How companies can get better at managing, attracting and retaining their staff to alleviate labour shortages

As we move post pandemic, many companies are turning their attention to hiring staff. During the pandemic some businesses, crippled by restrictions, needed to make staff redundant. As the economy begins to bolster confidence again those redundancy gaps may need to be filled. On the other hand there are organisations who used the down time or furlough to form new strategies.

They found gaps in staffing appeared or some found demand for certain products and commodities soared and more supply was needed. Whatever the reason for recruiting new staff, businesses are reporting the work landscape has changed. Coupled with the labour shortage, employers are finding that it is now an employees market. The effect is that some businesses are facing disruption because they cannot find and retain the right staff for the job.

Recruiting during a labour shortage means we must adapt in order to retain the best talent. Flexibility is key. The pandemic has changed the work landscape and therefore what the workforce expects. HR strategies must consider how that translates in hiring staff. 2021 figures from Kallidus show that 2 in 5 people will look for another job in the next 12 months. The reasons given were to gain more flexibility, to seek more purpose and to learn and progress their career. Nearly two thirds (61%) of workers are practising self-led learning. Those workers are seeking out additional courses to learn new skills. Self-led learning transcends the workforce: a huge 65% of 18 – 35 year olds are leading their own development, showing a desire from both Gen Z and Millennials for stronger development opportunities. We need to understand these figures by communicating with our workforce. The communication should start at the application process and continue through onboarding and beyond. Finding out what employees need In today's work landscape is not just about functional skills, these can be taught. Finding candidates who are passionate and open to change and learning is what is needed. Invariably that will lead to finding staff who can adapt their skills to suit different parts of the business, ultimately strengthening it. 

If businesses are struggling to attract the right staff for the role they should consider where they are advertising. The last 18 months has seen a huge shift in how we work. New technology has supported a more flexible workforce. With staff less office based we aren’t necessarily reaching them in the same way we used to. Conventional job sites have their place but increasingly employers are using social media to advertise for jobs with real success. Due to social media algorithms they are able to select a group of people who already show an interest in what they do. Recruitment is becoming more of a marketing exercise and it may mean that we have to change the way we target talent. Many candidates say the application process can put them off working for certain businesses. The gender, age and race questions are outdated and can make the process difficult for some people in this increasingly more diverse and inclusive world we now inhabit. Qualifying questions rather than screening questions can be more useful. Does the candidate have the correct qualifications, the ability and the reliability? Tailoring an application process to what a business needs rather than what the role traditionally requires may help if businesses are failing to attract and retain the talent they want. A long application process can put talent off if it is not communicated properly. From start to finish, recruiting for a new role can take between 3-6 months. If the application process is going to be a long one, ensure you communicate that. Workers say that the onboarding process can have a profound effect on how they approach the job, once they are in it. Finding out what new staff need to know about the business to do the job properly is key. 

To retain good staff we need to incentivise and reward them. Total reward can be used to a company's advantage. With the amount of choice for workers in the jobs market, if employers don’t offer benefits and incentives, their employees may become the 2 in 5 who look to change their job. Blanket benefits and incentives across the workforce may not work. A man with family commitments and a long car commute is unlikely to see the free beers on a Friday as much of an incentive. To offer him a more flexible working week where his commute is reduced and he gets to see more of his family is an incentive which may not be matched elsewhere. By communicating with our workforce on an individual level we can ensure that total reward is useful rather than just a tick box exercise in demonstrating employee wellbeing.  

Communication is key. Listen to your workforce. Adapt. Find out how best to reach the people you want and keep talking to them once you hire them. 

Peter Boolkah is a world-renowned business coach, speaker and entrepreneur who inspires and empowers individuals and businesses to ignite real and lasting change within their companies.