Uniting companies and colleagues through shared purpose and values

Crafting purpose

Engaging and inspiring colleagues to improve performance

Little things matter

Connecting up colleagues

Connected Working

Leadership competencies for 90,000 people

Leader in you

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<div class="sc-annotation-instructional-tooltip-pane">Change communication is any type of communication that drives, delivers or sustains change. Done well, change communications can develop new behaviours, grow cultures, and transform businesses for the better. At 106 Communications, we specialise in both the art and science of change communications. First, we take time to fully understanding the change through data and research, then set measurable goals. Next, we use tried and tested change methods to create plans and interventions to reach those goals. Finally, we deliver to the highest standard, evaluating our impact as we go. Our approach is based on building strong stakeholder relationships from the start. We engage audiences through the change journey, so they are fully on board. And we bring the change to life through a compelling creative vision where anything is possible.</div>
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Transform Magazine

/events/cop26-and-the-opportunity-for-organisations/

COP26 and the opportunity for organisations

Change communications

At 106 we’re all about sustainability, and according to agency Tailify there is one major renewable out there just waiting to be tapped: influence. 
At Voxburner’s Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) festival earlier this month influencers and user-generated content (UGC) were the hot topic. An influencer might be your charismatic Instagram travel blogger, or your exuberant YouTuber, or even your friends and family. People are tired of old school brand advertising and they want to hear about new products or experiences from people they trust.  Here is an overview of the brilliant talk from the Tailify team and some words of wisdom from other YMS sages.
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The business case
Marketing has always been extremely competitive – the advertising arms race saw a man freefall from the stratosphere for Red Bull for crying out loud! But by-and-large, as the Gen Z population grows in buying power the old school publicity stunts and slick campaigns are losing their lustre. The power of influence is moving from companies to people, so embrace that! As Andy Mullinson from Nosto put it, “Curate, don’t create”. This means the content is out there, people in the community have the voice and the audience, so work with these people and be smart with showcasing UGC to generate organic engagement.
Only 2% of total global advertising budgets are going to influencers, but these brands’ audiences are spending 78% of their social media time watching influencers. The mutual relationship, the integration of personal development and interest with products, is a crucial part of the brave new world. The YMS Gen Z panel said they were very open to purchasing a product from an influencer if they had felt they had received something from the influencer first. That ‘something’ could be as simple as work out tips, an inspirational pep talk or a good ol’ chuckle.
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The framework
Moving towards influencer marketing means new metrics for success are required. The first rule of influencer club is influencers are people, not billboards. This mean human metrics are needed, psychological benchmarks to map the values and characteristics of an influencer. Tailify have found that an influencer who holds values close to that of the brand will have 2x ROI. Likes, followers, engagement rates etc are no longer the most helpful metrics. They don’t help you understand someone, rather they are a symptom of existing success. To gauge potential, the nuanced values piece is crucial.
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Some tips to get you started
There is some serious behavioural psychology behind these findings. Tailify has done the hard yards on the research, and they presented four top tips for your influencers to get the most traction on content.
Eye contact is everything
The direct gaze captures an audience’s attention because as humans it’s an important social cue and we can recognise the face quicker. Brief your content creator to look directly into the camera. The more eye contact, the higher the engagement rate – roughly 3 times higher!
Rough around the edges is just how we like it 
Only positive information from an influencer reduces the trust of their audience. Encourage them to use dis-preferred markers like “I’ll be honest…”, as it communicates but softens the negative aspects. The adage ‘if it’s too good to be true, it probably is’ pervades so improve believability with some rough edges.
Strike a pose – with your face!
Our attention is naturally captured by emotionally arousing stimuli. It doesn’t have to be a positive facial expression it just has to be striking. This will help your creator cut through the quick scroll, increasing engagement and recall.
Influencers as story tellers
The best performing influencers started their narrative with happy emotions, experience a midway dip and then end on a high. This brings people on a journey they can empathise with, as with the dis-preferred marker effect people want authentic experiences. This narrative can span a video or a campaign.
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Postcards from YMS: The age of influence

