Eoun5 talent key to a business’s future success

PEOPLE AND SKILLS: SHORTAGES

Skills shortages are a leading concern for businesses with organisations concerned about finding enough people with the right skills: nearly two thirds see skills gaps as a threat to the UK’S competitiveness.

The process of the UK leaving the EU and the likely restriction of free movement, amplifies these challenges creating concern about looming labour shortages in key non-graduate roles and filling higher skilled positions as employers recognise they need employees at all skill levels.

Hiring employees with the right level of skill and behaviours for the workplace and thereafter developing them throughout their employment is becoming more difficult day by day with the quality of hire becoming more of a priority, reflecting the importance of upskilling employees regardless of their age.

No matter the size of a company or organisation, each one faces its own challenges and therefore must know how to fully play to its competitive advantage. The window of opportunity is closing for many companies unprepared or unable to adapt to new market realities.

We live and compete in a digital age and in a global economy with numerous pressures and priorities doing so much more with less, as budgets continue to be stretched yet only 38% of employers offer employees digital skill training. Operating in a global arena produces challenges which are volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (known as VUCA) and is now our ‘normal’ way of working in the business world of today.

That being the case, employers need to be able to compete within the world arena and will not be able to do so unless core skills including creativity and innovation are developed to stay ahead of the constant changes we face.

The dynamics for recruitment alone has changed dramatically in the last few years due to advanced technology in big data analytics, social media and mobile apps for example therefore the need for employers to grow a talent pipeline that is both socially agile and age diverse is increasingly important.

Employers should be changing their resourcing strategies and putting greater effort into in-work progression with emphasis on developing new young talent, as these people are the leaders and success stories of tomorrow.

A workforce, with the right skills, attitudes and behaviours is critical to job retention, productivity and growth. Employers should be up-skilling, developing and managing their people to provide the skills and talent needed for the future and nurturing more business-school partnerships which is now picking up momentum – but more can be done.

With 2018 being the year of young people, employers should be listening to their voice and provide support with their transitions into employment, training or continued education.

As business leaders, we need to take the lead and initiate the changes we need to allow both current and future talent to be nurtured and developed.

We need to improve our productivity performance if we are to maintain our position among the leading economies and, education, skills and developing our employees are crucial to getting this right.

Liz Jackson is the managing director of complete recruitment and HR solutions company, Fairways. She is also the former chair of CIPD Scotland, which represents over 10,000 HR professionals nationally.

Only 38% of employers offer employees oi5ital skill trainin5

Managing director, Fairways