View - Atkins

Reviews 15
+24%
Increase in headcount over
the past 3 years
82%
Employee stability index
Overview
Atkins’ success depends on attracting and
retaining the most talented professionals
in their respective fields and providing an
environment in which they are able to
apply their skills on a variety of complex
projects. Consequently, being an employer
of choice is a must for Atkins. Part of our
strength is our ability to meet this challenge
for a wide range of professionals including
engineers, architects, planners, project
managers and surveyors.
We measure our performance in doing
so in various ways, partly by the collective
and individual strengths of the people who
decide to develop their careers with us,
but also by tracking a number of metrics
including staff retention, employee
engagement and headcount growth. We
also take note of the views of our staff and
potential staff expressed via internal and
externally commissioned surveys, with the
latter resulting in a number of awards.
Headcount
Within our continuing operations,
headcount grew by 1,400 (9%) after
allowing for the disposal of Lambert Smith
Hampton. The major areas of growth
were Design and Engineering Solutions
(+620 staff, 14% growth) and the Middle
East/India (+750 staff, 44% growth).
Headcount in our Rail business remained
flat and fell slightly in Highways and
Transportation where around 200 staff
transferred out at the end of March 2008
with the conclusion of the six-year
Northamptonshire County Council contract.
Headcount growth depends in part on our
ability to recruit quality staff in a challenging
market. In recent years, we have transformed
our approach to resourcing, recognising
that the majority of applications are now
made online and increasingly come from
all parts of the world. We have installed a
web-based recruitment platform and created
a dedicated team of professional recruiters.
For the first time, more than 50% of
applicants applied online either via our
website (www.atkinsglobal.com/careers)
or through job-boards. This proportion is
expected to increase as our recruitment
net widens to encompass previously
inaccessible talent pools.
Our success in recruitment meant that
vacancy levels remained broadly static
throughout the year and we attracted
over 120,000 applications, representing
an increase of around 15% on the previous
year. Of these, 50% were for positions
in the UK and a further 43% for positions
in the Middle East/India. We established
a dedicated recruitment team in Bangalore,
which is servicing the growing number
of applications from the Indian market.
Applications for graduate training positions
rose by almost 45% in the year to over
9,800. This reflected our increased profile
in UK universities and the steady increase
in the proportion of applicants from
across the world.
Retention
Recruitment success has to be matched by
our ability to retain talented professionals.
Our principal measure is staff turnover: the
level of voluntary resignations. Overall staff
turnover increased by 1.6% (from 13.8%
to 15.4%) reflecting the high levels of
competition for skilled staff. This was in
line with our predictions.
A related but important measure is the
stability of our workforce. This looks at the
proportion of staff that have been with
Atkins for 12 months or longer, and has
remained steady at around 82%. A stability
index of over 80% for the UK (our principal
employment base) compares well with
other leading professional services firms.
Likewise, a stability index of over 50% for
the Middle East is very good for a business
which has grown headcount by over 40%
in year. Our experience is that once
individuals become embedded in the
organisation they will stay for several years.
We have improved our ability to monitor
feedback from those who leave the
organisation via an online survey run on
our behalf by an independent organisation.
Since the survey was introduced in
May 2007, 73% of leavers have provided
feedback. This tells us that the key factors
affecting retention are clarity regarding
career progression and personal growth.
Whilst common to most professional
services organisations, these are areas
where we feel we can improve our
performance.
On a more positive note, over 80% of
leavers would recommend Atkins as an
employer and would consider working
for the organisation again.
Introduction Reviews Governance Financial Statements Investor Information
WS Atkins plc Annual Report 2008