At the beginning of June, four of the team attended YMS LDN hosted by Voxburner.  Here&#8217;s the first of our postcards from the event.
We’re leaving behind rainbow washing and half-hearted allyship. It’s Pride Month so let’s get real about young LGBTQ+ consumer behaviour and want they want. Armed with serious data, Josephine Hansom hit back at stale stereotypes and marketing misdemeanours earlier this month at the Voxburner Youth Marketing Strategy festival. Here is an overview of her home truths…
This year marks 50 years since the first Pride march in the UK. Pride month is a celebration of individuality and freedom, but it is also a time to bring difficult conversations about the continuing challenges and social injustices the LGBTQ+ community face back to the fore. In the latest report from the Annual Population Survey (APS), the number of respondents who identify as heterosexual has dropped from 93.4% in 2014 to 87.3% in 2020. The LGBTQ+ community is growing, and if brands don’t keep up then they’re missing out.
In her talk ‘Being LGBTQ+: 10 Consumer Truths Brands Need to Know’ Josephine presented a deep, data-based understanding of the LGBTQ+ youth community. From company ethics to buying behaviours, fears and anxieties to aspirations and energy, this research uncovered some surprising statistics that (hopefully) will encourage brands to take a more nuanced approach to engaging LGBTQ+ youth every month of the year. Josephine spoke candidly about her own journey and offered a positive and productive approach to the complex topic: ‘we’re not here to cancel, we’re here to be conscientious’.
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YOUNG LGBTQ+ CONSUMERS CARE
One third of young LGBTQ+ consumers say being an ethical company is most important compared to 15% of heterosexual people. This conscientiousness extends to employment as 16% of LGBTQ+ want to work at an ethical organisation compared to only 6% of straight people.
LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to vote with their feet, as 54% of them report boycotting a brand who took a position they don’t agree with, compared to just a third of their heterosexual counterparts. 71% will speak out about something they don’t agree with compared to 45% of straight people.
This isn’t to say the young LGBTQ+ consumer is jaded. 31% of LGBTQ+ consumers report being happiest when they buy something new versus 25% of straight people. That’s a significant consumer market, but as a brand you need to be authentic and hold clear values that you stick to.
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TRUST AND PURSUIT OF AN INCLUSIVE REALITY
Pride month exists for a reason. For generations the LGBTQ+ community has faced systemic oppression and outright rejection. Research shows feelings of being an ‘outsider’ pervade, so it’s understandable that 81% of young LGBTQ+ people say their trust in the government is at an all-time low.  This distrust may also lie in the fact that 8 in 10 LGBTQ+ youth feel they don’t share the same values as the older generation, the generation running the nation.
Mental health research consistently shows the LGBTQ+ community is at higher risk of poor mental health than their straight counterparts.  Josephine’s research supports this with 62% of LGBTQ+ youth concerned about mental health compared to 39% of straight youth. Body image is also a major challenge to good mental health – regardless of orientation – and it was found that 74% of LGBTQ+ youth agreed with the statement “I am very conscious of my weight and body shape”, compared with 58% for heterosexual participants.
In the face of these statistics there is one thing that Josephine found LGBTQ+ youth tend to do: escape reality. Young LGBTQ+ consumers prefer sci-fi and horror films more than straight people who tend to prefer rom coms and action. Josephine proposes a correlation between identifying as an outsider and leaning on fantasy and fiction for escape.
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WHAT ARE THEY UP TO? EVERYTHING!
When surveyed, LGBTQ+ youth wanted to everything more than straight people. Hiking, swimming, crochet, learn an instrument – if it was on the survey, they wanted to do it. This reflects a tribe of people who are engaged and curious. Furthering this, pandemic research showed that there was a significant decline in romantic firsts (first dates, kisses etc) however, since the lock down LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to have gone out and experienced romantic firsts than straight people.
When it comes to technology in general, LGBTQ+ youth are less likely to think tech will change their life. 67% of them have deactivated a social media account (compared with 50% for straight youths) so beware, these channels can be easily shut down. When asked “In the last two months have you bought anything you’ve seen online?”, LGBTQ+ were 48% more likely than straight people to not have purchased anything through a major social media channel.
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ADULTING IS NOT EASY
Only 40% of young LGBTQ+ people report feeling like an adult, compared 53% for straight young people. Josephine suggested that this may be due in part to the difficulty for some to be or express fully who they are while living with family. The research also showed that LGBTQ+ youth are less likely to be striving to be an entrepreneur or be ambitious in aiming to be at the top of their career. These two trends indicate a responsibility for employers to foster open and welcoming work environments of belonging with clear growth pathways for individuals.
 
