Tim Kemp contributes to UK Construction
In his monthly column in UK Construction, Tim Kemp, Warren Partners Director, commented on how looking outside the industry for talent can reap benefits for construction firms:
As a whole, the construction industry is known more for performance management, commercial focus and competitive drive than for innovation, originality or customer focus. In particular, keeping track of customer perceptions and expectations and understanding the most appropriate ways of communicating with them is increasing in strategic importance as customers become more demanding and discerning in their choice of product.
But, in a traditional industry such as construction, how should organisations go about improving relations with both supply chain and end user customers as part of a wider strategic perspective? The key to stimulating new ideas within many organisations, regardless of sector, is often to bring in or promote the right people. From a senior level recruitment perspective, that often means identifying people from other sectors who offer different skill sets and a fresh perspective.
In construction, many senior managers have worked their way up internally within the organisation and tend not to look back down the scale for input of ideas, believing that they can already predict what they are likely to hear. This means that they often miss out on valuable input by not making the most of talented people. This contrasts with people coming in from outside a sector who are keen to learn more about the business, particularly at the early stages. As well as bringing their own ideas to the table, they will often speak to people at the sharp end of the customer or manufacturing interface and pick up ideas at this level.
Nowadays, more and more organisations are beginning to recognise that bringing in people from outside their sector can encourage the cross-fertilisation of ideas. Many utilities organisations, for example, have begun to recruit senior executives from within retail and financial services to look specifically at customer relationship management and implement the more sophisticated processes inherent within those sectors.
Within the construction sector, which tends to adopt a more traditional approach to customer relations, there are several striking examples of companies that have built on their existing success by looking outside the sector for the next step. At Barratt Homes, for example, the recently appointed Chief Executive, Mark Clare, was formerly Managing Director of BG (British Gas Residential Energy). Additionally, Barratt's Group Finance Director, Mark Pain, is ex-Abbey National plc, where he served as Finance Director and as main board director responsible for retail sales.
Barratt's recent acquisition of Wilson Bowden is a clear sign of a change in emphasis and a more strategic approach to growth. Time will tell if this approach is successful, but the early signs look positive.
Another great example of a construction group looking outside its sector for fresh ideas is Rok, "The Nation's Local Builder". Chief Executive, Garvis Snook, ended a six-month search for a new strategic development director in 2004 with the appointment of Sue Moore, formerly the head of branding at BA. A deliberate move on Rok's part, Moore was brought in to generate and implement new ideas gained through years of direct customer interaction.
Offering a fresh perspective from an international industry, Moore was able to successfully assist Rok in improving its identity and the way it interacted with its supply chain. Snook himself even admitted that he had purposefully looked outside the construction industry for someone to improve relations, believing that he would have "ended up with more of the same" if he had recruited from within the industry.
Since Moore's appointment, Rok has continued to grow a powerful local and national brand identity and, over the last 18 months, has looked specifically at outlining its commitment to sub-contractors and staff. The Rok Green Award for both staff and supply chain is a quarterly internal award scheme, while the firm's new supply chain charter is designed to ensure the highest levels of customer service.
The group has also clearly defined its strategy to become the best employer, particularly within local markets. To that end, Rok has continued to operate from a network of offices in major towns across the UK, using "dedicated teams that live and work in their communities".
While Rok prides itself on its 'no job too small' strategy, much of the group's higher value work comes from public sector and not-for-profit organisations, which like its emphasis on trust and local relationships. Moore's introduction, it would seem, has brought benefits to the firm's bottom line as well as to its internal and external positioning.
Rok is also successful in operating an empowering culture, in which people feel motivated to bring forward new and innovative ideas. Delegating responsibility down within an organisation and giving people the authority to make decisions relating to their area of operation can also have additional benefits – improving staff retention, efficiency, effectiveness and, ultimately, boosting profitability.
Encouraging employees to generate and share new ideas is not as straightforward as simply placing 'ideas boxes' around the office, warehouse or factory. It is more a matter of changing the culture to empower those at different levels of the business by giving them 'ownership' of problems and the motivation to come up with solutions. Looking outside the construction industry, Apple is a perfect example of a company with an empowered culture. Its salespeople operate more as consultants and brand ambassadors and, as a result, are enthused and motivated to succeed. This less process-driven environment clearly pays dividends for the organisation.
There are potential drawbacks, however, of bringing in 'outsiders'. Culture change may occur more gradually as those individuals will need time to learn about the business and how it operates. But this is offset by the value added in terms of improving or even redefining procedures. In such situations, the organisation must be properly prepared to expect significant change.
When seeking a partner to help implement new strategies, therefore, an executive search or recruitment specialist who understands the organisation and its culture is of the utmost importance. The recruitment partner must be prepared to challenge the management team's criteria and put forward fresh ideas as to where the organisation could look for new recruits. By using a competency-based rather than a sector-based approach to recruiting new people, the company will also find it easier to identify individuals with particular expertise that will translate well into their business.
September 2007
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