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The healthcare sector faces many challenges in recruiting and retaining staff, exacerbated by labour shortages and demanding working conditions that can lead to burn out. Attracting and retaining talent is crucial to ensuring the quality of patient care and the smooth running of healthcare organisations. Here are 10 key tips for attracting and retaining talent in this vital sector.
In an increasingly competitive and constantly evolving job market, recruitment in the Tech and IT sector represents a unique challenge. To successfully attract and retain the most qualified talent, it is essential to master the subtleties of this constantly changing field. Discover the 10 essential keys to successful recruitment in this strategic sector, from accurately defining talent requirements to creating an unforgettable candidate experience.
The insurance sector holds significant weight in the financial industry. Its revenues are projected to reach $7.5 trillion globally by the end of 2025. However, it faces a major HR challenge linked to the aging workforce and the looming threat of an unprecedented labor shortage. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50% of the current workforce in the insurance sector will retire in the coming years, leaving over 400,000 vacancies. Therefore, insurance companies must rejuvenate their workforce to remain innovative and competitive in the market. However, the sector does not appeal to the younger generation, who show little interest in pursuing a career in insurance. What strategies can insurance companies employ to attract, recruit, and retain young talent?
The insurance sector suffers from an unattractive image and reputation among Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and Generation Z (born from 2000 onwards). It is often perceived as a conventional, conservative, and uninventive professional field.
According to a survey conducted by The Institutes, 8 out of 10 Millennials have limited knowledge of career opportunities in the insurance industry. Young people may not have subscribed to insurance policies yet, and they have minimal awareness and understanding of these products.
Young people are attracted to competitive salaries and benefits, but the banking and financial sectors as well as Tech & IT appear more attractive.
Young people seek a work-life balance offered by remote and hybrid work arrangements, but insurance companies do not always guarantee this flexibility.
Another factor affecting the attractiveness of insurance companies is a gap in the understanding of skills their employees will need in the future. Young people are eager to learn and acquire new skills to remain employable in an ever-changing job market.
Valuing corporate culture, mission, purpose, and emphasizing collaboration, career progression, flexibility, and other benefits are important. Additionally, promoting commitment to sustainable development, which young people are highly attuned to, is a plus.
The insurance sector offers a wide range of careers (agent, broker, claims adjuster, risk manager, data analyst, cybersecurity expert, etc.). It is important to promote these career options to young people, so they are aware of all the opportunities available.
Insurance companies now offer most of their services through mobile applications (claim submissions, video downloads for claims assessment, inspection planning, claims process tracking, etc.) and utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline their processes. Promoting the use of technology in the industry can attract tech-savvy young talent.
Social media is important and relevant for the younger generation. Insurance companies can benefit in promoting their job offers, internships, and compelling content about insurance careers on social networks (LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram).
Once recruited, it is crucial to support and mentor new hires. Having mentors who will help new recruits network and advise them on progressing in the sector is a real asset.
It is essential to emphasize job stability in the sector and enable young people to acquire the skills they need to perform and adapt to market changes, offering them career advancement opportunities.
Millennials and Gen Z have begun to dominate the job market. These dynamic new talents seek the energy and flexibility that many industries offer. It is important for insurance companies to consider their expectations and capitalize on this pool of talent to address their deficits in human resources and skills that threaten their business.
The success of a company in the retail sector depends to a large extent on the quality of its teams, especially in a field where turnover is high. Recruiting the right talent is therefore crucial to maintaining sustainable competitiveness. Here are 10 tips to recruit effectively in Retail, to optimise your recruitment process and attract the best talent to strengthen your team and boost your company's growth.
With their experience in the Tech & IT sector, working at a digital services company (ESN) and then as a partner at a digital sector-focused headhunting firm for Estelle Calestroupat, currently a Work Psychologist and Key Account Consultant at Pearson TalentLens, and 5 years at Cisco, a globally renowned IT company, for Anna Ballerand, current HR Manager of Pearson France, they have agreed to share strategies to better attract, recruit, and retain employees in this sector.
