New research has found that, as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, nearly three-quarters of HR professionals (72%) expect the competition for well-qualified talent to increase, and nearly two-thirds (61%) predict further difficulty recruiting senior and skilled employees over the next three years.
The latest CIPD/Hays Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey of more than 1,000 HR professionals found that recruitment difficulties are already being reported by three quarters of HR professionals (75%), and nearly two-thirds (65%) agree that the skills needed for jobs in their organisation are changing. Professionals with leadership (58%), digital (54%) and commercial awareness skills (51%) are most likely to increase in demand over the next 12 months.
However, despite a recognition of the need for smarter, more targeted recruitment, less than a fifth (16%) say their organisation currently measures the return on investment of their recruitment activity. Similarly, over half (56%) say their organisations doesn’t calculate the cost of people leaving the business, despite labour turnover at its highest since 2007.*
Claire McCartney, Associate Research Adviser at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments:
The research also found that increasing competition for talent is highlighting the need for organisations to position themselves as an employer of choice. Almost nine in ten (89%) organisations said they have been making efforts to improve their employer brand in the last year. However, despite this focus on attracting employees, more than two-fifths (41%) believe the length of their recruitment process has led to the loss of potential recruits in the last 12 months.
Nigel Heap, Managing Director of Hays UK & Ireland, said:
Further highlights of the survey include:
- 61% strongly disagree or disagree that technology and automation has replaced some of the jobs in their organisation
- Over half of organisations conduct all recruitment activity in-house, but there is an increasing trend to combine in-house and outsourced approaches (2017: 44%, 2015: 40%, 2013: 28%)
- More organisations this year are currently offering and plan to offer apprenticeships. However, nearly a third believe that the current system of education is poor at equipping young people with the skills their organisation needs
- The most popular method of selection this year is competency-based interviews, overtaking interviews based on CV/application forms in popularity
- An increasing proportion of organisations use distance interview techniques such as telephone (2017: 65%; 2015: 62%; 2013: 56%) and video/Skype (2017: 52%; 2015: 46%; 2013: 30%)
* The median rate of labour turnover now sits at 16.5%, following a steady rate of decline between 2005 and 2013.
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