To continue reading HRD Connect content we ask that you register your details or login using your email if you are already a subscriber or member of the HRD Connect community. There is no charge to register.
Member benefits:
Unlimited access to all content, free for 12 months
Exclusive invites to roundtables, HRD Collective’s and webinars
Early access to our industry benchmarking reports
Connect with a global network of senior HR leaders.
Stay connected below, or sign in if you’re already a member.
Talent retention is one of the biggest issues on every CEO's widespread agenda, what are companies doing to retain core talent within their company and what is their specific competitive USP? We speak with Simon Lancaster, Global Head of Resourcing - Supply & Trading and Corporate Functions, BP to understand what is of high importance at BP.
There are many considerations for talent professionals in this modern business age. There are numerous questions to be answered… Are you using technology within your recruitment strategy, if so, is it the right kind of technology? Is your company able to keep up with the AI demands of the present day? Do you need to consider global talent sourcing, and efficient ways of finding talent on a global scale. These only skim the surface of talent resourcing challenges.
According to a 2017 Glassdoor recruitment report, 72% of CEOs are concerned about onboarding the correct skillsets. Within the same report 84% of employees with high benefit satisfaction reported high job satisfaction with a higher chance of staying within the role.
We spoke with Simon Lancaster about the challenges that face BP currently and how they are overcoming these.
What are the current recruitment trends at BP?
When people think of BP in the context of careers, the first thing that comes to mind is often engineering. However, we are continuously hiring across many parts of our business that people can be less familiar with – Supply and Trading or Biofuels for example – so we actually have very diverse recruitment needs. These include trading, analytics, and technology, to name a few. Digital is certainly high on our agenda, which reflects a wider investment in digital technology across the company.
Our increased digital investment means we’re now competing with big tech companies like Facebook and Google for talent. The challenge is to communicate that BP, and the energy sector, offers just as exciting opportunities for digital talent.
How does BP ensure they are staying innovative with their talent strategies?
We are constantly looking to modernise, making better use of social channels like Facebook and LinkedIn to appeal to a wider range of talent, and video interviewing where possible to provide much needed flexibility to candidates. We regularly trial other technologies and new offerings in the market in order to better understand their potential value to BP. Over time, I expect us to increase our use of technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and gamification at certain stages in the recruitment process.
“Digital is certainly high on our agenda, which reflects a wider investment in digital technology across the company.”
We are making use of some of these technologies already, for example, taking VR headsets to some of our recruitment events to showcase existing BP technology.
What challenges do resourcers face in this current climate?
The competition for talent, in general, is fierce. The rise of technology has created further competition from start-ups and gig economy-type employers, who are all competing for the same talent pool as large employers like ourselves. They can often be more nimble in their approach, so we need to act fast and challenge more traditional approaches even if they have worked for us in the past.
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Levelling Up Onboarding for the Hybrid World
5 May 2022
1m
HRD Roundtable Report: Levelling Up Onboarding for...
Attracting new talent is shooting up the priority list, but also proving more difficult than ever. After the effort of finding the right person, are w...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Redefining Company Culture in Hybrid Work Environments
26 May 2022
1m
HRD Roundtable Report: Redefining Company Culture ...
The process of redefining a company culture is a complex one. Culture contributes directly to the day-to-day experience of employees, and many leaders...
Whitepaper|Talent Development
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
1m
Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...
This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Strategies For Re-Engaging The Hybrid Workforce
5 May 2022
2m
HRD Roundtable Report: Strategies For Re-Engaging ...
We know hybrid working is here to stay, forcing many organisations to experiment with innovative and creative strategies from 4-day working weeks to u...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Making it ‘Worth It’ – What We Need to Reward, Engage and Retain
3 March 2022
2m
HRD Roundtable Report: Making it ‘Worth It’ – What...
We know the pandemic has caused many people to revaluate their careers and relationships with work and have been seeing the impact in global trends in...
Leadership Development
Dave Ulrich: How can business and HR leaders simplify complexity?
5mDave Ulrich
Dave Ulrich: How can business and HR leaders simpl...
HR thought leader Dave Ulrich outlines ways leaders can deal with complexity in an increasingly busy world, including how to think critically and turn...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Using HR Data to Inform Organisational Decision Making
5 May 2022
2m
HRD Roundtable Report: Using HR Data to Inform Org...
Historically, HR hasn’t been as effective as it could be in sharing and communicating data with wider teams. It’s paramount that we remove the self-in...
Digital HR
Digital transformation investment grows but critical skills gaps remain - Coursera report
5mLeah Belsky
Digital transformation investment grows but critic...
Covid-19 has accelerated the rate of digital learning on a global scale. Coursera's latest report provides an update on employee proficiency in a numb...
Employee Engagement
Wellbeing in the hybrid workplace: how to successfully drive engagement
5mAlara Basul | Sponsored
Wellbeing in the hybrid workplace: how to successf...
Remote working has impacted the way we communicate as a workforce, but striking the right balance between creating an engaged workforce and a successf...
Leadership Learnings
WATCH: Connection and collaboration in a hybrid workplace
5mAmy Kirkham
WATCH: Connection and collaboration in a hybrid wo...