To better recruit talents in this sector, support their skill development, and career progression, HR professionals can use psychometric tests: personality and values inventories, intellectual aptitude tests, critical thinking assessment tests, as well as motivation and professional interest questionnaires.
They allow them to:
Due to increased demand for care, healthcare staff face high workloads, irregular schedules, and stressful situations. This often leads to professional burnout and high staff turnover rates, compromising care quality and job satisfaction. What strategies can be implemented to preserve the mental health of medical personnel?
According to the WHO, professional burnout is "a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." Several factors contribute to this:
Staff shortage: In the medical sector, all positions must be filled to care for patients. Staff shortages result in overtime and increased workloads to manage a higher number of patients, leading to physical and mental fatigue, decreased productivity, medical errors, absenteeism, and departures.
Innovation: Besides constant advancements in medications and treatments, the medical sector increasingly relies on technology to modernize equipment and surgical techniques. Staff must adapt to these innovations while maintaining transparent and connected patient relations, adding to stress.
Exposure to risks: Staff are continually exposed to health risks (infections) from contact with sick patients in overcrowded facilities where protective equipment, safe facilities, and prevention measures may be insufficient. Psychological risks also exist due to the emotional burden of the job. Patient deaths or verbal abuse can be stressful and traumatic, influencing staff well-being.
According to surveys, nursing has the highest professional burnout rate at 70%. Nurses often feel they can do more than permitted or are unable to provide adequate care due to high patient loads. Overwork triples the risk of professional burnout, leading to intentions to leave the job. About one-third of nurses (32%) consider leaving the profession, while over half of physicians and other healthcare professionals feel exhausted, stressed, and ready to quit due to factors such as staffing shortages, low salaries, mental and emotional strain, job insecurity, inflexibility, and lack of support.
Staff burnout results from both staffing deficiencies and high turnover rates, causing a cumulative effect. Burnout affects patients as medical staff struggle with emotional, mental, and physical fatigue, impairing patient relations and care.
By actively listening to staff, considering their needs, and supporting their learning and career development, HR managers can prevent burnout:
"Every member of the healthcare team is crucial to patient outcomes and experiences," says Dr. Lisa Rotenstein, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "It's vital to remember this as we strive to optimize both patient outcomes and our staff's experiences." Healthcare staff burnout is a significant issue facing healthcare facilities and HR professionals in this sector. It is imperative to address it to preserve employee mental health and ensure exemplary care quality.
Estelle Calestroupat, Work Psychologist and Key Account Consultant at Pearson TalentLens, and Anna Ballerand, HR Manager of Pearson France, share a common background: experience in the Tech & IT sector. They have agreed to share their experiences regarding the specific HR challenges in this field.
Estelle Calestroupat and Anna Ballerand agree that the Tech & IT sector is highly dynamic and constantly evolving. While this trend isn't new, it has accelerated significantly in recent years. "Technological innovations are constant. New products, services, and solutions emerge continuously to meet the changing needs of users," notes Anna Ballerand. The attraction to this sector is undeniable. "It no longer appears reserved only for a few experts. The new generations are comfortable with technology and digital tools; it's part of their daily lives, which draws them to work in this field," adds Estelle Calestroupat.
The skills sought in the Tech-IT sector are varied and necessarily depend on the context, the company, and the position. "All these elements require, as with every recruitment process, an analysis of expectations," recalls Estelle Calestroupat before specifying that "generally, there will be expectations in terms of technical skills/knowledge (or at least an inclination towards new technologies), adaptability/learning ability, analytical skills, and transversal skills (such as organization, rigor, teamwork, communication, etc.)."
