Tag: Employer Brand

Developing and upskilling existing employees problematic for a third of hiring leaders

 A new report from Glassdoor has revealed the burning issues facing talent acquisition leaders across the UK. The findings suggest increased workplace transparency and authentic employer branding can slow employee churn and attract talent.

Surveying talent acquisition, employee experience and employer branding specialists, Glassdoor’s State of Employer Branding report found the most significant hiring challenges employers are faced with today are:

  • Salary expectations not aligning with what the company pays (32%)
  • Best candidates receiving multiple offers from other companies (32%)
  • The company receiving too few qualified candidates (27%)
  • Applicants lacking the skills specified in the job description (23%)
  • Building a quality pipeline of job candidates takes too much time and resources (23%)

Furthermore, hiring leaders across the UK agreed that conditions have become more challenging since the pandemic. Compared to 2019, retaining employees is more difficult for more than half of (55%) talent acquisition specialists. A further 50%  found sourcing candidates with the right qualifications harder and 47% could no longer make competitive offers.

Internally, developing and upskilling the existing workplace was problematic for a third (34%) of hiring leaders and 28% said adapting to a remote or hybrid workforce was also challenging.

EMPLOYER BRANDING CAN WIN THE WAR FOR TALENT

Glassdoor’s research reveals that companies with a clear mission and a strong reputation for being a great workplace find it easier to stand apart from the competition and attract and retain talent.

Before 2020, many employers benefitted from established recruitment plans and office perks. But the upheaval caused by the pandemic allowed employees to challenge in-office norms and demand more of their employers.

According to Glassdoor, today employees overwhelmingly expect more flexible work options; mentions of hybrid increased 1600% in UK employee reviews on Glassdoor this year, and 39% of job hunters say flexibility is a critical consideration of where to work**. In addition, work has also become more personal, with 1 in 5 surveyed wanting their own values to align with the mission and culture of their employer.

In the report, nearly 7 in 10 UK hiring leaders (68%) agreed that their employer brand gave them the edge over competitors when hiring new talent. Additional Glassdoor research*** reveals job seekers who see a company brand at least 10 times are 8x more likely to apply than those who saw the brand once.

Internally, three-quarters (75%) of talent acquisition and employer branding specialists say they are in tune with the wants and needs of their employees and 82% agree their executive team engages with building their employer brand.

But what physically is being done by teams to strengthen their brand? The most common employee experience and engagement tasks carried out are:

  • Delivering diversity and inclusion programmes (59%)
  • Engagement surveys (59%)
  • Developing employee engagement programmes (55%)
  • Taking action on employee feedback (54%)
  • 360 reviews (48%)

Jill Cotton, Glassdoor Career Trends Expert commented: “As we reach the end of 2022, a new employer-employee dynamic has emerged. Employees are holding companies accountable for promises made and choosing to work for organisations whose values align with their own. Record job vacancies may have given job hunters the upper hand when choosing where to work. But our research shows that successful employers listen to and deliver upon the wants and needs of their workforce. Cultivating a strong employer brand helps companies stand apart from the competition by answering the ‘why’ someone should want to work for you.”

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The launch promises to be worth the wait

Oyster Partnership has announced today that they are set to launch a new brand, website and offices.

For Oyster, the re-brand focusses on building something extraordinary for their clients, candidates and for their own people by creating more opportunities, more rewards and greater success.

Oyster is known in the industry to never shy away from growth and development and are determined to reimagine what recruitment can be. With a larger and stronger team, passion for success and drive to steer the recruitment industry in a changing world, Oyster believes it is poised to enact great change in the recruitment industry.

The rebrand welcomes a new postcode in Mayfair, boasts a brilliant new brand identity, and will unveil an entire website redesign! Oyster’s tagline says it all: “Our success is your success” through an ethos of ensuring every client has the right people and every candidate has the right position to excel.

