Candidates are Walking

A tidal shift in the demand and supply of labour globally is well underway, with daily headlines of great resignations, brain drains’, and specialist skills shortages across industries, and nations.  This is well documented and accepted as a response to global events, where employees have had to adapt to new realities and work styles, and have emerged through the other side realizing that the pandemic hasn’t resulted in the end of civilization and mass unemployment, rather they are still needed, and they don’t want to go back to how it was.  They don’t need to.

In the specialist sector Big Sky serves, IT Security, this is exacerbated by the meteoric rise of Information and Cybersecurity in the corporate mix and the demand that creates for skilled and experienced security practitioners.  There simply is not enough talent out there to meet the demand.

What we have observed is, many companies will throw money at the situation massively distorting the market and creating a level of chaos.  Many have simply put their head in the sand, and are not recognizing the shift in the balance of the employment relationship, insisting on increasingly outmoded requirements such as dress codes, office hours, and generally less flexible approaches.  It is little wonder that many employers struggle to fill their teams, or lose out on talent moving to competitors.

The shift in the employment relationship balance has also given rise to unprofessional behaviour from talent, safe in the knowledge that another opportunity will pop up next week.  Unfortunately, cases of candidates reneging on signed employment contracts, and even ‘ghosting’ employers, are all too common.

So how can Employers mitigate these problems as much as possible?  Thankfully, its not all about the money.  Working with our clients, paying attention to the following points can see successful outcomes:

·         Realise things are different,  the market is hot, you can’t just do what you used to do and expect success.

·         Be realistic about remuneration.  Inflation is rising, and there is a shortage of skills.

·         Find your angle, your advantage, why working for you is better.  Find it, and articulate it.

·         Be flexible.  Many of the options open to the talent pool might not be ideal for the way you used to do things, but if you can be flexible in your approach, a raft of possibilities can open up.

·         Be proactive.  Think of ways to make employees working life more joyous, and offer it up front, not just reacting to candidate queries or requests.

·         Know what you want, have it clearly defined, and spend the time to clearly articulate those needs to your sourcing partners.

·         Make decisions quickly, and make sure your hiring processes can respond quickly.

·         Prioritise the process.  Make sure everyone that needs to be available in the recruitment process makes themselves available.

·         Realise that if you’re slow, if you wait, if you’re indecisive, if you’re stubborn and inflexible, if you can’t find a USP for your organization, you will struggle to resource your organization in the optimal way.

Stay nimble, and work closely with your recruiting partners, and you might find your organisation rising above your competitors with the team you need.