Finding and keeping print talent with Neil Hoban

Post-COVID, businesses have faced a perfect storm of spiralling costs, supply chain problems and energy prices. And for print companies, that means it’s more important than ever to find and hold onto talented employees who are passionate about the opportunities available in print.

This episode of Print Matters – A Canon Podcast sees co-host Jacky Hobson speak to CustomerKNECT’s Financial and Commercial Director, Neil Hoban, about the wide variety of roles available in print companies, what kind of benefits really matter to employees, and why supporting colleagues at the start of their career can leave such a lasting impact. 

Transcript

Jacky Hobson: 0:08

Hello and welcome to Print Matters, a Canon podcast, where we explore advice, insights and inspiration from industry thought leaders in print and communications. I'm Jacky Hobson, and for this episode, I'm joined by Neil Hoban, from CustomerKNECT. Hi, Neil.

Neil Hoban: 0:24

Hi Jacky.

Jacky Hobson: 0:24

Neil, thanks for being with us. I'm looking forward to hearing how you're finding the current business climate where there are opportunities and any challenges you're facing. But firstly, could you bring us up to speed with what it is that CustomerKNECT for whom and what your role in all of this is please?

Neil Hoban: 0:42

Yeah, certainly. CustomerKNECT is one of the UK is leading full service customer communications business. We integrate traditional and digital communication solutions across a range of services, such as digital engagement, managed services, fulfilment, and distribution and postal optimization. Previously, we were near MetroMail. we've rebranded with a focus on delivering excellence through both existing and new innovative solutions. There are a range of ways a business wants to communicate with its customers. We facilitate this, be it via a peer to peer solution, an electronic solution or a combination of both. We specialise in a range of sectors including retail, travel and leisure, financial services and the public sector. So my role as Financial and Commercial Director has various responsibilities. Firstly, as a Chartered Accountant by trade, I control the finance function. This is vital is the future success of any business is built on strong and secure financial foundations, we have those. But aside from this, I get actively involved in CustomerKNECT relationships with both existing clients and prospects, looking to ensure we are providing a market-leading service offering that is in line with our culture, ensure we are delivering excellence at all times. We're very fortunate in that we have a lot of long-standing close relationships with customers who we consider to be partners. And I spend a lot of time making sure that we are providing a gold plated service that allows these businesses to grow and evolve in line with their needs. I also spend time with our OEM providers, monitoring new product offerings and ideas that they might have for the industry. We're very looking at CustomerKNECT and we have great OEM providers. Canon, a great example of this, the relationship is so much more than that of a seller who turns up every five years to sell a print box. We have regular meetings and training sessions where we discuss the benefits of print as part of the wider marketing mix, as well as reviews of market trends, the new issues arising within the industry. So as you can see, it's quite a wide range rather than just doing the bean counting.

Jacky Hobson: 2:49

Yeah, completely. Understatement! I mean, that was interesting, interesting, and definitely not without its challenges. I have to say I do really like the new name, I like this CustomerKNECT, but I guess lots of people still gonna remember you as MetroMail, aren't they? So we know that our industry so our industry being print has got its own specific issues. But I mean, it's fair to say, isn't it the post COVID all businesses have been facing something of a perfect storm, spiralling costs, the supply chain problems, etc, etc. I'm keen to focus today Neil on the recruitment and retention of what we're calling talent. So good people, employees. Can you tell me what does the CustomerKNECT team look like? So how many people etc. How many people do you employ?

