Jobseekers & Employers Media Working at Hays Our Partners Contacts About Us Investors Sustainability Governance Expert Insight Search Home > About Us > Our People & Culture OUR PEOPLE & CULTURE People are at the heart of our business. With over 11,000 colleagues working across the globe, the need has never been greater to ensure we are developing, nurturing but also challenging the worldwide team of people who are building our Hays business together. We are proud of how our colleagues have coped through the pandemic The way in which our colleagues responded to the continuing lockdown environment was superb. From the tireless work of our IT infrastructure team, to the ways our managers inspired and motivated their teams, ensuring no dip in client and candidate contact, our people genuinely lived our purpose and values. It is at times like this that a company’s culture becomes most evident. Through lockdowns, we have sought to ensure that every colleague feels connected, informed, reassured and supported. Through often difficult decisions to protect our business, we have been transparent and open about the challenges we face, and sought to do the right thing. As people have started returning to offices, we are excited for how hybrid working is helping our business progress. The Ultimate People Business We strive to recruit, train, develop and retain the best talent in our industry, and encourage our employees to reach their full potential through training and development. We train our colleagues in the ‘art’ of recruitment, helping them build the depth of insight and awareness required to ensure the ideal cultural fit for any role. We then equip them with the best tools to do the job, embracing new technologies, and innovating the way we work – the ‘science’ of recruitment. In the digital world, giving colleagues the ability to work flexibly is vital, and in recent years we have made changes to our operating hours, plus adopted new technologies to enable home working. However, we recognise that recruitment works best when people are part of an engaged and motivated team. We promote from within, and give our staff the opportunity to quickly move up the career ladder from Consultant to Team Leader, to Desk Head, to Sector Head and then to Managing Director. Training and development We have adapted our approaches to learning and development to work effectively within increasingly flexible and hybrid ways of working. This includes increasingly blended learning solutions harnessing technology whilst maximising the opportunities to connect with people face to face. Demonstrating career progression at Hays, 2,607 colleagues were promoted in the year. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion In order for Hays to thrive post-pandemic we need to maximise our people’s potential and ensure we continue to attract diverse talent. Our commitment to ED&I is fundamental to unlocking that potential. Further, as part of this commitment to ED&I, we partnered with an external specialist to help identify any barriers – real or perceived – to getting in and getting on at Hays. Employee voice and engagement We continue to develop an increasingly inclusive culture, building on the opportunities that 2020 provided us to connect and collaborate. Our various channels have enabled us to engage with a broader crosssection of our people and provided more opportunities to listen directly to their challenges, opinions and ideas. As part of this, we conducted two employee engagement – YourVoice – surveys during the year. "MAXIMISING ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE DEPENDS ON US REALISING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF OUR PEOPLE AND GIVING THEM FLEXIBILITY IN HOW THEY WORK. OUR COMMITMENT TO ED&I SUPPORTS THIS, HELPING TO DEVELOP DEPTH OF TALENT AND DIVERSE THINKING TO DRIVE OUR BUSINESS." SANDRA HENKE, GROUP HEAD OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE However we recognise that recruitment works best when people are in part of an engaged and motivated team. We promote from within, and give our staff the opportunity to quickly move up the career ladder from Consultant to Team Leader, to Desk Head, to Sector head and Managing Directors. Our Hays Story - Training: Alex Heise (ILMP) “The change-management skills I have learned as part of the Hays International Leadership Management Programme have had a major and timely impact on myself, and our business. I was first introduced to the Hays Change Methodology and associated leadership soft skills in February 2019. This was incredibly useful and further developed my skills ahead of the Germany restructuring we embarked upon in January 2020. "The ILMP has helped me to approach the change initiative with greater confidence and in a highly structured manner, which has helped achieve a more effective outcome. The timing and focus of the Group’s ILMP investment in myself and my colleagues has also been invaluable in helping us manage and lead our teams through the pandemic, where our focus on our people has been paramount." 2,607 INTERNAL PROMOTIONS IN FY21 20% OF NEW JOINERS' AND 5% OF MANAGEMENT'S TIME SPENT ON TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN FY20 Supporting our colleagues Wellbeing@Hays is an initiative recently launched within our UK&I business. Our overall employee wellbeing strategy is made up of four key pillars, my life, my health, my money, and my work environment and the employee benefits offered aim to support employees in each of these key pillars. As part of the ‘my health’ pillar, all Hays employees in the UK and Ireland now have access to up to three private online GP appointments per year via AXA PPP Healthcare’s, Doctor@Hand. The initiative, which compliments the Wellbeing@Hays offering, has had over 50% of all UK&I employees register for the service. Raising concerns at work – We also offer employees a confidential reporting line, managed by an independent third party, accessible by telephone or online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (as allowed under applicable law, employees may submit reports to the confidential line anonymously in over 100 languages). Contributing to society, investors and local communities We benefit society by helping people succeed and enabling organisations to thrive – creating opportunities and improving lives. In addition, we contribute to society through paying appropriate taxes in all the jurisdictions in which we operate; this supports public services, helps to create jobs and supports communities. We feel it is only right that we actively participate in the communities in which we operate. For example, in the North West region of the UK, we ran 14 employability sessions during the year and one of the sessions was in conjunction with Manchester City Football Club. These sessions are mainly targeted at school children/young adults and the aim of the sessions is to help them realise how much employers value skills such as teamwork, commitment and organisational skills, and helps them identify how they have gained these skills through sports, hobbies, school and family life. The skills acquired can be put on their CV which puts them in a far stronger position to secure an interview and get a job. 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