The ‘War for Talent’ continues

War for Talent

As we approach 2018 there are a few trends that are sure to continue, one of them is The War for Talent!

According to a survey run by Paycor in August 2017, this is a key concern for HR managers and something that is keeping them up at night. This is not a surprise, it’s been an issue for some time now.

But it’s our job at Dovetail to keep this headache at bay for you. It’s an upside down cliché and the reason we’re here, but it’s a full-time job looking for the right candidates to fit with a company and their culture. So let us do the work for you, and seek out the best people. We have a bank of talented candidates at our fingertips, and if we haven’t got exactly the right match – we can find them.

The shortage of skilled candidates is an issue that employers have been facing all this year, and we don’t imagine it will change much in 2018, but one trend that’s been running for the whole year is the power of the right benefits package.

Companies are getting more and more creative with what they’re offering prospective employees, and one we’ve recently come across is ‘pawternity’ leave – for new pet owners.

Getting creative on The War for Talent is key – and this creativity in crafting attractive and creative benefits packages sits alongside another trend forecast from Xpert HR for 2018, that an average salary increase from Private companies is expected to be just 2%.

Private sector employers are planning to increase pay by just 2% over the coming year, the same level of increase made over the past 12 months.’
While three-quarters (77.5%) of employers are planning to increase pay over the next year, the majority (65.1%) expect this to be at the same level as over the past year. Just one-fifth (20.5%) of employee groups are on course for a higher pay award.’ PersonnelToday.com

At Dovetail Recruitment we do find companies are having to find a fine balance of creating an attractive salary and benefits package – to ensure their preferred candidates accept.

Another component of an attractive benefits package that we are seeing increasingly is a flexible working scheme. Sadly, Britain is lagging behind when it comes to flexible working  and  REC recently did a survey:

‘The report says employers need to act now to improve the way they source, engage and nurture their workforce if they are to avoid rising skills shortages and further declines in productivity and competitiveness over the next seven years. At the same time, Government policy must be geared to prepare for “seismic” changes in the world of work.’

One of its key recommendations included:

‘Employers should be more creative in their recruitment, offering flexible work as standard and removing barriers for under-represented groups, for example by using collaborative hiring or name-blind recruitment’

This is becoming more and more important as the demographics of the workforce changes. The number of Baby Boomers in the workforce is declining, as Millennials are rising – and it’s this group employers have to attract. It’s this group that have very different expectations from work.

To highlight this point a recent study by Udemy, found that:

‘One way to better motivate Millennial employees was to pay them less but challenge them more. According to Intelligence Group, 64% said they would rather make $40,000 (£32,000) a year at a job they love than $100,000 (£80,000) a year at a job they think is boring.’

This reinforces the fact that it’s not all about salary for our emerging workforce of Millennials.

Time to get creative!

Related Dovetail articles:
Key Stats on the Work-Life (Im)balance
Who wants to have their cake and eat it?
Do you have a Talent Strategy?
So What about Employee Perks and Benefits?

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