Neil Hoban: 3:34

Yeah, certainly can. You're certainly correct Jacky, that there's been a perfect storm of issues since COVID. Particularly within our industry, it's suffered several hits. And don't forget, it's generally a mature low margin industry. So electricity costs more than doubled, paper more than doubled, wage expectation increased. And on the customer side, nervous businesses look more cautiously at marketing budgets. Other than that, it was all fine. I suppose. The CustomerKNECT team here is a warm and friendly team of around 105 full time employees. We're very fortunate in that we have a loyal, long standing workforce. Often several members of the same family working together. You often find that if someone recommends a friend or family member, then that is the best way of getting a promising new recruit. Since COVID, we've seen new ways of working and combined in a healthier work life balance. Some staff work from home, we've adopted a flexible working model. When more meetings are held on teams to reduce the time spent travelling to and from meetings while it must be said we still do like face to face meetings in the more traditional sense. Our business model requires all operational staff to be fully trained on a variety of machinery. And we do this for your both formal training days with machinery providers, and also on the job training for more experienced operators. We also actively encourage our staff to become fire marshals and first aiders as a general approach to personal development. We often find that those staff who are keen to put themselves forward can become the next generation of leaders, we found apprenticeship schemes to be an excellent way of developing staff. And I strongly recommend these for every business. Also in key areas we look to employ or train to professionally recognised qualifications that they can range from hnd in electrical or mechanical engineering, Institute of leadership and management courses, psi auditor accreditation, CIPD, knee Bosch, bachelor's and master's degrees in areas such as HR, IT, business and marketing. This industry can offer so many opportunities for personal development, I find that staff who have a willingness to learn and develop provide an environment and culture in which no problem cannot be resolved. It also gives them a comfort in operating within our continuous improvement environment. And finally, I think it's worth mentioning, we also work with Project Choice health education, England. Did you know Jacky that less than 5% of people with a learning disability and autism who were known to the local authorities go on to secure appeared employment compared to 80% of their peers. But we're here at CustomerKNECT are proud to work with them to find roles that suit. Often you find a little care and attention at the start of a young person's career can kickstart a fulfilling and valuable working life. It's also massively rewarding for our staff, and the support they give to new Project Choice entrants is absolutely wonderful.

Jacky Hobson: 6:26

Oh, that sounds great. And actually, no, I didn't know about those figures. And I didn't know about that initiative either. So it seems generally that you have a real focus on training, which is lovely to hear. And obviously if you're training people, you know, you want it, you're getting the best out of them. They're getting the best out of themselves, and you're getting the best out of them, too. So if you're looking to build on this team, then Neil, how easy is that for you to recruit good people in your part of the world? I know you're in you're in the Northeast of England aren't you?

Neil Hoban: 6:57

Yeah, well, availability of staff is challenging, but it's okay. You've got to remember we have some large employers such as Nissan and Caterpillar in the local area. So they provide competition but all that does is just makes us work hard to be competitive in all areas that would make someone want to work here with us at CustomerKNECT. The Northeast has always produced very loyal and committed staff. If we look after them, they will look after us. If someone comes to customer connect, we usually find the sphere for a very long period of time, we find people so a number of sources such as word of mouth, family referral agencies, often tempted terminals, where both parties can see if a particular role is suitable, and targeted recruitment for specialists walls. With digital advancements in the rise of working from home capabilities, we also were able to expand our team geographically, with for example, a key account manager and a category lead on trip and services both working remotely and the both based in the south, also with our team dynamic and ensures a seamless and collaborative online environment where the remote colleagues are fully support and can still provide the top quality service to our customers at their demand, despite being based elsewhere.

Jacky Hobson: 8:05

Great. So that sounds like you've got really creative. And actually yeah, if people are working remotely, it doesn't matter whether they're five minutes away, or five hours away does it really. The recruitment problem that we're that we keep hearing about? I guess, in an ideal world, one of the best ways to counter that is just to hang on to those people you've got, isn't it? You know, the retention is important. And that's something that you're that you're focusing on as well? Is it Neil?

Neil Hoban: 8:30

Well, finding good people is tough for any business. But it's not impossible. I think it's perhaps tougher to find the right people ie a person who will culturally fit in with CustomerKNECT or indeed your organisation. A lot of people are great, but if they're in an environment that does not suit them, it just leads to stresses and strains. And ultimately, that individual will not realise their potential. We all like to feel like we're contributing. At CustomerKNECT we focus a lot of attention when recruiting on making sure a candidate knows exactly how we operate from a cultural point of view. We're very honest, and we explain everything as best we can. A candidate should be in no doubt about what we are and how we behave before they decide to join us. We always remember that an interview is very much a two way process. They're interviewing us as much as they are interviewing as we are interviewing them now.

