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Ep.8 - Building an employer brand, Victoria McLean, City CV
The Key Learning Points:
1. The top four tips for companies looking to attract more millennials to the insurance industry
2. How companies can use marketing to build an employer brand
3. The important role gender diverse recruitment plays in attracting the best job candidates
In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast we were joined by Victoria McLean, CEO of City CV. Victoria has had extensive and global experience in the recruitment industry with specialist recruitment consultancies and top-tier financial service companies, and founded City CV 10 years ago. She works closely with individuals and organisations on anything related to career development.
Victoria’s recruitment career started in London, moved to Sydney and subsequently returned to London, where she worked in the banking sector and eventually left to have children. On struggling to juggle 60-hour weeks, city life and motherhood, Victoria decided to invest in a coach which gave her the opportunity to really evaluate what she wanted to do, and from there decided to set up her own recruitment firm. 10 years on, Victoria has grown her business and now runs a team of 25, made up of writers and coaches.
Victoria explains that the challenge for the financial services industry is to recruit more millennials, to reflect the shift in the consumer base, but adds that “often the perception of insurance is that it can be quite traditional and not that attractive” and believes that “we need to make the industry appear as attractive as possible.” For organisations, Victoria explains that there are four key elements to focus on: Building a brand, communicating that brand, managing the recruitment process and holding onto the talent you have.
When it comes to brand, Victoria adds that insurers spend a fortune on marketing and building their brand, but that tends to be their consumer brand, and companies often forget about their employer brand. Once the employer brand has been developed, she explains that Linkedin can be an excellent tool to communicate that brand, but recognises that Linkedin has historically been used to communicate the consumer brand. Victoria recommends that employers review the Linkedin profiles of their team because “the average network size of a company’s employees is ten times larger than the network size of the company itself.”
The next stage of the process is attracting the best candidates to the company and the specific role. Victoria explains the role that diversity plays here, with a PwC survey finding that 70% of females in financial services look at the diversity of the leadership team when they were deciding whether to accept a role. Victoria also raised the point around the value of returnship programs, which are designed to encourage people back into the workforce, for example, after having children. Shockingly, less than half of financial services firms have a returnship program in place.
Thinking about the recruitment process, Victoria believes that the candidate experience is essential. Victoria adds that she’s “seen some real horror stories” when it comes to unprofessional interviews, things like interviewers being unprepared, not complying with legalities and having poor etiquette, all of which leave a horrible feeling for candidates.
For Victoria, eliminating bias is important in the recruitment process and she believes that the Women in Finance Charter has a part to play. The charter was set up by the treasury and aims to raise the profile of women in the sector. In the UK, more than 250 financial services firms have signed up so far. Their target is to achieve 40% female representation within senior management over the next three years and gender parity over the medium term. Victoria loves the fact that by signing up to the charter, at least one member of every firm’s senior executive team is responsible and accountable for gender diversity.
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By Katie and RajThe Key Learning Points:
1. The top four tips for companies looking to attract more millennials to the insurance industry
2. How companies can use marketing to build an employer brand
3. The important role gender diverse recruitment plays in attracting the best job candidates
In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast we were joined by Victoria McLean, CEO of City CV. Victoria has had extensive and global experience in the recruitment industry with specialist recruitment consultancies and top-tier financial service companies, and founded City CV 10 years ago. She works closely with individuals and organisations on anything related to career development.
Victoria’s recruitment career started in London, moved to Sydney and subsequently returned to London, where she worked in the banking sector and eventually left to have children. On struggling to juggle 60-hour weeks, city life and motherhood, Victoria decided to invest in a coach which gave her the opportunity to really evaluate what she wanted to do, and from there decided to set up her own recruitment firm. 10 years on, Victoria has grown her business and now runs a team of 25, made up of writers and coaches.
Victoria explains that the challenge for the financial services industry is to recruit more millennials, to reflect the shift in the consumer base, but adds that “often the perception of insurance is that it can be quite traditional and not that attractive” and believes that “we need to make the industry appear as attractive as possible.” For organisations, Victoria explains that there are four key elements to focus on: Building a brand, communicating that brand, managing the recruitment process and holding onto the talent you have.
When it comes to brand, Victoria adds that insurers spend a fortune on marketing and building their brand, but that tends to be their consumer brand, and companies often forget about their employer brand. Once the employer brand has been developed, she explains that Linkedin can be an excellent tool to communicate that brand, but recognises that Linkedin has historically been used to communicate the consumer brand. Victoria recommends that employers review the Linkedin profiles of their team because “the average network size of a company’s employees is ten times larger than the network size of the company itself.”
The next stage of the process is attracting the best candidates to the company and the specific role. Victoria explains the role that diversity plays here, with a PwC survey finding that 70% of females in financial services look at the diversity of the leadership team when they were deciding whether to accept a role. Victoria also raised the point around the value of returnship programs, which are designed to encourage people back into the workforce, for example, after having children. Shockingly, less than half of financial services firms have a returnship program in place.
Thinking about the recruitment process, Victoria believes that the candidate experience is essential. Victoria adds that she’s “seen some real horror stories” when it comes to unprofessional interviews, things like interviewers being unprepared, not complying with legalities and having poor etiquette, all of which leave a horrible feeling for candidates.
For Victoria, eliminating bias is important in the recruitment process and she believes that the Women in Finance Charter has a part to play. The charter was set up by the treasury and aims to raise the profile of women in the sector. In the UK, more than 250 financial services firms have signed up so far. Their target is to achieve 40% female representation within senior management over the next three years and gender parity over the medium term. Victoria loves the fact that by signing up to the charter, at least one member of every firm’s senior executive team is responsible and accountable for gender diversity.