3 Recruitment Challenges For 2023

Darren Westall January 10, 2022 Recruitment

If you either a) work in recruitment, or b) have signed into LinkedIn in the past two years, we’re pretty certain you’ll have become attuned to phrases such as “candidate-driven market”, “skills shortage” and “the great resignation”.

It’s no secret in the recruitment world that everything is a bit up in the air at the moment. Things have changed quite dramatically over the past few years, but that doesn’t mean all is lost.

Let’s take a look at the top three recruitment challenges for 2023, and how adapting your recruitment strategy can help tackle them.

1. Finding talent in the market

Back in the day, it’d be as easy as posting a job advert to a few job boards, sifting through applications and CVs, and hiring the person you think is the right fit for the role. Now, the competition is much higher. Depending on the industry or sector you work in can determine how hard it is to find the right talent – a moment of silence for our tech recruiters – particularly given that candidates now have the upper hand.

Talent challenges can often be down to candidates having such quick and easy access to the jobs they want, as opposed to recruiters having the quick access to the candidates. Job alerts and LinkedIn connections enable candidates to be the first to hear about and apply for new roles, before recruiters have even had a chance to connect with those who aren’t necessarily “on the market” for a new job.

There’s a few simple solutions to this.

First of all, keep your personal branding and your company’s branding consistent. Ensuring your audience knows who you are, what you do and who you’re looking for isn’t just for candidates currently looking for a role – it’s for those who might be looking in the future. You want to be at the forefront of their minds when they are.

Secondly, engage with your audience. Don’t just connect with lots of people on LinkedIn and never contact them – communication is key. Even if the people in your network aren’t actively looking for jobs, they may be in the future, or they might know somebody who is.

Thirdly, think outside the box. Don’t just post your job advert to a few job boards, scroll through your database and do a few LinkedIn searches and lose all hope. Optimise your LinkedIn profile to attract candidates, and have a think about where else you could perhaps engage with them. Where are your candidates online? Are they on LinkedIn, or is your audience more likely to be on Instagram or TikTok? If you were your audience, where would you be?

2. Hiring talent for your own business

The next challenge is a big one: hiring talent internally. Ensuring you have a brilliant Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is an essential part of the hiring process. Why should recruiters come and work for you? Why would they want to come and work for you? An EVP is what sharpens the identity and culture of your organisation, as well as strengthening your employer brand.

Establishing your organisation as an employer of choice is what’s going to get the best talent interested. They don’t just care about their job title, salary and responsibilities – they want to know what else you’re offering.

For example:

Do you provide flexible working? If so, what does this look like?
Can employees work from home whenever they want to?
How long do fathers get for paternity leave?
Do you have a policy in place to allow time off for fertility treatment?
Is a four day work week possible? If not, will it be in the future?
Are employees provided with access to mental health support?
What is your business doing to ensure hiring processes are unbiased?

Your organisation needs to stand out from the crowd during the hiring process. Interview questions are also vital – ask your candidates exactly what they want, expect and need out of this role and their employer. Understanding that you are both on the same page when it comes to hiring someone new is essential.

3. Retaining talent in your business

One big mistake made by a lot of employers is thinking that once you’ve hired, that’s it – job done.

This is not the approach you want to take if you want to keep hold of the talent. They can be snapped up again in a second if they’re not happy with where they work.

Investing in your employees to keep your retention rate low is vital. There are various ways to do this, such as:

Develop your employees. Discuss courses, training and qualifications that will not only benefit them in their role, but also benefit them overall as a person. You can’t just develop your employees for your own benefit - it has to make a difference to them, too.
Ask for feedback on where you can improve. Anonymous surveys are a great way to do this - you’ll get more honesty from your employees and their feedback will educate you on where changes need to be made.
Reward your employees. This could be monthly or quarterly bonuses, employee nights out, team trips away - ensure that your employees are rewarded accordingly, and regularly. Don’t just host one summer party then forget about it for the next two years.
Offer wellness packages. Wellness looks different for every employee, so it would be best if they are able to tailor them to what they enjoy. For example, one employee might benefit from a paid gym membership, whereas another may enjoy a weekly yoga class or monthly group therapy.

Whatever it is you decided to put in place to improve staff retention, make sure it’s sustainable and benefits everyone. That way, you’re less likely to have to go through the whole recruitment process again in a few months’ time.

Get in touch

Paiger doesn’t just distribute content to your social channels – it helps you reach more candidates and start more conversations you’d otherwise not have had. If you’re not sure what to post, but want to engage with your audience – don’t worry. Paiger suggests content relevant to your industries and sectors, too. Find out more about how we can help with your recruitment challenges in 2023 by booking a free demo with us.