Human Resources
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9
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February is drawing to a close and organisations are settling back into routines, tackling the challenges and opportunities the new year is presenting.
Trending topics this month reflect the return to business as usual. Discussions centre around dealing with no-show candidates, fostering intergenerational inclusion, building internal and external talent pools and rethinking traditional performance reviews.
There’s a clear focus on bridging the skills gap that’s occurring across industries and creating stronger work cultures.
Read on for more insights.
Candidates who don’t attend job interviews or their first day of work are making hiring more difficult.
A recent survey by Indeed revealed 86% of UK job seekers have not shown up for a job interview without giving notice.
75% of workers say they’ve ignored a prospective employer in the past year.
According to Indeed data, Gen Zers are the demographic more likely to ghost recruiters with 93% saying they haven’t attended interviews and 87% saying they have not shown up to work after accepting a job offer.
While the Indeed report shows Gen Zers are the most likely to no-show, all demographics have taken part in job ghosting.
Reasons for flaking on recruiters and new roles include:
Candidates also view ghosting during certain stages of the recruitment process as acceptable since some employers display the same behaviours.
One in five workers say they have had a prospective employer fail to show up to a phone interview. 23% say they received a verbal offer and have then been left hanging.
The first way to prevent ghosting is to make sure your organisation leads by example.
Ensure all your communication with candidates is streamlined and that all meetings and job offers are carefully monitored and followed up on.
A clear recruitment process with the right automation can help busy teams stay on top of candidate communication. For example, by using digital reference checking busy recruiters can ensure the process is fast and includes all the right communication touchpoints with both candidates and referees.
To prevent last-minute withdrawals recruiters can:
When it comes to handling last-minute withdrawals, experts suggest:
Candidates often withdraw or ghost due to slow hiring processes, insufficient communication and an alternative job offer with better pay. If withdrawals are becoming more frequent it’s time to identify reasons. Recruiters can start by assessing the length of their hiring process and remuneration packages.
The case for intergenerational inclusion is building.
Harnessing the ideas, experiences, and networks of talented employees from all generations has the potential to deliver significant productivity gains.
Different generations can contribute to team knowledge, skills, and networks in complementary ways. On the other hand, divides and conflicts between different generations can impact an organisation’s success.
Research by The Inclusion Initiative and Protiviti shows generational frictions can lower productivity.
Low levels of productivity are reported by 37% of Gen Z, 30% of Millennials, 22% of Gen X and 14% of Baby Boomers across organisations.
The same research shows employees who have larger age gaps with their senior managers (more than 12 years older) are nearly 1.5 times as likely to report low productivity, and nearly three times as likely to report being extremely dissatisfied with their job.
Workplaces that bridge employee-manager age gaps and foster generationally inclusive work environments are more likely to thrive.
A healthy work culture that prioritises diversity is a great building block for fostering intergenerational inclusion.
You can also promote intergenerational inclusion by:
Intergenerationally inclusive work practices reduce the proportion of all employees reporting low productivity. Employees of all ages who work at generationally inclusive organisations are twice as likely to be satisfied with their jobs and 1.5 times less likely to look for a new role.
Last month we talked about the rise of fractional workers. The freelance and gig economy is becoming more popular with all types of contract workers entering the market, including fractional C-suite executives.
In response to this growing trend, recruiters and HR teams are looking to build pipelines of contingent talent. That way, when a talent gap appears it can be filled quickly.
To build pipelines of freelancers and contractors recruiters can:
By creating warm talent pools you can hire contract talent quickly and keep projects in your organisation moving.
Onboarding is important for all new team members, even those who are working on a freelance or contract basis.
To set fractional talent up for success make sure you:
Overall, treat fractional workers as one of your own by offering the same appreciation and recognition you would a full-time staff member. Embracing fractional workers as part of the team leads to higher productivity and a stronger work culture.
Are traditional performance reviews dead?
The effectiveness of performance reviews is a topic that comes in and out of the HR spotlight.
Public decisions by large companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Block to move away from traditional performance reviews have brought this topic back under discussion.
Critics say traditional performance reviews can be ineffective, a key reason being they are time-consuming and deliver feedback in chunks. Research by Adobe shows 80% of workers prefer feedback in the moment rather than after months.
Other reasons critics say traditional performance reviews can be ineffective is because they can be:
Of course, every company approaches performance reviews differently and not every traditional process is ineffective or falls prey to the points listed above. When conducted correctly performance reviews can enable fair raises and promotions, guide employee development and inform HR initiatives.
Organisations doing away with traditional performance reviews are not removing feedback loops altogether.
Rather than rely on one-time annual feedback, some organisations are implementing more regular two-way feedback processes that focus on employee strengths as well as weaknesses.
Organisations looking to reimagine performance reviews can consider:
Most importantly, organisations should frequently review their feedback process and understand how employees feel about it.
Feedback loops should inspire and motivate employees to do their best work and so it’s important to regularly check in and understand how staff feel about the way feedback is given and presented.
In today’s market, addressing skill gaps and retaining employees are top concerns for recruiting and HR teams. Internal mobility is therefore becoming a priority for organisations.
Building competencies in-house ensures organisations aren’t left without critical skills in their business and are at less risk of losing top talent to competitors.
A 2022 study by Lever found that loyal employees were highly interested in internal mobility. 41% planned to ask for some type of role change in the near future and 61% said they would begin looking for a new position if a role change wasn’t available.
LinkedIn data shows workers who make an internal move at their organisation at the two-year mark are 75% more likely to stay long-term.
By creating a strong internal mobility program your organisation can:
Recruiting and HR teams looking to create stronger internal mobility programs should start by investing in an internal skills gap analysis. Using this data, teams can create learning and development programs that are directly tailored to an organisation’s current and future needs.
To set internal mobility initiatives up for success experts also recommend:
Overall, investing in internal mobility can help organisations plug current and future talent gaps and develop greater resilience to hiring challenges.
This month’s HR trends reflect a focus on hiring and retaining talent and plugging skill gaps.
By devising better plans to deal with no-show candidates organisations can create stronger hiring practices and ensure top talent doesn’t fall through recruiting cracks.
When it comes to retaining talent, investing in internal mobility and intergenerational inclusion initiatives as well as rethinking performance reviews can help create a happier and more motivated workforce.
Skill gaps can also be addressed with internal mobility programs as well as by hiring contingent talent. HR teams can prepare to plug skill gaps by focusing on reskilling initiatives and by taking the time to build talent pools of highly skilled contractors.
With the entire year still ahead, it’s the perfect time to refocus on the basics to set your teams and organisations up for success.
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