To assess these skills, HR professionals can rely on personality and value inventories, tests of intellectual aptitudes, and tests of critical thinking. "Psychometric tests allow either the evaluation of a candidate's strengths and areas for development in relation to the expectations of a position, as in the case of an assessment during recruitment, or to accompany an employee in becoming aware of their comfort zones and areas for improvement (self-awareness, understanding of their functioning) in a developmental logic," says Estelle Calestroupat.
Their advantages are numerous, adds Anna Ballerand:
Estelle Calestroupat has worked in the IT and new technologies sector for over 10 years. Initially, she worked internally at a digital services company in project management (defining competency frameworks and building evaluation processes), training for recruiters and recruiter managers, and operational recruitment (recruitment and internal mobility) for manager, sales, and bid manager profiles. She then collaborated with a headhunting firm specializing in the digital sector, again focusing on sales, bid managers, project managers, and managers.
Anna Ballerand spent 5 years at Cisco, a globally renowned IT company, responsible for recruitment and employee and manager training support, implementing social benefits, conducting professional interviews, and promoting campaigns such as Great Place To Work®.
The retail sector has long been associated with high turnover rates. It hovers around 60%, meaning that more than half of the staff is likely to change within a year, according to McKinsey. It is imperative for companies operating in this sector to refine their HR practices to optimize employee retention because high turnover rates have significant impacts on their commercial performance. They can rely on psychometric assessments for this purpose.
The turnover rate (or employee turnover) is a key performance indicator (KPI) that quantifies the rate of voluntary or involuntary departure and replacement of personnel within an organization during a specific period. It assesses the stability of its workforce and its overall health.
A high turnover rate often reflects employee dissatisfaction, inefficient recruitment or onboarding processes, and any potential organizational issues within the company.
Conversely, a low turnover rate reveals employee satisfaction, effective talent retention strategies, and a pleasant work environment.
Understanding and analyzing the turnover rate is a strategic imperative. It directly impacts the company's finances and indirectly affects its operational effectiveness.
Psychometric tests explore personality, assess abilities, identify motivations, interests, and values of an individual.
In recruitment, psychometric tests allow retail companies to:
In development, psychometric tests allow them to:
To reduce their turnover rates, retail companies must rethink their talent acquisition and retention strategies. The use of psychometric tests allows them to recruit individuals whose profile aligns with the company's culture and the position to be filled, ensure they have the necessary skills, and evaluate those that are useful to develop to encourage them to stay and evolve within the company for as long as possible.
Recruit talented employees & eliminate the cost of hiring the wrong candidates.
According to research conducted by CareerBuilder in 2016, the average cost of hiring the wrong employee amounts to $17,000. However, based on a study from the U.S. Department of Labor in 2021, this figure can escalate to as high as $240,000, depending on the company and role.
On average, the total costs to lay-off an unsuccessful hire and recruit a new hire is 30% of the annual salary. Consequently, making the correct hiring decision becomes imperative. But how can HR and hiring managers ensure they select the right candidates? Below are strategies to avoid making poor recruitment choices and avoid the financial ramifications of an unsuccessful hire.
Traditional recruitment processes often involve a straight forward formula where people apply on a vague or generic job description. Afterwards, several applicants are chosen for interviews, and one candidate is selected soon after. However, what may have initially appeared to be a suitable fit can swiftly turn into a hiring mistake. It can turn out that the new employee doesn’t possess critical skills that he or she claimed to possess. Or their personality, values and behaviour turned out not to match with that of their colleagues.
The primary challenge in a recruitment process is subjectivity. Quite often, HR and hiring managers ask questions like 'What are your main weak points?' and receive responses such as 'I work too much’ or ‘I’m a perfectionist’. This reveals nothing about the actual skills required for the job." If you realise that nearly 60% of unsuccessful hires fail due to an employee's inability to meet the expected level of performance, it becomes crucial to have a clear understanding of the required skills right from the start to avoid hiring disasters. To tackle this, you can consider the following:
Prerequisite skills are essential for the role which candidates should demonstrate during the interview as they won't be trained after hiring. They can range from general qualifications like prior experience in a specific field to specific expertise in a particular software program. On the other hand, trainable skills are those that employees will learn on the job, requiring some level of proficiency but not necessarily prior experience.
