If you’re struggling to find quality candidates for roles, you’re not alone. At Appointments here, we are remaining positive that we can source candidates.

However, we are seeing recruitment trends this year that pose real issues for all types of sectors. Of course, Brexit does feature as a reason. According to research by Quinyx, in collaboration with Development Economics and Censuswide, many businesses are wary about talent pipelines post-Brexit. Nearly half (49 percent) of employers said that they’ve seen a negative impact on their future recruitment of manual and elementary service workers – with 15 percent expecting it to be severe

It’s not just about Brexit though…

It’s easy to label all shortages as post-Brexit issues, when there are other reasons too. Low pay, the lack of flexible working and poor working conditions all play a large role in recruitment and retention issues. However, when revenues are tightening, it’s hard to be able to absorb any extra costs. Flexible working has been a feature of work for many during the pandemic, but for some roles, especially in care homes and in manufacturing, these options aren’t feasible.

We’re also finding that specific skills, such as IT, banking and engineering are impacted, and with qualified candidates in demand, we’re even more determined to be creative with sourcing.

Don’t stop still – keep moving

It’s a question about what you can and cannot control, so consider the factors you are able to influence. Just allowing things tick over until a better opportunity emerges can stall growth and prevent you from succeeding.
For example, use this time now to review finances and put together strategies to deal with issues in the short to medium-term that may prevent your company from surviving or thriving.
Also, take a deep dive into the motivational facets of your workforce, to gain insights for future leverage.

Here are some of our ideas.

Seek actionable feedback from current employees:

• If we could change an aspect of your job to improve how you work, what would that be?
• What latent skills do you have that you don’t use? For example: work or groups outside of work. How could you use these at work?
• What skills would you like to develop? How will they benefit, you, and the organisation?
• How could I, as a manager, better support you?

Retention and Recruitment:

• Resource planning, using data and analytics – create a clear plan of what and why, and when to start recruitment well in advance
• Understand the objectives for the role / company, etc.
• Consider flex of fit, not just fit
• Defining what “best” looks like – ideal experience you want (and what you can get)
• Pay what you can to retain current workers
• If you can offer flexible working, or flexible training, consider a trial
• Ask employees why they stay, include this information in adverts.
• Ensure you feature positive employee case studies on your website to boost your employer brand

Get in touch with the Appointments team if you want to discuss any aspects of our blog. We’re here to help! Find out more about recruitment planning. Book a recruitment audit with us, to see if your recruitment processes are helping or hindering you.