INTRODUCTION

• Ellie Long has been Global Head of Emerging Talent at Rolls-Royce since September 2013.

• She has been part of a pioneering new behaviour-focused hiring system that has seen Rolls-Royce overhaul all its graduate programmes.

• Ellie believes in a highly inclusive and transparent recruitment approach, setting candidates up for success by focusing on “potential, not polish”.

• Under her leadership, Rolls Royce has shared interview questions and assessment materials with candidates to enhance transparency.

• In 2021 Ellie won a Rising Star award at the Great British Businesswoman of the Year awards

• Before joining Rolls-Royce, Ellie held Early Talent and HR roles at E. ON UK.

• Ellie graduated from Nottingham Business School in 2015 and has since been awarded an NTU Outstanding Alumni honour.

LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS from Ellie Long…

1. Leaders should encourage their teams to be themselves. The best companies don’t employ to fit a company mould

"Too often we join organisations and think there's a corporate culture or a way you have to be… [But] you've been hired for who you are. Be unapologetically yourself.”

2. The most enjoyable roles are often defined by the environment created by the leader.

"People always work for people. You [want to] enjoy who you work for. I very much try to create an environment where people want to be part of the journey."

3. Effective leadership involves communicating vision and strategy so team members can connect their work to a larger purpose, fostering commitment and enthusiasm.

“We're trying to give people meaning. I try to create a team in which people want to come to work in the morning.”

4. Technical skills are teachable. Core behaviours aren’t.

"We can't teach someone to be passionate about [for example] sustainable aviation fuels and having the right analytical mindset to go off and research something. It's that kind of behaviour that we want to assess."

5. Leaders must focus on developing adaptable, future-proof human skills.

“By 2030, forty per cent of the skills we need in an organisation will be different."

6. Leaders need to move away from traditional career-progression models.

“Skills are going to become the new career currency… as opposed to linear career structures."

7. When recruiting staff, your primary goal should be to identify potential

“Leaders always look for potential, not polish. [When we’re hiring] we're trying to assess [if someone has a] growth potential mindset."

8. Leaders should give interview candidates their questions beforehand

"Why wouldn't we do this? It's an interview, not another exam."

9. Leaders should be great storytellers. But they must support their vision with hard data

“We have to evidence why we’re doing the things we're doing."

10. To drive significant change, leaders must build a strong network of supporters and champions to advocate for their vision.

"I've worked hard to build a strong stakeholder network, within Rolls-Royce, of people who I know will support [my] activity. Get people onside!”

RELATED LINKS

Find out more about Ellie Long…

• On the NTU website, after her Rising Star success in the Great British Business Women of the Year awards

• Through global business marketing platform EliteX

• In this TA Disruptors podcast

If you enjoyed this episode of the NBS Business Leaders’ Podcast with Ellie Long listen to previous episodes with…

The former head of the RAF Sir Andrew Pulford CBE KBE

The former CEO of the Financial Ombudsman Service Caroline Wayman

The co-founder of the Amazing If… company Sarah Ellis