To achieve the rebrand Oyster has partnered with the respected Nottingham-based brand marketing agency, RizkMcCayTribe. The rebrand promises to bring the Oyster personality to life and its core values to the forefront of the talent ecosystem thereby making sure Oyster audiences are front of mind throughout the entire creative experience.

Oyster is sharing its excitement through a social media launch campaign, which has invited people to share experiences they feel are worth waiting for and stand a chance to win a £350 voucher and some enviable goodies.

Sasza Bandiera, MD at Oyster Partnership commented: “As every business knows, the right employee is worth the wait and Oyster’s dedication to clients and candidates is reflected through the quality of our environment and investment in our brand. It’s been worth the wait and we’re eager to share it.”

The biggest reveal to hit the recruitment sector this year, Oyster have kept details of its incredible changes completely under wraps, but M.D, Sasza Bandiera spoke exclusively to TALiNT International as said: “The pandemic brought about new challenges, but also lots of new opportunity for the business. By leaning in, we discovered new opportunities, expanded on what we were doing well, and got rid of what wasn’t so good. We took ourselves on a learning curve to make sure our foundations were all bolstered to allow us to really understand and deliver what both candidates and clients want and need.”

“Overall, we’ve been through lots of internal change over the last 18months: investing in new verticals, training, D&I, automation, bespoke CRM, new processes & procedures and finally a new brand that really represents who we are and where we’re going – all within a fresh new office space in the heart of London. We’ve reimagined what recruitment can be, to support clients and candidates on their journeys.”

“We’re on a mission to 2030. With still lots of goals to realise, everyone at Oyster will have a part to play, even those who haven’t started yet…”

To join the Oyster journey and be part of reimagining recruitment, have a look at their social channels and be in with a chance of winning a £350 voucher. Lots of things in life are worth waiting for. But what’s worth the wait for you?

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Brand repositions to reflect new world of work

Recruitment company Hays recently revealed a major brand refresh and repositioning to better meet the evolving needs of organisations and professionals in the new world of work.

With the many changes to the working world since the onset of the pandemic, Hays has evolved as an organisation which they believe has placed them in a better position to meet the changing requirements and challenges of its customers and address, such as:

  • long-term skill shortages
  • new job category creation
  • the constant need to upskill workforce
  • higher wage inflation
  • changing work habits

The company believes that their brand refresh and repositioning signal their increasing focus on delivering to their customer’s needs by providing a wider range of services and support.

They will consolidate their sub-brands, simplify their structure, and revamp their messaging. In addition, the company plans to connect all areas of its business to enable better knowledge-sharing, continual enhancement services, and delivery of a more personalised experience.

The change aims to ensure that customers find it seamless and straightforward to access any aspect of their services and that it is easy to do business with them.

The move follows comprehensive research undertaken by the company in 2021. Their new tagline “Working for your tomorrow” signifies their intention to work alongside their customers to help them achieve their goals as well as putting their customers at the centre of everything they do, looking to the future and anticipating what their customers need to help them make the most of opportunities that lie ahead.

Alistair Cox, Hays Chief Executive, commented: “Hays sits at the heart of what economies need most to thrive – talented workforces – and we know that the creation, development and retention of workforces is becoming more complex. Our business is all about people, so this next phase of our own evolution is designed to better solve these challenges for our clients and candidates. By doing so, we aim to help more businesses and the people in them to succeed in this rapidly changing world of work.

“It is an exciting time to be part of Hays, what we’re doing now will define our success as a business for years to come. The unique scale, breadth and depth of Hays’ knowledge and expertise worldwide makes us stronger in the market than ever before. Bringing the full power of our insights and capability to each customer in an integrated and customer-centric way will create a formidable platform for our own growth.”

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The pandemic has stifled their career

According to a recent by Indeed, findings are on par with what HR experts know about Gen Z leading the Great Reshuffle. Likewise, the report builds on previous data wherein Gen Z feels disconnected and disadvantaged due to working remotely. In February 2022, Washington State University’s Carson College of Business reported that most of their Gen Z survey-takers felt that the COVID-19 pandemic stifled their career.

