emissions to 80 per cent below levels taken in 1990 by 2050, transitioning to clean, renewable energy is key to achieving this goal and tackling climate change.

A clear advantage to choosing clean energy to power operations

62% 62 per cent of millennials want to work for a company that is making a positive impact

Embracing renewable energy brings many benefits to businesses. It enables them to report a lower carbon footprint, increasing competitive advantage as large businesses look to procure goods as part of a sustainable supply chain model.

Going green is also a boost to business reputation, making a company a more attractive place to work and ensuring it is truly living its values. Creating a sustainable work culture keeps people engaged – 62 per cent of millennials want to work for a company that wants to make a positive impact, according to Global Tolerance, The Values Revolution 2015.

How can buying renewable energy help win more business?

Going green really appeals to businesses which sell directly to consumers. A recent international study by Unilever revealed that a third of consumers choose to buy from brands doing social or environmental good. Tellingly, an estimated £860billion opportunity exists for brands that make their sustainability credentials clear, through choices such as clean energy.

Having a demonstrable lower carbon footprint can help companies crack into big business supply chains too. Today, more than ever before, the UK’s largest companies are working to minimise their energy and CO2 impacts – to appeal to consumers, improve brand reputation and ethically to do the right thing. Creating sustainable supply chains is the new buzzword in business, with large retailers increasingly choosing suppliers who can match their own green credentials and actively demonstrate a commitment to lowering their own carbon footprint.

More than 140 big business corporates, including IKEA and Aviva, have made commitments to use 100 per cent clean, renewable energy through the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative. Similarly, 28 of the UK’s biggest retailers, including Sainsbury’s, M&S and Aldi, have signed up to the Better Retail: Better World commitment led by the British Retail Consortium. This

commitment is mobilising the British retail industry to meet some of the biggest challenges of the coming decades, a key challenge being to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It is no extra work for the top players, as they have to procure anyway. But by choosing to procure from supply chain organisations that actively manage their carbon emissions, big businesses can reduce the carbon intensity of their end-to-end operations, helping to green-up their brand, while accelerating the UK’s low-carbon economy. It’s a compelling, tactical opportunity for SMEs to stand out and win business.

In addition, sustainable credentials will soon need to be published. From April 2019, a new government scheme, Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR), will require large and mid-sized businesses to report on the energy they use and the CO2 they produce. The report will be published within a company’s annual accounts, so it’s more important than ever before to enhance a business’s reputation by switching to clean energy.

Which clean energy tariff should businesses choose?

Clean energy offers compelling and wideranging business benefits, and this applies to UK organisations, from smaller SMEs all

“A recent international study

by Unilever revealed that a third of consumers choose to buy from brands doing social or environmental good.”

the way up to international corporates.

However, it’s not always easy to understand the difference between “green” energy tariffs when choosing a provider.

The central issue is around how renewable electricity is certified, under the regulator Ofgem’s Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) scheme. REGO certificates are issued for every unit of electricity from a renewable source. However, those certificates can be purchased independently from the energy produced, at a very low cost: a policy loophole which some suppliers are using to label their electricity as “100 per cent renewable”, regardless of how the power was generated.

This process is known as “greenwashing”.

These suppliers are doing nothing to encourage more renewable generation in the UK, and nothing to add more clean energy to the UK grid.

Good Energy only provides 100 per cent REGO-backed, UK-generated electricity, which is purchased directly from more than 1,400 independent generators. This means that for every unit of energy used, Good Energy buys a unit directly from its network of 1,400 renewable generators, alongside the REGO certificate it relates to.

So as well as benefiting a business and its reputation, the decision to be powered by clean energy is also actively supporting the growth of the UK’s renewable energy industry – great news for people, business and the planet.

What to do next?

Switch to Good Energy and ensure your electricity comes from UK-based, natural sources like sunshine, wind and rain. Good Energy are experts in both clean energy and the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Call us to switch to clean renewable energy and start measuring and recording renewable energy business impacts and winning more sustainable supply chain business.

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The gender gap: how proper education for young women will boost equality – and the bottom line Educating females is vital to help get more women in leadership positions and improve economic growth. But for girls without access to schools, what is the best solution?

“W

E CANNOT succeed when we hold half of this population back,” says women’s rights and education activist Malala Yousafzai at VMWorld 2018. “When we invest in girls, we are helping reduce poverty, helping tackle climate change and reduce extremism.”

The winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in female education, Yousafzai is at the tip of the spear when it comes to fighting for diversity and inclusion in the workforce – the attempt on her life by the Taliban in 2009, when she was only 11, only spurred on her activism. But the gap is also leading to a poorer world financially too – research by the Malala Foundation and the World Bank have found limited educational opportunities for girls is costing countries between $15trillion and $30trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings.

Malala Yousafzai speaking at Monterrey University in August

“Imagine when half the population is held back.

How can we think about success?”

— Malala Yousafzai

There are currently 130 million girls that do not have access to education across the world, Yousafzai points out. “It is important that we speak out for girls,” she says. “That we do something for them, because imagine when half of the population is held back.

How can we think about success?

“Finance in education is crucial. You go to refugee camps. You go to these places and there is no funding. There is no finance towards education. There is always lack of funding. We have to push for that.”

But technology, she believes, can help in the push for equality. A project of the Malala

Fund has been supporting educational platform Tabshoura in a Box, a pocket-sized, battery-powered server filled with educational content which works independently of the internet, and which acts as a hotspot where students can connect computers and access digital learning resources.

Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban after she spoke out about girls’ right to learn. The extremists had taken control of her town in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, banning many things from owning a television and playing music, and prohibiting girls from going to school.

“Technology has contributed a lot to the world,” she says. “Mobile phones are everywhere. These things are spreading.

It is important for us to recognise the contribution [mobiles and computers are] making to the world, from raising awareness to giving tools to women [to gain] access to information.”

“If we do not educate our future generation, there will be a huge gap between the next generation and the education that they receive and the education that they do not receive. That gap worries me.”

By narrowing the gap, Yousafzai hopes more women will take more leadership jobs and be able to fulfil their dreams of becoming engineers, doctors or lawyers. VMWare is supporting the Malala Fund as part of its focus on a diverse, inclusive workforce. The tech giant has a partnership with Stanford University to research the area of females and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths), with the aim of getting more women into leadership positions.

Research by McKinsey shows that companies that have diversity on their executive teams are 21 per cent more profitable than those who lack.

Unwell employees at work: what’s the cost to your business?

H AVE YOU ever encountered unwell staff coming into work instead of recovering at home? This issue of presenteeism is an increasing problem within small businesses. In a 2017 survey, 86 per cent of respondents said they had witnessed presenteeism in their organisations over the previous 12 months. That’s up from the 2016 figure of 72 per cent1.

The stats for leaveism – where employees work when they shouldn’t – also reveal cause for concern. Three-fifths of small businesses report that staff complete work outside contracted hours and two-fifths use allocated holidays and other time off to cover their illnesses1.

The data shows a workforce struggling to find the downtime we all need to maintain our wellbeing. And in small businesses, where teams may be compact, the consequences of poor employee wellbeing can be far-reaching.

“Threefifths of all businesses report that staff complete work outside contracted hours”

business. They may work less effectively, make more mistakes and ultimately remain unwell for longer. Similarly, a work environment where staff feel obliged to work out of hours can grind down team morale.

Focus on wellbeing There are many different measures you can consider taking to start shifting the work-life balance at your business, addressing employee wellbeing and aiming to reduce the effect of illness.

Encourage cultural change If you feel presenteeism and leaveism are an issue in your business, have an honest conversation with all members of your team, including managers. To be effective, this intervention needs to be paired with a realistic look at workloads, and an active strategy of reducing pressure.

Build a better workplace False economies On the face of it, someone working longer hours may not seem like an issue. But the CIPD reports that there are several ways ill people working can end up costing your

Of those surveyed in England, 85 per cent say the quality of their environment impacts how they feel2. There are fixes to suit a range of budgets – from improving air quality with better ventilation systems to

buying plants and allowing workers to take turns in sitting close to windows.

Offer support Offering structured support, from fitness groups to cycle-to-work schemes, can give your employees the boost to their mental and physical health.

With Bupa’s business cover, you don’t have to face the challenges of employee wellbeing alone. Our services are here to guide you and your team on the path towards work-life balance and wellbeing, and provide a safety net if it’s ever needed.

