The Human Advantage: Redefining Your EVP to Fuel Organisational Performance
Engaged and empowered employees are the key to unlocking productivity and profitability. Employees now prioritise meaningful work, development opportunities, work-life balance, and a sense of belonging over job security and loyalty.
Complete the form to download our ebook, The Human Advantage: Redefining Your EVP to Fuel Organisational Performance, to learn how evolving your employee value proposition (EVP) to a personal value proposition—what we call a PVP—can help you attract, engage and retain top talent.
This ebook provides data-backed insights on:
The cost of disengaged and unsatisfied employees in terms of productivity loss and turnover
How emphasising employee well-being and purpose can boost engagement, innovation and performance
Shifting from a generic EVP to a tailored Personal Value Proposition (PVP) focused on each individual
Plus, you’ll get actionable steps to implement a human-centric and dynamic PVP strategy.
There’s a new generation moving into leadership roles that’s poised to change how things are done in the workplace. You may not hear as much about them as Baby Boomers or millennials, but Generation X is the silent workhorse that makes up over third of the workforce and over half of managers.
So, who is Gen X and what exactly are they bringing to the workforce? Grab your flannel shirt, and let’s find out! The last in our series on the multigenerational workforce, this article explores what makes Gen X tick and how they’re stepping up to lead organisations into the future.
Who are Gen Xers?
Born between the early 1960s and 1980, this cohort came of age and entered the workforce in the shadow of the larger Baby Boomer generation. Now, as they move into management and leadership roles, Gen X is ready to put their own stamp on workplace culture.
Growing up as latchkey kids in an era of change, Gen X professionals are more independent and adaptable than previous generations. Gen X entered the workforce during the rise of Silicon Valley and the dot com era, making them comfortable with the pace of technological advancement. For them, adopting new technology feels natural, and they are driving digital transformation across sectors.
When it comes to the workplace, Gen X values authenticity, work-life balance and professional development. They respond better to flexible schedules that allow for caring for ageing parents and children and prefer managers that empathise with those priorities.
According to a study by Stanford University, Gen X prefers to work from home 50% of the time, compared to Boomers at 35% and Gen Z at 45%. Make no mistake, Gen Xers are focused on results, they just believe there are many valid ways to achieve success beyond face time at the office.
Having watched their parents climb the corporate ladder, Xers are focused on carving their own path at their own pace. This cohort is extremely hardworking with an innate sense of independence. If you want something done, hand it off to a Gen Xer and let them run with it.
Gen Xers don’t pay much attention to rank and hierarchy. They prefer direct communication and are more likely to casually ping you on Slack than set up a formal meeting. But don’t mistake their informal style for a lack of drive. Generation X is extremely entrepreneurial and forge their own career paths rather than expect opportunities handed to them.
Are Gen X Overlooked at Work?
Gen X may be overlooked in the workplace due to their easy-going approach. In fact, 79% of Gen X says they’re forgotten in the workplace, overshadowed by younger and older workers. It’s hard to blame them, when Gen Xers are promoted at rates 20% to 30% slower than millennials, despite being strong candidates for leadership roles.
As employers have paid a lot of attention to nurturing millennial talent in recent years, Gen X has gone underappreciated for their contributions to the workforce. With Gen X leading the Great Resignation as 37% more left their company in early 2022 compared to the year before, employers should concentrate on retaining and engaging this valuable cohort as they enter the second half of their careers.
Move Over, Boomers: Here Comes Gen X
As Gen X moves into boardrooms and leadership roles, we are starting to see their impact on workplace culture. Transparency and direct communication are in. Bureaucracy and hierarchy are out. Gone are the days of formal business attire and rigid top-down management. Today’s workplaces are more casual, flexible and egalitarian.
Gen X leaders prefer to mentor and develop talent rather than micromanage. They lead by example and earn respect by rolling up their sleeves alongside their employees. Gen Xers believe the best way to achieve success is by empowering their team.
How to Keep Gen Xers Happy in the Workplace
Here’s how to help your Generation X colleagues gain success at work as they move into leadership positions:
Offer flexibility: Gen Xers appreciate flexibility in their work hours and locations. Consider options like remote work, flexible schedules and job sharing. Plus, autonomy over their time is key. Don’t expect 24/7 availability from Gen X employees. They value their personal responsibilities outside of work and crave work-life balance.
Provide opportunities forcareer development: Gen X is highly self-sufficient but still values feeling appreciated. Provide both informal and formal recognition—including promotions and leadership opportunities. Invest in professional training, mentoring programs and clear paths for career progression.
Limit bureaucracy: Gen X resists rigid corporate structures and prefers collaborating in relaxed settings. Eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy that can hamper productivity and innovation. Empower Gen Xers to accomplish tasks independently. Provide opportunities to work on new initiatives and pilot programs.
The Future of Work with Gen X at the Helm
While perhaps overlooked when sandwiched between two larger generations, they bring a perfect blend of independence and adaptability to evolve workplace culture for the better. Talent leaders should take notice of Gen X’s entrepreneurial spirit and prioritisation of work-life balance and career progression.
