The war for top talent is heating up and creating an engaging place to work has never been more important. Fun events are a key strategy in doing this but there is also a growing need for team building as new teams are formed and workloads increase, along with the recovery.
During the recession which took hold of Britain after the financial crisis struck in 2008, and even in the subsequent aftermath, many businesses in this country focused not on large scale growth but simply on survival. Fortunately, as recovery continues to build in momentum, businesses are increasingly seeking to grow their employee numbers in a bid to capitalise on an improvement in consumer confidence.
Yet several factors still stand in the way of exponential growth; firstly, a lingering unwillingness by banks to lend has prevented many small businesses from acquiring the investment capital they need; secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is the diminishing talent pool from which recruiters have to choose from. In part, this is due to the so-called “brain drain” as young graduates leave the UK in search of better opportunities overseas. According to figures from the OECD, around 1.3 million British citizens educated to a university level now live abroad, meaning that UK businesses in high skilled sectors such as engineering or financial services have fewer options when recruiting.
This struggle has only intensified lately, as larger companies choose to expand and poach talented employees from rivals by offering cash incentives or the ability to advance their careers further. In a way, this is reminiscent of recruiting techniques used prominently in the pre-recession days, although the practice has been greatly enhanced to suit the modern age by CV uploading sites and social networks such as LinkedIn.
In order to appeal to the top talent in their sector, businesses must begin to place a high emphasis on employee satisfaction – and this does not necessarily mean adding an extra decimal point to the monthly pay check. With a survey from BambooHR highlighting that ongoing training, concise instructions and an approachable manager are more important to satisfaction levels than an increase in pay it may be wise for businesses looking to invest time in ensuring these aspects are in good shape before launching a new recruitment drive.
Competition has always been an elemental part of business operations, but with companies across all sectors of the economy seeking rapid expansion it has now become more important than ever for firms to attract only the best. By utilising their best aspects in their favour, and constantly seeking to improve, recruiters may find that obtaining the most talented jobseekers is not as insurmountable a challenge as first expected.