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Read our three exclusive features with Karen Brookes, director of people and infrastructure, and member of the Board at Sir Robert McAlpine. We cover topics such as sustainability strategies in the construction industry, the importance of family values for workplace culture and recruiting future leaders with Morson.

Morson Meets... Karen Brookes, director of people and infrastructure, and board member at Sir Robert McAlpine

In the first we detail the construction landscape for the 153-year-old business in a post-COVID era, consider why sustainability is dictating talent solutions and how Sir Robert McAlpine’s partnership with the Morson Group is crucial to capturing market advantage.

“More so than ever, people want their roles to involve contributing to society, and it’s important for us to work that element into our parent projects. Whether it’s sustainability, an ethical supply chain or offering teams the chance to give back to their communities. It matters to people, and it’s great that they bring that mindset to the workplace because it promotes change.”

READ THE FIRST INTERVIEW

In our second interview with Karen we discuss the employee culture at the organisation, why family values are so important and plans for engaging a new generation of leaders and skilled workers.

“Employer branding is really important these days and is something we work closely with Morson on. We’re offering a package which is in equal parts generous and industry-leading, but also true to our values and not just an empty selling point”.

“Attrition rates in the industry can be as high as around 20 per cent, but we’re operating much lower than that and it is down to how we, as an organisation, and how Morson as our talent partner, take care of our core team and any contractors who join us on a project basis. Working together with Morson, we’re always analysing how best to engage with the workforce – what do they want? What would they value? What could we introduce that could make their experience with us even better?

READ THE SECOND INTERVIEW

In our third and final feature of the series we delve into SRM’s drive for diversity, Karen’s eclectic career background and the plans to position Sir Robert McAlpine as an organisation that champions industry change.

“We’re using specialist recruitment techniques with Morson to bring a more diverse workforce into our organisation, so these affinity groups oversee trends and challenges in areas like ESG, BAME, LGBTQ+ and working families. They each come from different backgrounds so bring various perspectives to the table to ensure we’re offering as much support to everyone within our business as possible. They’ll identify if our policies offer the same standards to both men and women, for example, and will spot if certain groups within the organisation need extra training in a particular area to put them on a level playing field with their peers.”

READ THE THIRD INTERVIEW

At Morson, recruitment is more than filling roles. It’s transforming businesses, fuelling industry and innovation, creating fulfilling careers and opening up the world of work for all. Find out more about our employer solutions.