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If you’re looking to help your team find the right work-life balance, we can help you tackle presenteeism and leaveism in the workplace with a wide range of support and tools. Call 0808 302 8698 to find out more or visit bupa.co.uk/business. We may record or monitor our calls. Lines are open 8:30am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

1 CIPD Report (Health and well-being at work), May 2018 https:// www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/health-wellbeing-work 2 Wellbeing in Small Business: How you can help (A short guide), FSB September 2017 https://www.fsb.org.uk/docs/ default-source/fsb-org-uk/well-being-and-small-business---howyou-can-help.pdf

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Business Zone

Four pages of analysis and expert comment

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T’S NOT surprising that skills and their importance in modern business change, given the uproarious era of tech that we’re living through. Skills that were highly relevant and niche a few short years ago translate to base skills today, at best. Take the example of data and a worker’s familiarity to working with it to extract insight. This might have been a specialist position in quaint old 2012, but in 2018 it is expected at associate-level positions.

However, this shift in which skills are necessary and how often they need to be updated isn’t only driven by innovation, but by the workforce itself. Millennials are not motivated exclusively by monetary and other more traditional benefits that worked for previous generations – they demonstrate a strong focus on professional development and personal growth. And by 2020, they will comprise more than half the workforce.

Add to the mix the fact that, according to a recent report by Gartner, a staggering four in five employees lack the skills they will need for their future role, and 70 per cent have not even mastered those they need for their current tasks.

Sounds like a recipe for a perfect storm of employee churn, wasted digital transformation investment and slower growth, doesn’t it?

It is clear that in this climate, it is important to focus on ensuring employees not only feel they are valued and assisted in developing their skills, but also that transformation efforts are backed by the right talent, and your employer brand is strong enough to attract world-class talent. Let’s see how certification can help ease the malaise of the digital transformation and bring out the best in a new generation of employees.

Certification benefits all Professional development, L&D, talent acquisition… all buzzwords quite often thrown around, not always backed by solid effort and investment on the business side, and not constituting a benefit for employees, current and potential. But offering training to staff which leads to a certification has many benefits for everyone: •C ertifications are proof that staff are taking full advantage of the training budget provided to them •S uccesses and failures in certification exams, as well as the scores attained, can give you clear indications of what you and your people need to invest more in and improve •E mployees who gain certificates can form a capable pool of promotable talent within the organisation •T he knowledge your people acquire in training courses leading to certificates is proven best practice,

Upskilling is going to save the world crafted by subject matter experts and supported by well-respected, responsible organisations • Employees gain their certifications and carry them with them, making this one of the most sought-after benefits for them • Your people will become part of bustling professional communities, those of certificate-holders, which provide access to bleeding-edge advancements in fields such as IT, software development and project management, which will, of course, bleed into business operation and provide a competitive advantage • Offering L&D support in the form of certification training is appealing to investors, as BlackRock’s Laurence Fink made clear in his letter to more than 1,000 CEOs

All talents, certified Deciding on a certification is the first step to gaining a valuable tool.

PeopleCert has a rich portfolio of qualifications, which range from IT, digital marketing and project management to languages and computer literacy. PeopleCert’s portfolio covers all the most critical functions of modern organisations.

It includes the AXELOS suite of Global Best Practice qualifications, with widely recognised certifications such as ITIL® and PRINCE2®,

qualifications from the DevOps Institute, the Digital Marketing Institute suite, COBIT®5 by ISACA, IASSC Lean Six Sigma and many more. Language certifications are offered through LanguageCert, an internationally-recognised awarding organisation that delivers the next generation of language exams.

Lights, camera, exam!

Starting the certification process can be daunting, but not if you know where to look. After finding the perfect fit, the next step is to find out whether sitting for the exam requires formal, guided training. This may take place in a classroom or online, in a synchronous manner or at your own pace. You can discover an accredited training organisation near you and get in touch to find the details you need. One thing is for sure: all PeopleCert-accredited training centres offer a comfortable, secure and rewarding experience, and they meet high standards.

The chosen certification may, on the other hand, only require intimate familiarity with the concepts that are to be certified, through self-study.

Regardless, it is always a good idea, except in the case of deep knowledge in the field, to schedule in some training and become familiar with the range of concepts and methodologies that will be tested.

Works like magic One of the major benefits of taking an exam with PeopleCert is the experience of online proctoring.

