The British workforce and its methods, ways, preferences and processes never remain static. Affected by economic, financial and demographic factors, to succeed with an online recruitment campaign, one must constantly evaluate workplace trends to align with the wider world and not just rely on recruitment’s cyclical nature. So with A-level results recently released and big companies making big announcements, we’ve got the recruitment tips to suit what we’re seeing right now.
Reduced Focus on Academia
Not only were A-level results released last week but in sync with this, major UK employers reported that they are reducing their reliance on academic grades. Indeed Ernst & Young are lessening their emphasis on the University degrees achieved by prospective employees and both Accenture and Deloitte and abandoning the annual review for workers. Whilst academic achievement should be and is applauded and admired, for many, skills lie in other more artistic areas and this is being recognised. Additionally, these above-mentioned companies found little correlation between achievement during employment vs. achievement during education, something which supports their changes.
For online recruitment purposes therefore, in your screening questions – if this trend away from academic focus is something you wish to echo in your company – emphasise soft skills and the importance of these to candidates in addition to academic grades.
A Nation of Hard Workers
Brits are struggling to take their annual leave allowance. We’ve written about this previously but we’re working harder, and for longer than ever despite the fact we feel refreshed and more motivated at work when we do take holidays and time off. Due to figures showing increased productivity after annual leave, the UK’s largest job board Reed is encouraging workers to claim their full holiday allowance:
– 90% of workers feel more productive after a holiday
– 54% of workers forego an average of 3 days holiday a year
– 45% of workers have cancelled a holiday for work
Now that’s dedication! And workers this motivated are surely a desired asset for any company that’s hiring.
When it comes to recruiting this kind of talent therefore, your workforce isn’t going to hate you for enforcing holiday benefits! Offering a generous holiday package as highlighted by Reed could give you higher levels of productivity. In addition, high motivation and increased job applications could also result as word gets out. It’s a win win.
Millenial Recruitment
We’ve also covered on this blog an increased demand for candidates, and employers are beginning to respond to this need by employing young people – school-leavers and apprentices in particular. The proportion of companies looking to take this action has increased sharply in the past year. Pay has also (finally) started to increase in aligment with job vacancies and is set to continue to do so at a steady rate.
Young people are extremely active on social media. They are after an existential offering too, so consider going out through social channels and offering lifestyle benefits in additon to monetary ones when recruiting online.
So in summary, at present we have: Growing companies, growing wages, a new openness for school-leavers and a lesser focus on academic grades. But what does this all mean?
Companies need to spot solid soft skills in younger candidates and reach a younger pool of talent with their online recruitment that will in return, work hard and succeed. This is a complex grouping of characteristics and not something a job board can likely accomplish, therefore we recommend a) using online recruitment methods such as social media to reach talent and b) using one of the specialist online recruitment agencies about such as ourselves to harness the millenial generation and extract those desirable soft skills essential for success in today’s job market.
Castle Hill House