What does 2023 hold for recruitment?

There is no magic formula or straightforward way to predict with any accuracy what will happen in the world of recruitment and hiring in 2023 and beyond. However, having spoken to several recruitment professionals in my network it seems there are a few themes which will become very important as we edge into recession and begin to see an even greater war for talent.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion – This has been at the forefront of organisations agendas for several years with positive steps being made, but it still presents a challenge with no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Organisations will need to work even harder and use the data available to make actionable plans that can be demonstrated. It’s all well and good saying your organisation has a focus on ED&I but you’re going to need to validate and prove what you have been /are doing, particularly if you're tending for business. A couple of things to consider

• Have your employees had Unconscious Bias training?
• Do you offer true flexibility in line with the changes the government recently made?
• Are your recruitment processes & channels holistic and focussed both on your needs but also that of the applicants?

Workforce / Skills Planning – What does your hiring strategy look like for the next 12-18 months from an operational perspective and the next 3-5 years strategically? Its integral to a business to have a robust plan so that you can fulfil your business mandate with the right skills in the right places at the right time. That said it shouldn’t just be about hiring but retention - what does your organisation offer its current employees in terms of compensation, creating pathways for growth and investing in people’s careers, recognising contribution, flexibility, culture etc? Companies need to ensure that they are holistically looking forward, effective workforce planning goes beyond forecasting headcount

• Analyse the forecasted needs and gaps, building in contingency and succession plans
• Analyse what’s important to your current workforce
• What are you competitors doing

Quality of Hire – We all know the aim is to find the best person for the role we are recruiting for, but how is quality of hire then measured once they join the organisation. With the war for talent increasing organisations need to ensure that every hire counts, and how to assess the quality of a hire is difficult and will differ from organisation to organisation. What it does mean is

• Having rigor in the recruitment process
• Ensuring the onboarding process is robust and thorough
• Defining what good looks like to your organisation based on the company performance, other employees’ performance, deliverables requested of the individual hired etc.

Hiring Process – At a time when talent is not necessarily looking to move roles, when the country is in recession and when we are still in the tail end of the ‘sugar rush’ of hiring following the pandemic, it is going to be key to ensure your hiring process is clear, smooth, and fast. Companies will need to look holistically at their hiring process, a few examples would be

• Is advertising inclusive and not alienating people who could perform the role but because of the language used they are not applying?
• Is your recruitment process nonlinear and accessible - it should be completed in the order that best suits not just the business but the candidates, that you are utilising technology to free the constraints of putting all the expensive and often in office based parts of the process at the end?
• Have the requirements of the role been overstated – we all know it’s great to have must have skills in a, b and c and excellent skills in x, y and z but can some of this be trained?

Organisations must adapt their plans and process from what they have always done, or risk being left behind. Remaining at the forefront of recruitment and hiring practices will be critical. Engage with experts to ensure your recruitment, engagement and retention strategies are fit for purpose.

Here at Charlie McIntosh Ltd we have over 50 years combined experience in Recruitment and Talent Intelligence – contact us to find out how we can help.

#SeeBetterHireBetter #ExectiveRecruitment #TalentIntelligence #2023