The skateboards may be gone, but Generation X is still the same pragmatic, diverse and ambitious cohort. Only now they are grown up and calling the shots.
Read the rest of our Multigenerational Workforce series:
Strategic HR management has become a crucial aspect of organisational success. Hence, HR analytics and workforce planning have significantly influenced the rapidly evolving recruitment industry in the past few years. These approaches provide insights and tools that help organisations optimise workforce solutions, shape decision-making processes and drive the overall growth of the business.
This article delves into the complexity of HR analytics and workforce planning, the benefits and risks as well as real-world workforce planning examples and HR analytics applications.
What are Workforce Planning and HR Analytics?
Workforce planning is a methodical process that organisations implement to ensure they have the right mix of talent with the appropriate skills to meet current and future business objectives. It involves forecasting future workforce needs, identifying gaps in skills and competencies, as well as designing strategies to address those gaps. Workforce planning aims to align the company’s strategic goals with its human resources.
On the other hand, HR analytics involves the use of data analytics to provide organisational leaders with actionable insights on recruitment, performance management, employee engagement and more. It helps organisations to gain a deeper understanding of workforce dynamics, identify trends and predict future outcomes. Leveraging HR analytics tools can aid Human Resource professionals in developing better, well-informed strategies that boost the overall employee experience and contribute to the company’s future success.
Although workforce planning and HR analytics share a common goal of enhancing human resources management, these approaches provide varying degrees of information.
Workforce planning tends to focus on the macro-level view, addressing questions like:
What are the hiring needs for the upcoming quarter?
What kind of skills will be crucial in overcoming current growth challenges?
Are there skills gaps in our teams?
On the contrary, HR analytics delves into micro-level insights:
Are there specific patterns in employee engagement and productivity?
What are the factors causing high turnover in a particular department?
What is the most common reason for high performers to resign?
Whilst workforce planning takes a more strategic approach, HR analytics contextualises information to support data-driven decision-making. Leveraging workforce planning and HR analytics together helps promote engaged and productive teams.
Benefits of HR Analytics and Workforce Planning
Whilst the benefits of taking a data-forward approach to talent strategy are numerous, here are the top three benefits:
Improved Resource Allocation
Workforce planning aids in allocating resources effectively by ensuring the right people are in the right roles at the right time. HR analytics enhances this process by providing insights into individual and team performance.
Strategic Decision-Making
Workforce planning supports long-term goals, while HR analytics facilitates swift decision-making for immediate concerns.
Proactive Problem Solving
Workforce planning identifies potential gaps and challenges in advance, allowing organisations to take action before issues become critical. HR analytics offers the ability to identify and address emerging employee-related problems promptly.
Real-World Application of Workforce Planning
A financial services organisation engaged PeopleScout and our Talent Mapping solution to unlock their talent segments and provide enhanced workforce planning data that would help streamline the client’s global contact centres into multilingual hubs. Within two weeks, PeopleScout delivered comprehensive insights into:
Size and language skills of the customer service workforce in several countries
Additional salary expectations for specific language abilities
Age, gender, diversity data to aid DE&I efforts
Candidate preferences to inform market messages
Optimal platforms for recruitment advertising in each area
Desired recruitment process for better candidate experience
Regional variations based on location-specific data
PeopleScout’s findings were summarised into easily understandable reports for each country. These insights guided the client in assessing locations for their multilingual centres, refining their value proposition, designing talent attraction strategies, and structuring compensation packages. The solution enabled informed decision-making and optimised recruitment efforts.
Real-World Application of HR Analytics
A leading credit reporting company struggled with increased staff turnover, prompting the need for action. The HR department collaborated with the internal specialists who formulated the credit scoring model. Using a similar approach, the team was able to create a predictive employee turnover model. The model provided a risk score for each employee using diverse data sources and alerted managers about the potential turnover risks at various role levels. The model was based on roughly 200 variables that were likely to influence an employee to seek opportunities elsewhere, including aspects like team dynamics, supervisor performance as well as commute length.
The new approach was rolled out globally and has provided valuable insights for decision-making and workforce planning in the longer term. For example, it was evident that turnover in each region was affected by a unique set of factors.
The model’s implementation led to a 3% decrease in attrition over 18 months, translating to a £8 million business saving. The rollout’s success was attributed to leadership endorsement of analytics and a collaborative approach between the analytics and HR teams to ensure action based on predictions and continuous improvement of the model.
Navigating Risks in Talent Analytics
Whilst the use of data insights as part of workforce planning and HR analytics initiatives is appealing, this promising approach comes with potential risks. These challenges include data privacy and data quality risks, interpretational biases as well as data collection pitfalls. Navigating these hurdles is crucial in ensuring that the use of data in building HR strategies is effective and ethical.
Talent analytics relies heavily on employee data, including personal information, which can lead to concerns around data privacy and security. Employers must prioritise data protection and compliance to prevent data breaches.
