Businesses must revise their Recruitment Plans to improve the future of their employees

Businesses must revise their recruitment plans, work-force planning, and talent pipeline in order to improve the future of their employees.

The latest Employee Outlook Survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has seen some positive results. The report, in partnership with Halogen Software, found there has been an increase in job satisfaction and an increase in its engagement measures of employee influence over a job, use of skills, motivation, and effort. Employees are also more satisfied with opportunities for employee voice and attitudes towards senior leaders which have once again improved.

Key findings:

• Job security - Three-fifths (59% believe it is either unlikely or very unlikely they will lose their main job
• Job satisfaction – Net job satisfaction has increased and now sits at +48 with 64% satisfied and 16% dissatisfied in their current job role
• Employee attitudes towards senior leaders and line managers -  70% of employees say their managers treat them fairly, 66% say they make it clear what is expected of them and 65% of senior/line managers listen to their suggestions
• Satisfaction with pay – 44% of employees are satisfied with their current salary
• Learning and development – 92% of employees received on-the-job-training, 64% received online learning and 94% received on the job training from peers. 
• Work-life balance –77% of employees agreed or strongly agreed that employees should have the right to disconnect from work-related technology
• Jobseeking – 21% of employees are actively looking for a new job

It seems likely that future restrictions on labour mobility will further exacerbate the already high levels of skills shortages organisations face. Organisations, therefore, need to make sure they don’t neglect the development and upskilling of their existing employees.

The survey, which focused on technology, the blurring of work and personal lives, and automation, highlights some interesting findings on both the benefits and drawbacks of technology. The ability to switch off from work can be challenging for employees, with 15% saying they can rarely or never do this and just over two-fifths saying that they are only sometimes able to do this. Most employees check their work mobile/emails outside of working hours to a greater or lesser extent, with two-fifths checking at least five times per day. However, only 5% disagree that workers should have the right to disconnect from work by not responding to work emails out of hours.

Finally, the report explored employees’ job-seeking intentions and reasons for looking or applying for a new job. Just over a fifth (21%) of employees are now looking for a new job with a different employer. This has slightly reduced from autumn (23%) and spring (24%) 2016. Of those employees who have applied for a new job in the last six months, more than a third are taking opportunities to develop new skills (30%). The CIPD explored the reasons to why 21% of employees were currently looking for or applying for a new role. The findings were as follows:

•    54% are searching for a new job to get a better pay and benefits 
•    46% are looking to increase their overall job satisfaction 
•    31% are looking to move job to reduce stress 
•    28% want a different type of work altogether 
•    27% are unhappy with the leadership of their current senior management team
•    23% are looking for promotion opportunities
•    21% want a shorter commute
•    20% want better flexible working hours

David Collins, Redline’s Business & Customer Development Manager comments on the findings: “Overall the findings are positive with fewer employees thinking it is likely they will lose their job, an increase in job satisfaction and the overall attitudes towards senior leaders has seen an improvement.

In terms of recommendations to Redline’s clients, we believe organisations should keep a sharp focus on talent retention and for senior leaders to have a clearer understanding for why employees are seeking and applying for new positions. Organisations must continue to be competitive in terms of salaries offered to current or prospective employees with pay and benefits topping the list. Employers will need to offer pay incentives to attract the talent they need.”

David continues: “Work-force planning is vital for our clients with the skills shortages being regularly reported via the likes of the REC Report on Jobs in disciplines such as engineering & technical, IT & computing, finance and senior management with many UK employers needing to address this issue head on with thorough recruitment plans.

At Redline, we ensure our clients know it is vital they adopt any reasonable measures to improve their talent pipeline and workforce plan utilising a variety of techniques, including specialist technology recruiters. We provide tailor-made recruitment programmes to suit clients’ specific needs in areas such as technical recruitment, electronics jobs, and technical sales careers.”

To find out more about how we can help your business, please contact our dedicated Business & Customer Development Manager David Collins on 01582 878804 or email DCollins@redlinegroup.com