Finding top talent – and retaining it
When we looked at the challenge that the global skills shortage is posing for employers, we weren’t naïve to the follow-up questions. In fact, it’s frequently our job to answer them: with shortages in mind, how can employers attract and retain the best talent?
By looking at 2017 hiring data, consulting firm RSM concluded that unexamined hiring practices contribute to a gap between expectations and reality:
Inefficient systems are failing to supply workers with the right skills and experience. There is now a growing disconnect between hiring practices and the fast-changing needs of employees. Without flexibility and focus, organisations will struggle to find the talent they need to thrive.
Get ready for Generation Z
Cohort definitions are fuzzy, of course, but if we define Generation Z as being born between 1993 and 1999, then they began graduating last year. A great many of them have unshakeable designs on a positive working environment. As for what that means in practice, Accenture advises a focus on four key areas:
- Make the employee experience personal and meaningful
- Create paid internships as a positive trial run
- Cross-train
- Use digital natives as a catalyst for change
By fostering and advertising a digitally focused workplace with an emphasis on cooperation, training packages and worthwhile internships, employers can make their offering a go-to proposition for this new generation of graduates.
Impart the right training and skills
With the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, some explorers are revamping training and skills programmes, including apprenticeships. Good intentions are nice, but what amounts to an effective revamp? Business insurer Travelers looked at what innovation means for top-class training in manufacturing:
- Build your middle-skills talent pipeline; focus too high or too low and risk missing grand opportunities to boost productivity and job satisfaction
- Consider partnering with the community, especially schools, so both parties can shape each other’s hiring and learning expectations
- Provide continuous and tailored safety training
- Create knowledge transfer programs
The continuous training engendered by these four steps integrates industry with education. The knowledge base of long-term staff isn’t left to wither on the vine; mentoring and knowledge-transfer programmes will energise everyone. Get the best out of your more experienced workforce by putting a premium on passing down what they know.
Focus on mental health and well-being
Poor workplace mental health costs employers £42 billion and three hundred thousand lost jobs annually. The government’s ‘Thriving at Work’ report serves as a starting point for employers to audit their mental health awareness and take simple but meaningful steps to improve well-being.
Employers, a gentle word: taking part in Britain’s Healthiest Workplace survey can open management’s eyes about what a better work environment means and what tools are at your disposal to get there. Employee productivity and well-being go hand in hand.
