Recruitment dries up, but training and career progression opportunities open up

Recruitment dries up, but training and career progression opportunities open up as employers focus on retention

While job seekers continue to face a tough time in the labour market, there are real opportunities for those already in work to secure development and promotion opportunities, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Despite the recession, employers have continued to strive to secure the skills they need – but are turning to retention and staff development rather than recruitment as their weapons of choice.

This yearís Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developmentís (CIPD) Recruitment, Retention and Turnover survey findings show that despite increased labour supply, the key resourcing challenge has remained a lack of necessary specialist skills (73%). A majority of organisations (56%) are preferring to focus on retaining rather than recruiting talent in response. The survey finds ëadditional training to allow internal staff to fill postsí has been the most effective recruitment initiative (75%). Similarly, ëoffering increased learning and development opportunitiesí (47%) is the most favoured action to address retention.

Where recruitment is still required, recruiters are paying attention to the long term, choosing to appoint ëpeople who have the potential to grow but who currently do not have all that is required for the job roleí as their most frequently used initiative (74%).

Jill Miller, Resourcing and Talent Planning Researcher, CIPD says:

ìItís encouraging to see that employers have their eye on the long term in their recruitment strategies. In the face of the current resourcing challenges, they are looking at innovative ways to ensure they retain and develop their talent. This environment offers real opportunities for ambitious and motivated employees to secure learning and career progression opportunities that might have been more difficult to come by when firms were recruiting more regularly.î

Despite the strong signs from respondents of a re-focus on retention combined with effective training to combat the skills shortage, only a quarter (25%) rate Train To Gain, the national skills service to support employers, as good or very good. The same number rate Business Link, the government organisation that provides practical advice for organisations, as effective in supporting their organisationsí needs.

Employers pointing the finger at a lack of efficient government support on training, however, is only half of the story. Only 58% of employers report having a formal resourcing strategy, meaning that recruitment and retention programmes are not in many cases aligned to business strategy.

Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser, CIPD, says:

ìItís worrying that only half of respondents have a formal resourcing strategy, putting a question mark over whether tailored learning and development is equipping employees with the necessary business-critical skills for survival.

ìSteps by the government to make the training offered through Train To Gain more employer-led and to simplify the process are welcome, but employers will only be in a position to offer the right training when key skills/development needs are highlighted through a formal resourcing strategy aligned to business objectives. Only then will real business impact and increased retention – as employees feel that they are being efficiently developed – be experienced.î

This inward-looking ëretention rather than recruitmentí trend is negatively affecting government initiatives to get the unemployed and disadvantaged groups back into work. For example, only one in ten organisations have signed up to a Local Employment Partnership, while only 20% think JobCentre Plus is good or very good at meeting their organisationís resourcing needs.