The LGBTQ+ youth community is not a homogenous whole, and every individual with that group has their own preferences and behaviours. This data reveals overarching trends of a curious, highly engaged and discerning community that at times experiences alienation and anxiety. A rainbow washed campaign isn’t going to cut it. Use this information to design meaningful experiences and where possible create products with a purpose. 
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Postcards from YMS: LGBTQ+ Youth Consumer Trends

Put a bunch of professional communicators in a room and there’ll be laughter, encouragement, and some good ol’ fashioned problem solving. 
In the Collaboration Zone at the SimplyIC conference this week, internal communicators from across industry, sector, and country came together to tackle the biggest issues facing organisations today through the lens of communications.
Eight sessions across the two days covered topics from crisis comms to neurodiverse workplaces, hacking the hybrid workforce to mindful leadership. Unfortunately our 106 rep Millie could only be in one place at one time, but from the sessions she caught two overarching directives made themselves clear: empower your people and be strategic.
<ol>
<li>EMPOWER YOUR PEOPLE</li>
</ol>
A successful internal communications (IC) campaign doesn’t just broadcast information, it encourages engagement and makes space for employees to have their own voice. People aren’t going to speak up and engage unless they feel empowered, and our SimplyIC hosts had some pretty good ideas on how to make that happen.
Aoife from Alzheimer’s UK talked about creating a culture that empowers a neurodiverse workplace. This process is inherently tied in with any DEI initiative, as “a diverse workplace is a neurodiverse workplace”, and neurodivergence is intersectional. Aoife’s DEI strategy at Alzheimer’s UK is pinned around the Curb-Cut Effect; a phenomenon where a policy, resource or accessibility feature designed to benefit a vulnerable group ultimately benefits everyone.  If we design our workplaces around this idea, then we empower more people to access the resources they need and simply make life easier for others.
Empowering people is also vital part of any culture change project, as Lesley Allman demonstrated with her Boots No.7 case study. In this award-winning culture change project, a democratic approach was adopted as employees from all levels were brought into the development phase. This meant the people expected to live the values had a say in them and thus created a sense of ownership and pride in the company. This was achieved through focus groups, surveys, and line manager training as they became the standard bearers for company culture.
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<ol start="2">
<li>BE STRATEGIC</li>
</ol>
“The best laid plans o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley”
Fortunately for us (but perhaps not for him) Drew McMillan, former Colleague Communication &amp; Culture Director at BA, has significant experience in crisis communications – especially during Covid. He distilled his experience down to four principles for avoiding disaster:
<ul>
<li>Have a plan and keep it alive</li>
<li>Put aside your ego</li>
<li>Accept imperfection</li>
<li>Put your people first</li>
</ul>
Every crisis is an issue, but not every issue is a crisis. In your plan, make sure you limit the number of people who can declare a crisis, build in clear approval processes, and run crisis stimulations to keep the plan alive. Crises are highly demanding on people, and when people are tired they make mistakes. Recognise when people need relief, make space for them to talk freely, and work to maintain that trust.
Bringing us from the reactive to the proactive, Advita took us through a pragmatic approach to attaining rich data for auditing or assessing IC channels and campaigns on a budget. As IC people we need to be strategic and work out ‘what do we already have?’ Platforms like Yammer have free analytics for example. And what about the people we work with? An inter-departmental brains trust is highly valuable, consider reaching out to the finance department if you need help with processing data and offer your comms expertise in exchange.
Workshopping real-life challenges attendees were facing and creating a safe space for the serious and the silly made the Collaboration Zone fertile ground for learning and bonding. Inspired by and going beyond these conversations, we have one or two thoughts on how to develop creative solutions for communications challenges, so get in touch if you want to find out more about how 106 can help you!
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SimplyIC and Collaboration from Alzheimers, Boots and BA

