The pandemic saw a great change in the way many sectors approached recruitment and retention. According to the CIPD, 35% of non-profits and 22% of public sector respondents saw a decrease in their recruitment budget in 2020 and anticipated for some of 2021 too. However, now that the vaccination programme has alleviated many of the concerns of businesses across the private, public and non-profit sectors had, recruitment plans are starting to pick back up.
Unfortunately, this movement works both ways as public and non-profit professionals resume job searches they have been putting off since the economic downturn of the pandemic. As such we are entering a candidate driven market where employers need to be competitive to retain and attract talent.
What will be the effect on public and non-profit employers?
The public and non-profit sectors are expected to see a mass exodus of senior-level employees with an influx of junior applicants. FT notes that the pandemic was a catalyst for younger jobseekers to turn their attention to ‘giving back’ and a greater interest in the civil service and charitable work. However, the ramifications of Brexit could mean roadblocks to accessing European workers for public sector roles in healthcare, social care, teaching and much more.
Top reasons for movement at the senior level
While employees at all levels are revaluating their positions and prospects, increased movement at senior levels could lead to a significant skills gap within organisations. So, what are the main reasons for employees at senior management levels for wanting to change jobs?
- Burnout
The last year has been tough on everyone. People have had to get used to new ways of working in an extremely short space of time. At the senior level particularly the problems of suddenly managing teams remotely, increased demands on time and the need to work longer hours with fewer breaks has led to more than 61% of UK managers experiencing burn out and 20% considering leaving their jobs as a result.
- Flexibility
Many managers are anxious about being asked to return to the office before they feel ready, with one study suggesting that 17% still do not feel comfortable being asked to do so. Senior employees are increasingly seeking employers that offer flexible, hybrid working solutions with the same study suggesting that 69% would like to continue working from home whether permanently or part-time.
- Work/life balance
Covid-19 has allowed many people to reevaluate their long-term life goals and as a consequence people are seeking greater balance between their working and home lives and many are prepared to make sacrifices in order to achieve this.
- Revaluating skills
The number of employees looking to add new skills to their portfolio, retrain, gain further qualifications or turn a hobby into a business have all increased over the last year, according to Aviva.
What can employers do to attract and retain senior talent?
Offer flexible or hybrid working
By offering flexible solutions wherever possible, employers will ensure that not only will they have an advantage in attracting highly-skilled candidates and open up new talent pools geographically, they can also improve their retention levels by increasing satisfaction levels and reducing burnout amongst existing senior management.
Embrace technology
Technological solutions can be leveraged to allow employees to work more flexibly, better communicate with remote teams and organise complicated projects. Tech can also be implemented to improve your hiring processes and combat retention as a long-term outcome of new recruitment initiatives. This could be in the form of reaching more candidates with targeted advertising, speeding up the recruitment process using automation and utilising remote interviews to see candidates more quickly.
Work towards strengthening company culture
A clearly defined culture where every employee understands the organisation’s ethics and standards, feels listened to, valued and supported in achieving goals from the top down not only improves productivity and quality of work but makes for a more attractive place to work. Offer employees paths for upskilling, promotion and training, keep channels of communication between all levels open.
Add width and depth to recruitment strategies
Embrace new avenues of recruitment. Advertising roles in new and unexpected places and leveraging your current employees’ own networks can hugely expand the pool of potential applicants. Social media channels, networking events, open houses, and referral incentives can all be proactive ways to reach possible senior-level candidates.
Encourage diversity in hiring at the senior level
Signal a company-wide commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion by implementing strategies to diversify senior management teams. More diverse teams perform better, have lower turnover and boost morale.
How can Morgan Law help you with your recruitment and retention strategy?
With such a complicated recruitment climate for public and non-profit organisations, leaders need to find the right recruiting partner to navigate a potential high-level skills shortage.
At Morgan Law we take the time to develop a full understanding of your requirements, meeting with you to discuss challenges and offer advice on the availability of talent in the market. Our established database of over 30,000 senior-level, highly-skilled professionals with significant experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors available on a permanent and contract basis enable us to deliver the highest quality recruitment solutions. Bespoke headhunting, targeted social media and online advertising, and networking events are used to attract further candidates.