Recruitment Fit For 2021

21 / Dec / 2020

The recruitment landscape has changed dramatically this year. In this article Executive Heads Director, Craig Elvin, recalls the challenges and gives some insights that will get you Recruitment Fit for 2021.

By: Craig Elvin

What a year 2020 has been for the hiring, talent acquisition and recruitment.

As we went in to 2020 the biggest topic of debate was Brexit. What would that mean for businesses? Would a trade agreement help or hinder growth? What opportunities would businesses be able to explore and what talent would they need in their organisations to capitalise on any opportunities that present themselves?

But that proved to be only the start of our challenges.

Once Covid-19 hit UK shores the recruitment landscape changed dramatically. Almost instantly we were introduced to a new word, “furlough” with 9.6m employees being furloughed at some stage through the governments COVID-19 Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Currently an estimated 48% of the UK work force is working at least some of their time remotely. This had an impact on UK businesses; firstly, co-ordinating IT infrastructure and changing working practices through to looking after employee engagement and mental health and wellbeing.
Possibly the worst work-related statistic to come out of the pandemic was the rise of unemployment from 40 years low to a 15 years high of 4.8% with generation Z and millennial workers most effected.

But as we neared the end of 2020, we were reminded that it was not all bad. A survey published at the beginning of December suggested 50% of business outperformed their initial COVID adjusted predictions with nearly half the respondents (48%) expecting their business to grow by at least 25%.

Whilst there have been many workforce reductions, there have been less than first estimated. Incredibly 36% of business leaders have even reported an increase in headcount since the beginning of the pandemic.

With a ground-breaking vaccine, a world-leading role out programme and a resilient business community, the outlook for 2021 remains cautiously optimistic for many.
So how do you ensure you are in shape and ready to hire the best talent for your business in 2021?

Ensure your employee value proposition is the best it can be.
Top talent wants to be inspired by their work and their leaders. Think about how you articulate your vision, the mission the business is on and the values that make the company a brilliant place to work.

Get the best in the market not just on the market.
There is no doubt that there are more, better quality candidates in the market than at any point in the last decade, however, the market is crowded and its often hard to recognise the quality. Ensure you take a strategic view of talent acquisition, covering direct and indirect talent competitors. You can still headhunt within the available talent pools.

Assess talent against attitudes and behaviours
Most businesses are on a new strategic trajectory for 2021. If you are bringing in talent as part of this strategy, take the opportunity to review the skills and experiences you will need in the role. Most importantly, consider what the attitudes and behaviours are that will make your new colleague successful in the role? Arguably this is the most important factor as many skills can be taught, yesterdays experiences may not stand us in good stead for what is to come, but the right behaviours can help navigate the most testing challenges.

At Executive Heads we help our clients to Access, Assess and Retain the best leadership and senior management talent to make their businesses successful. We combine our experience and knowledge with award-winning technology and behavioural profiling using our proven Executive DNA process.

If you’d like to discuss how we can help you achieve your talent strategies, book a call for an in-depth conversation.

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