Indeed’s May 2022 report contextualizes these concerns with a fresh spin. Simply put, just because Gen Z feels as if they’re missing out on office work does not mean they want to start working in the office full time, if at all.

Flexibilty, as well as other perks, remains one of the ways employers can help attract and retain their young talent. Indeed’s research highlights that explicitly with the report finding that 95% of Gen Zers are considering a job with more work-from-home flexibility and 78% are actively looking for one.

Just less than half (47%) of Gen Z responders told Indeed they’re very likely to change jobs within the next 12 months, more than the slightly older cohort, millennials. Of those Gen Zers making moves to jump ship, 61% were driven by employers’ implementation of a return-to-office plan conflicting with their work from home desires.

Despite their concern, for example, more than half of Gen Zers interviewed by talent acquisition firm Lee Hecht Harrison reported career anxiety, young professionals don’t appear to be compromising on their values anytime soon. In fact, they want employers whose moral code matches theirs.

In summary, employers have two sure fire ways of attracting and retaining talent: Offer work flexibility and find define the employer brand so that candidates are attracted to who you are, not just what you do.

 

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61% don’t believe they have the skills to enter most sought after industries

After five years of falling outside the top three, engineering is now at the top of the list of most desirable sectors to work, overtaking IT & Communications (ITC), which held the top spot for the previous four years. Sixty percent of respondents, a 10% increase from 2021, said they were willing to work in the Engineering sector.

According to the new research from Randstad, surveying  163,000 working-age people, ITC has fallen to third place at 58%. The study also revealed that 70% of workers are open to job opportunities. Forty-eight percent are willing to quit their jobs if the work stops them from enjoying their lives. A further 34%  admitted to leaving a role because it didn’t fit within their personal life.

Second on the list of attractive sectors is the Automotive industry at 59%. In fourth place is the Agriculture sector at 57%, followed by the FMCG sector at 55%.

The study also found that different regions in the world have different views as to what the most attractive sectors are. For example, European respondents ranked the Automotive sector as number one (46%), followed by Life Sciences (44%) and Industrial (44%).

The Automotive sector was also in the top position (73%) in Latin America, followed by Industrial (68%) and FMCG (68%).

According to the study, even though workers are attracted to certain industries, 61% feel they don’t have the skills required to enter the industry. Sixty-five percent believe they lack the skills to work in the engineering industry. Some industries are even higher, such as the chemical sector, at 72%, and the construction sector at 69%.

On the other hand, 46% believe that the skills to work in the retail industry, and 43% believe they have the skills for the hospital industry. A further 42%  believed they had the required skills for the ITC sector. In addition, the research indicated that more white-collar workers (41%) feel that they have the skills to work in any sector, whereas only 34% of blue-collar workers feel this way.

The research also showed that 76% of employees agree that being offered the chance to reskill, while only 61% feel that their employers offer these opportunities.

Joanna Irwin, Randstad CMO, commented: “This year’s Randstad Employer Brand Research signals that the tides are changing in terms of which sectors are seen as the most attractive for employees. Increasingly, talent wants to work in sectors that make an impact in both the physical and digital world.

There’s still a job to do for employers in these sought-after industries to ensure that they are removing the barriers to entry for willing talent. Offering reskilling and upskilling programs can help employers stand out from the crowd and attract workers.”

No matter which sector is considered to be the most attractive, employers must offer compelling employee value propositions to ensure that they attract the best talent.

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Delays due to difficulties in finding quality candidates

According to 58% of HR managers, delays in hiring are negatively affecting business performance.

In Talent Work’s survey of 400 HR leaders, it was found that recruitment is taking double the time to hire talent when compared to 2019. Twenty-one percent of respondents agree that it is taking three times as long.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents agree that the delays are due to difficulties in finding quality candidates.

When looking at 2022 priorities, employer branding was noted as the key priority for HR in 2022. Thirty-one percent plan to relaunch or develop their employer brand, while a further 20% have already done this. Only 12% of respondents said they didn’t have time to focus on their employer brand.

