UK plc is going to have to be flexible and adaptable to survive and thrive in the years ahead – employers, workers and landlords alike. Politicians – perhaps especially politicians – will have to change, too, based on the mood music at perhaps the highest-profile annual gathering of business leaders in the UK.
Take Theresa May, far and away the most keenly anticipated speaker at today’s CBI conference in London – more so than the closing act, Jeremy Corbyn. She may be sticking to her guns on her Brexit deal, but she knows that, even in victory, change would have to follow.
Today May referenced the impact of the fourth industrial revolution, a more flexible approach to technical training, adaptable R&D. And in a message that this sector should heed, she talked of the need for business to do a better job of engaging with communities. “Businesses can and should be a force for good in our world,” she said. “Businesses need to do more to win that argument.”
Imagine a world where there wasn’t the all-darkening shadow of Brexit hanging over the prime minister and this could have been a positively received, line-in-the-sand speech on UK plc’s future – one that challenged business to step up on jobs, productivity and societal engagement. And in that there were similar messages to those put forward by the leader of the opposition later in the day, though their scope may be less radical and, to this audience at least, more palatable.
Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield wants change, too. Asked about improving inclusion, developing skills and the growth of the “precariat” who lead unstable lives in the gig economy, Garfield acknowledged companies needed to adapt.
“Some companies have not invested as much because there has been a lack of certainty over the past while,” she said. “The best thing you can do for your staff is make sure they are overskilled for their role.”
Diversity drive
In promoting diversity, Severn Trent approaches CVs blind, with identifying details blocked out. And while Garfield said she was not a fan of quotas – it would “kill” her to think she had won her job on the basis of making up the numbers, she said – business could still be proactive. Severn Trent focuses on “social mobility cold spots” and provides interview training and more in these areas. “One of the next big dynamics is social mobility,” she predicted.
Encouragingly, the majority of the audience appeared to share the view that tackling diversity could not be passive. Josh Graff, UK country manager and vice-president EMEA for LinkedIn, won the biggest round of spontaneous applause when he warned that without intervention it would take decades to create gender balance in the workplace.
Graff talked of the need for new skills. AI is the fastest-growing skill mentioned on LinkedIn, said Graff, with blockchain experience also sought after. But they are not the only skills worth having; according to LinkedIn data, soft skills are in more demand than ever.
Landlords will have to flex their adaptability more, too. At a lunch organised by JLL, British Land head of strategy Sally Jones said the REIT’s flexible workspace platform, Storey, had contributed to its lettings success at Broadgate – BL’s half-year results last week pointed to 369,000 sq ft of lettings on the campus. Storey, meanwhile, is now operational across 130,000 sq ft of BL’s portfolio, with a further 186,000 sq ft identified. “Some people get fixated on coworking, but we want to focus on our larger customers, too,” said Jones.
Speaking alongside her, EY EMEA real estate leader Andrew O’Donnell said the rise of flex space had changed thinking at big services providers like his own – from the very notion of commitment to budgeting. “It’s OK to fail at a space solution now because it’s so short-term and you can adapt,” he said. “Time and again we are told that flex is more expensive. Time and time again we find it isn’t.”
So far, so flexible. But speed is of the essence, if a tale told by Garfield is to be believed. For any business, changing consumer habits is key – in Severn Trent’s case, it is water usage that perhaps matters most. “If you’re not turning off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth by the age of nine, you’re almost a lost cause.”
Don’t wait to flex a moment longer.
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