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- Darren Diamond
Recently, the BBC along with many other publications reported that employers were finding it hard to recruit new staff following the UK labour market tightening.
According to several surveys by employment agencies, there has been a quick increase in the pay rates of both permanent and temporary staff despite a dramatic fall in the number of job applicants.
Recruitment and Employment Confederation chief executive, Kevin Green, said: “It’s clear that employers are having to work even harder to fill jobs as vacancies rise and candidate availability shrinks.”
In fact, it has been reported that three in four employers are now struggling to find people with the right skills to fill their vacancies, leaving most firms across the country with at least 60 roles to fill.
What are the reasons for this?
Following Britain’s decision to leave the EU, Green says: “People already in work are becoming more hesitant about moving jobs amid Brexit uncertainty.” This is especially true for EU workers who are put off from taking up roles in the UK, fearing that they would be asked to leave the UK when we officially leave the EU.
Several sectors have been severely impacted by the lack of workers such as manufacturing, healthcare and hospitality – particularly the NHS with over 60,000 staff who are EU nationals.
With one in four EU workers considering leaving their UK organisation in 2017 before Brexit hits, employers face some uncertainty with how to fill their roles and will have to deal with some significant recruitment challenges in the following years.
How best to fill your positions?
Prior to the Brexit employment challenges we’re facing now, employers had been struggling to find candidates to take on certain labour-intensive roles – including nurses, sales reps and restaurant/hotel workers – for years.
These roles often need someone with the correct training or experience to start with, and so it can be hard for employers to find the right people – especially when they only have a small pool of candidates to begin with.
However, there are several tips and tricks to finding the right candidate for your role.
Understanding where to look for candidates
While it may sound obvious, not knowing where to advertise your job vacancy is a common problem for employers. If you’re looking for a marketing assistant, and you are unsure of where they would look for a new job, then it’s time to do some research. Ask around the office, have a look online or speak to recruitment experts and find out the options for advertising your position.
In this digital era, your best chances of finding lots of potential candidates is posting onto job boards such as DYWAJ. While not always as quick as a referral, job boards make up 18% of all new hires and so it means they’re the big factor in hiring.
Using job boards will allow you to optimise your job advert, setting specific requirements for those who apply, such as location, and so on. That means no matter what position you’re looking to fill, you can guarantee that someone out there will looking at your position.
Make changes to your job descriptions
It’s important to set your company apart from the others who will be advertising the same roles, meaning writing the perfect job description is key!
Not only will it give the candidate a better understanding of what they will be expected to do, but you have the chance to shout about the excellence of your company and the benefits they will get working with you.
Try using positive and powerful words that will highlight the advantages and rewards of working in your company, such as any awards you have won or unique rewards you offer (e.g. a gym membership or free lunches). It will initially draw their attention before you move onto explaining what you need from them.
Encourage employee referrals
As they say, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ and this phrase applies to both employees and employers when jobseeking. Research has shown that employee referral programs are cheaper and quicker than any other types of candidate searches, making it perfect for employers desperate to fill a position quickly.
With incentives and rewards to help motivate the referrals as well as a strong cultural basis, employees will share your position with their friends and family in order to build the organisation’s talent base.
Connect with your candidates
A great way to advertise your position for free is to post it on social media. Spend time networking with potential candidates on LinkedIn, build up a following on Twitter where you can post job relevant content and create Facebook groups for people seeking jobs. This way you can share important information about your business, job vacancy and find out what your potential candidates are like from the get-go.
It’s vital as an employer not to rely on traditional methods to find candidates; it’s time to recalibrate your mindset and take a brand-new approach to recruiting by using job sites and social media. That way you will always have a large selection of potential employees on hand.
Darren Diamond is MD of DYWAJ (Do You Want A Job)
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