Talent Shortages: Five Steps to Boost Candidate Retention

Whilst permanent and temporary staff appointments rose at near-record rates* in July, agencies reported the supply of candidates had fallen sharply, and this is affecting recruitment sectors across the board.

Perfect storm

The availability of unskilled, seasonal and casual workers in retail, hospitality, property, construction, logistics, warehousing, driving and delivery businesses, has been significantly impacted by Brexit, Covid, the ‘pingdemic’, low unemployment, Furlough, and the Home Office’s new points-based immigration system.

The haulage industry is amongst one of the worst affected – currently, the shortage of lorry drivers is estimated at 100,000, according to the Road Haulage Association (RHA), driven by several factors including the high number of drivers returning to European countries at the start of the pandemic and staying there, and disruption to driver tests during the pandemic.

Talent attraction

Demand for workers is the highest since records began in 1997, and with an estimated 1.3million people leaving the UK since the pandemic began, the jobs market is as competitive and tight as it’s ever been, with 69% of UK companies reporting talent shortages and difficulty hiring.

Talent attraction tactics vary from business to business, but often include employer branding, recruitment marketing, workplace culture, and benefits – with work-life balance now named as the main driver for candidates deciding whether to take a job.

Temporary Workforces

One of the biggest costs to a recruitment business is the attraction of new candidates, so getting maximum return on investment from repeated placement must be a priority, but gaining loyalty from a temporary workforce isn’t easy.

Recruiters and agencies can set themselves apart with an enhanced worker support strategy for the temps working on-site. This will strengthen client relationships, boost the business’ reputation, and keep the all-important candidates engaged and onboard.

Offering added-value services to candidates has never been more important, but it is a challenge for recruiters to provide the same sort of benefits to temporary workers as a permanent workforce - but there are innovations in employment administration and engagement that make this possible.

Five Ways to Go Further and Boost Retention

Forward-thinking recruitment agencies follow five steps to maximise engagement with and support of their talent and candidates:

1. Become part of strong movements that improve the welfare and working conditions of key contingent labour, especially those governed by the GLAA.
2. Select suppliers from the large employers/frameworks and PSL opportunities – who expect to see their temp workers looked after and engaged.
3. Offer candidates more in the shape of a robust effective employee engagement strategy; this is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s a game changer.
4. Think ‘mobile-first’ - candidates are likely to have a phone in their hand most of the time both at work and play, so identify tools that use mobile tech to keep candidates connected, informed, motivated, and supported, particularly with their physical and mental health and wellbeing.
5. Add value to pay – times are hard, so helping candidate's money go further with easy-to-use savings discounts on everyday spending, via a mobile platform, is a powerful way to help take-home pay go further, and boost the perceived value of hourly temp pay rates, with the potential to save £100s over the year.