Almost every business we work with is going through similar challenges at the moment. Talent shortages are rife in almost every profession and have been for some time. I have had clients lament the lack of cleaners, bar staff, recruiters, lawyers and procurement professionals to name just a few. All are at a premium and there certainly does not seem to be any slowdown in hiring activity for most sectors, despite the potential looming economic challenges.
With a market already short of talent, there is also a frustrating trend that employers are noticing in regards to candidates. A larger number of candidates than usual are reneging on offer acceptances, being counter offered at their current employer or even leaving in their probation periods for another job offer.
With a candidate led market, there will always be these risks but there is a simple fix that I believe can potentially make a big difference to this issue.
Everyone will surely agree that with limited talent available, businesses need to be doing everything they can to engage candidates in their interview processes, and then once they actually get them on board.
With so much emphasis on offering hybrid-working and flexibility in the workplace, I think a lot of organisations have forgotten how to really build engagement and rapport with candidates through the recruitment process. It is not uncommon at the moment for an interview process to reach the closing stages, and all interviews will only have been conducted over video-calls. It therefore should not come as a surprise when a candidate declines an offer for a different opportunity internally or externally.
Without spending time in person with a prospective candidate, it is impossible to build up as much rapport and get a true sense of connection.
Furthermore, whilst offering flexibility around where your people work is great, in the first 3 to 6 months, we have noticed that new joiners are struggling to build true connections with their new colleagues. The positive impact that building social connections at work has on engagement and loyalty has long been proven through research. As a new starter, if you are only spending a day or 2 a week in the office, then it is far more likely you will consider a different opportunity within your probation period than if you had started to build meaningful connections at work by spending physical time in people’s company. Very few companies have found a way to truly replicate that remotely. The ad hoc coffee or drink after work really does make a difference to retention.
So the simple fix?
Simply make sure you spend more time with candidates face to face in the interview process to stand out from the competition, and when you have someone start, get them and their team-mates to spend as much time as possible in the office together.
It won’t solve for the shortage of great candidates, but it will definitely go some way in engaging and retaining the best ones available!
