After experiencing health and economic crises, UK businesses are facing another problem: a shortage of talent. A survey reviewed by the Bank of England states that entrepreneurs are dealing with the most severe shortage of job candidates on record because of Brexit and the economic crisis. Unfortunately, the pool of talents continues to downsize due to the decreasing number of European Union workers and the skill limitations of job candidates.
UK businesses must adjust their recruitment and management strategies to survive the current skills shortage. To start, here’s how you can find the right people for your team:
Hire contingent workers
While there is a shortage of job candidates in the UK, businesses can still fulfill their goals by hiring contingent workers in the meantime.
Contingent workers, like freelancers and independent contractors, are adept in numerous skills, as demonstrated by Digital Women. This group aims to promote the digital expertise of female professionals, allowing freelancers and independent contractors to exhibit their valuable tech skills. Since contingent labour is beneficial during the skills shortage crisis, the BBC and the Motley Fool are some of the companies that are on the lookout for talented freelancers and independent contractors.
Upskill your current employees
Your employee retention strategy is more important than ever.
So instead of looking for talent outside of the company, LHH points out that career development opportunities can help your employees pursue their career goals while addressing your company’s current needs. These programmes ensure that you have the right people in the right positions, while also boosting the engagement, retention, and productivity of your current staff. In fact, even the government is supporting this strategy by launching the “Join the Skills Revolution” campaign along with Mastercard, Heineken, and AstraZeneca to fill the gaps of the skills shortage.
Re-evaluate your recruitment practices
While you’re solving the skills shortage within your business, it’s also crucial to assess your recruitment practices so that you can attract more job candidates in the future.
Now that the availability of labour is reducing at a rapid pace, Kate Shoesmith of REC emphasises that businesses must work hard to attract all the employees that they need. Businesses can start by prioritising the benefits that most employees want, such as greater work flexibility, higher wages, and health benefits. You can follow the steps of Visualsoft, which offers unlimited holiday time and unmonitored flexitime, or Google, which offers free food for employees in the office.
Broaden your workforce
In line with improving your recruitment practices, businesses must also work on building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Now that there are numerous job vacancies, HR News reported that almost 900,000 individuals over the age of 70 are heading back to work. Since older adults have valuable life skills that society can benefit from, their knowledge and expertise will be an asset to your business. To illustrate, Boots is hiring employees over 50 years old for management, pharmacy, and administrative roles, while B&Q actively employs older professionals for their digital, HR, and financial departments.
If you want your business to survive amidst the skills shortage, you’ll need to adapt. Through these strategies, your business will be able to find the right talents that can get you closer to your goals.