Jacky Hobson: 9:17

Yeah. I mean, you're not doing yourself any favours if you just sell a job for something that it's not is it for the for the candidate to join and think this isn't what I signed up for?

Neil Hoban: 9:26

That's quite right. Yes, you just raise expectations and disappoint them in the end, and you'll end up losing them. So it's very important to be clear what you're offering and clear that they fully understand what you're offering. And by doing that, you'll get the right candidate the first time.

Jacky Hobson: 9:43

Yeah, yeah, it makes perfect sense. So it sounds like a great place to work. Some fantastic initiatives. And obviously these don't come without cost to the business. But I guess you know, the right recruitment is better than having to pay for additional recruitment because we know what a huge, huge burden that can be. Particularly if you're using agencies. So while we're on the subject of costs and money now, payment plans and packages are obviously part of this recruitment retention jigsaw, aren't they?

Neil Hoban: 10:11

That's right. And we are very lucky here at CustomerKNECT that we have a very strong workplace culture and low employee turnover. And we do that by aiming to involving employees in more than just their everyday roles and responsibilities. And the various ways we do this to demonstrate our willingness to invest in our staff. So here's, here's a few examples. First and foremost is financial benefits is obviously we offer an excellent pension scheme. A high company contribution alongside individual contributions can provide excellent benefit alongside the basic salary they have. The pension comes with strong life cover policy. Again, it provides comfort to staff albeit one that they hopefully will never need to access. But then we do other things. So we have volunteer days. So all staff here were able to get a paid volunteer day every year, and they can use this to help with a local charity or foundation, perhaps one that's close to their heart, or impact on them on a personal level. This can also support the local community. For example, towards the end of last year, our colleagues used their peer volunteers to help at Peterlee Pathways Centre for adults with disabilities and the intention was to refurbish the garden. It was a task that the centre could not get done due to financial restraints. Whereas our skilled staff were able to step in and provide a solution, very rewarding for both parties. Staff can also buy additional holidays, benefit from a cycle to work scheme, and get a range of other discounts and benefits using our online portal for things such as eye tests, your weekly food shopping, and salary sacrifice car purchases, all of them provide real cash benefit that our staff value. We focus a lot of time and effort on having open and transparent communication with staff. We have an anonymous Ask Tim website where staff can ask our CEO Tim Smith any question they want on any topic, and is a great mechanism for fixing issues that are frustrating someone. We also have a thank you and reward card system where staff can say thanks or request recognition for someone who's performed exceptionally well in delivering excellence. This system offers rewards and either vouchers or even a night out where staff can take their loved ones out for celebratory meal to recognise what they've done. There's also other areas, we offer free electric charging points to all our staff. And that's a way of recognising the importance we place on our environmental credentials, as well as encouraging staff to make the switch to electric cars. As I touched on previously, we look to engage and involve our staff in everything. We have an energy reduction committee, a people committee, a health and safety committee, staff all have a chance to contribute to these. We also offer confidential support line to staff with either financial or emotional issues. Often this is an excellent resource for those people who need a little bit of extra help from time to time. We're currently training our own Mental Health First Aiders, it's becoming a bigger focus area in the social sciences. And we want to progress in this area also.

Jacky Hobson: 12:59

I mean, that's fantastic. There's such a range of such a range of support. I don't I don't think I've ever come across another print business that's doing stuff like that. I think you're doing it because it's needed. And because people want it. That just sounds that sounds great.

Neil Hoban: 13:16

Well, what people would find is this appears to have a cost or fund, but the cost of recruiting, training and development people. It's a solid investment. Retention law.

Jacky Hobson: 13:28

Yeah. And it sounds like some of this stuff is kind of automated, or it's online, or, you know, it doesn't even have a big resource cost to it. For example, the thing that you're saying about Ask Tim, who's your he's your CEO, you know that I guess employees wouldn't necessarily have access to him all the time other than through this, but how great and how simple to, for both sides of that equation to operate. Sounds sounds really inspired and inspiring. Thank you.

