Recent stats have shown that the number of job vacancies in the UK reached an all-time high of 1.3 million during the months of March – May 2022. This is over 500,000 more than was recorded during the same time last year.

The cause of severe staff shortages is due to hundreds of thousands of people leaving the workforce during Covid-19 have chosen not to return, along with the lack of skilled workers. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) have said that companies are struggling to find suitable candidates to fill vacancies, highlighting the current skills shortage in the UK. In fact, a report by the Learning and Work Institute (L&W) in 2019 found that by 2030 the UK skills shortage will cost the country £120 billion, this was even before Covid-19 was a factor, meaning this figure has probably now increased.

Research carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that nearly 1 in 5 employees expect to leave their current job role and move to a different employer within the next year. Interestingly, the top 3 motivators for switching to working for a new organisation are; wanting a pay rise, wanting a fulfilling job and wanting to “truly be themselves at work.”

With all of this in mind, what can employers do to increase their employee retention rate?

Firstly, employers need to identify future potential within both their new and existing workforce. Looking at the career pathways of employees will not only help increase retention as staff will feel valued and motivated, but it will also enable organisations to identify areas in which they can upskill their employees to meet the business’s needs. This will therefore highlight skills required for future roles and hopefully reduce and avoid skills shortages within the organisation in years to come.

This is supported by the analysis recently undertaken by the New Economic Foundation (NEF) who suggest that more upskilling and retraining options will be needed. Their research also shows that 80% of employers believe current graduates are lacking desirable skills required to enter the workforce. There is a clear need for educational institutions to be working in collaboration with businesses to help establish and identify organisational needs and therefore provide the education and training required to meet future demand.

It is time for employers to think out of the box and not just rely on proven technical skill sets but natural aptitudes and qualities. This is where the i3 recruit assessment tool can be used effectively to support the whole talent management, succession planning and employee development life cycle.

The i3 recruit platform enhances a more traditional recruitment process by helping to identify natural ability and the right talent, gaining an objective, in-depth insight to support the recruitment process of new employees to ensure they meet business needs.

The assessment tool provides an i3 recruit report that is easy to understand and designed specifically for the recruitment process. In addition to the candidate report, you can also create a role profile of the type of person that would be most successful within that job role.

This can then be used as a guide during the selection process to help with interview preparation questions and to ensure a base understanding of both high potential as well as any challenging attributes amongst the candidates.

You only have to complete the i3 assessment once as the result provides someone with their foundational personality DNA. It can then used to support career development by identifying key strengths and therefore potential progression routes.

The i3 recruit skills and assessment package involves a one-day management workshop for up to 10 delegates who will:

  • Explore the value of assessments within a recruitment process
  • Receive a brief introduction to i3 recruit
  • Understand the i3 indicators and productive environment
  • Complete and use the role profile
  • Use and apply the candidate recruit reports in the recruitment process
  • Prepare interview questions using the report findings
  • Agree action plan on how to best integrate and add value to current processes
  • Understand how to use the reports to help integrate people into a new rolesuccessfully
  • Learn how to administer and facilitate the on-line systemWe guarantee that everyone who is actively involved in your recruitment and selection process will benefit from i3 recruit as the right candidates are matched to the right job role.

    For more information and to book your place on our upcoming course, please get in touch with Susanne [email protected]

    Sources:

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/283771/monthly-job-vacancies-in-the-united-kingdom- uk/

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-16/uk-job-vacancies-hit-another-high- in-sign-of-tight-labor-market

    https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/employees-work-switch-jobs-b2086277.html

    https://www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/hr/resources/employee-talent-skills- development/skills-shortage/