Rolling out of bed at 8:45am, to commute only as far as the desk on the other side of the room may be appealing for a day or two, but how often should we really be working from home?
Covid has hardly gone, but the world is moving on. With a war in the East, and rising prices everywhere; the pandemic is reaching our ears less and less through the news. Why then are so many of us still working in our PJs?
In 2019, 4.7% of individuals worked from home, already an increase on previous years. In fact working from home has been gradually on the rise for decades with an increase of 3.2% since 1981 when only 1.5% worked in their homes.
However, this jumped to a staggering 43.1% in April 2020 after Boris Johnson’s instruction that everyone “must stay at home” on 23rd March 2020 (Felstead &amp; Reuschke, 2020).
There are numerous reasons that people may prefer working from home.
<ul>
<li>Money saver – According to an article by The Motley Fool, an average Brit will save £126 a month or £1,500 a year on commuting when working from home (Bocco, 2021).</li>
<li>Time saving – The average Brit spends almost five hours a week commuting to and from work (Lilly, 2022). Not only does travel take up a significant proportion of the day, but add to this the time spent getting ready to leave the house; only a third of the time spent in personal grooming is needed when people don’t plan on being out of the house all day (Reuter, 2022).</li>
<li>Work from anywhere – Relocating to a tropical country may only be a realistic endeavour to very few people, but the ability to work entirely remotely can have a huge impact for multinational companies who are interested in hiring and collaborating with people from all over the globe.</li>
<li>Productivity &#8211; A report by Harvard Business School in 2020 in which over 30,000 work emails were analysed, found that those involved in hybrid working conditions (partly at home, partly in the office) were more productive and managers were more impressed with their work than those working full-time in one environment, whether the office or working from home.</li>
<li>Employment possibilities – When searching for a new job, more often than not we tend to find ourselves limited by geography. Remote working can allow people to work for companies whose offices are not in their region or even country.</li>
<li>Fewer distractions – For most people, working from home will mean being around less people, and therefore they may find themselves less distracted by small talk and interruptions. Of course, for some individuals or at certain times, such as school holidays, working from home could be far more distracting than being in the office.</li>
<li>Flexibility – Working from home often includes setting your own working hours or at least being able to move your lunch breaks to fit in with other appointments you may have.</li>
</ul>
Despite these benefits however, there are some disadvantages of WFH:
<ul>
<li>The need for a home office and equipment – Many remote jobs require equipment and software that you may not have at home. Space can also be an issue, whereas in the office you are likely to have access to a desk and chair of you own, space may be limited in people’s houses and finding an appropriate environment away from distractions can be difficult. Working in your bedroom can have a negative effect on mentality and cause a lack of productivity.</li>
<li>Difficulty separating work and home life – When working at home, it is often hard to stop the line between the working day and your leisure time from blurring. A consensus completed by the National Office for Statistics in 2021 showed that when working from home, on average individuals did 6 hours of unpaid overtime per week, compared with 3.6 hours for those that worked out of the house (ONS, 2021).</li>
<li>Isolation and anxiety – Whilst many people thrive in a quiet and solitary environment, working at home can cause a rise in anxiety down to lack of social interaction. Roughly 2.6 million Brits reported feeling “chronically lonely” during lockdown (Lilly, 2022). Going back to work in the office involves seeing co-workers and being surrounded by the public on commutes, which may be taken for granted usually, but during lockdown the lack of personal interaction was felt by most people.</li>
<li>Fresh air and exercise – For those who actively exercise on a daily basis, this may not make much of a difference, but for many people walking to work or to public transport and even moving around the office is as much exercise as they do during the week; and although it may not seem like a lot, not leaving the house can have negative effects on both peoples mental and physical state after a while.</li>
</ul>
So what’s the solution?
Many companies are bringing in ‘Working From Home’ policies and limiting the amount of days working out of the office per week. Others are letting their employees chose how and where they work. Whatever your company may be doing it is worth recognising the benefits and disadvantages of both, and considering which is best for you, and for managers, your employees.
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Citations:
Bocco, D. (2021). Working from home can save you over £1,500 a year &#8211; The Motley Fool UK. Retrieved 11 May 2022, from <a href="https://www.fool.co.uk/2021/12/06/working-from-home-can-save-you-over-1500-a-year/#:~:text=The%20average%20Brit%20spends%20%C2%A3,1%2C500%20a%20year%20in%20savings">https://www.fool.co.uk/2021/12/06/working-from-home-can-save-you-over-1500-a-year/#:~:text=The%20average%20Brit%20spends%20%C2%A3,1%2C500%20a%20year%20in%20savings</a>.
Reuter, D. (2022). MSN. Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/workers-spend-one-third-less-time-on-personal-grooming-when-they-clock-in-from-home-compared-with-when-they-commute-to-the-office/ar-AATfq48
Felstead, A and Reuschke, D (2020) ‘Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown’, WISERD Report, Cardiff: Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research. Available for download from: https://wiserd.ac.uk/publications/homeworking-ukand-during-2020-lockdown
Lilly, C. (2022). Working from home (WFH) statistics | Finder UK. Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.finder.com/uk/working-from-home-statistics#:~:text=The%20average%20daily%20commute%20time,a%20plus%20for%20employers%20too.
ONS, (2021). Homeworking hours, rewards and opportunities in the UK: 2011 to 2020 &#8211; Office for National Statistics. (2021). Retrieved 11 May 2022, from https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/homeworkinghoursrewardsandopportunitiesintheuk2011to2020/2021-04-19