Neil Hoban: 13:58

And on that on that very point with it being anonymous. Often our staff will just say who they are because they want him to go and talk to them and give them an answer. But if you want something that you feel, perhaps is controversial, or you're uncomfortable with it, the fact that it's genuinely anonymous gives them the trust, and it builds up on that culture that you can, you can see things and you can you can change things if you if you sort of want to

Jacky Hobson: 14:18

Yeah, no, sounds great. Sounds absolutely great. So pay is obviously really important Neil, isn't it? How do you make sure that what you're paying is is competitive and in line with what the rest of the industry is paying and that people are actually getting rewarded effectively?

Neil Hoban: 14:35

There's a number of ways we do this. So firstly, we benchmark our staff salary against other employers within the area, as well as industry standards. You have to offer a competitive salary if you want to retain staff, and the cost in both time and money of training someone is high. You'd be foolish to lose staff after undertaking all of this because a non competitive salary and benefits package. So recently, we've done a few financial things that helped retain staff and also makes them appreciate our efforts. So during the last 12 months, you'll be aware, Jacky, that the energy crisis has resulted in all of us paying higher for both gas and electricity. To help our staff, we decided to give two cost of living payments each of 500 pounds. So as to help with these costs. The staff really appreciated both the money and the sentiment. Yeah, so we also performed our annual pay review by two months, in order to give our staff a financial boost. These sorts of things are greatly appreciated and contribute to commitment and low staff turnover. It's often do you know the small things that are appreciated most. When we have a period of success, or something we want to celebrate, like, for example, our recent milestone of 1000 days without a lost time incident, we often have pizza days where we bring in 100 or so pizzas, so everyone can enjoy them. Celebrating success is key to staff morale. At Christmas time, we also give staff a Christmas hamper, they enjoy an onsite Christmas lunch, and provide a Christmas raffle with some great free prizes. These sorts of things are well received, and again, demonstrate our appreciation of staff across the entire workforce.

Jacky Hobson: 16:11

Sounds great. And we're hearing a lot about on the retention and recruitment issues, we can read quite a lot about how young people attitude to work has changed from say, I guess, you know, those of our generation we're of a similar age, aren't we? You know, that they don't expect nor are looking for a job for life, which perhaps people of our age would have done. Are you finding that with with young people that they have a different different ideas about work?

Neil Hoban: 16:38

Yeah, I think you're correct on that one. I don't see any younger people expecting or looking for a job for life. And if you think about it, that's a perfectly logical way of looking at it. If you look at the top companies in the world, now, a lot of them did not even exist 30 years ago. And then if you look at the top 30 companies in the world from 30 years ago, a lot of them either don't exist now, or are a lot smaller now. So yeah, the world does move on quickly. And this is something to be embraced rather than feel threatened by. To me, an employer should provide a great environment for younger people. And if they have progressed and grown to a point where they want to move on, you should celebrate it. CustomerKNECT strongest advocates, often those people who have moved on, because they have appreciated what's been done for them in their time here.

Jacky Hobson: 17:20

Also, when they've left, they're still kind of ambassadors for the business.

Neil Hoban: 17:24

Absolutely. And we keep in touch with a lot of them, and particularly the younger ones that have gone on to more professional careers, they might still come back and sort of consult our residential resident expert, as for advice for new things to uncover just generally come back and tell you how well they're doing and how much they appreciate it.

Jacky Hobson: 17:42

Oh, fabulous. I mean, just the point, you made the point about businesses of 30 years ago, and you know that those have gone and new ones have sprung up and different things. I mean, no industry probably has changed any any more any faster than ours being in print. And I noticed that you you're always recruiting aren't you for people like IT specialists and and programmers, you know, because print is so much now, it's much less about manufacturing with much more of a technology focus. So I'm I'm guessing with that being the case, we're kind of as printers, we're competing with these big technology businesses, for those kinds of people? How how well placed, do you think we are to compete with them? Do you think we need to reposition ourselves? How do you think potentially employees might perceive us?

