Let’s face it, people aren’t born into leadership roles.

It’s a jump to be a leader of people and in many industries or functions where technical activities play a prominent role, individuals with high technical expertise and capability more than likely started out in their roles due to their personal interest and passion in the subject matter. They enjoyed the technical challenge and activity but being able to do something at a high level, doesn’t necessarily mean you can inspire others to do the same. Leading people to be successful is a wholly different focus requiring people to cultivate new skills and be open to stepping outside of their comfort zone.

Emerging leaders often also need significant support from their organisation to develop the right leadership competencies and confidence. So, what are some of the ways that your business can support new leaders as they step up in your organisation?

Here I’ll lay out some of the strategies I’ve seen implemented as well as steps Sanderson take when installing a new leader into a company.

Strategies to help your new leaders make an impact  

Organisations should be providing the right environment, time and support to help leaders to succeed, learn and to develop the skills they need to be great. With the right supports in place, can anyone be a leader if they are genuinely open to learning new skills and get the right help to get there? I’d like to think so.

Some of the strategies you could employ to help your new leaders thrive are:

Setting the scene with behavioural assessments

Before you do anything, it’s important to gain an understanding of the individuals current experience and capabilities, including any past exposure to leadership responsibilities. Conducting 360 review processes can be useful here.

Using behavioural assessment methodology and psychometric testing such as Cognisess can help to analyse an individual’s behaviours to understand their strength, and development areas to tailor support to them as an individual as they move into their new leadership role.

Allow them to fail and learn

Organisations should consider proactively supporting the individual and their team to develop and grow. It’s not just about ticking a box when making a new leadership hire or promoting someone, but also actively providing a runway of support, time and guidance to ensure their success.

You want to prioritise an honest and non-judgemental culture of building a new leader’s confidence, letting them ask questions, test their ideas and give them the space to fail and learn with the headspace they need to build on their leadership skills instead of still being bogged down in the day-to-day operations.

Alongside this, a culture of collaboration and team building can help foster knowledge sharing and build employee confidence and strong collegiate relationships.

Every day is a learning opportunity

Training programmes can complement a new leader’s development by providing access to new ideas and broader perspectives.

Companies should provide emerging leaders the time and space to actively engage in training rather than worrying about it taking away from their day job. Implementing robust leadership development programmes can be a crucial step to close the skills gap and foster strong leaders in any organisation.

Help from a friend

Implementing mentorship programmes can be a great strategy to close the skills gap between technically excellent employees and new leaders.

Giving individuals the opportunity to ask questions from current leaders who have walked a similar path, can be hugely beneficial. It is always easier to leap the hurdle if you see it coming!

Find their own style

Emerging leaders should be encouraged and supported in finding a leadership style that works for them, and nowadays we are tending to see more empathetic styles of leadership. Gone are the days where a more controlling style of leading is supported by a business just because that might have been how that new leader was treated when they were first starting out in the workplace. If a new leader has recently moved into the position, we should allow them to maintain a similar level of empathy and interest in their colleagues’ lives, feelings and workloads, and let them lean into a style of leadership which still leaves their team feeling supported and respected.

How Sanderson approaches appointing a new leader

At Sanderson Executive, we focus on assessing four key considerations when sourcing candidates for a leadership appointment. These ensure the best possible fit for the business, provide a platform for the individual’s success and therefore the best long-term outcome for the businesses we support.

We kick things off by reviewing:

Objective fit

We ensure a credible technical fit, assessing an individual’s skillset, experience and successes.

Subjective fit

We explore the candidate’s approach and cultural priorities, their leadership experience and interest, along with their ability to operate strategically.

Motivation

We’ll consider their personal motivations and whether the position genuinely fulfils these desires and both now and int he future.

Practicalities

Lastly, we carefully consider any practicalities that might impact their ability to take on the position along with their appetite to mitigate any of them.

Next steps

Do candidates need to be a perfect fit across all four of these areas?

Absolutely not! Often a balance of strengths and considerations exist for all and it’s important to understand this picture to make the right long-term appointments and shape the individual’s runway for success on joining.

If you’re looking to appointment into your leadership team, let us go the extra mile and help secure your future leader. Get in touch today to discuss your talent challenges.

Would you like to hear more from Sanderson and learn about the work we do? You can sign up to join our mailing list here for a variety of updates, access to our market leading salary benchmarking data, white papers, reports and blogs PLUS our latest news and event invites.

At a recent roundtable dinner in London, hosted by HR World and Sanderson Government and Defence a group of HR professionals gathered to discuss the current hot topics in talent acquisition. One prominent theme was the diverse range of resourcing models currently employed within the sector. The discussion covered what these models are, their implications for businesses, and how they can incorporate inclusive approaches to talent selection.