Low quality data can lead to misleading conclusions and negatively impact decision-making. Well-designed data collection processes ensure that the records are complete and provide enough information from which to draw conclusions as well as to test hypotheses on multiple data samples.
In the modern business world, the synergy between HR analytics and workforce planning is undeniable. By leveraging them effectively, organisations can stay ahead in dynamic business environments, promoting a culture of adaptability, efficiency, and innovation. By aligning strategic goals with workforce planning and leveraging data-driven insights, employers can navigate the complex HR landscape with confidence and foster business growth.
While navigating through high-volume recruitment processes, organisations often find themselves overwhelmed by the number of applications for a multitude of positions, ranging from entry-level roles to specialist positions. This can be a costly and time-consuming process that can damage the candidate experience and doesn’t guarantee candidate quality. This is where predictive analytics steps in, transforming the recruitment landscape.
Driven by advanced data analysis techniques and machine learning, predictive analytics offers a strategic advantage in managing high volumes of roles as well as ensuring the right fit.
How Does Predictive Analytics in Recruitment Work?
Predictive analytics involves the use of historical data, such as applicant resumes or CVs, interview feedback, performance data, and employee tenure to create models that predict future candidate success. Predictive analytics finds patterns and correlations within this data to identify characteristics that lead to successful hires. These indicators could include specific skills, educational background, work experience, and even personality traits that align with the company culture. This data-driven approach ensures a higher standard of candidate quality, as recruiters are guided towards individuals whose attributes align seamlessly with the organisation’s culture and role requirements.
Furthermore, this strategic deployment of predictive analytics doesn’t merely benefit the organisation; it elevates the candidate experience by matching applicants with roles that resonate with their skills and aspirations. As a result, candidates feel more engaged and valued throughout the recruitment journey, culminating in enhanced hiring outcomes and a positive brand reputation.
Predictive analytics presents itself not as a solution, but rather as a dynamic framework for continuous improvement. Organisations can leverage powerful analytics to determine fundamental employee attributes for specific roles, effectively managing the hurdles of volume hiring and retention. This involves harnessing predictive analytics insights to craft bespoke pathways that foster workforce growth.
Predictive Analytics in Action
In late 2021, one of our hospitality clients, Merivale, faced the challenge of recruiting 800 roles within six weeks. Partnering with PeopleScout, they turned to Affinix™, our proprietary talent acquisition suite with includes Affinix Analytics. PeopleScout’s strategy involved deploying Affinix to swiftly source and categorise applicants based on role streams. To ensure quick turnarounds, a tech-powered approach was implemented, utilising video and phone interviews. Leveraging Affinix’s real-time analytics dashboards, candidate responses were screened using built-in AI-powered tools to dynamically filter them into qualified roles. Referrals from current staff were also encouraged through Affinix CRM tool. Despite the challenging talent market, PeopleScout achieved remarkable results a time-to-offer of just 3.36 days and a time-to-fill of 5.5 days. The collaboration’s success continues as they meet the client’s ongoing talent needs, emphasising the transformative role of Affinix’s analytics in the current market.
Several tools are employed for predictive analysis in recruitment, leveraging data-driven insights to enhance hiring decisions. Affinix seamlessly integrates AI, machine learning, digital interviewing and more. It’s a comprehensive solution for streamlining recruitment and enhancing candidate experience. Affinix encompasses various features, including AI Sourcing, which identifies passive candidates for each job posting. CRM optimisation and requisition management enable enhanced communication and talent pool creation based on skills and other factors. Moreover, Affinix Analytics provides job seeker analytics and operational metrics to understand the end-to-end recruitment process. The platform’s integration with HR technologies solidifies its holistic approach to talent management.
Making Informed Decisions about Predictive Analytics
Although promising, predictive analytics, and AI in general, can be perceived as being risky. The key concern is the potential of creating biased algorithms, which can limit diversity in the hiring process and create inequalities. Bias might be present in the historical data fed into the model, from which the algorithm learns. Additionally, the accuracy of predictive models could be compromised due to the constant changes in the recruitment industry as well as evolving organisational needs.
Moreover, the complexity of machine learning algorithms can decrease transparency in decision-making, which would make it challenging for candidates to understand the reasoning behind rejections. Furthermore, quantifying skills and abilities could be difficult for certain roles.
In 2018, a leading retailer released the results of hiring software that was developed internally. The AI scored female candidates lower than male candidates due to bias in the data used to train the model. The model was trained using the company’s historical hiring data, which mostly consisted of men. As a result, AI saw male candidates as preferable to female candidates.
Organisations considering using predictive analytics in recruitment should keep these issues in mind, particularly as they gather data that the models will use. If any bias is discovered by the predictive model, it’s an opportunity for you to introduce (or update) unconscious bias and diversity training to your hiring managers.