Other priorities were employee retention at 21% and changing processes to allow speedy hire at 20%.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents believe that brand awareness impacts their hiring ability, and 42% don’t believe they have a strong awareness as an employer or don’t measure their brand awareness.

Neil Purcell, CEO, and founder of Talent Works, said: “These statistics clearly show that 2019 thinking isn’t going to work in the 2022 employment market, which is the most competitive we’ve ever seen. Companies need to get strategic about how they can speed up hiring to accelerate business performance, and as the research indicates, effective Employer Branding is the most widely recognised way of doing this. It’s great to see that companies are beginning to think differently in such an oversubscribed market, but over one in ten companies surveyed were still unaware of the Employer Brand concept, which shows that there is still work to do.”

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Jody Robie, SVP North America at Talent Works talks about ‘the what’ and ‘the how’ of hiring talent, fast

The current recruitment market is like never before. It’s a war for top talent and employers need to sell themselves in a way that both attracts and retains the best of the best. Authenticity is also key here, to ensure that candidates make the right choice about the culture and expectations of the company. On top of this, everything is moving at a mile a minute, and recruiters want – and need – instant results. There is no room for a passive  approach to recruiting right now.

The what 

To compete today, companies need to modify their recruitment approach to create the most compelling Employer Brand. Then comes the challenge of communicating that employer brand to the right candidates via your Employer Value Proposition. 

Recruitment teams have to work harder than ever if they’re going to stand out to top candidates and tempt them to join their organization. But with everything moving so quickly, projects that typically take six months need to be ready for market in less than 2 months. Talent leaders need to ensure they can carry out these projects both quickly and effectively, while not compromising on the quality of talent.

The how

  1. Hire at speed

While taking the time to ensure a candidate is the right fit for your business is ideal, it’s becoming evident that a slow and steady approach is now a luxury few employers can afford. Long-drawn-out candidate experiences will only increase the number of applicants who drop out of your recruitment process. Even if your employer branding is ticking all the boxes, candidates want to move quickly. If you have a good feeling about a candidate, you need to snap them up before a competitor does. 

With speed and agility now crucial, how can we ensure this doesn’t come at the mercy of quality? Recruitment projects that would usually take months, are being squeezed into a matter of weeks. To ensure that you’re not compromising on the right talent, and that the talent you have hired will remain, you need to have  an authentic and relevant 2022 employer brand ready to go. 

  1. Create the most attractive employer branding

As such, having a strong employer brand is no longer a ‘nice to have’, but a must. In fact, 72% of recruitment leaders agree that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring. Businesses need to adapt their recruitment approach to focus on raising brand awareness and excitement around your current openings.. 

This means recruitment and the role of recruiters is becoming  more complicated, and understanding how to sell and market your role and your organization is critical. We’re used to candidates having to sell themselves in an interview, but now recruiters are selling a business to a candidate before this can even happen. Just as marketing professionals promote products and services, recruiters are focusing on their organization’s unique selling points and strengths to convince candidates to take the role over another.

When positions are equal in terms of salary, development opportunities and the role itself, employer branding will differentiate one employer from the next. In turn, recruiters need to express enthusiasm for your employer brand right away, expressing the values, overall mission and culture they can expect. Simply saying it’s a “social office” and it has a “great culture” is not good enough in a market this crowded. Instead, look at your recruitment marketing materials and Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to discover what truly makes your workplace unique.

  1. Promote your EVP

This brings me to the final point. A strong employer brand must be supported by a clear EVP. Your EVP gives potential employees a clear cultural direction and something to buy into. Teamwork, principle fulfillment, recognition, rewards and being nice to people – these are all ‘nice-to-haves’, but they aren’t the makings of a successful EVP. 

Instead, here are a few questions companies should be asking when it comes to their EVP: Does your EVP resonate with your employees in their early careers? Is it meaningful and relevant for your employees whether they  have been there for 6 months, or 16 years? Does it say something unique and special about why people want to work for you? Will your executive team stand behind and embrace the messaging?