In this article, Nick Walrond, Managing Director of Sanderson Government and Defence, shares insights on the models discussed and provides a detailed overview of the various resourcing models available in talent acquisition today.

Talent Acquisition Resourcing Models

In recent years, companies have sought more efficient ways to access the talent they need, leading many to diversify their offerings to create more effective and tailored services. This evolution has resulted in three broad categories of resourcing models:

1. Inhouse – Talent acquisition services are managed entirely by an internal team.
2. Outsourcing – Talent acquisition is outsourced to a third party, either operated offsite and off-brand or through a white-labelled team utilising your brand.
3. Hybrid – A mix-and-match approach where both internal and external service providers operate alongside each other to meet talent needs.

Let’s explore each of these models in more detail.

The Inhouse Model

An Inhouse model involves setting up internal systems and processes to efficiently handle candidate processing and comply with GDPR requirements for managing personal data. This model necessitates hiring skilled talent acquisition experts and implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), at a minimum.

Advantages:

• The talent acquisition team is fully embedded within the company culture and values, ensuring they understand the organisation’s strategic objectives.
• Enhanced relationships with the talent acquisition team allow for better retention of business information and strong working relationships, leading to the identification of the best candidates.
• Direct engagement with the community being hired for provides a seamless recruitment service.
• Maintains the employer brand throughout the process, making candidates feel connected to the organisation from the start.
• Ownership of candidate data enables proactive engagement with talent pools, particularly beneficial for niche or scarce skills.

Challenges:

• Resource and cost-intensive, often requiring augmentation by external niche and specialist providers.
• Navigating the myriad candidate sourcing routes available can be complex and costly.
• Scaling the inhouse model is challenging, especially during sudden demand surges or natural attrition of talent acquisition experts.

The Outsourcing Model

In the Outsourcing model, recruitment services are managed entirely outside the organisation. The outsourcer handles everything from vacancy approval to onboarding and retention strategies, using their own systems and platforms. This model can operate under the outsourcer’s brand or utilise the client’s brand.

Advantages:

• Flexible pricing model ensures you only pay for the services you use.
• Extended reach to multiple candidate attraction tools and techniques.
• Can provide cost-effective solutions without the need for significant internal investment in people, processes, and systems.

Considerations:

• Deciding whether an externally branded or inhouse branded approach works best.
• Determining ownership of data associated with candidate attraction capability.

The Hybrid Model

The Hybrid model combines elements from both the inhouse and outsourcing models, offering flexibility to invest in an inhouse team while leveraging external partners when needed.

Advantages:

• Flexibility to scale up or down based on demand and support niche roles requiring different approaches.
• Customisable processes to meet business needs with the best resourcing model for each recruitment requirement.
• Potential for a strong partnership with external suppliers, viewed as an extension of the internal talent acquisition team.

Challenges:

• Increased complexity due to the need to bridge the gap between internal teams and multiple external vendors.
• Requires substantial communication and coordination to ensure seamless operation.

Conclusion

The variety of resourcing models in talent acquisition provides organisations with the flexibility to reach a more diverse talent pool and appeal to a wider range of candidates. The best solution for each organisation depends on its specific talent and business requirements, and the chosen method should align with the business’s strategic objectives moving forward.

Ultimately, successful talent acquisition hinges on selecting a model that suits all parties and fosters an inclusive approach to sourcing and hiring the best talent.

Do you have any follow up questions regarding these recruitment models? Or have found yourself wondering which might be the best option for your business?

Then please don’t hesitate to get in touch so we can chat more about your recruitment needs and the bespoke solutions myself and the Sanderson team could provide you in your recruitment processes.

Would you like to hear more from Sanderson and learn about the work we do? You can sign up to join our mailing list here for a variety of updates, access to our market leading salary benchmarking data, white papers, reports and blogs PLUS our latest news and event invites.

There is no question that hybrid and remote working is here to stay but does it create unintended challenges for those entering the workforce for the first time or those early careers roles that require on the job training and support?

Mark Beale, Director of Delivery and Engagement at Sanderson notes ‘The emphasis of our RPO solutions into the financial services sector has evolved over the past 18 months from the ability to deliver high volumes of hires to meet the post-covid surge in demand, to partnering with our clients to deliver strategies that help them retain and develop their early careers talent, creating sustainable succession pipelines for senior and specialist roles.’

A question recently posed to us was, ‘how do we provide a better employee experience so that we can engage and retain more of our early careers talent, particularly with the increase in hybrid and remote working practices?’

To get a deeper understanding of these challenges, Sanderson partnered with a variety of Banks, Building Societies, Insurance, Wealth & Investment companies to understand their approach to this challenge and we have shared our findings in a comprehensive and downloadable report.

Download your copy today via this link.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues discussed in this paper, or have any questions on your own early careers candidates, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Would you like to hear more from Sanderson and learn about the work we do? You can sign up to join our mailing list here for a variety of updates, access to our market leading salary benchmarking data, white papers, reports and blogs PLUS our latest news and event invites.