Changing the Recruitment Landscape with Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics in recruitment is a powerful force in changing the landscape, particularly in the context of high-volume hiring. The integration of historical data with cutting-edge HR technology optimises the recruitment process, enriches the caliber of selected candidates and ensures that talent acquisition supports the strategic objectives of the organisation. However, balancing the benefits and limitations of this approach is crucial for a responsible and effective application of predictive analytics in high-volume recruitment.
Around 3,547,000 people between the ages of 50 and 64 are currently economically inactive, or not working, making older workers one of the most in-demand talent pools for employers today. It’s crucial for retail and hospitality employers to know how to entice older workers back to work and to make the most of their valuable talent.
In the UK, the government launched a ‘returnership’ initiative to inspire those over the age of 50 to come back to work or to seek a career change. This scheme involves three programmes that help older workers retrain and learn new skills, providing workers with a clear roadmap back into the workplace and encouraging organisations to hire them.
Known as the ‘sandwich generation’—defined by caring for their elderly parents and also dependent children or grandchildren—these older works have a strong work ethic. Customer facing and front of house roles enable them to fit work around caring for family and other responsibilities.
Our recent webinar with Personnel Today featured a panel of HR and talent acquisition experts discussing the wants and needs of older workers and how best to utilise this talent pool’s experience. Keep reading for key insights from our panel discussion and get the latest research to understand exactly what older workers want and what retail and hospitality organisations can do attract this in-demand demographic.
What Do Older Workers Want?
What do over 50s want and need from an employer? Does your organisation know how to attract and engage this older workforce and how to hire and retain them?
Flexibility
Unsurprisingly, monetary concerns are coaxing older workers back into the workplace due to the cost-of-living crisis. However, when it comes to choosing an employer, flexibility takes precedence over money.
Hospitality roles typically attract a younger demographic of workers. However, the flexibility offered by these jobs also appeals to the older working generation. Given that the over 50s are the largest age group with caring roles, flexible and part-time work is a powerful motivator for them to fit a job into their routine.
As well as permanent roles, seasonal and flexible roles are available within the hospitality and retail industries, which can be more attractive to the older working community. Working harder in those seasonal months creates work-life balance, allowing older workers to take time off during quieter periods to recover and be with their friends and family.
Sense of Belonging
Workers in this age rage are still searching for rewarding work. Older workers wish to find a place where they can feel a part of their local community and give back. Over 50s enjoy creating social connections that a customer-facing job in a restaurant or supermarket can provide.
Customer-facing roles in hospitality and retail give individuals the chance to serve and connect with their community. For older customers, seeing employees in shops and restaurants that represent them can boost the customer experience.
Myths About Older Workers
There are plenty of misconceptions out there from employers and colleagues about hiring and working with older workers. Consider these myths busted.
Myth 1: Older Workers are Resistant to Technology
Certain words can be viewed as a turn off for an over 50s audience, including “tech-savvy”, which some see as a way to ward off older candidates. There are older people who will feel excluded because others wrongly perceive that they’re less capable with technology, when in fact they are part of a generation that has seen huge advancements in technology. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is in his late 60s, and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple is in his early 60s.
Recognise that all colleagues work differently with technology, so you must be thoughtful in your use of training. In hospitality and retail, workers are likely to be using tills and sales computer systems. Regardless of whether a person struggles with technology, an organisation should have a strong programme in place to support workers as they learn how to use these tools. For example, consider implementing a buddy system of workers and leaders who will happily help new employees in their first few weeks as they learn point-of-sale systems.
Myth 2: Absences are Higher Because of Health Issues
As people get older, their health can decline. However, this doesn’t mean that absenteeism is higher amongst older workers. In fact, older workers are more likely to have higher everyday attendance rates due to their strong work ethic. When you do see sickness or absence, it is typically in the form of long-term leave, rather than the odd day here and there.
Myth 3: Older Workers are Less Productive Than Younger Workers
A study demonstrated that there was no different between younger and older workers in terms of productivity. This study found that with their years of experience and memories, older people perhaps dismiss new information when they process things and instead use past information. It’s therefore important to acknowledge that older workers aren’t doing things worse, they just do these things differently through their years of experience.
What Can Organisations Do to Attract Older Workers?
So, how can retail and hospitality organisation tap into this hard-working talent pool? Here are four questions to ask to ensure your talent acquisition programme is over-50s friendly.
Are Your Candidate Attraction Materials Inclusive for Everyone?
To attract older workers, you must think more creatively and broadly. Use community-based websites to engage with people who live close to your locations. Show how the job will fit into their lifestyle and what it would be like for an older person to work there, rather than a generic message. Create testimonials from your current employees to support this.
Make sure that your imagery is diverse, featuring people of all ages. Look at your marketing materials and ensure that it reflects the community so that over 50s can see that jobs in hospitality are here for them. Take advantage of local community-boards in village halls and supermarkets.
How is Your Candidate Experience?