This innovative system allows candidates to take their exam from the comfort of their own space, at the most convenient time for them, 24/7, 365 days a year, using only a connected computer and a webcam.

PeopleCert’s expert proctors guide candidates through a security process to ensure the integrity of the exam and make sure the whole exam experience flows smoothly and is glitch-free. It really is a nextlevel exam.

Whether you’re a professional looking to give your career a boost, or a business looking to offer training and professional development, it is proven to be a noble attempt and well worth the effort. PeopleCert is dedicated to making the lives of people across the globe better through learning and certification, and does so with quality, innovation, passion and integrity.

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Dimitris Nicolaides is deputy chief commercial officer, business and IT qualifications director at PeopleCert communication@peoplecert.org www.peoplecert.org

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The future office: space-as-a-service F ACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS are better than virtual ones and that’s official.

Researchers from Cornell University in the US have found that asking people to do something in person is more than 34 times more effective than asking them to do the same thing by email.

This may explain the success of The Clubhouse, London’s leading business members’ club and meeting space, founded in 2012 by Adam Blaskey and is now in four locations across London: Mayfair, St James’s, Bank and Holborn.

“The Clubhouse began with my own frustration about having to meet clients in uninspiring, unproductive places around London,” explains Blaskey. “It fills a gap in the market to provide a smarter, flexible alternative to working out of coworking spaces or serviced offices and meeting in hotel lobbies or coffee shops.”

The Clubhouse offers members everything they need to run their business in central London without the costs typically associated with prime offices: flexible meeting areas, hot desks, dedicated desks and a range of meeting rooms, boardrooms and presentation rooms as well as the usual range of business services such as couriers, printing and copying provided by a great front-of-house team. The Clubhouse can also act as a virtual office, offering both a prestigious central London address and taking care of incoming mail.

Services include complimentary WiFi, refreshments, fresh fruit, tea, coffee, bike racks, showers for members to use and, best of all, a deli with a delicious range of salads, sandwiches and wraps.

Adam refers to The Clubhouse offering as “Space-as-a-Service”, a cloud-based business model that is no longer just confined to the software industry. “Think back to the days when we had to physically back up data on hard drives or purchase software on CDs – all of which is now done in an instant, as and when you need it, in the cloud,” says Adam. “People are realising they can do the same thing with

their office space and it is particularly powerful because technology and cloud computing has allowed businesses to grow. Smarter, more agile companies are looking at flexible alternatives like The Clubhouse to expand or contract in line with their business.”

Pauline Hudson-Evans, co-founder of Hudson Walker International, a regular at all of The Clubhouse locations, says, “We were in a leased office in Dover Street for 20 years but in a changing business landscape we no longer needed a dedicated space with all the associated costs and frustrations. I had attended an event at The Clubhouse and saw the benefits of

an on-demand office space: flexibility, freedom from having to deal with landlords, cleaners, utilities and so on. These benefits, combined with much lower running costs, have improved our cash flow and mean more of my time can now be spent focusing on our core business.”

Three categories of membership offer a range of flexible options: Executive memberships are designed for people who need a London base for one or two days a month; Club memberships are perfect for those wanting access one or two days a week; House memberships are the smart alternative to a permanent London office, giving daily access to all facilities.

The Clubhouse is not just a place to meet or work – there is a rich calendar of member events throughout the year, including business breakfasts and evening events with inspirational speakers. Those who have shared insight with members in the past include Matthew Crummack of GoCompare, Justin King, ex CEO of Sainsbury’s, Richard Joseph of JosephJoseph, Sinclair Beecham, co-founder of Pret a Manger and Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado.

With its flexible Space as a Service concept, The Clubhouse and its growing network of locations is the future of face-to-face meetings and clearly a better way to do business.

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+44 (0)20 7183 7210 www.theclubhouselondon.com

Invoice finance: improving cash flow and strengthening customer relationships Invoice finance is rapidly growing in popularity, but what is it and why are an increasing number of SMEs using it?

A

CCORDING TO the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), the total amount advanced to UK and Republic of Ireland businesses through invoice finance and asset-based lending at the close of 2017 was around £23billion, up 5 per cent on the previous year. The vast majority (81 per cent) of this funding was advanced using invoice finance.