The great debate: Office v Hybrid v Remote

The debate about returning to the office has raged on and on over the last few months and there are no signs of it stopping.
Recently, two law firms come out fighting.
Stephenson Harwood are adopting a hybrid model, like the majority of other law firms; but if you don&#8217;t ever want to go into the office again, you&#8217;re in for a shock.  All fully remote workers will see their pay cut by 20%.
Meanwhile Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &amp; Sullivan has told its London lawyers to spend over half their working week in the office, and is promising &#8216;hot lunches&#8217; as a way of enticing them back.  It&#8217;s like Luncheon Vouchers all over again.
Many companies and firms are making Thursdays a day when everyone is in, and that seems to be evidenced by the journeys on the Tube.
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-9363" src="https://api.106comms.com/app/uploads/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-17.36.49-300x189.png" alt="" width="302" height="190" /><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-9366 size-large" src="https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-1024x641.png" alt="" width="1024" height="641" srcset="https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-1024x641.png 1024w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-300x188.png 300w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-768x480.png 768w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26-1536x961.png 1536w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20220506181956/Screenshot-2022-05-06-at-18.20.26.png 1544w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
However, many firms are struggling to persuade certain populations to come in at all.  Two of our clients are struggling with getting their tech teams to love the office once again &#8211; which is surprising because in many ways, the Silicon Valley style office was built for tech folk.
We do have to ask ourselves, why do companies want their people back in the office?  Surely, the starting point is money. We either keep with the office and you use it.  Or we lose it.  Currently, UK offices are just a quarter full &#8211; which is surely not sustainable. The other reason seems to be the ability to collaborate and innovate better when you&#8217;re together. At least this is the reason being put forward &#8211; although I suspect that it&#8217;s also leaders saying &#8216;If I&#8217;m coming into the office, I want to make sure everyone else is too!&#8217;.
Okay, so, say we need to get people to return to the office &#8211; for the sake of the business, collaboration, innovation and to keep the boss happy &#8211; what do we do?
At the recent Innovation@Work event held by The Economist, Hamish Badenoch, Global head, future of work and real estate transformation, Deutsche Bank, talked about how people had changed their habits during the course of the pandemic. It was now a habit to work at home; and if you want to get people to return to the office, you have to change habits (and that takes time).
Changing habits is not simply about sending out an email, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/4/22961592/apple-april-11-return-office-corporate-pandemic-tim-cook">a la Tim Cook</a>.
The backlash was quick with a group of Apple employees saying that &#8220;forcing them back to the office will kill diversity and make tech firm &#8216;younger, whiter and more male-dominated&#8217; because it only benefits privileged staff who can &#8216;disappear into the office all day'&#8221;.
So what&#8217;s our advice on creating comms and engagement to encourage colleagues to return to the office:
Start consulting &#8211; this is a hot potato.  Find out what people really think; and what are real barriers and opportunities.
Always co-create &#8211; get teams of people involved in helping to co-create your comms.
Get creative &#8211; let&#8217;s not roll out &#8216;One Team&#8217; nonsense.  That&#8217;s gone.  Get a strong creative team on the job (like 106).  And if you need to be radical, do it.
Go beyond a campaign &#8211; this is not some one-off campaign that can solve this.  Think about the medium and long term.
And keep leaders consistent &#8211; make sure they are role-modelling, sharing and talking about their office experience (and struggles), and what&#8217;s working for them.
And here&#8217;s how not to do it.  Don&#8217;t remind employees of what they are missing when they are coming into the office:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In the lobby of an office building in Toronto. I guess to make sure employees are flooded with resentment the instant they walk in the door? <a href="https://t.co/oWUDofGvzK">pic.twitter.com/oWUDofGvzK</a>
&mdash; Audra Williams (@audrawilliams) <a href="https://twitter.com/audrawilliams/status/1500669564711014401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Classic!