Retention and attraction are very different. Employers can encourage people to apply for jobs through their advertisements, yet ultimately, it is down to the experience the candidate has during the recruitment process, induction and beyond. The candidate experience is what will make them accept the position and stay at the company.
When younger workers leave education, they’re taught how to answer competency-based interview questions and how to write a CV. The older generation of workers likely won’t have a CV and may not have experience with this kind of interview. Is your interview process age inclusive and relevant to them?
Are You Giving Them What They Want?
Now that we’ve shared what older workers want, is your organisation serious about flexible shift patterns? Over 40% of the part-time workforce is aged over 50. Not only does this part-time schedule work in hospitality, but also in retail, in which the holiday season creates a huge demand for workers.
Different shift patterns in retail can support individuals in their family commitments and lifestyle. Look at your employees’ caring responsibilities, for partners, for children, for elderly parents, and take this into account when creating your shift offerings.
But what else does this generation want from you? Everyone responds well to positive feedback. Both the retail and hospitality industries are great at celebrating successes, shown through brilliant behaviour and examples across organisations.
Finally, show that your organisation values them by offering benefit packages. Health is a priority for everyone as we get older, and health benefits can help to attract them to your organisation.
Does Your Anti-Bias Training Include Age?
Ageism usually gets the least amount of focus across the DE&I plan. Train your leaders and hiring managers on unconscious bias particularly as it relates to age. Ensure there are no biases lurking in the recruitment process to open up talent pools instead of closing them down.
Interested in learning more about engaging and attracting older workers directly from HR and talent acquisition professionals? Check out our on-demand webinar recording with Personnel Today and a panel of experts from Tesco, Fuller’s, Rest Less and Bourne Leisure.
FUTURE OF WORK
DESTINATION 2030: 10 PREDICTIONS FOR WHAT’S NEXT IN THE WORLD OF WORK
The future of work is green. According to the United Nations, the global economy is undergoing a “greening,” as industries like energy, transportation and construction adopt more sustainable practices. That process could create 24 million more jobs globally by 2030, putting workers with green skills in high demand.
However, supply has not kept up, even as the need for green skills spills into other industries like economics and finance, security, market and geopolitical analysis, communications, social sciences, and legal.
In this article, we’ll explore the drivers for green jobs and the need for green skills, which green skills are in the highest demand and how employers can find and hire top green talent.
What are Green Jobs?
So, what qualifies as a “green job?” According to the International Labour Organisation, “Green jobs reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials, limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimise waste and pollution, protect and restore ecosystems, and enable enterprises and communities to adapt to climate change.”
Demand for green skills is outpacing the supply. According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report, between 2022 and 2023, job postings requiring at least one green skill rose 22.4% while the share of green talent in the workforce only grew 12.3%.
What’s causing the shift? According to the World Economic Forum, many countries are working to achieve net zero by 2050. This means that both governments and businesses are driving the green transition.
So far, the majority of green job growth has come in some of the highest polluting industries, such as energy and transportation, and in some of the countries that produce the most greenhouse gases.
The U.S., Germany and India, countries that emit some of the highest amounts of greenhouse gasses, are leading the way in green jobs. According to the World Economic Forum, Germany is adopting more green skills in the manufacturing industry, and the U.S. and India are outpacing other countries in both oil and gas and mining.
But the need for green jobs goes beyond installing solar panels and building electric vehicles. According to LinkedIn, one of the most important sectors in sustainability is finance, and it is lagging behind. In the fight against climate change, huge investments will need to be made in things like wind farms and electric vehicle charging stations, and financial professionals will be in the spotlight. Despite that, only 6.8% of finance workers globally have green skills. However, there are signs of change. Between 2021 and 2022, the percentage of green jobs in finance grew 17%.
With increasing competition for green talent, employers need to have an in-depth understanding of the most in-demand green skills and how to attract, hire and train top talent.
What are Green Skills?
It is easy to mistakenly associate certain green skills to specific industries. Unlike the ability to set a broken bone, which will qualify a worker for a job in healthcare but isn’t relevant if they’re applying for a role with a law firm, green skills are different. Think of green skills more like tech and digital skills in their ability to be applied across a wide range of industries. For example, carbon accounting, or estimating the carbon footprint of different organisations, can play an important role in a variety of industries, from consulting to waste management. While there might be a concentration of workers with green skills in green industries, those skills are in demand across the global economy.
According to LinkedIn, the fastest growing green skill in the EU is climate action planning. A climate action plan is “a framework document for measuring, tracking and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and adopting climate adaptation measures.”
Climate action plans exist for a variety of organisations. For example, they exist at the government level, for international organisations like the World Bank, Fortune 500 companies and more. This means employers are competing for candidates across industries.
There are many green skills that are required for jobs in industries not considered green. For example, according to LinkedIn, a knowledge of energy efficiency could be necessary for roles like a plumbing engineer, utilities manager, vice president of facilities or HVAC specialist.
So, what are the most in demand green skills? It depends on where you are. In the U.S., carbon accounting, drinking water quality and energy engineering are seeing some of the fastest growth. While in the EU, sustainability education and carbon emissions round out the top three after climate action planning.
