Engaging students in the midst of a pandemic

Work and play

Making a real difference to local government

Real difference

Engaging diverse audiences for the NHS

Your NHS

A global challenge

100% you

The social mobility challenge

Be the apprentices

The pandemic has changed student engagement in a number of different ways. Virtual has become a norm &#8211; to attract as well as assess students. And it seems that employers are determined not to go back to old methods, but to embrace a more hybrid model. But this means different kinds of challenges &#8211; breaking through the digital noise, grabbing the passers-by, reaching out to diverse audiences and creating connected experiences that students want to be part of. We are here to support employers and help them transform engagement &#8211; from school years to graduate alumni, from initial contact to webinars, social engagement and more.

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Get ready for amazing virtual campus experiences

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Employability Roundtable

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is possibly the biggest challenge and opportunity facing the majority of organisations. We work with employers to engage diverse audiences, build strong communities, create peer to peer content and run events that put a spotlight on what DE&amp;I means to organisations and to their people.
Talk to us about:
• DE&amp;I insight 
• Targeting and campaigns 
• Content 
• DE&amp;I events 
• Influencers

DE&I

Today social is a way of life.  It influences our decisions in everything we do, from the music we listen to, to the food we eat. Talent brands need to socially immersed, creating and co-creating content, engaging with students, standing up for what they believe in, and showing the culture and values of the organisation.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Social media strategy</li>
<li>Content development</li>
<li>Social management</li>
<li>Influencers</li>
<li>Social measurement</li>
</ul>

Social

We are a brand and engagement agency; so we focus heavily on how a brand story can evoke the right emotions in the audience and provoke action.  We are master storytellers, using all the tools in the communications box to engage and inspire our audiences, from the first contact right through to life inside an organisation.  Remember, communications that engages really connect with the right people and builds the brand is as much about the science as it is surprising audiences.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Concept development</li>
<li>Student targeting</li>
<li>Campaign management</li>
</ul>

Campaigns

We&#8217;ve seen a seismic shift in the way we might work in the future – and it is more virtual and more digital, relying less on the traditional engagement opportunities.  Now more than ever brands need to invest in digital experiences that cut through the ever-increasing noise and engage people in novel and relevant ways.  It is no longer enough simply to have a website.  What is your social strategy?  How can you use Voice or AR?  What will help and support students in the best possible way?  Lots of questions.  We can help you come up with the answers.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Website design and development</li>
<li>App development</li>
<li>AR, VR and Voice</li>
<li>Social media engagement</li>
<li>Digital marketing</li>
</ul>

Digital

Student Marketing

&#8216;It doesn’t smell does it?&#8217; *recoils in horror*
Have a go at guessing what that comment was in response to…
An awfully out of date yoghurt? A gory wound? Entering the room your flatulent pet dog has been relaxing in?
This comment was actually said in a conversation about my hair earlier in the week (not by one of my fabulous 106 collegues). And no, there wasn’t some kind of rotting vegetable balancing on my head.
All jokes aside, comments such as these are worryingly commonplace in work environments and have a marked impact on Black people’s sense of belonging.
65% of Black Gen Z do not feel confident wearing their natural hair in the workplace. Compare that to the 76% of White Gen Z who do feel confident.<a>[1]</a> Responsible for the difference in these statistics are the Eurocentric beauty standards which dictate what is most widely accepted in terms of appearance. Unfortunately, these are not shifting any time too soon.
 So, what can businesses do to help their employees feel comfortable wearing their hair in its natural state?
 *Might I just add that doing so is sure to increase the productivity and punctuality of their staff members as they may not feel obliged to wake up at the crack of dawn to undertake an extensive hair ‘taming’ regime.*
 Firstly, understand the issue at hand here. If your staff do not feel comfortable being themselves, then they are unlikely to thrive. Try to place yourselves in the shoes of somebody whose mind is preoccupied with something as menial as the strands of keratin emerging from their head, rather than the tasks at hand.
Secondly, ensure that the comms and content you share internally within your workplace have tackled the issue. Perhaps circulate testimonials from staff members who are willing to share their experiences. After all, I believe 90% of the time, comments such as the one I received are rooted in ignorance, rather than intentional offence. Indeed, it was said to me after an initial compliment and I’m sure they meant no harm. Even during the application/interview process, make sure you explicitly position yourself as valuing diversity in appearance/hair texture.
 Thirdly, it’s often argued that it is not the sole responsibility of Black people to raise awareness of diversity issues. Such situations are labelled ‘cultural taxation’, because of the burden they place on these members of staff.<a>[2]</a> Therefore, direct staff members to existing resources such as Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri or the World Afro Day report<a>[3]</a>, which provide comprehensive food for thought.
Ultimately, I understand that at times, Black hair can be fascinating, and the variety of styles and textures may astound people. However, remember that the person just beneath their hair is not a zoo animal to be probed and gawked at… Instead, research and endeavor to learn what is involved in the upkeep and maintenance of such complexities. Ensure your company’s comms, both internally, and externally, are aware of the issues Black staff may face and remain culturally sensitive.
 Millie Finch
<a>[1]</a> <a href="https://www.thisisblackgenz.com/_files/ugd/9709f6_f421f1f8bb504384a94c16462eefa2b4.pdf">https://www.thisisblackgenz.com/_files/ugd/9709f6_f421f1f8bb504384a94c16462eefa2b4.pdf</a>
<a>[2]</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1176259">https://doi.org/10.2307/1176259</a>
 <a>[3]</a><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58c1d7399f7456c9116ad8c8/t/5cde92fb72fc20000181e8fc/1558090496159/WAD+Hair+Equality+Report+2019a.pdf">https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58c1d7399f7456c9116ad8c8/t/5cde92fb72fc20000181e8fc/1558090496159/WAD+Hair+Equality+Report+2019a.pdf</a>

