How does certified Top Employer Bentley Motors stay ahead in a fast-changing world of work? In our latest Q&A with Nicola Johnson and Danny Silcock, we explore what makes Bentley Motors a Top Employer. From AI-powered recruitment to leadership programmes as bespoke as their cars, discover how they’re building a workplace fit for the future.

Introduce yourself and tell us about your organisation

I’m Nicola Johnson, Director of our People and Culture Centre of Excellence at Bentley. My role focuses on driving a high-performance culture, learning and development, HR digital, talent acquisition and overseeing reward strategies. I’ve worked at Bentley for 20 years and have enjoyed a wide range of opportunities across HR, working alongside great leaders and teams over the years within the Volkswagen Group.

I’m Danny Silcock. Head of People and Culture Strategy and Transformation at Bentley. I’ve been in the role for around three years, leading our people strategy, transformation and change initiatives, as well as risk, compliance and policies. I’ve been at Bentley for 20 years and my previous roles have been within corporate strategy and manufacturing. This has enabled me to have a good understanding of the business, and similar to Nicola, I’ve had lots of opportunities to work with great people and collaborating with other brands across the wider Volkswagen Group.

What makes your organisation a Top Employer?

It’s the 14th consecutive year that we’ve been certified as a Top Employer in the UK, and a lot of that is due to our dedication to having an outstanding and extraordinary workplace. This year, we’ve been recognised for our excellent practices in strategic HR direction, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and learning and development. We use the Top Employer framework to help shape our people strategy, therefore we can identify opportunities for growth and constantly improve.

Can you tell us about a recent HR initiative you or your team have implemented that you’re particularly proud of?

There are a couple of initiatives that we’re particularly proud of. The first is our upskilling and skills transformation programme which focuses on equipping colleagues with the capabilities they’ll need for the future – both for their own career development and to support Bentley’s Beyond100+ corporate strategy. Skills in areas such as electric vehicles, cybersecurity, software development and AI are all critical.

Secondly, our Charge Forward Leadership Programme has been the most impactful leadership development initiative that we’ve delivered to date which was a significant investment in our people. All our leaders took part in a diagnostic process to identify their individual strengths and development needs. We then built and personalised bespoke programmes for our leaders – much like how we tailor our cars to each customer. One leader described it as “life changing,” which was really good to hear. We’re now rolling the programme across our management population and our wider colleagues to ensure that everyone has the right skills and support for their role and for their long-term career development.

How are you adapting your people practices to meet the expectations of the next generation of workers?

I think the biggest thing we’ve recognised is that the world of work changing – and before we talk about practices, we have had to adapt some of our facilities. Our Crewe campus, known as the Dream Factory, is expanding and growing. We have world class facilities for meetings for collaboration, to help people come together.

To support skills transformation, we’ve placed a strong emphasis on early careers intake. This brings in future-ready talent with the mindset to grow alongside emerging skills. It also plays a role in our talent pipeline.

We’ve worked hard to ensure that everything happening at a corporate level is meaningfully connected to functional areas, creating alignment across the business. Our people practices are structured and strategic – but there are also symbolic shifts underway. You can genuinely see the transformation taking place.

How is your organisation leveraging AI to enhance the workplace, and what impact has it had on your people and processes so far?

AI presents a significant strategic opportunity for Bentley, not only in driving productivity and efficiency but also in enhancing the employee experience. We’re already seeing a number of use cases across the business, and in recruitment specifically, AI is helping us connect with external candidates more effectively and craft more inclusive job advertisements.

There are more use cases that we’re currently exploring, including our HR digital transformation programme, which we are implementing with the Volkswagen Group. This initiative focuses on talent intelligence and will support smarter, data-driven people decisions.

We’re upskilling colleagues to build awareness of how to use AI tools effectively, while also equipping our leaders with the strategic capabilities needed to lead in an AI-enabled world.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for HR leaders in the next five years, and how are you preparing for it?

The biggest challenge is going to be responding to challenges. Over the last few years, we’ve navigated Brexit, COVID and lot of uncertainty around the world. Markets and regions are changing and therefore customers and people that we work with want different experiences and products.

Our key challenge will be staying agile and responding to future challenges in a way that supports Bentley’s core values, while enhancing our existing tools and focusing on our people. Our workforce brings a wealth of experience and proven capability, and it’s through these skills that we can rise to complex challenges, drive innovation, and push the boundaries of the automotive industry. The more we embrace this mindset, the more successful we’ll be in the future.

Bentley Motors – Proud to be a Top Employer. Discover more on the Bentley Careers YouTube channel.

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