A great EVP needs to be transparent about your culture, remote policies, covid requirements, etc. In the hiring process, candidates will get a clear sense of the company’s values and self-select out of the application process in the early stages, saving time for HR and recruitment later down the line. While attracting top talent is the goal, laying out unique differentiators  and more intangible elements of the workplace from the start, is now more crucial than ever. 

Standing out in a candidate-driven market 

The power has shifted and candidates are now calling the shots. As such, finding the best possible approach to hiring at pace, but in a way that doesn’t compromise on quality, will be key in creating an effective and lasting Employer Brand. It might take a bit of time, but in the long term, it will be worth it.

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The Social Media Recruiting Guide

According to talent attraction experts at Adway, they’ve cracked the code to simpler, smarter recruiting that gets you way more candidates and it’s a lot simpler than you think. In a talent-scarce market, isn’t that what recruiters are looking for?

It’s all about automated social recruitment marketing.

As the number of job vacancies in the U.K. continue to reach record highs each month (1.3 million) there’s never been a better time to test out recruitment strategies that truly work. 

Well-executed social media recruiting allows modern recruiters to dive into a talent pool of 4.6 billion+ candidates who are active users on social media. It elevates their employer brand so they can stand out against their competitors, it allows them to tell the story of what it’s like to work at their company! Recruiters can now reach their dream talent on any device.

Automated social recruiting marketing creates a candidate experience that draws from best-in-class e-commerce advertising tactics — with highly-intelligent, targeted ad campaigns that compel candidates to explore the employer’s potential, review job listings and apply on the spot.

Adway’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media Recruiting is a must-read tool for busy TA professionals who want to spend less time hunting for candidates and more time meeting them.

Get the tips and tricks to:

  • Pinpoint where you are in the social media recruiting process
  • Determine the right metrics to track your strategic success
  • Measure your efforts so you can reach your goals faster

If you’re ready to benefit from one of TA’s best-kept secrets — and you need actionable steps to get started — download the Ultimate Guide to Social Media Recruiting today.

https://lp.adway.ai/guide-social-media-recruiting-campaign

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Over-specialization adding to skills shortage
Finding, attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent in technology continues to be a challenge as we enter the new year.  The resultant trends post pandemic that have enabled the necessity of a wide-spread workforce have become a Pandora’s Boz that will likely stay open forever.

Recruiting top professionals in technology is one area that has long been in flux. According to Ryan Kellner, Head of Data Science for Hudson Gate Partners, adjusting to talent needs in the sector should be nothing new.  He believes that, like in each year, there are some very specific trends that have come to light as well as some challenges that continue to be seen.  Mr Keller said, in reading the tea leaves of the technology world, that one thing is certain, and the recruitment industry must pay heed, and that is: many people are never returning to the office full time again.

“Growing up in Indianapolis in the 80s and 90s, all the tech firms were downtown, and everyone lived in the suburbs and made the commute back and forth every day,” said Mr Kellner. “Then some companies got wise and said, ‘We can get better talent by building our headquarters in the suburbs because we will get the talent that doesn’t want the long commute!’ They were right. All the good developers flocked to solid companies that were a five- to 10-minute drive from where they lived. They could get their kids out to the bus, participate in after-school programs, and everyone’s work/life balance got a bit easier.”

This same thinking is where we are at now post-COVID, he said. “The factor that seemingly dictates my response rate to recruiting calls and emails the most these days is not the company, it’s not the salary, it’s not the perks. It is whether the job is fully remote or not,” he said.

What you’re up against 

According to Mr Kellner, the job market is so hot these days for good people in tech that candidates seem to be looking for reasons not to continue with the interview process. “I was recently working with a strong developer with an MS in computer science and five years in financial software development who was interviewing with some of my clients,” he said. “I asked him where else he was actively interviewing and he listed every FANG company, Tesla, Robinhood, etc. If you want to hire some good developers in 2022, this is what you’re up against.”