The Hairy Reality of Being Black In The Workplace

Hector: My Work Experience at 106 Communications

In Brighton. At The Grand.  The sun’s shining.  And 300 people are ready for the first ISE in-person conference for three years.
Over the course of two days, employers, careers services and suppliers shared a range of insights and perspectives.
So what were the key themes?  Did Covid still loom large over the student population?  What new innovations would we see?  Would the Grand live up to expectation?  And who would have the best giveaways?
Here are our top take-aways.
The Generation Myth – Professor Bobby Duffy from Kings College London opened up proceedings with a cracking talk on The Generation Myth.  We’ve long adhered to his thinking that there are far fewer distinctions between generations than the Daily Mail would have you believe.  Of course, there are some differences, and in particular the wealth of Millennials and GenZ V Baby Boomers is painful to see.  But in general, this talk reminded us that there are more similarities than differences, and many of the fundamental human motivations and behaviours haven’t changed a great deal.
Purpose is passion, opportunity and pay – In Eduardo Plastino’s talk on The Purpose Gap, it was interesting to hear what constitutes purpose for graduates.  It isn’t simply a commitment to a worthy cause, it is a triangulation of Passion, Work/Life Balance and Pay.  They are interlinked, and we should remember that it’s not about pursuing your own personal agenda, but committing to a passion, as well as having the flexibility and pay to fulfil your aspirations.
Talent Pools and the Business Case – Inflation, the competition for talent, the cost of experienced hiring – for some organisations, these pressures have pushed them to double-down on early careers recruitment.  We heard from Autotrader about how a shortage of developers in the North West drove them to focus on early careers as a way to create a new talent pipeline.  Of course, it takes time, but the results were impressive.  Over three years, they’ve effectively grown their own pool of 60 developers.  One of their best innovations was to give school leavers, who may not quite have the skills to join now, a taste of the work at Autotrader and encourage them to come back in the future.  Interestingly, this has really helped them to bring more female junior developers into the business.  We saw a similar ‘taster’ approach from Accenture to help young people understand that technology is a career they could do.
Equity rather than simply D&amp;I – We heard a lot more about the concept of equity rather than simply diversity and inclusion – and this is a welcome move.  Anne-Marie Imafidon nicely illustrated the importance of equity and also called out some pretty unfathomable behaviour (whether intentional or not) which leads to products and services not fit for certain people – “from seat belts killing women and children initially, to the period tracker. God forbid you have a period that’s longer than ten days – these apps just doesn’t allow you to track your periods beyond that”.
Positive action – So many of the case studies showed positive action in trying to reach under-represented groups; for example, partnering with charities such as Change100 and Ambitious About Autism (both examples from AutoTrader), but also providing accelerated progression; and of course, programmes like 10,000 Black Interns which blatantly focus on one group of people.  We are biased but we loved hearing the 4x Interns that came through 10,000 Black Interns, talking about how to leverage cultural trends to reach under-represented groups.
Student Mental Wellbeing – Hearing from Juliet … from KCL was fascinating.  We almost imagined that this would be a valediction of why we should focus much more on student mental health – and in some ways, yes, it was.  But what was fascinating was how much Juliet’s research showed that it’s not necessarily that students have more mental health issues, it’s that there is a much greater focus on supporting them – whether unis or employers.
Reneges and Reserves – When you’re setting out establishing a new programme or trying to show its worth to the business, the last thing you need are ‘no shows’ or people leaving soon after they have started.  As Vanessa Soames pointed out, it’s actually better to have reneges at the offer stage than have the risk of people leaving once they’ve joined.  This isn’t a good look for a professional recruitment team – no matter how much you can say it wasn’t your fault.  What’s better is to have the reneges and ensure you’ve got a good reserve list, so that the business is shielded from any problems.
Conference Experience (and Merch) – It was great to be with student employers and partners once again after such a long time.  And it’s great to be by the sea.  Being from Brighton, Zoe Lyons was a natural choice to host the awards – and she didn’t disappoint.  Congratulations to all the award winners.  Our own award for ‘merch’ goes to Handshake.  We loved the bucket hats!
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All in all, this was a 2-day conference packed full of interesting content and speakers, with the right amount of theory and big-picture perspective as well as case studies and key day-to-day insights.  Plus we were right by the beach.  (No pictures of Henry taking an early-moning dip in the sea, fortunately!)
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Take-aways from the ISE conference (including the bucket hats)