How to Hire for Green Skills
To meet their own hiring and sustainability goals, employers need to understand where to find candidates with in-demand green skills, how to attract them and how to train green-adjacent workers to help fill skills gaps. Here, we cover three options for employers struggling to fill green roles.
1. Skills-Based Hiring
Skills based hiring sounds simple—hiring people based on skills rather than previous job titles. However, according to SHRM, it requires a commitment to change. Traditionally, many jobs list requirements like specific degrees or years of experience that are used to determine if candidates are ready to take on a role.
According to one survey, more than 80% of employers believe they should prioritise skills over degrees. Yet, 52% are still hiring from degree programs because it’s considered a less risky choice. This means that especially in entry- and mid-level roles, candidates with the right skills could be overlooked for failing to meet these specific requirements.
Research shows that adopting a skills-based hiring strategy can yield significant improvements to an organisation’s talent acquisition program—increasing quality of hire, expanding the talent pool, increasing diversity and improving employee retention.
Transitioning to a skills-based hiring process requires a culture change, a transformation in thinking from the top down—from senior leadership to hiring managers—and updates to many aspects of the recruitment process.
One of the most important steps is updating the screening or assessment process. Rather than eliminating candidates who lack certain degrees or years of experience, develop criteria and assessments that objectively measure the skills necessary for the job. Then, screen candidates in rather than screening them out. An RPO provider with talent advisory capabilities can assist organisations moving to a skills-based screening and assessment strategy.
2. Green Adjacent Skills and Gateway Jobs
Additionally, employers can build gateway jobs and look for candidates with green adjacent skills.
Gateway jobs are roles that can serve as steppingstones and give workers the opportunity to gain the green skills they’ll need for a green career. According to the LinkedIn report, one example of a gateway job is in supply chain management. As the industry looks to reduce its carbon emissions, workers are developing the green skills to do the job, even though they may not have had them when they were hired. In fact, 41% of workers who move into gateway jobs have no prior green experience.
An effective strategy for hiring candidates for these gateway roles is looking for green adjacent skills. These are skills that don’t necessarily fall under the green umbrella but would give the candidate the ability to do many functions related to the role. For example, candidates with STEM and digital skills can go a long way toward helping an organisation reach its sustainability goals. Also, experience in industries currently undergoing a green transformation, like utilities, mining, transportation and agriculture can be applied to green jobs.
To find these candidates, employers need a robust souring strategy to identify those with adjacent skills. The right technology solution can identify both active and passive candidates with specific skills, expanding the talent pipeline and predicting factors such as cultural fit, willingness to change companies and future tenure potential.
3. Reskilling and Upskilling
When hiring candidates with adjacent skills, employers must implement reskilling and upskilling programs to fill the skills gap.
According to the World Economic Forum, nearly half of young workers believe they don’t have the right skillset to guarantee them an adequate job over the next decade. On top of that, sustainability transformations happen quickly, and without ongoing training, older workers could be left behind. The good news is that according to PwC, 77% of employees are ready to learn new skills or completely retrain in response to new technologies in the workplace.
Reskilling and upskilling can happen at a few different levels, from government programs to higher education and private employers. However, organisations shouldn’t just rely on external programs. By building effective reskilling programs, businesses invest in services tailored to developing their own workforce while also assisting the global need for more sustainable work.
A Renewable Future
Setting up a green, sustainable future is everyone’s responsibility. As the demand for green skills increases, employers need effective solutions for finding, hiring and training top green talent. RPO providers, especially those with talent advisory services, can be a valuable resource for talent leaders looking to revamp their recruiting programs for a renewable future.
In this article, the third in our Multigenerational Workforce series, we’ll be focusing on millennials in the workplace, including what matters to them and how best to engage them.
By 2025, millennials will make up over half of the workforce, essentially replacing the retiring Baby Boomer generation. They’ve already made a huge impact on the way we work, including leveraging technology to revolutionise productivity. Now they’re moving into leadership roles and will have even more influence on how organisations operate into the future. So, how can employers harness the power of millennials to drive their businesses forward?
Who are Millennials?
Millennials, less commonly known as Generation Y, follow Gen X and precede Gen Z. Millennials were approximately born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s during the rise of technology, making them a tech-savvy generation. They’re the first generation to come of age in the new millennium, hence the name millennials. They are also known to put time and effort into their own personal beliefs and values.
Despite these stereotypes, millennials have been described as self-sufficient, due to solving their own issues and teaching themselves through the internet rather than relying on others for help. They are also known to be confident and curious, which doesn’t always sit well with older generations.
What Matters to Millennials in the Workplace?
Digital & Tech Skills
Having been the first generation to grow up in a digital world, millennials have widespread experience of the development of technology, being both the “pioneers and the guinea pigs”.
This has affected the way that they communicate, with 41% of millennials choosing to communicate electronically instead of face-to-face according to a study by PwC. However, they’re also the last generation to have grown up in a world without the internet in every household.