In one of our recent Talent Insights Reports, we highlighted the trend that a number of global businesses had opted to relocate their business services teams to the North, and specifically Manchester, as a step towards lowering the cost of hire, whilst maintaining a high calibre workforce, meaning Manchester is growing as a talent hotspot.

In this article, we look more closely at these trends UK wide and across a wider spectrum of skill sets, whilst looking at where some of these decisions originate from.

The rise of ‘near shoring’

“North shoring” is a term that really became popular in the early 2000s, in 2004 the BBC announced plans to move out of London with the current Salford Quays site being announced in 2006 – this then fuelled the growth of Media City.

We’ve since had the phenomenon of “near shoring”, with businesses choosing places such as Manchester, Bristol and Leeds to base their business support operations away from the prime locations of London.

Moves to the Northern Powerhouse

New entrants to the UK market are starting to pit the likes of London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester against each other to balance the quality of available candidates, cost of hire, cost of offices and quality of life. Whilst many are still laser focused on London as the only viable location to set up shop, Manchester is often coming out on top.

These trends are backed up by the “quality of life” stats provided by Numbeo, with London and Manchester achieving similar scores and both locations appealing with regards to purchasing power, healthcare availability and, perhaps surprisingly, property price to income ratio (www.numbeo.com, May 2024).

There has also been a real push in a focus on investment for businesses based outside of London, with some specifically set up to focus on investing in companies in the North of England. This is also backed by the recently launched Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

Our research has shown (as per the table above) that there are a large amount of people who are leaving the capital and moving to other cities, with Manchester being the most popular.  Interestingly the amount of people heading to Manchester is almost double that of Bristol, home to the second highest number of professionals leaving London. A clear indication that Manchester is becoming a hot spot for talent.

The appeal of Manchester for candidates and companies

We spoke to Deborah Walker, Head of Inward Investment for Financial, Professional and Business Services at MIDAS for her take on why Manchester and the surrounding areas in the North are becoming so appealing. She commented that:

“Greater Manchester continues to be a magnet for global firms looking to consolidate corporate or shared services or scale operations, particularly when access to qualified professionals, technology or cyber skills are a prerequisite.  These businesses want to be sure that as well as choosing a location which makes good sense economically, their workforce will be happy, so Manchester’s investment in talent is especially appealing.  We’re seeing almost 50% of its diverse, young and multi-lingual graduates – for whom lifestyle is just as important – choosing to stay here beyond their studies. Manchester is a creative and collaborative city and new investors quickly discover that here is where they can enhance the customer experience through leveraging skills and talent from the creative industries that surround them.”

Commenting on the rise of companies moving to Manchester to open offices along with the rise in competitiveness and desirability in Manchester office space, Joe Averill, Managing Director and Founder of Level, a company that provides bespoke workspace solutions for tenants across various sectors and size, noted:

“There is a “flight to quality” in Manchester’s office market right now (an increasing trend in real estate whereby businesses are willing to pay higher prices for premium spaces) as businesses look to select office spaces with higher levels of amenity and flexibility. We’re seeing this happening across start-up’s/SME’s, scales ups and enterprise clients. Due to demand, there is over 200,000sq ft of new flexible workspace launching in Manchester between now and the end of 2025. Businesses here are adopting more hybrid and flexible working models, and so want spaces where they can connect with others in a community, receive a high level of service, take the hassle out of moving offices, work in diverse and collaborative ways and operate in a building that offers high levels of amenity for their people.”

Talent Growth in the North

Data from LinkedIn Talent Insights shows us that there has been growth and migration across multiple industries for Manchester, with many of these candidates coming from London.

This table shows the increase/decrease in the number of professionals within each of the key markets over the past 12 months between London and Manchester.

Here we can see that there has been significant growth within Cyber Security, Data and Cloud & Infrastructure, with many of these candidates are now based in or working from the North.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear to see that many talented individuals across multiple professional sectors are relocating to the North from London, with a specific focus on Manchester and its surrounding boroughs as a place to work.

The increase in available investment, office space and out of work activities in the area makes it a desirable location for companies and candidates alike, and I expect to see these trends persist and the continuation of the rise of Manchester as a talent hot spot.

As the Regional Director for the North at Sanderson, I am passionate about Manchester and the surrounding areas as offering viable opportunities for many businesses.

Could Manchester be the place for you to set up your next regional office? If you would like to discuss talent opportunities in the North for you and your business, please do reach out to me at [email protected].

Would you like to hear more from Sanderson and learn about the work we do? You can sign up to join our mailing list here for a variety of updates, access to our market leading salary benchmarking data, white papers, reports and blogs PLUS our latest news and event invites.