It’s no secret that businesses want to recruit the best talent. The right skills combined with several years of industry experience is invaluable; a suitable candidate makes a big difference not only to the quality of work but the bottom line too. Yet many businesses are struggling to recruit individuals that have the necessary experience or the relevant skills – and just the right combination of the two. Skills shortages, tough competition and an unstable political and economic climate combine to make the recruitment market extremely tough across all industries – though not impossible with the right help.

Why experience matters

In any industry or line of work the more time someone has spent carrying out tasks successfully, the less supervision they will require and the more effective they will be. Once an individual has three, five or ten years’ experience under their belt they will have encountered many different scenarios, have experience handling clients and varying workloads. At this point the employee may become more useful generally to the employer, as they start to think about developing their career in terms of management or specialising in a certain area that delivers a competitive advantage.

And it’s not just well-honed practical skills that form the backbone of experience. Take the engineering sector; EngineeringUK reports that annually the UK is ‘at least’ 20,000 short of the graduates required to fill engineering posts. The chronic skills shortage is a difficult hurdle for many different businesses to overcome yet it may not be as simple as hiring someone with a degree. Speaking to Director magazine Helen Atkinson, engineering professor at the University of Leicester, says that recent graduates often lack the commercial know-how that is the sum of technical ability and knowledge of how businesses stay profitable.

Experience delivers on the bottom line: businesses need well-rounded candidates that are capable, commercially savvy and have seen most it before. And once they have them, they need to hold on to them.

The three-year itch

Once an employee reaches a point where they are trained and they have some relevant industry experience they become a valuable asset, hence the reason why it’s so difficult to recruit candidates at this stage of their career. The business that spent time and money training the individual is faced with the prospect that they may jump ship, taking valuable knowledge and experience with them. It’s in the company’s best interests to keep hold of those individuals and retain those valuable skills. Simultaneously, they need to attract more staff at that crucial stage of their career in order to keep growing – and competition is high.

Competition isn’t just rife from other businesses within comparable industries, it’s an issue facing all industries. The IT sector is a good example of this: as technology changes and develops the need for people with those skills increases. An IT expert isn’t just needed at Microsoft or IBM, they are potentially needed by any industry or by any company that employs its own IT personnel and requires those skills. So now the competition doesn’t just come from Hewlett Packard or Dell, it could come from the banking and finance industry, healthcare, retail – anywhere.

If a candidate feels tempted by an offer elsewhere there needs to be good incentives for them to stay. Globalisation is another key factor in competition for candidates. An increasingly connected world brings new opportunities for work as well as potential overseas employment that may prove tempting. If businesses are to remain competitive it’s essential that they attract and retain employees that are highly desirable to other businesses both in the UK and abroad.

How to beat the competition and recruit the best candidates?

Recruitment can be a stressful affair at the best of times and especially so in the midst of a skills shortage. Posting an ad on job board or the company website can feel like sifting through an awful lot of sand to find a small amount of gold. It’s time-consuming and takes the focus off running the business, winning new work and delivering existing work. This is where a recruitment agency can really prove its worth.

A reputable, experienced agency will have an extensive network of contacts and a large database of potential candidates at their disposal which can save a lot of recruitment legwork. Any agency worth their salt will have developed good relationships with their candidates and will be able to act as an effective, trustworthy middleman between the two parties.

While there is no magic solution, by being alert to issues surrounding competition and retention companies stand a better chance of attracting skilled, experienced individuals. A professional recruitment partner doesn’t just present a list of the best candidates, they can offer advice on how best to retain them: an investment that pays dividends now and in the future.

If you found this blog interesting, check out our other blog on Where’s all the talent gone?.  Furthermore, contact our team to speak about your recruiting needs, call 01772 259 121.

The comments of Clayton Recruitment’s Managing Director, Lynn Sedgwick, on job stability is affecting recruitment results, is featured in recruitment news website The Online Recruitment Resource.

Offering her thoughts on the Recruitment market, Lynn said: “We’re finding we’re having some difficult conversations with some clients where they have a poor employee retention reputation – as it often means the best talent will not join their company.

Many candidates are concerned about job stability. The advice we give our candidates when looking for a new opportunity is to establish whether a company is profitable and growing, and whether there is evidence that the business is invested in their own future – do they offer training opportunities to develop the best people, for instance.”