RTO is one hot potato

Recently Bright Network released their report on ‘What do graduates want?’ for 2022/3.  As a recent graduate, I was interested to learn more about what 14,234 graduates thought!
First up, I was surprised that only 60% of students are planning on starting a graduate job straight after graduating.  Are graduates still concerned about entering the job market?
Yet there’s a rise of 16 percentage points when asked about how confident they are about securing graduate roles this year than in 2021.  And those from Black Heritage backgrounds are more confident than the student population as a whole regarding getting a job.
We only have to look back at last year’s result and see how confidence has grown. In response to the same question during Covid, graduates seemed to have lost a lot of confidence in the job market with 33-39% of respondents feeling confident between April 2020 and January 2021 down from 57% in January of 2018 and 2019.
So confidence levels are rising – and we’re also seeing another positive sign.  The majority of students are being selective about their applications and only applying for programmes that are strongly related to their interests and future careers – over 50% of students apply for up to 6 graduate programmes and internships, whilst under a quarter applied to over 16.
What about background?  Is this affecting student confidence?  Whilst the percentage of Black Heritage students that agreed to having felt that their background has hindered their work or study applications is concerningly high (43%), I am surprised that more than half of this number (24%) is also true of individuals who were privately educated.
Surprisingly, more respondents from private schools believed that the competition for internships was a barrier to them securing one than that of their state-school counterparts.
Maybe we are finally seeing a re-balance on the social mobility front.
&nbsp;
Remote vs In-person
I am slightly surprised that remote work is preferred by many graduates (91% interested in having flexible working) looking for their first job, because personally I find that being in the office the majority of the time is preferable for a few reasons; being new to the company I find it much easier to get guidance when in the office, and being in the office is of course much more sociable than working from home. This being said, I really appreciate having the flexibility when necessary, and working from home the odd day can be a welcome change especially before I moved and was having to commute for over an hour each morning.
&nbsp;
Moving to London
Having just moved to London for a job myself, I am not surprised that 53% of respondents would like to work in London for their first job. There are a few likely reasons for this, with the salaries, progression opportunities and social life most likely being the main reason for many graduates; however, the constant relocation of individuals into London has made certain factors such as finding affordable accommodation in the city very difficult.
&nbsp;
Diversity perception
When asked ‘Are there any sectors which you perceive as lacking diversity and inclusivity?’ the sectors rated at the worst were Banking &amp; Finance, Technology, Engineering, Construction &amp; Manufacturing and Law.  This is despite so much work being done in these sectors to address these issues; maybe there’s been more focus on words than actions!
&nbsp;
Candidate experience is all important 
