- 47% of HR managers believe career advancement is the most important way to attract and retain early talent
- Yet early talent are looking for salary (58%), flexible working (31%) and job security (31%) over career advancement (29%)
- This highlights a growing gap between what businesses are offering and what early talent needs
Almost half of HR managers (47%) think career advancement is the best way to attract and retain younger talent, even though salary, flexible working, job security and financial benefits are among perks that are more important for those employees.
As businesses continue to battle in the minefield that is talent acquisition in a tough economic market, research conducted by Reed Talent Solutions has found there seems to be a growing disconnect between what employees need and what businesses are offering.
The research looked at what HR and hiring managers are currently struggling with when it comes to attracting and retaining new talent – those who have recently returned to work after a career gap or recently changed industries – and early talent – those aged between 16 and 25, who are new to the employment market. It also asked those employees for their preferences and experiences.
It found that there’s a fundamental gap between what businesses offer and what employees want. For example, when looking to recruit, almost three-quarters (76%) of HR and hiring managers would be very or fairly likely to consider hiring based on soft skills – on the other hand, only 23% of workers new to the employment market are offered soft skills training.
On top of this, 62% of HR managers stated they provide generalised training when onboarding new team members, but over half (51%) of new talent would have benefited from more tailored support and training.
Lee Gudgeon, Managing Director at Reed Talent Solutions, commented: “As businesses face tough times, aligning recruitment and onboarding strategies has become increasingly crucial to secure and retain the right talent.
“HR teams and managers, therefore, must make sure they’re providing adequate support to new and early talent to help them settle in their new roles.”
Offering different support for different talent
The research looked at those at different stages of their career to decipher whether or not offering tailored support is important. It asked early talent and new talent how they felt about their new role.
Almost half of early talent respondents (43%) said working full time for the first time proved challenging, while 36% identified financial challenges. On top of this, early talent listed increased pressure and tiredness, set working hours and increased workloads as the biggest differences between education and full-time work.
“Your first job can be incredibly daunting, and it can bring forward new, unexpected challenges that may be difficult for early talent to manage. HR teams must be asking how they can address these challenges to ensure that younger new employees feel welcome and comfortable,” says Lee.
On the other hand, almost half of new talent respondents (43%) said they found a different workplace culture to be the biggest challenge to returning to work/starting a new career.
“Businesses, of course, need a consistent approach when onboarding staff, but they also need to consider that, depending on where new employees are in their career, they may face different difficulties,” expands Lee.
“Onboarding staff effectively is an integral part of recruitment. By implementing measures to ensure employee comfort, and providing them with the necessary tools to do their job successfully, businesses will increase the likelihood of retaining valuable talent during a testing time.
“It’s up to HR to find out how best to offer this support and what it entails,” concludes Lee.