For anyone who might still think that invoice finance is a mark of a distressed company, these figures totally scotch any such notion.

A financial service delivering around £23billion annually is no minor matter. The reason for the soaring popularity of invoice finance is that cash-flow management is now a mainstream issue for finance directors.

Invoice finance describes a range of financial products designed to bridge the gap between the delivery of goods or services by a business to its customers and the receipt of payments from those customers.

Siemens Financial Services offers invoice finance through an easy-touse digital interface, with payout immediately triggered on invoice submission, and often clearing the same day.

By using invoice finance, when a company invoices a customer, up to 90 per cent of the approved invoice total is immediately advanced by the finance provider, with the remaining 10 per cent (less charges) paid once their customer settles the balance.

This provides the company with essential working capital it can then invest in other areas of the business, without having to wait for bills to be paid.

Invoice finance is commonly used

by SMEs across a variety of industries – in particular those businesses that might need to keep appropriate stock levels in order to be able to respond efficiently and effectively to their customer’s demands. A fluid cash flow product such as invoice finance will

enable sufficient funds to achieve this.

Managing cash flow in this way can also help companies support customers more effectively and, by extension, improve customer relations.

The collective amount of potential capital locked up in unpaid invoices and the associated costs of chasing them is staggering. Unpaid invoices amount to 14 per cent of SMEs’ annual turnover, or £252billion, and the costs associated with pursuing payment are around £10.8billion a year .

Finally, having improved cash flow also opens greater potential for businesses to explore new markets and territories – providing greater flexibility particularly in light of the approaching deadline for Brexit and the uncertainty surrounding tariffs.

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Ian Cole is Head of Invoice Finance for Siemens Financial Services (SFS) in the UK. To speak to Ian about invoice finance from Siemens Financial Services, please contact him at iancole@siemens.com

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HERE IS much talk today of the fourth industrial revolution, a period in which artificial intelligence, robotics and other technological breakthroughs are radically altering the ways in which we go about our lives.

The many innovations working their way into myriad spheres conjure images of an endless horizon for creativity, and a sense that the new technologies being introduced could take us anywhere.

But the rapid pace of change risks leaving some people behind. A Forbes survey in 2017 found that 56 per cent of business executives felt that information technology was changing at a “significant” speed, and 36 per cent felt they were struggling to keep up, with deficiencies in IT skills among employees to be the most serious challenge they faced.

The pace of change is therefore particularly problematic for businesses that fail to harness new developments in digital transformation. More than three quarters of executives said that their competitiveness was being impacted by the need to invest time and money in IT maintenance and management, rather than on developing new projects and initiatives.

“The fact of the matter is that if people or organisations embark on projects and digital transformation without having the foundations of good business practice already in place then they will fail,” says Margo Leach, chief product officer at AXELOS Global Best Practice.

Businesses want to become more competitive, resilient and efficient, while at the same time being able to deliver value to their clients. That is a no-brainer. But these two concerns don’t always work in harmony with one another. Just as often, one can counteract the other. Best practices can, however, deliver change while obtaining real, measurable business value.

“We trace many of the failures of businesses back to simply not having the basic stuff down,” says Leach. “The best-practice concept is debated, of course, because when organisations differ from one another so much you can’t just apply a one-size-fits-all model.”

As a result, AXELOS offers different frameworks to different businesses, and suggests a variety of ways of working. “In essence,” Margo says, “we allow them to assess what works best for them.”

Leach refers to the best practices currently offered by AXELOS, a global joint venture company between the Cabinet Office and Capita, created in 2013 to further develop and manage bodies of best-practice knowledge, the more well-known ones being ITIL®, MSP® and PRINCE2®.

The AXELOS best-practice frameworks apply as much to small projects as they do to large ones. Take the London Olympics in 2012 for example, an endeavour that required 100,000 staff and volunteers and a public-sector funding package worth £9.2billion. Not only that, but the stakes of Britain’s global

Making sure you stay on the right side in the tech revolution “If people or organisations embark on projects and digital transformation without having the foundations of good business practice, they will fail” – Margo Leach, AXELOS

sporting reputation were resting on its successful outcome, and the legacy it left.

The issues that needed to be factored in were endless: local residents and businesses needed to continue working while the games were on, goods and services could not be disrupted, and public transport needed to cater for tens of thousands of visitors. The deadline for the starting time and date was fixed, and could not be moved under any circumstances.