To hire top talent, employers need a plan on how they are going to make that person pick their company over the current batch of trendy tech companies. “If you aren’t selling why your company is great in the first interview, it’s not happening,” said Mr Kellner.

Once again, this highlights the importance of the employer brand and is a trend to watch in 2022.

Double-edged sword for recruiting

Mr Kellner reported another noticeable trend of the last two years and that is those with traditional software engineering backgrounds increasingly wanting to specialize into fields like data science, machine learning, AI, blockchain etc. Keller believes that this variety of specialization options is a double-edged sword for recruiting because while it’s creating a great number of hyper-specialized individuals, it’s also draining the core demographic of pure software developers.

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Manpower Group recently launched Talent Solutions, combining three of its offerings. TI sat down with Talent Solutions to learn more about the launch of their Talent Solutions Brand in 2021 and how it came about. Here’s what they had to say.  

TI: Can you tell me a little more about Talent Solutions (size, number of employees, locations served etc)? 

With 40+ years of experience delivering client-focused, technology enabled, innovative workforce solutions to the market, Talent Solutions delivers expertise to organisations across the talent lifecycle.  

We manage over £10 billion of spend in our Managed Service Programmes; we deliver 250+ Recruitment Process Outsourcing solutions to clients around the world; and we’re supporting some of the world’s largest organisations on their journey towards Total Talent Management. 

Our ability to capitalise on new thinking, new workforce models and new possibilities has made us the most recognised and respected workforce solutions provider in the world – as benchmarked by leading industry analysts. 

Across the UK, we have over 550 people working for Talent Solutions, with offices in Altrincham, Bristol, London, Edinburgh and Southampton, as well as client sites throughout the UK. 

TI: ManpowerGroup recently launched Talent Solutions (combining three of its offerings). What was the company’s reasoning behind that? 

Talent Solutions combines three of ManpowerGroup’s global offerings – RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), TAPFIN MSP (Managed Service Provider) and Right Management – providing innovative solutions and end-to-end, data-driven capabilities across the talent lifecycle through one brand.  

TI: What opportunities does the new offering bring to the group? 

This new combination of offerings will leverage deep industry expertise and a strong understanding of what talent wants, delivering new solutions to address organisations’ complex global workforce needs. 

TI: Were there any challenges when it came to launching it? 

Talent Solutions was introduced in the UK on the 31st March 2020, a week after the UK was put into lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we took the decision to adjust our plans in the UK, taking a much lower-key approach to the introduction of the new brand.  

Whilst this wasn’t how we envisioned sharing the new brand, it was appropriate given the difficult times everyone was facing. Since then, we have been working on raising awareness of our new brand and the value we can bring to our clients.  

TI: What makes this offering unique? 

With the combination of RPO, TAPFIN MSP and Right Management, Talent Solutions is able to provide seamless delivery of end-to-end workforce solutions that help clients to navigate risk, cost, efficiency and quality while facing changing and uncertain markets.  

Employer brand 

TI: How has the company been developing its employer brand in recent years? 

With the launch of Talent Solutions, we’ve introduced new imagery which focuses on learnability and the opportunity for individuals from all backgrounds to progress in the organisation. Across the wider business, we highlight the breadth of opportunity for new experiences across the organisation, whether that’s with our different ManpowerGroup brands, or working directly with our clients across the UK. 

TI: What role does employer brand play in the attraction and retention of talent? 

An effective employer brand strategy is one of the most important aspects of a successful recruiting function and we believe that this will become even more important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To build a compelling employer brand, you should focus on being authentic in sharing communication of your purpose and the connection that you develop with your candidates, and being consistent in your communication and approach with every candidate. 

Attracting and retaining talent 

TI: What are you looking for in a potential member of staff for your team? 

Whilst knowledge of the industry is an important attribute, with any new employee, we look for individuals with high levels of learnability and adaptability. This increases the likelihood that they can adapt to new opportunities and changing environments and job requirements. 