Ask questions that will make candidates showcase their prerequisite skills instead of open-ended questions that provide little insight. For example, a question like “What experience do you have with working with this CRM software?” will provide you more valuable insights than “What do you do when you have a conflict with a colleague?”. Once the skills have been demonstrated, you can delve into other questions if necessary. However, there is no point in asking them with candidates who cannot prove their ability to perform the required work.
When it comes to qualities like "cultural fit" and being a "team player," the interpretation typically vary across companies. To make these soft skills more objective, you can break them down into specific components. So clearly define the qualities you seek in a team player or cultural fit and assess whether your candidates possess these concrete traits. Structure interview questions that allow you to evaluate these components in your candidates as well.
Psychometric tests for recruitment can be used to objectively measure a range of crucial skills, such as:
Psychometric testing enables the HR and hiring manager to see if ability and personality are closely aligned with the environment, company, and role. Insights into aptitude, skills, personality, and motivation are essential to select the very best candidates and to develop and guide your workforce throughout their career at your organisation.
Digital credentials – often in the shape of a digital badge – provide proof of someone’s learning achievement. These are issued by an educational organisation following a learning experience, such as the completion of a (digital) course or the successful passing of an exam. Such credentials are valuable as they can support or question the skills a candidate claims to possess.
Approach the hiring process gradually instead of hastily filling an open position. Although your team may be stretched thin with one or more employees short, remember that an unsuccessful hire won't solve the problem. Opting for a quick hire might provide temporary relief but will ultimately bring you back to square one. It's crucial to prioritize quality over speed, so take the necessary time to find the right candidate and sidestep the expenses associated with a poor hiring decision.
Despite the various ways to make an objective hiring decision, you may have two candidates possessing pretty much the same skills, values, and personality traits. In such situations it can be inevitable to make a final decision that is based on subjective grounds like representation or shared personal interests. It is important that such decisions are made only at the end of a recruitment process, so it is certain that the selected candidate possess the required skills and has the desired personality and values.
It's never too late to improve your recruiting process. Follow these 8 tips and best practices to improve your recruitment and hiring decisions.
The methods and means used for recruitment differ from one company to another. However, most HR professionals agree that mistakes in the recruitment and hiring process can have serious negative effects on the organization. Recruitment issues should therefore not be underestimated in terms of work climate, motivation, productivity and financial impact. To help you limit the risks and find the right candidate, let's define bad recruiting practices and explore our top tips for successful recruitment.
For various reasons, recruiters sometimes make recruitment errors: incomplete job description, imprecise missions in the job offer, etc. Sometimes it's the candidate's profile that does not correspond to expectations: lack of skills, or conversely, too qualified. Another scenario is recruiting an employee without having formally assessed their soft skills: here, the recruiter relies on their intuition and somehow skips the different stages.
The consequences of bad recruiting are sometimes not felt until a couple months after a hire has been made. An employee who does not share the values of the company can become a disruptive element in a team and be a source of demotivation over time. Moreover, their lack of involvement can negatively impact the productivity of the team and organizaiton.
The direct consequences of poor recruitment are also an increase in turnover, or even an increase in work stoppages. In the long term, the cost for the company is significant: cost of another recruitment process for the same role, cost of possible replacement and training of the new employee, drop in productivity, consequences on the rest of the team if certain tasks are to be distributed, etc.
It's never too late to improve your talent acquisition and recruitment processes. Here are a few tips:
One of the reasons for poor recruitment is the lack of clarity about the responsibilties and the skills required for a position. As you write the job description for an open role, be sure it includes the precise responsibilities, the environment and the working relations within the team and organization, the candidate profile sought (level of training, experience, background, skills, etc.), and the relevant success metrics for the role. An accurate job description defines the ideal candidate profile for both hiring managers and recruiters, simplifying sourcing and improving communication between the entire hiring team.
