Why the service profit chain matters more than ever when times are tough

Why the service profit chain matters more than ever when times are tough

Posted: 27 October 2011

A summary of the themes discussed at this week's talent communications breakfast event.

This week we welcomed over 60 HR, Resourcing and Talent professionals to the Andaz Hotel to discuss where we think the talent agenda is right now. During the morning Bupa and Coca-Cola Enterprises also presented their own recent projects prioritising talent, a strategy that they believe is a key driver for business growth.

SAS's 5th breakfast of the year, highlighted the importance of the service-profit chain as a mechanism for demonstrating the importance of employee engagement and employer brand. The chain illustrates that if you select the right people to work for you, meet their expectations and deliver on the promises made, that they will have a direct impact of revenue and profit. 

Encouragingly, of the straw poll conducted, a massive 80% of respondents thought that having a clearly defined EVP and an employer brand internal communications plan were both key to helping their organisations achieve their employer brand objectives, with many citing stakeholder buy-in as a key challenge when managing their employer brand programme.

Kevin Keohane, Client Partner at SAS, opened with the first of the 3 presentations of the day. He demonstrated how an effective communication strategy can both attract ideal talent and engage with existing employees, ultimately resulting in a tangible increase in business performance.  Case studies to see this thinking in action followed from Bupa, showcasing why they are looking at their EVP, followed by Coca-Cola Enterprises, taking a bold approach to talent attraction. Both had a clear business case for doing so and compelling results to prove why they are on the right track. 

Danielle Spencer (Group Organisational Development Director) and Bev Ashby (HR Director, Care Homes UK) from Bupa looked at how to build the business case and gain buy-in for the service-profit chain in the context of nurse recruitment, resulting in the reduction of recruitment spend, nursing churn and the creation of a community.

Roel Lambrichts (Head of Talent Acquisition Europe) and Faye Wigget (EU Talent Acquisition Process & Project Manager) from Coca-Cola Enterprises talked through their reasons for identifying its 'DNA' as an employer, taking a bold approach to attracting the right people and aligning this to the internal value proposition.

Each session emphasised the need to do everything possible to get to an 'authentic' core message that would resonate and strike an empathetic response from their target group.  Conducting market and competitor analysis, managing focus groups and engaging with stakeholders are just some ways to capture important information, which when distilled down, ring true.  Bupa and Coca-Cola Enterprises were excited about the direction and initial response they have received, feeling confident the chosen strategy will grow, be adopted by other divisions within the business and adapted across multiple channels over time

To hear more about this event/discuss its key themes in more detail, please contact Emma Sice.

• Tags:
• Breakfast Meeting, Employer Branding