Know your market: help clients win the war for talent

Jo Faragher

A recurring theme for hiring managers over recent weeks is reminiscent of those oft-quoted words from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: “water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink”. Replace water with ‘candidates’ and you’re not far off. There are plenty of people seeking work out there; it’s just becoming more and more difficult to find those with the right skills. 

The annual Resourcing and Talent Planning report from the CIPD and Hays shows just what organisations are facing in this emerging ‘war for talent’. It found that the proportion of companies facing competition for skilled candidates had gone up threefold since 2009, while six in 10 respondents said they found it difficult to fill vacancies in the last year.

HR departments must consider whether they should recruit people who are not 100% matched to the skills they require, and then develop these people internally, or simply ramp up their search. These are not mutually exclusive, and recruiters are well placed to help with the latter. On top of judicious use of professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, a good consultant can build relationships and specialist knowledge of in-demand sectors – allowing their client to focus on developing skills in-house. 

One area where we could see more fluidity in the job market over the coming months is banking and professional services. The stress of working long hours with little recognition in terms of pay rises or bonuses seems to be taking its toll on workers’ morale. More than half of the respondents in a survey by recruitment company Ambition said they anticipate moving jobs in the next 12 months, while 40% said they would resign or have previously resigned because of a lack of career progression. 

The atmosphere in the City wasn’t helped this week with news that senior bank leaders who are guilty of gross misconduct could face jail, if the recommendations of a new report by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards are carried out. The report recommended, among other things, that each bank’s board should be required to institute procedures to protect whistle-blowers.

The recruitment process is key to rebuilding trust in the City. Headhunters and executive search firms themselves must look at the criteria against which they recruit, ensuring that they’re sourcing leaders with a good ethical record and the potential to role model good practice.

Trust in big banks and their bosses will not be restored overnight, but a combination of regulatory reform and initiatives to build a more ethical, inclusive culture will slowly rebuild our financial services industry.