At both school and university, female students are consistently outperforming their male peers, yet currently just 16% of all director seats are held by women and according to a recent study by MSCI, it will take until 2027 for female representation on boards to reach just 30%. MSCI’s research not only found that companies in the MSCI World Index with strong female leadership generated a Return on Equity of 10.1% per year versus 7.4% for those without, but also that that companies lacking board diversity suffered more governance related controversies than average.

Many sceptical commentators suggest that there is a dearth of female talent to assume seats on the board, however MSCI’s research indicated that while, somewhat unsurprisingly, female directors typically lagged their male counterparts in C-Suite experience, they outpaced men in achieving advanced educational degrees. So why aren’t women making it to the top positions?

Companies certainly need to do more to support female talent throughout their careers, but particularly when returning to work from maternity leave. A number of highly qualified and experienced professionals suffer a drop in confidence when returning from prolonged leave, with a recent article from the Guardian suggesting that one in three return to a job that is virtually unrecognisable. Companies also need to ensure that diversity and inclusion polices are an integral part of their business, and that all employees understand the importance of strong female representation.

However there are also some steps women can take to ensure that they give themselves the best chance of success. It’s important that women understand the breadth of their skill sets, and which competencies they need to develop in order to make steps up the career ladder. Often skills come hand in hand with passion, however women need to make sure they push the limits of their skillset and experience whenever possible. By practicing the things you lack confidence in, you can demonstrate that you are proactively working on a skill, even if you aren’t naturally gifted at it.

Research from Cambridge University found that women are better listeners and collaborators, so make sure to utilise soft skills in the workplace. Often leadership skills and the ability to build strong business relationships are just as important as competencies directly relevant to a specific role, particularly at board and executive levels, so women should make sure to demonstrate these abilities at work.

Women are also far less likely to apply for a job they are not 100% qualified for, while men are more likely to be ambitious with their applications, and aim for roles they may not yet possess all the skills or experience for. Women should consciously put themselves forward to lead on new projects or organising events to demonstrate their breadth of leadership skills.

It’s clear that strong female representation at the highest levels is beneficial to business as a whole and while it’s evident that organisations need to do more to support women throughout their careers, females also need to ensure that they embrace opportunities to further their skillset and demonstrate their leadership qualities.

For more insight, tips and advice, read more of our blogs. If you’re looking for a new role, then check out our vacancies to see if they are right for you or ring us on 01772 259121 to speak to one of our experts.

If you’re looking for specialists to join your company, then register a vacancy or call the office for a confidential chat.

Job stability is an important consideration for many people when they are looking for a new position. Likewise, it can also affect your decision as to whether to stay with a company or leave. These push and pull factors vary in importance to different people, which is why we’ve put together this guide on factors to consider when looking for a new role. First, it’s important to consider how important job stability is to you. Secondly, this article will help you determine things to look out for which suggest good stability.

How important is job stability to you?

The first question to ask yourself when seeking a new position or deciding to stay with a company, is actually how important is job stability to you? If the thought of risk leaves you cold, especially where your job is concerned, then look for well-established companies that demonstrate year on year growth.

If you’re happy to take a little more risk and you feel that job stability is not a deciding factor for you, then maybe a start-up is more suited to your goals and personality. The potential for job insecurity with a start-up is greater, but so too is the chance to make a real impact and shape the company. Plus, as any investment banker will tell you, the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward. If you weigh up your options and find that a greater degree of risk, or uncertain job stability in this case, is something you can live with, the rewards may pay off in the long run. The key is really knowing what you’re comfortable with, and how important stability is to you and your lifestyle.

Good indicators of job stability

If you’ve established that a lack of job stability would put you off working for a company, there are some important factors to consider.

Key Performance Indicators: KPIs are something we’re all familiar with in our jobs – they give vital clues about how we are performing and where we could improve. The same can be said for businesses. When considering employment with a company, look out for factors such as profitability and year on year growth. Recruitment drives, or other proof that a company is expanding, also indicate the business is performing well and that the prospect of a stable job is good.

Company benefits: A company that offers an attractive benefits package to its employees suggests that they want to attract the best and keep them; in turn that suggests your job will be stable over the long term. Look out for things such as a generous pension contribution scheme, help towards childcare costs or discounts on things that are important to you, such as health insurance. The most important thing is that the benefits match up to what is important to you, otherwise it’s unlikely they will entice you to stay with a company.