Neil Hoban: 18:31

Well, you're right, I think the fact that we're recruiting for IT specialists, and programmers, it's very much a reflection of the evolution of our industry. And the industry can offer much to people with these skill sets. So print my opinion, will always have a powerful place within the marketing and customer communication mix. I just have to watch my own kids and how they interact with it. If they see a magazine with a topic they like then they will engage with it. Also any letters they get now makes them feel so special. And these kinds of reactions that I believe are unique to my kids. And this is what will make print powerful to future generations. So we at CustomerKNECT are positioning ourselves as a provider of technically advanced communication solutions that blend both digital and physical to elicit the best response. Due to employees when they see this and they notice that it requires highly skilled IT lead technical offering, they often want to be a part of it and quite excited by it.

Jacky Hobson: 19:23

Yeah. So it's up to us to kind of convince them that that is exciting, isn't it that it is relevant that it's I like what you're saying about, you know, combining digital communications with offline communications. And I think we sometimes miss that. We just talked about printers, though it's a manufactured output when we're not doing ourselves a service are we really?

Neil Hoban: 19:44

Well that's right. Often, particularly printers and mailing houses will talk about what their machines are capable of and what the product is. But really what you're trying to do is you're trying to elicit a response and what that what that communication piece does. So there will behavioural sciences in there. There's all sorts of mechanisms that you need to use. And when you tell a new person who's perhaps wants to go to the IT, or, or data positions, just how technically complicated and how sophisticated you can make it, that excites them, and they want to be a part of it.

Jacky Hobson: 20:16

Yeah. Yeah, great stuff. So thanks so much. Now, this has been really interesting to learn about the challenges you're facing, but also just, you know, how you're tackling them how you're tackling them head on. Really? That's pretty much all we have time for today. But before I let you go, is there anything else you'd like to share? I mean, how do you think the future is looking unless there are specific things on the horizon? Some trends or, or changes that you're finding within customer connect that our listeners might be interested in? Or that they should be aware of?

Neil Hoban: 20:46

Yes. Well, I think the industry certainly has its challenges is, you know, there's a year on year decline in mail volumes and price pressures from both postage and other input costs. But that said, there'll always be in an appetite for an effective customer communication, and print in my opinion, will continue to be a part of it. The trends are undoubtedly shown a preference for smaller print runs with increased personalization. And this will continue. To me, it should be addressed, because there were opportunities to offer high value products and services because of it. I've also noticed that educationally colleges and universities are focusing more on digital marketing, and less on physical marketing. That means that marketers are less familiar with print. And this will provide opportunities for specialists within our sector to flourish.

Jacky Hobson: 21:29

I mean, it's a topic that comes up all the time. And it's one close to my heart as well, that you know, so much focus with the marketers now is on the digital. And I think it does fall to us as people within the print industry to keep it at the fore we do have to keep reminding these young marketers that a that exists and be just how effective it is. So that's fantastic insight. Thanks so much, Neil. I guess if people want to know more about CustomerKNECT, they can head over to the website. And that's CustomerKNECT with a K N E C T.co.uk. And obviously, you're on LinkedIn so they could reach you there if they wanted to explore these topics further.

Neil Hoban: 22:08

Yeah, it'd be an absolute pleasure. We operate quite an open factory. So if anyone wants to talk to us, or come and visit and see what we're doing in practice, if it might be of help to them, then we're always willing to speak with people.

Jacky Hobson: 22:19

That's great, a great invitation. Thanks so much. So we're coming to the end of this episode. Thank you to Neil, and a big thank you too to our listeners. We do hope you found value in what you've heard, and that you'll check out the other podcasts in the series. You can subscribe to the Print Matters channel to be the first to hear about new episodes as they're published. And if you're interested in finding out more about the topics discussed here, please speak to your local Canon team, who'll be happy to help. See you next time.