Now that you've written an accurate job description, it's time to post and promote the open position. In addition to the responsibilities, skills, and experience required, it's best practice to also include work location (in-person, hybrid, fully remote), type of employment contract (part-time, full-time, contractor), and the expected salary range for the position. To further improve the candidates experience, you can also include detailed information about the stages of the recruitment and hiring process at your organization. Once you have all that information, promote the job internally on your company's intranet, as well as externally on popular job boards such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor.
Now more than ever, emplyees want to work at organization that share similar values as them. To help attrach the right profile of candidates, companies should promote their values and culture across the various channels that make up the candidate lifecycle, including the careers website and social media. Portraying corporate/social values, business projects, team outings, employee testimonials showcases the attractiveness of your employer brand and contributes to a positive candidate experience.
Besides the interviewer not showing up, nothing is more frustrating for a candidate than facing redundant questions from different interviewers. Interview preparation ensures a shared understanding of the ideal candidate profile. A well-prepared interview team builds trust and encourages candidates to share their experiences and motivations. To implement this best practice, develop interview guides that specify the attributes or skills each interviewer should assess, include useful questions, and incorporate a standardized scoring rubric.
Before making a hiring decision, it's essential to assess all their skills. This includes soft skills, hard skills, as well as attributes like personality and learning style preferences that impact individual and team culture and productivity. To do this, use tools like psychometric assessments to measure cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal skills. You can use separate assessments to measure each area.
Your recruitment process and the tools you employ throughout the candidate journey should improve decision-making for hiring managers by gathering objective data. By using precise job descriptions, pre-employment and psychometric tests, well-informed interviews, and standardized candidate scoring criteria, you can identify the candidate who aligns best with the role and the organization. Additionally, this approach helps reduce biases that may emerge when making judgments based on intuition or interview interactions.
HR should promptly inform all candidates of their application status. Failing to respond, even to candidates who were not selected for interviews, can damage the company's image and employer reputation. Encourage interested applicants to consider future roles within the company and wish them luck in their job search. For candidates who were interviewed but not selected, consider providing constructive feedback that could benefit them in their future interviews.
The initial days and weeks within the organization can significantly impact the employee's overall experience. Effective onboarding should encompass various activities and topics to ensure a seamless transition into the new role. These elements include orientation, introduction to the company history and culture, access to essential resources, familiarity with policies and procedures, clear role definition, mentorship and buddy systems, open feedback and communication, performance expectations, and focused training. A well-structured onboarding process not only helps new hires feel appreciated and engaged but also equips them for success in their roles, benefiting both the individual and the organization. It lays the groundwork for a positive and productive working relationship.
Learn how Pearson TalentLens pre-employment and psychometric assessments can help empower your recruiting and hiring teams with the right talent insights.
HR professionals are taking on more autonomy and responsibility for the talent strategy and the future direction of organizations. At the end of 2023, we could see some key trends starting to shape the recruitment field. Here are ten top trends that are gathering pace for the year ahead.
AI and machine learning came to the foreground last year and is making strides in the world of HR and recruitment. Currently, 63% of companies are investing or have plans to invest in AI solutions for talent acquisition problems (Gartner). In 2024, organizations looking to streamline and enhance their talent search will be turning to AI for insight as it has the potential to inform all parts of the recruitments process. AI solutions are writing clearer job descriptions, matching clients, automating process, and advancing onboarding. In 2024, organizations will need to be mindful of the ethical use of AI in recruitment processes, particularly around data usage and changing legalities (which will be dependent on local). But the potential for AI to transform the recruitment process is significant.
But that is not all, AI is also changing job roles themselves. Head of AI positions have tripled globally in the last five years (HR Magazine), and roles including or directly linked to AI have grown significantly. On the one hand this may affect job retention as some roles are replaced, whilst on the other there is potential for upskilling and reskilling current employees and embracing the opportunities AI can bring. Using data driven assessments we can help hiring managers gain insight into career potential and skill sets.
