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Recent research has found that more than 50% of UK companies still can’t fill business-critical roles – and it’s far worse in Britain than it is in other countries. Here are what the experts say top talent is looking for in Q4.
If you’re in HR, responsible for hiring or on the leadership team for a company, the last thing you need an HR journalist to inform you is that the fight for talent is still very much ongoing. But you've clicked on this article for a reason, and that reason is probably that you're still struggling to fill roles at your organisation.
So, with that in mind, let’s get into the recent data.
Workforce research and management firm SD Worx conducted a survey of approximately 4,300 companies across the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, and found that not only are companies still massively struggling to fill business-critical roles, but that the UK is one of the hardest-hit countries for talent shortages.
Taken as a whole, most employers across all countries (69%) have “never had such a hard time positioning themselves as attractive employers”, with Belgium (65%), the UK (59.1%), the Netherlands (54%) and Ireland (53%) hit the hardest.
Unsurprisingly, the number one area that the respondents mentioned was most important was to provide potential candidates with working from home opportunities and with flexible working structures. This is something that, of course, the data has shown consistently since late 2020, and has cemented itself as the major contributor for why employees join a company – and why they jump ship for one with better, more trusting relationships with their people.
Ultimately, each individual employee and company should weigh up the costs of staying home vs going into the office.
Do employees want to WFH or go into the office?
HR Grapevine has conducted an analysis of multiple employee surveys over recent months and the top drivers for talent are, according to the research:
1. Let employees WFH full-time, or at least a few days per week
This is something the data returns every time employees at all levels are polled. Despite some of the benefits of being in the office, this remains overwhelmingly the key to attracting top talent. At this point, pushing back against this makes absolutely zero business sense, particularly in the UK, where average energy bills for single-family homes alone are predicted to rise atmospherically by October, and predicted to cripple the economy by January.
Not only does it show trust and willingness to pivot when times change, it also makes solid business sense – rather than running an expensive office and paying prohibitively high leases and energy bills, companies can both attract top talent and save money.
Chris McLaughlin is Chief Marketing Officer for employee experience platform LumApps, and told HR Grapevine: “The simple truth is that, for many companies, retention has become a significant issue. For some companies with in-office or knowledge workers, this may have been the result of inflexible mandates to return to the office. It may also have been the result of disconnected employee experiences and difficulty in engaging and empowering remote workers.”
He continued: “We have seen particular retention challenges for organisations with high number of frontline workers – e.g., healthcare workers, field technicians, retail store employees, etc. – the situation was a little different. First, for many of these employees, they continued to work in stores, hospitals, or in the field throughout the pandemic and many were exposed to increased risks to their health, greater workloads, and worsened working conditions. Additionally, with record-high employment numbers, competition for frontline employees is extremely fierce.”
With this in mind, even companies whose main remit is B2C or at least face-to-face, have found ways to streamline that process, having employees in the workplace less often, turning to tech to serve customers and to allow workers to do at least the admin portion of their ‘frontline’ role from home.
2. Provide energy stipends/offset cost-of-living crisis
While all organisations, from SMEs to enterprise outfits, are seeing the cost-of-living endemic steal a huge chunk of profits, individual employees will certainly be hit harder, and offsetting these rises may be the key to attracting and keeping the best people in your organisation. This is particularly true if you’re saving money by not paying those price-gouging heating costs – pass that savings down the chain of command and watch the cost-benefit analysis play out.
Despite a spate of current articles stating that commuting into the office will save workers money, the commentary on social media in response to those articles can be seen as nothing short of a backlash – with users pointing out that the article authors seem to not have considered holistic costs of each.
For example, if workers were to return to the office, they’d have to consider:
- childcare arrangement and costs
- the cost of commuting (particularly for those who have taken a remote job far away from the office) – whether by public transport or car – e.g., a typical rail season ticket now costs £3,263 per year
- loss of work time due to commuting
- perhaps purchase office attire, after two years of working in pyjamas
- having to buy lunch or coffee out if the office isn’t equipped with a suitable kitchen
A recent poll of approximately 530 workers in the UK (conducted by YouGov and payment management company Emburse) found that equal amounts of respondents preferred assistance with energy costs vs assistance with commuting costs. [It is important to note here that the responses varied depending upon surveyed person’s situation.]
However, a shocking 69% of respondents said that their company has never offered financial support for energy costs and does not plan to do so in the future.
The energy price cap increase today is devastating for both households and businesses.
Kenny Eon, GM and SVP, EMEA at Emburse commented on the results, saying: “There is clearly a growing concern amongst home-based employees about the cost of keeping the heating on during the work week. Only nine per cent of the people we surveyed are receiving support from their employers to pay for their utility bills, with just another seven per cent saying that their employers are planning to provide support.”
Anthony Painter, Director of Policy and External Affairs at CMI said the only real choice is for the government to act: "The energy price cap increase today is devastating for both households and businesses. CMI is concerned about knock-on effects in the workplace as business and all organisations face a cost crunch and anxious households feel the pressure and that impacts their working lives. There's no way around the fact that unless Government provides financial assistance and reassurance quickly, decisively and comprehensively they will see negative impacts on growth and performance across the public and private sectors."
Ultimately, each individual employee and company should weigh up the costs of staying home vs going into the office, and make their decision from there. Either way, Q4 is certainly going to be a straining time for businesses and their employees.