The competition for talent (it’s not a war, people) and the drive to get people out of their pjs and into the office, has led a number of companies to make grand gestures.
Parties, merchandise, nights out; one professional services firm even has a pub with free drinks now in its building .  There are a number of organisations going for broke in the effort to entertain their troops as well as get them back on the 7.35 from Hatfield and into the office.
We are also seeing a basketful of benefits thrown at candidates and colleagues, as organisations realise that pool tables and nights out after work, aren’t the biggest draw in a hybrid working world.  And let’s not forget pay – PwC most recently gave everyone a 9% pay rise at the very least.
So what is the answer?
Of course, additional pay is welcome in this period of high inflation – no doubt about it – and certainly PwC’s company-wide 8% pay rise got the attention of the media and the LinkedIn literati.  We’re also seeing a trend where people are <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/workers-cash-in-as-employers-fight-for-talent-bcn8c35lb">moving roles to get salary increases of 25% or more</a>.  We know one person who was offered a £500 increase by her current employer (they thought they were being generous), only to be offered a 50% salary increase by another.  Yep, you know what she did!
Aggressive pay rises are going to move some people from one company to another.  But it’s not sustainable for many organisations to pile on fixed costs.  So what’s the answer?  Should you make some grand gestures to show your people how much you care about them or simply focus on little things but more often?
The grand gesture is a stand-out feature, and getting people together for an amazing event or experience has so many benefits for the organisation as well as the individual. One of our clients takes the whole business ski-ing – and there’s no doubt that the experiences created from such events can create strong bonds, build lasting memories and reaffirm an organisation’s commitment to its people.
But how effective are they in retaining colleagues and ensuring they feel like they belong in an organisation? In this client’s case, the grand gesture is becoming less important (much to the horror of the leadership team) and within the colleague community, we are hearing that there are more important factors at play.
The difficulty with grand gestures is creating an experience that is for everyone.  Again, we hear from clients (even those with primarily millennial employees) that the big company drinks and events aren’t the pull that they may have once been.  In part, because some people are not so interested in drinking or drinking with colleagues; and there might be other priorities for colleagues, especially those with young families.
In analysis to understand what is driving The Great Resignation (and whether it’s actually fact or fiction), Karian and Box analysed data from 450,000 employees in surveys dating back to 2017.  The top three reasons for leaving (or intending to leave) were:
<ul>
<li>Manager behaviours</li>
<li>Career progression / development opportunities</li>
<li>Job security / concerns</li>
</ul>
Next up was wanting to broaden experience.  Of course, job security points to Covid, the current economic volatility, and how it’s made some people fear for their jobs.  But the top two motivations haven’t changed since, well, the year dot.  And yet organisations are still failing at the principles of everyday engagement.
People don&#8217;t seem to leave because they weren&#8217;t taken on a company jolly!
So what are some of the answers?  Focus on people managers more than ever before and create a narrative that sets out the vision of the organisation and shows the opportunities for colleagues.  There are other key interventions, as Karian and Box highlight, such as focusing on high-talent individuals and tackling areas of higher-than-average attrition.
Remember, when there’s a vacuum (caused by a lack of engagement), people try to fill the vacuum with concerns and suspicions, or simply decide to leave and find somewhere they feel as though they are valued.
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Grand gestures v everyday engagement

