Attracting and retaining staff to support your workforce in 2023

The UK continues to face a backdrop of skills shortages which are arguably fiercer than ever. Whilst skills shortages are just one of the challenges facing businesses right now, data from our latest Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends survey found that 93% of employers say they’ve experienced hiring difficulties over the past 12 months, increasing from 86% in 2021 and 77% in 2020.

There’s a whole host of reasons why skills shortages have hit a peak, including unemployment being at its lowest rate for a long time, and there’s thought to be a proportion of the workforce who haven’t returned to the labour market post-pandemic.

What we know is that a lack of the right skills and talent can severely hamper growth for businesses. In an environment where we’re already seeing increased economic uncertainty, allowing the skills gaps to grow wider and your business to suffer as a result, isn’t an option.

29% of employers told us that skills shortages have hampered their growth in our latest research, along with other negative impacts such as low employee morale (42%) and a decrease in productivity (43%).

So what attraction and retention strategies will be pertinent for businesses to employ next year?

Salary is important, but don’t neglect other factors

Employers are squeezed when it comes to wage increases as the majority are having to continually increase pay to attract talent, retain their workforce and keep up with the rising cost of living for staff.

Although the right salary is crucial, especially at this moment in time, employers need to avoid neglecting other factors which will attract staff to work for you, and stay. This includes offering hybrid and flexible working if you can, making sure career pathways are as transparent as possible and supporting the wellbeing of your workforce.

One of the easiest ways to identify the factors that an employer needs to work on is by detecting why people are looking for opportunities elsewhere, or what’s tempting them to move. Interestingly, when we asked the respondents to our latest survey what made them leave their last job, three of the top answers were: the job wasn’t fulfilling enough, there was a lack of career opportunities and work-life balance was poor.

Clear areas for improvement can help employers in a tight labour market, for example, career development is one aspect that isn’t spoken about enough during the interview stage. Professionals are not only looking to hear what opportunities are available within your business but how you’ll support their learning and development to help them achieve their career goals.

To close that gap, start by ensuring continuous learning is ingrained in your culture to help both attract and retain good staff. There are so many ways to support continuous learning, from investing in formal training to allowing employees the time to shadow colleagues or attend industry seminars – and this is just the start.

Demonstrate the ‘why’ behind what you do

Another significant shift we’re seeing, supported by our data, is professionals want to work for and stay with businesses that have a clear purpose, who are doing good and who can support the fulfilment of what you do outside your day-to-day role. A huge 85% of professionals told us that an organisation’s purpose is important to them when considering a new role.

In practice, this means you need to have a clear Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that demonstrates the why behind what you do and gives a flavour of the workplace culture you have created. Professionals want to see that you’re investing in your workforce, you are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace and that there’s the opportunity to give back to the communities you might engage with. Supporting and giving time to charitable organisations is important, as is taking sustainability seriously.

Employers also need to put in the effort to attract staff for the long term by looking at the types of talent they can access which includes hiring for potential. Whilst there’s no short-term fix for skills shortages, employers and leaders can initiate the steps to build on their attraction and retention strategies for 2023 and ensure they have the talent they need to tackle the challenges ahead.

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