The U.K. labor market has remained fairly tight in the past year, which has made it very difficult for employers to attract talent. Simultaneously, organizations are experiencing what has been characterized as a "skills shortage" when recruiting, as mentioned by 76.7% of participants in a Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre recruitment survey.
Organizations also face challenges with retention as employees have higher expectations regarding issues such as pay, benefits, learning and development, and hybrid working.
The good news is that there are strategies they can implement to better attract and retain talent.
1. Consider disclosing the proposed salary (or pay band) in your adverts
While many employers prefer to keep their cards close to their chest concerning salary data, there is increasing evidence of the benefits of transparency during the recruitment process for both organizations and employees.
Our recruitment survey found that, in a sample of 175 organizations, nearly half (49.7%) reported including salary information in all job ads, and a further 29.1% included it in some.
There were striking differences by sector, with salary information being displayed in all job ads placed by the majority of public-sector and not-for-profit organizations. By contrast, just a quarter of responding organizations in the private and manufacturing-and-production sectors did the same.
More importantly, organizations that did display salary information in job postings cited the following benefits:
- Saving time and managing expectations
- Attracting the right level of candidate
- Increasing the number of applications
- Addressing policy and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) questions
In the U.K., employers in the private and voluntary sectors that have 250 or more employees on 5 April in the reporting year are required to publish prescribed gender pay gap information.
Furthermore, the new EU Directive on pay transparency places an emphasis on employer obligations in relation to reporting the pay gap. More importantly, the Directive goes further, creating specific obligations for the employer when the gap is wider than 5% and can’t be justified on the basis of objective, gender-neutral factors.
The Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre conducted an analysis linking the survey data with published 2022/23 gender pay gap data to explore trends in pay gaps and salary transparency.
The results indicate that organizations that reported being transparent in all job ads have a median gender pay gap of 8.9%, meaning that women earn 91p for every £1 earned by a male employee. By contrast, organizations that don’t include salary information in any job postings have a median gender pay gap that is more than 10 percentage points higher, at 19.3%.
2. Assess your organization's recruitment process...and address the issues
Attracting, screening, shortlisting, and selecting a new candidate to fill a vacancy is one of HR's key responsibilities. But it’s also one of the most challenging aspects of HR and, according to our recruitment survey, many organizations find that their process is not very effective. In fact, just one-fifth (18.9%) of respondents rated their organization's recruitment as very effective in sourcing quality hires.
As our recruitment survey highlighted, one of the key issues is that only a quarter (27.4%) of organizations measure satisfaction with the recruitment process. Moreover, among organizations that do measure the candidate experience, a high number track satisfaction only with successful candidates. This information tends to be gathered once the candidates have started their new positions.
Quite possibly, unsuccessful candidates who have nothing to lose will be more candid in pointing out flaws and issues in the recruitment process, compared to recent recruits who have just started a new role and are still in their probationary period, so don't ignore this rich resource.
3. Allow employees to customize their benefits package
With an increasingly diverse and multigenerational workforce, employee needs are bound to vary widely. After all, the requirements of a seasoned employee will likely be different from those of an employee at the beginning of their career, from pension contributions to private medical insurance and childcare vouchers. This calls for employers to be more flexible and to tailor the benefits they offer to individual requirements, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
In our benefits and allowances survey, many respondents told us they were reviewing their benefits package to make sure that the offering is not only "aligned with workforce demographics," but also that the "benefits we provide match with market trends."
Simultaneously, the approach taken in putting together benefits packages has evolved over the last few years from a traditional to a more holistic one, which includes looking after all aspects of employee health—physical, mental, social, and financial.
As a result, employee benefits have gained new life, with top consideration now being given not only to mental well-being resources but also to financial health, as employers review benefits packages to help employees navigate the cost-of-living crisis.
Offering flexible benefits allows employees to shape their own packages by choosing the benefits most relevant to their current situation and lifestyle, and then revising their options as their needs shift. One private-sector organization commented that it was trying to focus "on what individuals value and ensuring we meet the needs of younger generations."
4. Have a properly designed well-being strategy
Well-being and mental health at work is a subject that has risen to the top of every organization's agenda. Societal developments have placed a greater emphasis on a more all-encompassing understanding of well-being, and organizations have started integrating it into their KPIs and strategies. Our global well-being survey found that employee well-being is a key priority for most organizations, with around two-thirds (68.7%) indicating that well-being is either a business priority or important within their organization.
It also found that half of organizations (49.8%) carry out a well-being survey annually. Despite this, only 31.3% of organizations have a documented well-being strategy, and only one in five organizations track the relevant data changes when a new initiative is implemented.
In our absence rate survey, respondents highlighted that "stress-related absences are increasing and more absences are becoming longer term," as well as mentioning that "indications are that workloads and work-life balance are impacting on employee health." With the average cost of absence, including stress-related absence, per employee in 2022 standing at £643.60, preventative measures are vital.
Having a well-defined strategy as well as communicating and even publicizing it could help to attract a more engaged workforce while strengthening your organization's employee value proposition. In fact, a strategy will more likely make headway with employee well-being, as it will embed well-being into an organization's culture, helping to avoid ad hoc activities or tick-box exercises, which are less likely to make a change.
5. Promote your organization's DEI policies and data
DEI policies and procedures continue to gain momentum not just because of the need to comply with legal requirements, but also due to the interest DEI has raised in society as a whole in recent years. Yet many employers are falling short when it comes to meaningfully advancing DEI initiatives.
Our global DEI survey found that while almost half of responding organizations (49.4%) have a documented DEI strategy, when it comes to funding, only about one in five organizations have a separate budget that is exclusively dedicated to DEI.
Showcasing just how relevant this matter is, the findings highlight that organizations that don’t promote DEI in any areas of the talent lifecycle (19.5%) are less likely to report improvements in labor turnover, employee engagement, and NPS.
Data transparency regarding DEI is another area likely to have an impact not just internally, but also outside the organization. In fact, our survey found that organizations that are transparent with their DEI data may see a positive effect on their reputation and ability to attract talent, as around a quarter (23%) of organizations reported releasing some DEI data to the public.
“Organizations are unlikely to make headway with DEI through one-off initiatives. An approach that involves investigating the challenges specific to your organization, and then sharing that information, as well as the progress you make on DEI, will help to show people that the organization is committed to making progress over the longer term.” —Bar Huberman, content manager, HR strategy & practice, Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre
6. Offer (true) flexible work
The pandemic forever changed the way flexible work is seen, and the rigid confinements of the office-based nine-to-five, five days a week, may be over for many. Offering flexibility, providing options as to where and when employees can work, is increasingly prized. However, what flexible or hybrid work looks like varies from one organization to another.
In a poll conducted in an HR & Compliance Centre webinar presented by Gary Cookson, nearly 40% of those who responded said their employers are now operating a mandated 3/2 or 2/3 split between office and home, with a requirement to work either two or three days in the office each week, and the balance remotely.
Respondents in an HR & Compliance Centre absence rates survey stated: "Hybrid working has resulted in a decrease of absence" and "Hybrid working has positively improved absence figures. Employees find it easier to turn on the laptop at home even if they are feeling under the weather." While employers need to ensure that employees get the rest they need to recover from illness, flexibility is still welcome.
As Gemma Dale, experienced senior HR professional and Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, states: "Hybrid work has the potential to enable inclusion where HR and leaders focus on making hybrid work a force for positive change." Offering flexible working opportunities, including opportunities to work remotely for some or all of the time, can therefore open up new avenues for parents, carers, and talent with a disability. So, for organizations competing for top talent, this may just be something worth looking into.
This piece originally appeared in the Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre.