Whilst the prospect of a more exciting role would be the #1 reason to turn down an offer or renege on one; the experience during the application process is the reason for 15% of applicants considering turning down the offer. And a staggering 88% of graduates would consider reneging on a job offer if the experience is poor!
I wholeheartedly empathise with this. Having recently been job-hunting, I understand that the degree to which you are made to feel comfortable by the interviewers (and the way they communicate with you before and after) has a huge influence on your decision, especially if you are torn between two positions.
&nbsp;
Applying 
Word of mouth is still a big factor in recruitment: in fact 82% of respondents admit to talking to their friends and peers about their careers, discussing both their current jobs and those that they are applying to. Not only does this help the individual to recognise how they feel about the position, but it also spreads brand awareness and trust. I experienced this when I applied for my job at 106; my housemate at the time (in another city) mentioned that she had previously been to a few of the company’s events, and this in itself made the company stand out to me.
Graduates believe that having a 2:1 or above in their degree is the most important thing to employers and related experience second, whilst employers place these factors as the 6th and 11th most important things respectively. Employers are most interested in applicants who have a passion for the business and are resilient.  But I wonder how much employers are swayed by relevant experience?!
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Salary and the cost of living
With the price of living constantly rising, it is no surprise that 59% of respondents said that they would be more likely to apply if the salary is listed on the application. Meanwhile, 27% said they would only apply if they knew the salary and a mere 14% said that they would apply if they didn’t know the salary. This being said; graduate salary expectations have not increased in the past few years, and after dropping into the £25k range in 2021, it has bounced back to exceed £27k – which is where we were before the pandemic.
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This is my first blog for 106; watch out for more blogs from me on student marketing and comms in the coming weeks and months.  Bye for now!

Change
communications

Successful change communications is both an art and a science.

Case studies

CRAFTING PURPOSE

LITTLE THINGS MATTER

CONNECTED WORKING

LEADER IN YOU

Insight

Transform Magazine

Event

COP26 and the opportunity for organisations

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RTO IS ONE HOT POTATO

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Successful change communications is both an art and a science.

Case studies

CRAFTING PURPOSE

LITTLE THINGS MATTER

CONNECTED WORKING

LEADER IN YOU

Insight

.css-1xu3tth{color:black;}.css-vxem87{box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;min-width:0;color:#ffc900;color:black;}.css-vxem87:hover{color:#ffc900;}Transform Magazine

Event

COP26 and the opportunity for organisations

Recent Posts

POSTCARDS FROM YMS: THE AGE OF INFLUENCE

POSTCARDS FROM YMS: LGBTQ+ YOUTH CONSUMER TRENDS

SIMPLYIC AND COLLABORATION FROM ALZHEIMERS, BOOTS AND BA

THE GREAT DEBATE: OFFICE V HYBRID V REMOTE

RTO IS ONE HOT POTATO

“WHAT DO GRADUATES WANT?” – A GRADUATE’S PERSPECTIVE

Transform Magazine