When considering a job, 59% of millennials claim that technology in the workplace is an important factor. Employers are responding to this by encouraging professional use of social media at work and introducing smartphones as an employee benefit.
Mission and Purpose
Millennials thrive in a workplace that is mission-driven, keeping them motivated and inspired. In our recent report, Inside the Candidate Experience, we found that mission and purpose were the second most important factor for millennials when considering a new job. Those who work for companies with this as a priority feel more accomplished. Millennials want to share their employer’s goals and values in order to feel they are contributing to the world.
The move to a larger collaborative working environment has been provoked by the millennials through the use of technology that has become more sophisticated. A collaborative environment allows workers to speak their ideas freely and feel a sense of belonging as part of a team. One way that employers are emphasising collaboration is through mentorship programmes, which have been proven to increase the happiness of workers and their productivity.
How Do You Engage Millennials at Work?
As millennials slowly take over as the majority of the workforce, employers must learn strategies to keep them motivated and feeling valued.
Be Open and Transparent
From their leaders, millennials want openness and transparency with factual information that can be validated to ensure their confidence.
To guarantee millennials are highly productive, create clear targets with regular feedback and praise. In fact, according to the same PwC study, 51% believe that frequent or continuous feedback is a must on the job. This can help keep them motivated and engaged with their work.
Embrace Teamwork
To manage a multigenerational workforce, a strong leadership is a must, as well as recognising that each generation may need different methods of management. From the millennial perspective, 74% expressed that they are as happy working alongside other generations as with their own. It is unsurprising then to find millennials managing older workers.
However, 34% of millennials felt that their personal drive could be perceived as intimidating to other generations.
Effective programmes to encourage interactions between different generations are a must for employers. For example, millennials thrive in opportunities such as “reverse mentoring”, in which they are able to learn from and teach skills to older workers.
Invest in Employee Development
Millennials expect to continue learning in the workplace, with 35% stating employers who offer training to develop was an attractive quality. Opportunities to develop technology skills and interpersonal skills will go a long way to ensure your millennials workforce is ready to step into more leadership roles.
Freedom and flexibility are important to millennials in the workplace. They love to be supported yet also want their own freedom to “be their own boss”. Millennials will happily put in the long hours if they believe they have a purpose.
That said, many millennials believe that success should be evaluated through productivity, rather than the number of hours they are seen in an office. If they meet the deadlines you set, don’t be concerned about the hours they clock in and out. Focus on creating a flexible work culture to maximise millennial engagement, allowing employees to have more control over their working hours and location.
Lead with Your Values
Millennials are searching for more than “just a job” and want to achieve something worthwhile. Akin to Gen Z, millennials also place a company’s mission and purpose as an important factor. They believe that companies and their leadership should be contributing positively to society. Strong corporate ethics will encourage loyalty amongst millennials.
A report from Deloitte found that 54% of millennials research a brand’s environmental impact and polices before accepting a job offer. Ensure your organisation’s employer value proposition (EVP) showcases your intentions to address social concerns.
In our current multigenerational workplace, employers and companies should not only be placing their efforts into motivating workers in their own specific way, but to also ensure all generations are working together and sharing their unique strengths and insights.
To the workplace, millennials bring commitment and collaboration. What will the next generation of workers bring? Find out our top 10 predictions for what we think the working world will look like in 2030 and the best practices to prepare for the future in our Destination 2030 report.
FUTURE OF WORK
DESTINATION 2030: 10 PREDICTIONS FOR WHAT’S NEXT IN THE WORLD OF WORK
The London Borough of Hounslow: A Collaborative Partnership Increased Their Offer Acceptance Rate to 87%
The London Borough of Hounslow were looking to source candidates that shared their values and vision as part of delivering their ambitions for a new Corporate Plan. For this, they required a RPO partner to develop a high-quality campaign to help build a new team. A key aspect was to build high performing teams from a diverse background with shared values.
87%Acceptance Rate
65%of New Hires Identify as a Person of Colour
39%Boost to Social Media Engagement
Situation
In July 2022, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom approved a new Corporate Plan and the first version of a new Delivery Plan for the London Borough of Hounslow. The Delivery Plan sets out the first set of programmes to enable the Council to deliver its ambitions over the term of the new administration. This was large-scale, initially incorporating 19 programmes of work, with more to come in future iterations of the plan. To make this happen, they required a high-quality workforce to be execute on their ambitions.
Hounslow were looking for a recruitment partner to develop and deliver an innovative and high-quality recruitment campaign that would enable them to recruit across a range of roles in the corporate Project Management Office (PMO) and the Service Design and Transformation team, as well as other roles that were vital to programme delivery. It was critical that candidates aligned with the Council’s values and that the campaign reached those with diverse backgrounds and experiences from local communities and beyond.
