Read: A passion to not just be purpose-driven but purpose-led

Adecco Group is one of the largest recruitment companies in the world and is leading the way by putting purpose at the heart of its mission. 

Here, Adecco’s Region President of Northern Europe, Alex Fleming tells us about the company’s work to empower young people and her own personal mantra for success. 

Q// What does purpose mean for you personally and the Adecco Group?

A// Purpose is the real social conscience of a company, it’s the philosophical heartbeat I like to say. For it to really live and breathe within an organisation, it has to be placed at the core of the strategy. When businesses fully leverage their scale to benefit society the impact can be really extraordinary, and the power of purpose is needed more than ever right now as the world fights the threat of the pandemic. 

Several companies are now doubling down on purpose and it’s the very time that stakeholders need it the most. I was pleased to read recently that 93 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs believe that companies should focus on both making profits and social goals. However in the same report from Mckinsey, 82 percent of employees believe that purpose is important but only 42 per cent believe their organisation drives impact. This shows that purpose driven companies are top of mind at the moment but only a few companies are walking the walk. 

We know that purpose-led organisations have a common thread - they are more innovative, they generally have flatter organisation structures and a healthy work life balance, while constantly driving an agenda of doing what’s right for everyone. 

Our organisation identity has three strong elements - clear purpose, strong brand and widely recognised culture. We’ve tied individual purpose to company purpose because people need to ultimately understand how they fit in. We’ve followed four key steps in developing our social impact strategy - sizing up where we are now, including our vulnerabilities because every company has them; clarifying how our purpose connects to our companies superpower of placing people in meaningful jobs; and measuring and managing purpose. 

Our community strategy is focused on creating brighter futures for everyone and our top priority is improving access to opportunity by working closely with schools to empower youth and improving access to work for those in transition who are looking to re-enter the world of work. We are working really closely with charities such as Shelter and British Paralympic Association to support homeless and differently abled individuals. We also believe in creating inclusive futures for everyone. Adecco Group is an equal opportunity recruiter and we’re proud of our 50/50 gender split at UK and Ireland board level and our demographic split is now better than the average UK market. 

It doesn’t stop there for us, we are now really focused on supporting our clients in driving inclusion in their organisations. We are delighted to be part of the Purpose Coalition which connects us with like-minded organisations and really inspires our passion to not just be purpose-driven but purpose-led. 

Q// Where does purpose fit in for you as a recruitment company?

A// Talent is everywhere but opportunity is not. There remains this stubborn gap in higher education attendance between children from different socio-economic backgrounds. I think the top professions continue to recruit disproportionately from a narrow strata from society. We know that only 6 percent of doctors, just over 10 percent of journalists and only 12 percent of CEOs come from working class backgrounds and this is a particular dominance of the privately educated.

The UK’s lack of social mobility is more acute in minority groups - last year 84 of the 1,048 Director positions in FTSE 100 were held by business leaders from an ethnic minority. The causes of this are deep-rooted, complex and ultimately societal but this doesn't mean that employers are powerless to act. They can do a lot more than they think, not least in their recruitment processes to ensure that they aren’t perpetuating low application rates from less privileged and minority backgrounds. From a recruitment perspective you have to focus on potential, not polish, and recognise the benefits of a diverse and inclusive team. 

Q// Tell us about your own personal career journey and the challenges that you’ve faced.

A// I’ve been in the HR and workforce solutions industry for over 20 years and what I have learnt is that the most desirable companies put culture first. For me this is high on my agenda, to create an environment where people truly belong and feel that they can get on. I’m very proud of the culture that we’ve built at Adecco Group in the UK and Ireland. We’ve got very strong positioning in the Great Places to Work listing and were awarded a top prize at the Employer Engagement Awards, and I think it’s critical that you celebrate those successes. 

A great environment and culture empowers people to succeed and drives strong performance, especially when leaders allow employees to concentrate on their areas of strength. I’m a big believer in creating a level playing field where everyone has a voice, I’m constantly encouraging my leaders to hire to their weakness and build teams with complementary skill sets. 

I have a mantra for success that I have lived and breathed for all of my career. It includes six specific things; work ethic, resilience, being decisive, having a measurable plan, empowering the people you work with and finally being consistent and fair. It’s something I’ve lived and breathed and I try to encourage my team to adopt in their own way as well. 

Q// Tell us a little bit about how you want to inspire, empower and engage young people in Adecco’s work?

A// A report from The Sutton Trust found that eight elite schools had sent more pupils to Oxbridge than 2,900 state schools combined and this really drives our agenda. Despite just seven per cent of children going to private schools they make up 71 per cent of top judges, senior armed forces and CFOs - these numbers don’t bode well from a social mobility standpoint. 

I’m deeply passionate about this space, I truly believe we need to focus on the holistic development of the next generation to guarantee their success. The skills gap is widening each year as industry evolves to keep up with the pace of technological development. Schools need to be closer to the world so that they understand what the market needs when it comes to talent and businesses have an important role to play in bridging this gap as well, it’s really a partnership. 

Some schools have already taken this onboard, by hiring employability leads in schools for example, but we still have a long way to go especially in the underserved areas of the UK. Our youth empowerment programme, ‘Creating Brighter Futures’, is designed to improve pre-employability and employability readiness in youth. We create cross industry work experiences for hidden talents and we really champion underserved youth. Through this we aim to create a collective of like-minded employers who support youth empowerment and future proofing diverse talent pools. Fundamentally this is about us bridging the gap between education and the world of work together with our candidates and clients and using transferable skills. We need to understand that this is a systemic issue and that everyone has accountability.