Turning concepts such as the London Olympics into reality is where one of AXELOS’s best-practice methodology comes in: MSP, or Managing Successful Programmes.

“We have hard evidence to show that, by using the MSP framework for the London Olympics, the aims and objectives stated at the beginning of the planning phase were realised,” Leach explains.

MSP is defined as “the action of carrying out the co-ordinated organisation, direction and implementation of a dossier and transformation activities to achieve outcomes and realise benefits of strategic importance to the business.”

In short, it aims at refining the art of programme management: bringing

people and organisations with similar remits together, deepening professional relationships-based types of work rather than employers, emphasising a culture of collaboration, and so on.

Leach notes, however, that AXELOS will always push for multiple methodologies to be used, each one tweaked to suit the particular needs of whatever task a business or organisation is embarking on.

“Industries and organisations today look very different than they did 20 years ago. You might have multiple teams within the same business operating in totally different ways, depending on their objectives or the demands they are servicing. An approach that can’t be tailored will not deliver the best outcomes,” she says.

This approach also looks at the micro-level aspects of running a business: Are employees happy? Do they feel they are in the right place, and doing the right work? “Staff resources are often stretched, and they’re being told to operate at a faster rate,” Leach points out.

“The skills gap also comes up repeatedly and the whole purpose of AXELOS is to fill that.”

AXELOS’s many technologies are now globally recognised, and this places new

demands on job seekers. Employers value training, of course, but what they value more is training that leads to a certification – and especially one that is recognised in the market.

“Certification becomes almost a shortcut of saying to an organisation that I understand the common language and processes, and therefore hiring me means you don’t have to teach me all that from scratch,” says Margo.

Organisations which have adopted a particular framework into their operating model – such as ITIL or PRINCE2 – will actually filter out candidates during the hiring process who don’t have those certifications, warns Leach.

The fourth industrial revolution has dramatically changed how we live and work – generally for the better, but of course it has its victims. Developing a solid business foundation built on recognised best-practice methods is one way of ensuring organisations and companies prosper from the transformations underway in the modern age.

INDUSTRY VIEW

Margo.Leach@axelos.com www.axelos.com

September 2018

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Ask the expert…

Hot-button questions answered by industry thought leaders

Can clean energy be cost effective?

How can flexibility drive growth?

Dr Randall Bowen, director of sales and commercial, Good Energy

Adam Blaskey, founder and CEO, The Clubhouse

SWITCHING TO a clean energy supplier doesn’t have to cost more for SMEs, but the consideration of whether it can be cost-effective has to be taken as a whole – how it can impact the bottom line through opportunity.

Consumers are increasingly looking to buy from ethical brands, with Unilever’s own research suggesting there’s an £860billion opportunity for those making their sustainability credentials clear.

Meanwhile, for businesses selling to other businesses, in a world where big brands such as IKEA and Coca-Cola are committing to switching to clean energy, they are increasingly going to start looking at their supply chains.

This means that an SME can really stand out to consumer or business audiences by drastically reducing its carbon footprint through switching to clean, green energy supply.

Added to this, many businesses are adopting solar panels or other renewable technologies to self-generate, saving further on costs and even making money by selling surplus energy back to the grid.

THE WORLD of work has changed. Businesses are growing faster than ever and need to be flexible and agile to succeed.

Innovations in mobile technology and cloud computing over the past decade have been the fundamental drivers behind this acceleration – enabling disruptors to launch in record time and businesses to adapt or change as required.

As the world of work has changed, so has where we work and meet. The most innovative and successful businesses today are using a range of solutions, often in conjunction with one another: if the HQ is located out of town how do you attract the best talent and enable your most important people to work and meet efficiently and productively? At The Clubhouse, we look after over 400 fast-growing SMEs and larger corporates to whom we provide the smarter, more cost-effective alternative to a London office. Are you really going to win a deal and impress clients by meeting in a coffee shop when a business members’ club such as The Clubhouse can give you everything you need to run your business and help reinforce your corporate image and what your business stands for?

In a fluctuating marketplace, what is the key for organisations to succeed?