In May, I received an email from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cullenjayne/">Jayne Cullen</a> at <a href="https://www.106comms.com">106 Communications</a> explaining that as an intern at 106, I would be speaking at the ISE Conference. The topic of discussion was how brands and businesses can leverage cultural trends to connect with Gen Z talent and under-represented audiences.
A series of initial thoughts occurred to me: what on earth is the ISE? How can I possibly speak in front of an audience? What do I have to say?
I was nervous to say the least and refrained from dwelling on it as I began my internship in June. But as the date grew nearer, I could no longer ignore the prospect and collated my thoughts with fellow intern <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/blessingsimeon/">Blessing Simeon</a>. What was initially an interest-peaking discussion title, started to gain some form and substance. We designed our first survey and sent it to graduate recruiters to gain an understanding of what challenges they may face; with a particular focus on their use or lack of use of social media.
Meeting in Brighton Pret a Manger, myself and three other women, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/praise-olawanle-03140919b/">Praise</a>, Blessing and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ife-obasa-41a58a1a5/">Ife</a>, prepared to travel to the venue. I would not describe myself as feeling out of place, but I was definitely a newbie, having not had a lanyard around my neck since sixth form! We huddled at the back of a hall for the last few minutes of a talk on the mental impact of the pandemic on students and it dawned on me the challenge and opportunity we were about to face.
Once miked up and positioned on platform, we settled into place. Employers, media suppliers and career service representatives started filtering into the Empress suite and without the support of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/employerbrand/">Henry Davies</a> and the ladies I shared the stage with, I’m sure it would have been far more daunting.
Chaired by Henry, our discussion included a breadth of valuable takeaways, as the generous feedback confirmed. We spoke about how businesses can use consumer marketing as inspiration for their own experimental attempts; M&amp;S Romford’s TikTok account was one such example. The merits of influencers was another hot topic and we made it apparent that it’s an area recruiters should harness if they want to attract diverse audiences. We spoke about the characteristics of Gen Z, and how sensitivity and awareness of these is crucial for a business’s social media strategy to be effective
The feedback was bountiful and I can say I am proud of myself for speaking in front of an audience – something I was very apprehensive about. This is just one of the achievements 106 Communications has helped be with in my internship facilitated by the 10,000 Black Interns Programme thus far.
^MF

Millie Finch, Intern, on her first speaking gig!

An image surfaced on my Twitter feed this week which took me by surprise; it appeared to be a very unfortunate marketing choice by the University of Adelaide. On hoarding outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a young man is shown explaining something or other to five women. Although he gesticulates with a pen in hand, the women’s faces betray their total disinterest. Positioned to the left of this dire scene is a large University of Adelaide emblem. Keen-eyed social media users deplored the University’s oversight, suggesting they might offer a degree in ‘mansplaining’.
Interestingly, the image bears no actual connection to the University, instead belonging to urban development company, Renewal SA’s hoarding. However, the reality of the situation is redundant, as four years after it first circulated in 2018, the image still possesses an inextricable link with the University. Made worse by the reduced attention span social media use engenders and a thriving cancel culture, many who come across the post won’t look further to discover the truth behind the image. In fact, the contrast in size and positioning of logo sizes between the University’s and Renewal’s, leaves no incentive to do so.
Further, though the image is not related to the University, it is related to an organisation which works on behalf of the Government of South Australia. Thus, it is no more reassuring to learn of the University’s distance from it. As a large business involved in and partially accountable to the community, Renewal’s choice of a small logo was their saving grace.
Here at 106 Communications, we have a wealth of experience in helping employers, including those who want to attract graduates in particular, position their businesses as an attractive prospect. Unlike the University of Adelaide who had to work backwards to maintain their reputation, 106 can ensure you never undergo the same trial by public.
^MF

Student
Marketing

No going back for student employers

Case studies

WORK AND PLAY

REAL DIFFERENCE

YOUR NHS

100% YOU

BE THE APPRENTICES

Services

DE&I

Social

Campaigns

Digital

Insight

Get ready for amazing virtual campus experiences

Event

Employability Roundtable

Recent Posts

THE HAIRY REALITY OF BEING BLACK IN THE WORKPLACE

HECTOR: MY WORK EXPERIENCE AT 106 COMMUNICATIONS

TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE ISE CONFERENCE (INCLUDING THE BUCKET HATS)

GRAND GESTURES V EVERYDAY ENGAGEMENT

MILLIE FINCH, INTERN, ON HER FIRST SPEAKING GIG!

BRAND, IMAGE AND A DEGREE IN MANSPLAINING

No going back for student employers

Case studies

WORK AND PLAY

REAL DIFFERENCE

YOUR NHS

100% YOU

BE THE APPRENTICES

Services

Insight

.css-1xu3tth{color:black;}.css-kqwcob{box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;min-width:0;color:#00c9ff;color:black;}.css-kqwcob:hover{color:#00c9ff;}Get ready for amazing virtual campus experiences

Event

Employability Roundtable

Recent Posts

THE HAIRY REALITY OF BEING BLACK IN THE WORKPLACE

HECTOR: MY WORK EXPERIENCE AT 106 COMMUNICATIONS

TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE ISE CONFERENCE (INCLUDING THE BUCKET HATS)

GRAND GESTURES V EVERYDAY ENGAGEMENT

MILLIE FINCH, INTERN, ON HER FIRST SPEAKING GIG!

BRAND, IMAGE AND A DEGREE IN MANSPLAINING

Get ready for amazing virtual campus experiences