Training: Evidence that a company invests in training is an important factor to consider when evaluating job prospects. It costs time and money for a business to train staff, suggesting firstly that the company is financially stable enough to do this. Secondly, highly trained, skilled employees are valuable assets in their own right; if the company puts that effort into training it suggests that your position is more secure in the long term. Look out for companies that actively take steps to train people at all levels: from apprenticeships, opportunities for development and the chance to undertake secondments for senior leaders. A culture of training across all levels of the business indicates a company is laying the groundwork for the future and is here for the long haul.

Flexibility: There are many things that can happen suddenly which might throw a stable company into some degree of disarray. Client demands can change almost overnight, and so can the needs of employees. New technology, political or economic developments can all put pressure on businesses that have hitherto performed well, as has been demonstrated by Brexit. A company’s ability to deal with these sudden shockwaves and ride them out affects their long-term success and your job stability. Companies that are flexible and can cope with these changing circumstances are likely to be the best choice when searching for your next opportunity.

Location: Ok, so this one’s a bit of curveball, as it’s less about what the company can do to prove its stability, attract and retain you, and more about factors in your life outside of work that may impact your decision. It’s important to consider whether working for a company might mean a significant commute and eat up more of your day. Or on the plus side, does it mean your commute will be slashed in half, giving you more free time? What about lifestyle factors: is it close to your gym, your partner’s place of work, or your children’s school? If any of these factors aren’t fulfilled in the way that you’d like by your employment, you may feel restless and the outcome will be the same as if you had an unstable job: looking for work again.

Weighing up job stability

There are many factors which may push you away from one company or pull you towards another. This blog outlines some key points to consider about whether a company is stable and how that translates to the security of your job. Ultimately though, how important any of these factors are, and which apply to you, is down to you. As the final point on location demonstrates, job stability is one aspect that makes up the many push and pull factors when searching for a new position. How that stability interacts with the rest of your life is likely to be a contributing factor to your decision: the most stable job in the world may quickly lose its appeal if the commute is unbearable. Make sure you consider what you want from a job as a whole, and what job stability means to you.

If  you are currently on the hunt for a new job, get in touch today on 01772 259121 to see how we can help you.

Have a look at all our current vacancies and if you feel that you are right for any of the roles, get in touch.

You place an ad with a recruitment agency, excited to see who will apply and what the crop of candidates will bring. Your business has a great reputation, an attractive benefits package and you offer a generous salary, so why aren’t quality candidates queuing up for an interview?

It’s a familiar story. Plenty of undergraduates show an interest in degrees such as engineering, design, and media, to name but a few. And while the number of students applying for higher education courses are down by 5% according to UCAS, the figure still stands at over half a million. While the numbers appear healthy at first glance, the reality is that businesses in an array of industries are struggling to keep pace with changing demands, and to find the candidates to meet those demands.

What does a talent shortage mean for business?

A lack of talent can sometimes feel like something of a vicious circle for businesses. Training a new staff member or apprentice from scratch incurs costs: the cost of recruiting them in the first place, not to mention the time and money put into expanding their knowledge, skills and experience.

Then there’s the fear that the individual will leave, taking all of that know-how with them, and resulting in further costs as the recruitment and training cycle begins again. And yet if companies don’t have the people to do the job, they’re unable to meet client demands and their bottom line suffers. It’s a catch-22 situation which puts businesses under pressure to retain existing talent and attract new talent from a shrinking pool.

Businesses must take action to remain competitive

When it comes to attracting and retaining talent, investment and training are vital. Whatever sector you work in, technology offers new ways of doing things that simply didn’t exist five years ago: from health and social care to aerospace engineering, technology is playing an increasingly important role in the workplace. If companies don’t move forward by investing in new technologies, they risk alienating candidates that are keen to be at the forefront of developing new processes and innovation.

Alongside investment in best practice for the future, training is another key factor in offering a competitive edge to candidates. If there are no opportunities to grow and develop it’s unlikely that the top-quality candidates will be keen to invest their time in your business. Demonstrating that there are clear progression paths and supporting staff to find better ways of doing things shows that you’re forward thinking, client-centered and interested in being – and employing – the best.
A skills shortage puts businesses in a difficult situation, as industry-specific skills only come from working in industry. Of course, businesses will always want to attract those who already possess those skills, and it can be frustrating having to develop staff when you need them to have the skills now. As time moves on and client demands change so too must the skills offered by business: flexibility is key. It’s important for businesses not to fall into the trap of thinking that recruiting new staff will always solve their current problems; the responsibility also lies with the business itself to train and bring on the next wave of leaders and experts.

