As confidence grows that we are perhaps at the beginning of the end of pandemic lockdowns, recruitment has picked up – you'll have noticed that the jobs pages and listings are considerably increased in recent weeks.
With that in mind, for managers who are considering strengthening their teams, here are some observations on the market from conversations with our clients and candidates:
- Now is a great time to recruit. We are seeing that clients who can start to recruit now can get ahead of the competition and secure first pick of candidates who have been busy over the past 18 months and are keen to translate that hard work into career progression.
- Remote working could transform your ability to attract talent. But those same candidates that you're trying to recruit now have access to jobs all around the country; and there is a good chance (especially if they provide a professional service) that they are being courted by the private sector as well as a wide range of public sector organisations. We're increasingly helping clients define their unique selling points to ensure they stand out, get their message across and connect with candidates who are looking for an opportunity to make a difference.
- Diversity and inclusion are at the top of everyone's agenda – employers rightly want access to the widest pool of talent, not just the usual suspects. Our dedicated diversity practice has added real value to each and every campaign by ensuring that our clients are able to consider a variety of high-potential candidates from a range of relevant sectors, with different lived experiences, new ideas, and highly-transferable skills, knowledge and experience.
- How candidates are assessed is now more important than ever. With longer long-lists of more diverse candidates (who have more career choices), we are seeing a significant increase in clients asking us for support with helping them make the best hiring decisions through values-based immersive assessment and fully redacted processes to heighten inclusion levels. We're happy to share our experiences further.
Andrew Tromans is senior consultant at Penna
andrew.tromans@penna.com
