Approaching half (43%) of HR professionals say their organisation takes an ‘ad hoc’ approach to recruitment and retention, according to research from the CIPD.
With the UK’s hiring challenges in the spotlight as vacancies last month passed one million, the HR body’s latest recruitment and talent planning report, in partnership with resourcing specialist Omni, has highlighted that the recruitment and retention strategies of many employers are “found wanting”.
More than 1,000 HR professionals were surveyed for the report, which also found that, in organisations that say talent is increasingly difficult to retain, just 40% had undertaken any kind of retention initiatives.
Claire McCartney, senior resourcing and inclusion adviser at the CIPD, said: “The pandemic has meant that many organisations haven’t had the bandwidth to look ahead when it comes to resourcing. Our research also confirms that many organisations aren’t regularly collecting data on their current and future workforce needs. However, that’s exactly what they need to be doing if they’re to survive and thrive, given the current recruitment difficulties hiring crisis on our hands and changing dynamics of the labour market.
The report argues that now, more than ever, with a labour market in flux due to Covid and Brexit, organisations need to take a more strategic approach to resourcing – particularly since they may need to train and reskill more domestic workers or increase routes into work for young people, both of which takes time and investment.
As it stands, 46% of employers have a workforce planning strategy based on a robust understanding of their current and future workforce needs. Similarly, only 46% collect data to identify skills gaps in their organisation, with 31% collecting data to identify future skill requirements. Only one in five calculate the cost of labour turnover, and even fewer measure the return on investment of their recruitment activities (13%) or collect data to assess the availability of talent in the market (13%).
Recruitment and retention
McCartney added: “Employers could also be making much better use of data across the board regarding their resourcing practices, so they know what works for them and what doesn’t. This will not just put them in a better position to attract and retaining talent, it will open up access to more diverse talent too.”
Louise Shaw, director resourcing transformation for Omni RMS, said: “Given the stark reality that we currently lack the right people with the right skills needed for the economy to thrive, companies need to adjust their talent strategies to meet the shifting demands rather than simply reverting to those that served them well in the past.
“Businesses need to retain and upskill their workforce and think creatively about the future of work and how to diversify talent. The winners will be reshaping their talent strategies now to ensure they continue to attract, develop, and retain the best. They should apply the same rigour to resource planning as is given to designing overall business strategy.”
The report found more organisations turning to L&D to address their recruitment difficulties, with 33% saying they had developed more talent in-house compared to the previous year.
There was also an increase in organisations offering career-returner (27%) and mid-career-change programmes (21%) in the past year, up from 19% and 16% respectively on the previous year.
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