Bristol has long been a city of opportunity, with a vibrant music and art scene, great transport links, restaurants and fantastic landmarks. Now the future has become even brighter with Bristol’s emergence as a tech hub, attracting crowds of intelligent young people, including young finance professionals seeking accountancy roles, to come and make Bristol their home. How can employers benefit from the opportunities that this represents and attract the very best, most talented individuals to come and work in their companies?
The edgy, alternative, and quite often anti-establishment nature of this ancient city has always attracted bright young things—people on the cusp of discovery at the cutting edge of technology. Bristol has never been afraid to push the boat out and take some risks—figuratively or literally; after all, Bristol was the port where John Cabot set sail to discover North America in 1497, having secured funding from King Henry VII for the expedition.
Fast-forward to the modern day, and the pioneering spirit and thirst for adventure permeate the city walls, and the echoes of its history are still ringing out. In the first half of 2022, Bristol’s tech firms raised £220 million in venture capital funding, leading to Bristol being named among the Top 20 European tech hubs of that year. The Government’s Digital Economy ranked Bristol fifth in the UK in its Tech Power League of Cities in 2021.
Culturally speaking, Bristol has always been a huge melting pot of cultures, due mainly to its situation as a city port where new ideas, discoveries and technological advances could freely flow. The same is true today with the flow of students to the city’s two universities from all over the UK, and indeed the world. Both institutions are conducting high-quality research not just internally but also in partnership with one another and Bristol-based entities such as British Aerospace and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.
Bristol boasts one of the highest retention rates for university students, with many choosing to stay in Bristol once their studies are completed. This, coupled with the city’s drive to encourage and make STEM subjects accessible to all schoolchildren, means there is a huge pool of home-grown talent looking for work.
So how can Bristol-based employers benefit from these opportunities, and how can they attract the very best, most talented individuals to come and work in their companies?
A company’s value system, ethos and reputation are major motivators for relocations.
All young people, including those looking for accountancy roles, want to work for a company because of what the company stands for or is known for. Employers who have a clearly defined strategy and purpose will be more attractive than those who are making it up as they go along. An alignment of values and purpose between employer and employee will see unparalleled dedication to advancement and success all around. This translates to every level of recruitment, from the writing of job descriptions and advertisements to the phrasing of interview questions; all aspects of the hiring process must be intentionally aligned with the values of the company.
The intentionality of a company’s culture must be present in the everyday life of the operation.
To retain good talent, there must be an investment in their development. Keeping them engaged can be achieved through comprehensive benefits and regular rewards and recognition. Communicating clear objectives and providing catered training where necessary will create a culture of excellence. The caveat to this is that ‘development’ is not always about achieving goals; an employer has the responsibility to monitor their staff and keep a watchful eye for signs of overwork and burnout. This being said, the newest generation to enter the workforce is less likely than any before to remain committed at the expense of themselves; the likelihood of them sticking around long enough to get burnt out is low, which is more of the reason why regular monitoring and engagement are so necessary.
A company must pay well to play well.
Inevitably, Bristol has become a victim of its own success in that it is now an expensive place to live, with some of the highest rental prices in the UK. As such, salaries need to be at least commensurate in order to be attractive. The youngest generation of workers (and not just those seeking accountancy roles) is highly motivated by money, and studies have shown that higher pay is one of the major motivators for job relocations, especially when you throw in inflation and the cost of living crisis! Along with a salary, young accountancy professionals are looking for a better standard of living.
Bristol, with its art, food, and cultural scene, sells itself to some extent. But a good work-life balance is vital if employees are to enjoy all that the city has to offer. All work and no play will see good talent leave as easily as it arrived. Weaving the vibrancy of the city into the company’s reward system, i.e., with regular opportunities to enjoy it, is a simple way of creating a reward and recognition plan that is both attractive to new talent as well as existing talent.
Investment and development are necessary at every level within the organisation.
It is not enough to dedicate all development efforts to recruitment and entry-level positions. In order for any company to grow, managers also need training. For example, people are often promoted to management positions because they are really good at doing their job, which on the surface seems logical. However, being a manager with a team of people to manage requires people-management skills. Being the best at a particular job doesn’t automatically make you great at managing people; indeed, quite often the opposite is true!
In order to stand out from the crowd, companies also need to pay well to play well, have demonstrable reward and recognition systems in place, and lastly, have development strategies for everyone at every level. Clarifying your values and then ensuring they are present at every level of your organisation is vital to recruiting, developing, and retaining the best talent Bristol has to offer.
