I attended a breakfast recently where a well known
economist talked about business confidence being at a level equivalent
to 7% GDP growth this year - sounded like we were in China.
.
That can’t happen of course because of a number of reasons which I won’t go into here, but one of those reasons in particular is the labour market.
Simply there won’t be enough people to employ to assist in achieving that number.
Why? NZ unemployment rate is around 6.5% which is getting close to slim pickings re talent choice. Economists talk about 5% being a flat line for getting talent to assist growth. Significantly, participation rate in NZ, i.e. people in the workforce, is at an all-time high, so it’s not as if we can get people to get back into the workforce after opting out as a result of the GFC. I won’t go on and on about other metrics to do with employment suffice to say you get the picture.
What does this mean?
Talent will have choice and when talent has choice employers who handle the recruitment process poorly miss out. Pure and simple. Muck people around cos you’re too slow or don’t communicate well enough and you’ll be doing the process all over again. Not to mention what it does to your reputation. I could throw some stats at you re the cost of not having people on board, or redoing a recruitment process and the cost of your time and lack of attention on your main job, but you get the drift.
How do you combat this?
.
That can’t happen of course because of a number of reasons which I won’t go into here, but one of those reasons in particular is the labour market.
Simply there won’t be enough people to employ to assist in achieving that number.
Why? NZ unemployment rate is around 6.5% which is getting close to slim pickings re talent choice. Economists talk about 5% being a flat line for getting talent to assist growth. Significantly, participation rate in NZ, i.e. people in the workforce, is at an all-time high, so it’s not as if we can get people to get back into the workforce after opting out as a result of the GFC. I won’t go on and on about other metrics to do with employment suffice to say you get the picture.
What does this mean?
Talent will have choice and when talent has choice employers who handle the recruitment process poorly miss out. Pure and simple. Muck people around cos you’re too slow or don’t communicate well enough and you’ll be doing the process all over again. Not to mention what it does to your reputation. I could throw some stats at you re the cost of not having people on board, or redoing a recruitment process and the cost of your time and lack of attention on your main job, but you get the drift.
How do you combat this?
- Attend to the hiring of people as if you are selling your products or services to a customer. What behaviours do you exhibit when involved in those types of transactions? Let me guess – attentive, responsive, accommodating and effusive amongst other traits. Same applies to talent that has choice. Will they buy you or some-one else?
- Make sure you plan your process so that all who are involved know timeframes and next steps. Sure things happen that can disrupt any process, but people are forgiving if the procedure has been clear and communication is constant from the get go.
- If finding permanent talent is proving too difficult look for a contracting solution. There are massive advantages in utilising this type of talent, not least the fact that they are usually more experienced than a permanent hire who is looking to grow. They don’t get involved in the politics of your business and are there to do a project/job. They also know they can be cut off immediately if they don’t perform and yes you pay a bit more for that, but it’s so worth it usually.
- Don’t be stingy and play games. You’ll lose. Best price for best people and you won’t miss out because you tried to save 5k for example. If candidates have choice it’s best foot forward time.
Best of luck out there as the talent war heats up
.
To continue the discussion or give us some feedback on this follow us on Linkedin and Twitter
Blog by Bede Ashby, CEO Momentum Holdings
No comments:
Post a Comment