Alison Noon-Jones, VP of People & Culture at Leidos UK & Europe, shares how crucial employee engagement and participation is when shaping the people s...
Leadership Development
Turbulence ahead: Why it’s time to be bold in your leadership
6mTerence Mauri
Turbulence ahead: Why it’s time to be bold in your...
HRD thought leader and Hack Future Lab founder Terence Mauri sets out why the biggest risk to leadership is not turbulence itself, but leading with ye...
To find talent with some of the new skills we need is tough, as we have to source via different channels and interact with them differently. We are also learning about some of these digital skills for ourselves so we must learn quickly, develop expertise within our resourcing function, and raise the profile of BP as an exciting employer in this space.
How do you think these challenges will change in the future – have you got any examples from BP?
These challenges are not going away so we have to continue to adapt. Within resourcing, we are directly aligning our teams with the disciplines that are essential to the future success of BP. That includes focusing on the new digital technologies, to find the right people with the right skills as technologies evolve and new trends emerge.
I think the importance of candidate experience will grow and its influence on our reputation may increase. We see this trend play out in many aspects of daily life and we need to be thoughtful and innovative in how potential candidates experience BP, so that their experience can be as good as that of our consumers.
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Levelling Up Onboarding for the Hybrid World
5 May 2022
1m
HRD Roundtable Report: Levelling Up Onboarding for...
Attracting new talent is shooting up the priority list, but also proving more difficult than ever. After the effort of finding the right person, are w...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Redefining Company Culture in Hybrid Work Environments
26 May 2022
1m
HRD Roundtable Report: Redefining Company Culture ...
The process of redefining a company culture is a complex one. Culture contributes directly to the day-to-day experience of employees, and many leaders...
Whitepaper|Talent Development
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
1m
Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...
This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Strategies For Re-Engaging The Hybrid Workforce
5 May 2022
2m
HRD Roundtable Report: Strategies For Re-Engaging ...
We know hybrid working is here to stay, forcing many organisations to experiment with innovative and creative strategies from 4-day working weeks to u...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Making it ‘Worth It’ – What We Need to Reward, Engage and Retain
3 March 2022
2m
HRD Roundtable Report: Making it ‘Worth It’ – What...
We know the pandemic has caused many people to revaluate their careers and relationships with work and have been seeing the impact in global trends in...
Leadership Development
Dave Ulrich: How can business and HR leaders simplify complexity?
5mDave Ulrich
Dave Ulrich: How can business and HR leaders simpl...
HR thought leader Dave Ulrich outlines ways leaders can deal with complexity in an increasingly busy world, including how to think critically and turn...
Roundtable Report
HRD Roundtable Report: Using HR Data to Inform Organisational Decision Making
5 May 2022
2m
HRD Roundtable Report: Using HR Data to Inform Org...
Historically, HR hasn’t been as effective as it could be in sharing and communicating data with wider teams. It’s paramount that we remove the self-in...
Digital HR
Digital transformation investment grows but critical skills gaps remain - Coursera report
5mLeah Belsky
Digital transformation investment grows but critic...
Covid-19 has accelerated the rate of digital learning on a global scale. Coursera's latest report provides an update on employee proficiency in a numb...
Talent Acquisition
Talent Acquisition in New and Uncertain Times - key takeaways
2yHRD Connect
Talent Acquisition in New and Uncertain Times - ke...
Big data is factoring into most areas of modern business, and the talent space is no different. We took a closer look at this during our webinar with ...
Talent Acquisition
The data revolution: Old habits die hard, but new habits can change the talent acquisition game
2yCharles Hipps
The data revolution: Old habits die hard, but new ...
Big data is factoring into most areas of modern business, and the talent space is no different. Charles Hipps, CEO and Founder of Oleeo outlines the s...
Finding the right talent has always been a central challenge for HR, but doing so quickly and cost-effectively is guaranteed to be a primary concern p...
Talent Acquisition
How should HR recruit during a recession?
2yWendy Dailey
How should HR recruit during a recession?
In hard times, it can hard to know which way is up, especially when it comes to recruitment. Wendy Dailey, HRD Thought Leader, tells you what to do – ...
Talent
3 disruptions evolving the early talent recruiting landscape
2yKristen Ribero
3 disruptions evolving the early talent recruiting...
Now more than ever, people leaders need to understand the challenges that lie ahead early talent acquisition. Discover the 3 key disruptions transform...
Talent Acquisition
Technology and Human Connection Will Drive Recruiting Success
2yDarren Findley
Technology and Human Connection Will Drive Recruit...
HR Tech can make recruitment painless, but losing the human touch could cost you more than your hire. Darren Findley, President - Recruitment Solution...
Talent
HR must learn from marketing to improve employer brand
3yWendy Dailey
HR must learn from marketing to improve employer b...
Employer brand is critical to finding the right talent for your business - but HR doesn't always get it right. How can HR learn from their colleagues ...
Talent
HR Distinction Spotlight: How Warburtons transformed their talent strategy
3yLouron Pratt
HR Distinction Spotlight: How Warburtons transform...
In this weeks HR Distinction Spotlight, we take a look at how Warburtons turned talent turmoil upside down, to create a remarkable new talent acquisit...