Hounslow didn’t have the internal capacity or market knowledge to do this on their own. However, previous outsourcing interactions had been with agencies with a very transactional relationship. Hounslow felt this didn’t meet their needs, so they partnered with PeopleScout for a consultative approach, utilising RPO for the very first time.
Solution
In winning a 12-month award with the Council, our initial focus was on six key job profiles, hiring between 35 and 40 individuals. It was imperative for Hounslow to build a team with the right skills, experience and ambition to deliver the Corporate Plan.
Due to our initial success, we will continue to support Hounslow’s recruitment needs for another 12 months under the award.
A Consultative Approach
Our dedicated and skilled senior recruiters acted as brand ambassadors and became an extension of the in-house team, optimising and managing Hounslow’s recruitment process from attraction to offer. We managed each position in its entirety, from briefing through to verbal offer acceptance, including creating a sourcing and attraction plan for each role profile.
Keeping Candidates Engaged
Historically, the public sector has struggled to engage candidates. We utilised many touchpoints to improve engagement and retention rates throughout the candidate journey. Our dedicated recruitment marketer focused on creating engaging copy and provided recommendations on the best supplementary media options for the target audiences. This included a sourcing-led service, in which the focus was on brand awareness, targeting candidates within niche roles. This sourcing approach gained an engagement rate of 39% on LinkedIn.
Our recruitment marketing strategy included a social media attraction campaign to further increase Hounslow’s brand in the market. Social content included showcasing projects and testimonials from current employees. We also built a a landing page, for which we worked with Hounslow to understand and showcase their employer value proposition to boost talent attraction. This helped to increase brand awareness, bringing in higher quality candidates.
On top of these attraction efforts, we directly sourced passive candidates to raise Hounslow’s profile in the market and increase diversity within the talent pools.
“The London Borough of Hounslow has shown through their recruitment process that they are keen to remove unconscious bias and attract a diverse pool of candidates.”
Candidate feedback
Utilising Technology
As part of the project, we utilised our tech stack to enable better data capturing, to make better data drive decisions, to track and monitor their DE&I agenda and to provide a better overall candidate journey.
Throughout the project, we gathered market feedback and tracked hiring metrics, presenting data through bespoke dashboards to guide hiring decisions and educate. Hounslow received weekly reports from us, including regular analysis of market insights, salary benchmarks and candidate feedback.
Results
Our consultative approach to hiring and tailored strategies for each role resulted in:
An 87% offer acceptance rate.
An enhanced candidate and hiring manager experience, through a consultative approach.
Increased diversity within roles filled, with over 65% of candidates hired identifying as non-white.
2:1 to interview-to-hire, exceeding the average of 3:1.
Increased social media engagement to 39%.
We have become an embedded and trusted partner to Hounslow, due to our effective articulation of their brand story, ambitions, and values to their target audience.
“PeopleScout ensured that communication and planning were at the forefront. What really set them aside is the time they spent listening and understanding what the roles were and what type of people we wanted.
The end result is that we trusted PeopleScout’s shortlisted candidates. The Hounslow Service Design team is now full of talented people with the mindset and values we share as an organisation.”
Mike Burch, Head of Service Design and Transformation
“The collaborative approach was key. PeopleScout took the time to fully understand our requirements and source quality candidates. We now have fantastic teams in place delivering great value to the organisation and residents of Hounslow.”
Kieron McQuade, Head of PMO
AT A GLANCE
COMPANY The London Borough of Hounslow
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
ABOUT LONDON BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW The London Borough of Hounslow is an area of West London, England, governed by Hounslow London Borough Council.
The energy and utilities industry is undergoing a massive transition as providers move to green and renewable energy sources and adjust to changing energy use patterns across the globe.
This means the sector is facing a unique set of talent challenges. In many areas of the globe, energy job growth is outpacing the rest of the economy. At the same time, the workforce is aging, creating a massive talent gap. In fact, according to McKinsey, the massive growth in solar and wind projects expected by 2030 will make it almost impossible to staff these projects with qualified development and construction employees as well as operations and maintenance workers.
Now, talent leaders need to think big—not just to attract more and younger workers, but to reskill workers in the shrinking fossil fuels industry and plan for the future.
In this handbook, you’ll learn:
Global trends driving the need for energy and utilities talent
Strategies for overcoming challenges in your energy and utilities hiring programs
The Recruitment Handbook for Travel and Hospitality
5 Strategies for Recruiting the Best Travel and Hospitality Talent Now and into the Future
Through the job market volatility that has defined the hiring market for the past three years, the travel and hospitality industry saw some of the biggest impacts worldwide, and the reverberations and recovery are still shaping the industry years later.
While many industries have recovered the jobs lost in 2020, hospitality lags behind. While people are travelling again, the industry faces a new set of talent challenges, from a talent exodus to shifting traveller expectations. Now, employers have the opportunity to reshape their talent programs for the world of travel.
In this handbook, you’ll learn:
Global trends driving the need for travel and hospitality talent
Strategies for overcoming challenges in your travel and hospitality hiring programs