The most important factor for businesses

With ways of working changing faster than they have in decades and technological advances continuing apace, flexibility is the defining characteristic businesses in all industries need to display. Investing in better ways of doing things and training staff is all well and good, but it’s only relevant until circumstances and client demands change next week, next month, or next year. Companies need to have one eye on the future, one eye on the lay of the land, and adjust and readjust as times move on to be in with a fighting chance of attracting – and keeping – the very best candidates.

Contact us today to see how we can assist you with your recruitment needs, by calling us on 01772 259121 or Register a Vacancy directly.

Our latest analysis of the employment landscape in the North West has been covered by Bdaily and Recruitment International.

The analysis is based on a comparison of vacancy levels across our broad areas of expertise and highlights the ongoing skills requirements of employers in the region. The findings reveal that some of the most in-demand roles in the North West currently include Fork Lift Truck Drivers and Sales Administrators.

To read more about the findings as well as the comments of our Commercial Manager Tracey Bolan, please click the links above.

The latest Lancashire market analysis from Clayton Recruitment was featured in the regional business news website Bdaily. The analysis is based on a comparison of vacancy levels across Clayton’s broad areas of expertise and highlights the ongoing skills requirements of employers in the region.

Find out what the top five in demand jobs across Lancashire are along with the comments of Clayton Recruitment’s commercial manager, Tracy Bolan, here.

While not everyone aspires, or has the capabilities to be a good leader, for the majority of people taking on a managerial or leadership position is one of their major career goals. But if you’re considering pushing for a promotion and heading your own division or even an entire organisation what skills should you possess and what should you keep in mind?

Trust your employees and listen to them

It’s very tempting to take on all the responsibility when becoming a leader or manager however this isn’t healthy and is almost certain to negatively impact your performance and therefore the performance of the organisation as a whole. It’s only natural to want to cast the company in your own image, but realistically, only the most inspirational leaders like Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos are able to do this. In reality, effective managers and leaders surround themselves with excellent staff whose opinions they can trust and rely on. Yes, you should still manage and set overall goals, but the people you’re in charge of experience day-in day-out the issues the organisation faces and they’re often in the best position to give advice on the best approach to take. Only the most narrow minded and arrogant leaders would think their single vision can take a company to successful heights and you’ll learn quickly that you need to trust your employees.

Delegate

Along similar lines you should also look to hand over the reins every now and again and allow your employees to take on some of the day-to-day tasks that you’ve previously looked after. This can be tough for some people who don’t really want to give up everything they’ve been working on but it’s the best thing to do. A leader’s responsibility should be the big picture and ensuring that their employees are working to the best of their abilities and this is tough when you’ve got things like administrative tasks getting in the way.

No more ‘us and them’

Far too often at companies, particularly larger ones, there’s a significant divide between management and other staff which can result in resentment and a loss of faith in their skills and ability to lead the firm. The best leaders need to close this gap and highlight to their employees that they’re working together as a team. It can be difficult to communicate this effectively, especially at organisations that have suffered from the issue in the past, however it’s imperative if you want staff to work to the best of their ability for you.

Allow mistakes

This may sound counter intuitive, after all, surely not many organisations are built on mistakes? Clearly you shouldn’t allow your employees to go around ruining everything they’re working on, but you should allow them to be wrong. Creating this sort of freedom is the only way to get your employees to be as innovative as they possibly can be, as they don’t fear for their futures if they make mistakes. No business has done everything right and even Apple chopped and changed the design of its first iPhone before coming up with a working solution. Sir Alex Ferguson also provides a good example. He encouraged his wingers and attacking players to take risks. They wouldn’t come off every time, but when they did it was to the huge benefit of the football team. Without the fear being removed it’s unlikely that your employees will take similar risks, and it’s therefore unlikely they’d reap the same significant rewards.

Be passionate and inspire

Ultimately, this is one of the most important attributes as very few people will be motivated to perform to the best of their ability under a leader that can’t inspire them. Only a tiny proportion of professionals are driven enough to be at their best and work their hardest if they don’t feel some sense of passion or pride from management and this should be the first thing you work if you’re lucky enough to reach this level. If a leader is enthusiastic, whilst still recognising the challenges that the team will face, the employees are likely to follow suit and do the same.

What skills do you think the best leaders possess?  For more insights from the team visit our website or take a look at our blog.