Given the size of our organisation and the different brand structures, it’s also vital that a potential member of staff demonstrates a positive attitude to team working. A collaborative approach helps to drive better results in our business. 

We also don’t just recruit those with experience working for recruitment organisations, considering the relevance of their external knowledge to our market and the market of our clients. 

TI: How does the company go about attracting emerging talent? 

We have a wonderful Talent Team that operates across ManpowerGroup, helping us to attract the right talent for our organisation. In 2021, we also launched our internal talent academy, designed to bring people with no experience of recruitment into the business, put them through an initial training programme and support them as they start their career with ManpowerGroup. 

TI: How does the company use training and development to retain staff? 

We’re very fortunate that ManpowerGroup puts a considerable amount of investment into training and development to help employees progress in their careers.  

As well as having access to an extensive library of online training, we also offer our employees access to Advanced and Higher Apprenticeships as well as leadership programmes with organisations such as Harvard Business School and INSEAD. 

Outsourced hiring 

TI: What benefits does outsourced hiring bring to a company? 

Run correctly, outsourced hiring can offer companies a number of benefits. At Talent Solutions, we focus on providing customers with greater predictability and flexibility of costs, a more efficient recruitment process, an improved candidate experience and importantly, improved talent quality.  

TI: How do you ensure you’re delivering maximum value to your clients? 

Across ManpowerGroup, we focus on the 4 B’s – Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge – when working to develop effective talent strategies and deliver maximum value for our clients. Each stage involves: 

  • Build – Invest in learning and development to grow your talent pipeline 
  • Buy – Go to the external market to find the best talent that cannot be built in-house in the timeframe required 
  • Borrow – Cultivate communities of talent outside the organisation, including part-time, freelance, contract and temporary workers to complement existing skills 
  • Bridge – Help people move on and move up to new roles inside or outside the organisation 

Enhancing hiring 

TI: Where do you think improvements are needed in the hiring process? 

One of the areas that we see most frequently which needs improving is how organisations manage their silver medallists through the hiring process. Whilst that individual may not be the best candidate for the specific role businesses are hiring for at the time, companies could benefit from reviewing whether there are any other suitable roles for them in the organisation. If nothing is available, then they should be kept on file (subject to data restrictions) for any future relevant roles. 

Crucial here, as with all hiring, is getting the candidate experience right. This is often something which is neglected in our busy work environments. Candidates are ultimately consumers too, so even if they’re not the right fit to work in your organisation, they may still be a customer, but only if you treat them with respect throughout the process. Introducing technology at the right stages of the hiring process can help you to streamline the process more effectively, allowing more time to provide the human touch.  

TI: How could technology be used to enhance hiring further? 

From Robotic Process Automation, to our Talent Solutions PowerSuite, which creates the flexibility to tailor our offerings to meet evolving client and candidate needs, we’re continuously developing our technology capabilities and working with our partners to provide clients and candidates with the best technology to support their hiring processes.  

Some of the key areas where we see further opportunities to enhance the hiring process using technology are through improved use of chatbots, On-Demand Interviewing and Search and Match technology. 

Hiring trends 

TI: What hiring trends has the company been witnessing recently? 

The most obvious trend having an impact on hiring at the moment are the talent shortages we’re seeing across the board. We’re seeing a continued increase in hiring intentions, with a 30 year high of +32% (ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, Jan 2022). However, in many cases, clients are unable to meet their hiring needs due to a shortage of talent. We’re working closely with our clients to help them find the skills they need, by thinking differently about their talent strategies.  

TI: How do hiring trends and patterns differ across the countries you operate in? 

Operations in each country are assessing the changing trends in every location to make sure they are aligned to the customer needs.  

TI: What is Talent Solutions doing to counter skills shortages in certain sectors? 

Talent Solutions has a number of different solutions to support clients facing skills shortages. We support our clients to develop talent pipeline management, to ensure they have the individuals they need, when they need them. This can be done through a range of techniques including bridging their current employees into other areas of the business through training or providing Employed Consultants. Employed Consultants are highly skilled specialists who are permanently employed by Experis (part of ManpowerGroup), and then supplied on an interim basis.  

