Exploring identity, place and worker attraction and retention in rural businesses

The study suggests that a place-based approach to recruitment and retention could develop a strong regional brand that emphasises the natural capital of the DPD region to workers. Employers could also enhance their local reputation with a flexible and customised approach to their total rewards packages.

Findings from the research have implications for national and local government and intra-organisational practice:

• Education policy
  • Apprenticeships as a way of addressing the ageing worker demographic in rural communities. One approach would be to update the scheme to be more appropriate to the needs of small and micro businesses. Unique features could include hybrid apprenticeships that cover more than one business area and pooled apprenticeships, shared between small or micro businesses.
• Infrastructure
  • Encourage and enable local government to work together to develop a fit-for-purpose public transport infrastructure. Consider providing central government funding to subsidise rural bus services and/or community transport options to move workers into and across regions.
  • Providers should increase the quality of broadband coverage in rural areas to enable businesses and communities to fully engage with the digital world.
  • Encourage and enable local government, developers and housing associations to provide more affordable housing for workers who can then live closer to where they work.

• Benchmarking
  • Fund research to benchmark and compare approaches to solving problems relate to recruitment and retention of workers in other rural communities both nationally and internationally.
• Cooperation and collaboration
• • Local government has a duty to understand and support the needs of its local communities and ensure that those in rural areas do not lose out. This can be achieved through cooperation between local councils and business support organisations.
  • Promote the DPD as a ‘place to work’, rather than just a place to visit. Multi-agency coordination would enable the communication of a consistent brand to prospective workers, giving a geographical perspective to the message.
  • Translate the idea of natural capital into a central plank of business-focused communications, reinforcing the associated sense of belonging and the improvement in mental and physical wellbeing that this creates for rural workers.
  • Fund a facilitation role that helps rural businesses to successfully access government business support that may support worker attraction and retention.
  • Fund a coordinating body to work with employing organisations to co-create ways to address common staffing issues such as transport to work, staff training and marketing the region as a place to work.

There are also implications for business support organisations and employers in DPD as detailed in the report.