Those were the words of Dame Martina Milburn, Group Chief Executive, of The Prince’s Trust, on the publication of its Futures at Stake 2020 report.
Research for the report found that 47% of employers across the UK feel there is a skills shortage and almost the exact same number (48%) believe existing recruitment practices are no longer working and need to be more innovative.
Dame Martina added: “Young people are key to solving current skills shortages and avoiding a future skills crisis.
“However, some employers use recruitment processes that make it hard for them to fill vacancies, as well as making it hard for young people to get their first job. It is vital that employers start thinking about recruitment differently.”
Here we look at five outdated recruitment practices that could be standing in your firm’s way.
Relying too heavily on face-to-face interviews
One positive of the COVID-19 crisis is that it has forced the hands of all employers to make use of tools that allow for things to be done remotely.
These capabilities are not new but the adoption of them is now becoming more widespread.
Even reluctant employers can now see that video interviewing can work. The use of video interviewing, especially in the first rounds of the interview process, can represent a significant time and cost saving to businesses and help to encourage applications from a more diverse pool, including those who can’t afford travel costs or to take time off from their existing roles.
A greatly reduced number of young people now have driving licences, due in part to the huge costs of motoring for young drivers, according to a recent report. Why rule out getting a talented young recruit when technology can bridge geographical boundaries?
Failure to fully embrace social media
Social media is still seen as an afterthought by many businesses, including during the recruitment process.
A single tweet and/or Facebook share of a job advert is unlikely to stretch the net for applications and neither will do much if effort has not been invested in building up an engaged online community before this point.
Businesses that have put the work in to create a following on social media will have a ready made pool of interested parties to share job vacancies with. The people following you should already be an engaged audience, full of people who are either ideal candidates themselves or have the right contacts to nudge in your direction.
Savvy employers will have the right people in place with the right skills to fully utilise social media to reach new recruits and new customers.
Relying too heavily on traditional vacancy advertising methods or headhunting firms
All but employers who have been living in a cave will recognise that trade and local papers and magazines are now no longer the mecca of job adverts they once were.
Most now embrace digital job boards and they need to. As mentioned in the last point, this is another area where social media comes in.
Few young people (and the vast majority of older switched on job hunters) would fail to utilise LinkedIn when seeking a new role or crucially even when they’re not actively looking.
Having the capabilities to get your business, brand and job advert seen by people with an interest in you, what you’re doing and the niche in which you work is vital to find the right candidate.
That said, some firms now swing too far the other way. They may heavily rely on head hunting firms to track down the talent they think they want or fish for talent before roles are even available. There’s a danger in both of these approaches that sufficient scrutiny is lacking in the real quality of these results - and that you’ll overlook those who may not have years of experience but could bring bags of potential.
Failing to recruit from within
In the job-for-life world of old, it was normal to take someone on, train them up, promote them and then recruit in from the bottom.
That has long since changed and recruiting from within is not as common. Many senior roles are filled by external candidates.
That inevitably means less new graduates and young people are sought by firms and less are recruited. It also perpetuates a downfall in staff retention as your good people look elsewhere to progress.
An active focus on developing and investing in the people you have will create new opportunities to take on and develop the young.
Outdated job descriptions and a lack of awareness of skills gaps within the firm
When recruiting to fill a gap, it’s traditional to dredge up a template job description or one used previously, but this fails to demonstrate a deep understanding of your workforce.
The skills the role required five years ago when you were last recruiting are unlikely to be the same skills it requires now. Similarly some of your existing workforce may have already developed the skills to take on part or all of the role that has become vacant but another area of the business may be short of the talent required to grow it.
Young people in particular may well have developed skills in areas that did not even exist during previous rounds of recruitment and you should have an awareness of what you may be missing and how you could utilise it.
Ensuring you have systems in place to fully map existing skills of current employers will be hugely beneficial.
Why it matters
Patrick Verwer, chief executive officer, Govia Thameslink Railway, a partner in the Futures at Stake 2020 report, said: “We’ve reassessed how we recruit young talent, giving them the chance to learn new skills and gain valuable experience on the job.
“Hiring these young people not only drives positive change within GTR and inspires existing colleagues, but it also benefits wider society, embodying our commitment to engage with local communities and attract a workforce that reflects the areas we serve.”