We also work with clients to build Train to Fit programmes, taking individuals who already have a range of technical and functional skills which are valuable to their business, and have the aptitude to develop further. We create a training programme in partnership with the client, helping individuals advance their knowledge to the right level and meet the needs of the role over an agreed period of time.  

On top of these solutions, Talent Solutions also has the benefit of skills development programmes across the wider ManpowerGroup business, including the MyPath programme in Manpower, which helps associates upskill and develop along their career path. MyPath associates are provided with personalised guidance, career development, training and continuous access to jobs – helping them to achieve their ambitions and meet employers’ needs today and in the future.  

Diversity and inclusion 

TI: Are companies doing enough to be truly diverse and inclusive? 

There is always room for improvement in this area. But it’s clear that businesses are waking up to the need to be truly diverse and inclusive. It’s now on the agenda for every leadership team, with many businesses taking big steps towards active inclusion, rather than just paying lip service. At ManpowerGroup, we created seven steps to conscious inclusion in the workplace: 

  1. Change yourself first 
  1. Leadership has to own it; don’t delegate it 
  1. Flip the question – ask, “Why Not?” 
  1. Hire people who value people 
  1. Promote a culture of conscious inclusion: programmes alone don’t work 
  1. Be explicit; when and where?  
  1. Be accountable; set measurable and achievable outcomes 

Managed correctly, one of the potential opportunities to come out of recent turbulence could be the removal of some of the barriers to the workplace for more diverse groups. For example, the increased acceptance of remote working and flexible hours could help businesses to become more inclusive for those with care responsibilities. 

TI: What is Talent Solutions doing to support improvements in this (both internally and for clients)? 

We’re working with our clients to share advice around implementing the seven steps to conscious inclusion. We’re also advising them on strategies for reaching and attracting diverse groups when advertising for new roles. 

We’ve also recently strengthened our commitment to inclusion and diversity globally, committing to: 

  • Reaching our primary global diversity goal of 40% female leadership by 2024 
  • Investing in our inclusive culture to retain and develop diverse talent 
  • Advancing employment security for the long-term; reskilling, upskilling and improving wellbeing and employability for all 

In the UK, we’ve also launched our Supplier Diversity Initiative, a commitment to developing relationships with diverse suppliers who enhance the solutions we offer to our clients. We will be supporting diverse suppliers to accelerate their growth and ability to succeed in the marketplace, as well as helping others to become more diverse and inclusive. The result is optimal client solutions and partnerships within a world of diverse and high-performing talent. 

Looking to the future 

TI: What are your plans for the company over the year ahead? 

As building talent increases in importance in workforce planning and development, we will continue to support our clients and candidates through the further development of our Academy offerings – ensuring that we are upskilling individuals for the jobs of the future and providing the skills that our clients need to grow and progress. 

Using our expertise in ESG, we’ll enhance our support for clients around Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, helping them to improve in these vital areas at the same time as accessing potentially untapped talent pools as part of the strategy for overcoming skills shortages.  

In response to ongoing volatile market conditions, we’ll also continue to increase the flexibility of our solutions, using our Centres of Recruitment Excellence (CoRE) to ramp requirements up and down as needed and supporting across the Total Talent Management lifecycle. Our Agile RPO solutions will continue to expand, meeting the need for short to medium term support for internal recruitment teams. 

We will also continue to work with our new and existing clients to help them meet changing workforce requirements post COVID-19.  

TI: What outsourced hiring trends do you expect to see in the year(s) ahead? (Will there be an increase in in-house hiring?)  

With the increased pace of change in customer demands impacting upon workforce strategies, we anticipate an increased need for businesses to speak to external experts for advice to help them continue to run their organisations as efficiently as possible. This will provide them with an outside in perspective from people who have a view of the wider market.  

Understandably, we also expect to see demand for flexibility from candidates continue, as many will have experienced the potential benefits during lockdown.  

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