Mark A Langley, CEO, Project Management Institute

INDUSTRY VIEW

IN OUR latest survey on talent management, only 17 per cent of executives said their talent management strategies adequately address rapidly changing business conditions. As organisations around the world face disruption due to the uncertain marketplace, it’s essential that leaders focus on talent management in order to succeed.

Projects and programmes are the core of any organisation’s strategic initiatives. Having the talent to implement these initiatives gives organisations a competitive advantage to navigate through change. Excellence in managing talent unlocks that capability.

We advise organisations to hire and manage project talent that demonstrates the competencies that form our Talent Triangle®, which we identify as the ideal skillset for a project manager. The talent triangle includes a combination of technical, leadership, and strategic and business management expertise.

Organisations that make talent management a priority will be the ones who adapt and succeed during this age of disruption.

What is the value of certifications?

Margo Leach, chief product officer, AXELOS Global Best Practice CERTIFICATIONS BRING value to both professionals and organisations. For businesses, they are a great way to find the most qualified candidates – those with exactly the skills needed for a new role. Within some industries certain certifications are particularly recognised, and they help businesses speak a common language.

For professionals, certifications are an investment in their own development. They are a great indicator that they have the expert skills and knowledge relevant to their chosen field and will therefore help them advance their career.

But certifications also give businesses the opportunity to invest in their own workforce and use training courses and exams as a way of upskilling existing staff – something that is becoming more and more important these days.

For many jobseekers, continued professional development is now a decisive factor when looking for a new role, as training opportunities show that employers are willing to invest in their staff – and employers should always bear that in mind when thinking about the value of certifications.

INDUSTRY VIEW

www.goodenergy.co.uk

www.pmi.org/uk

INDUSTRY VIEW

+44 (0)20 7183 7210 www.theclubhouselondon.com

INDUSTRY VIEW

Margo.Leach@axelos.com www.axelos.com

Training that keeps the UK’s economic engine running “To help business future-proof, UWL offers SMEs a range of tools and resources for maximising potential”

S

MALL AND medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of prosperity across Britain, and skilled staff are the fuel – meaning it’s never the wrong time to invest in their success.

An incredible 99.9 per cent of the UK’s private sector economy comprises SMEs, employing a total of 16.1 million people and generating combined annual revenue of £1.9trillion in 2017, according to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

But serious challenges ahead – not least of which is Brexit – make for an uncertain business environment which threatens to hit business operations and undo hard-won success.

To help business be future-proof in the face of this uncertainty, the University of West London (UWL) offers SMEs a range of tools and resources for maximising the potential within companies.

Based in the heart of one of the UK’s most successful business regions, UWL is committed to being an engine of innovation and enterprise in the region by providing access to specialist expertise and facilities, networking

Knowledge transfer partnerships

and collaborative opportunities, knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer initiatives. UWL services for SMEs include…

Higher and degree apprenticeships UWL is a sector leader in the provision of degree apprenticeships, with more than ten years’ experience in the delivery of a variety of apprenticeship programmes. As an Approved Assessment Organisation, we really understand the world of work and collaborate with many employers to deliver high-quality apprenticeships.

Today, higher and degree apprenticeships are increasing popular among employers, employees and school leavers. Staff are highly motivated because they get to earn while they learn. Meanwhile, apprenticeships are great value for money for eligible SMEs, with payroll bills of less than £3million because the government funds 90 per cent of the cost of the apprenticeship.

Areas which may benefit from higher and degree apprentices include data analysis, civil engineering and digital and technology solutions.

West London Food Innovation Laboratory (WLFIL) The newly opened West London Food Innovation Laboratory (WLFIL) at UWL is ideal for SMEs in the food and drinks sector which don’t have enormous research and development budgets to plough into creating new products.

Funded with the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), this food laboratory provides outstanding support for start-ups in Greater London by helping with every stage of the product development process.

SMEs can recruit a UWL graduate – known as an associate – for up to 36 months in collaboration with UWL. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) can boost competitiveness, productivity and performance.

KTPs are government-funded programmes which help businesses improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance through collaboration with a university. A KTP is a three-way partnership between a business, an academic/research institution and a recently qualified graduate. The University of West London is committed to developing a range of KTP programmes with SMEs and graduates.

Short Courses The University of West London offers a range of career-oriented short courses for individuals and businesses to improve employability and competitiveness.

INDUSTRY VIEW

020 8231 2434 employer@uwl.ac.uk