The Resourcing team at NFU Mutual have been on quite a journey over the last few years, growing rapidly to meet the needs of the business. Now, with a variety of new challenges, they're finding new ways to adapt to a different recruitment landscape. We talked to some of the Resourcers about how they're introducing new approaches to meet these challenges, the new opportunities this gives them, how the team is growing and how the business is supporting them.
We know the team's growing, but tell us about the new structure
“The new challenges are definitely shaping the Resourcing team," says Esther Tysall. “This means there are more opportunities for promotions and sideways moves – not just within the resourcing team, but in the wider HR teams and the whole business, too. New challenges also mean we're still growing as a team, which in turn means there'll be even more opportunities in the future. In 2019, we were a team of 17, but now there are 32 of us – and we’ve just been given the go ahead to add more people to our team. Growing the team not only enables us to develop the service we provide to the business, but it also enables the Resourcers to focus on their own personal development. And from a corporate point of view, it’ll also help with succession planning.”
Kirstie Patterson agrees: “As the team has grown, this has created more opportunities for Resourcers to take on new roles and work with different teams. And there's a clear career structure, with more opportunities, which is good for development. In fact, my role as Senior Resourcing Consultant was introduced to meet a specific business need, so it's already benefitted my career.”
NFU Mutual's talks a lot about its values - how are they part of your growth?
“One of the biggest areas we’ve been looking at is diversity and inclusion,” says Susanna Manise. “NFU Mutual has always been an open and welcoming place. As a mutual, we're guided to do the right thing, so we’ve never overtly called it a diversity and inclusion policy, even though we’ve always been a diverse and inclusive business, with transparency at our heart. But this year, the senior leaders have agreed to implement a D&I strategy across the business, so we can call it that.”
She says this makes it an exciting time for everyone in Resourcing, because it’s like the start of the official D&I journey in the business. “We’ve invested in recruiting a D&I specialist, who will focus exclusively on diversity and inclusion. And that will have a direct impact on just about everything we do in Resourcing, so it’s going to be a major role going forward.”
So, it sounds like there are lots of development opportunities. Is that right?
“Yes, it seems like change is the only constant at NFU Mutual,” comments Greg Statham. "But that’s a good thing, because it brings opportunities.” Kirstie agrees. “One of the important things for me is the introduction of cross-team working to add more flexibility to the recruitment process. Our Resourcing teams are aligned to different business areas, but by assessing where the business demand is and channelling our resources to those areas, we can be more efficient. This benefits the Resourcers, because we get to understand different business areas and network with different recruiters, so yes, it’s a big opportunity.”
David King recruits into IT: “Another project that’s helping people to broaden their experience is our Switch IT programme, which trains people in the IT skills we need. It’s brought a lot of new people into the IT teams.”
IT seems to have its own challenges. What other approaches have you taken?
“One of the big initiatives we've introduced in IT is overseas sponsorship,” David explains. “One of the main skillsets we need in IT is very niche and, even though it’s a major system in the insurance industry, there are only a handful of people in the UK with the right technical skills. Globally, the main place to find people with these skills is India, so it was a big win to introduce sponsorships. We now have three people from India going through the sponsorship process.”
It sounds like the team has a lot of influence in the business
“Yes, we've always been influential and as we grow, that'll only continue,” says Susanna. “Personally, I enjoy being able to genuinely influence high-level decisions in areas such as hybrid working. When it came to returning to the office after lockdown, as a team, we looked at what our competitors and candidates were saying. This gave us an insight into how valuable flexible working was to candidates, so we were able to influence and inform the new hybrid work culture at NFU Mutual. It couldn’t have happened without our input.”
Join us on our journey
As we continue to invest in our Resourcing strategy, processes and people, new opportunities are arising all the time. Take a look at our latest vacancies or sign up for job alerts by email.