Hiring requirements are evolving. Whilst many Hiring managers are focusing on qualifications as their key criteria, others are adopting a skills-based approach to hiring and focusing on candidates’ skills – soft (e.g., adaptability, communication, emotional intelligence) and hard (AdWords, coding, copywriting), as well as responsibilities. LinkedIn Data indicates that taking a skills-based approach to hiring can widen talent pools by 10x. Using psychometrics, hiring managers can confidently assess candidates' skill sets to help you select top talent who will perform well now and in the future. This strategic approach can result in a more varied and multi-skilled workforce, and even help to improve retention rates.
Flexible working is still very much in demand and today's employees want and often need to benefit from remote working practices and flexibility. In 2024, the concept of remote working will continue to be debated. Many organizations still fall either side of the argument concerning its benefits to work-life balance versus productivity. Research by Upwork suggests that by 2025, an estimated 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely, with over 98% interested in working remotely at least some of the time. Organizations focusing on employee retention and acquisition will need to look at the motivations and values of their candidates and teams to strike the right balance.
According to a recent WEF report, organizations with inclusive cultures are 3.8 times more likely to harness the full potential of their employees and have improved retention rates.
28% of HR professionals see employee wellbeing as their second highest priority for 2024, and with talent retention one of the biggest challenges for organizations it is time to take a close look at what plans are in place to support employee wellbeing. From creating more inclusive work cultures to open discussions around physical and mental health, today’s employees are looking for places to work where they feel valued as an individual as well as an employee.
The workforce is changing and with it the demand for new skill sets; technology is replacing some roles but also adding pressure for employees to learn new skills and systems to perform in the future. Employers estimate that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years. Conducting a skills analysis of the workforce will provide an overview of the current skills gaps that exist in organizations. With this insight hiring managers can begin to plan their talent lifecycle; analyzing job roles and outcomes to shape future job descriptions and planning talent pipelines to source new talent ahead of time. Psychometric assessments have a key role here and can help HR professionals select top candidates based on skill sets and requirements enabling them to advance candidates who are the best fit for the role with confidence, as well as helping to highlight opportunities for future development and eligibility for training programs.
Company branding is high on the agenda for 2024. With the demand for talent still at a high, candidates have more opportunity to select an organization that best represents their values and motivations. How organizations present themselves, their values and the future will be up for review. HR professionals looking to attract millennials and Gen Z, may need to assess how their social media presence, employee advocates and values are portrayed to attract top candidates. Tools such as SOSIE 2nd Generation, can help organizations take a closer look at their values and motivations – analyzing employee insights can help HR teams shape career development plans and teams.
'Power Skills' are the capabilities that will power the world’s economy and people’s careers today and tomorrow. A recent Pearson report identified that the top power skills employers are currently looking for are communication, customer service, leadership, attention to detail and collaboration – top human skills that will be essential for business and personal success. In 2024, HR managers will need to look at how they can help employees develop these skill sets and move forward in their careers. Individuals who feel better invested in are more likely to remain with the organization. Tools such as Watson-Glaser™ III can help recruiting managers identify their top skills sets based in job criteria and provide the insights needed to source and select candidates with the right skill sets.
In-hand with AI and machine learning is an increased desire for data-driven insights to inform recruitment processes. The cost of making a bad hire has a significant impact not only financially but also in terms of productivity and team motivation. Using data insights HR managers can make informed, objective decisions on their recruitment selections. Outcomes can also inform how efficient and effective selections have been and enable adjustments to be made to the recruitment process in the future that will benefit both the candidate's experience and business overall. From cost of hire, time to hire, training costs, time to place and onboarding – data is transforming the recruitment field and making it more accountable than ever.
According to a Deloitte Insights article, Gen Z and millennial workers can be catalysts for change in building a future-proof workforce. Expected to make up over half the workforce by 2030, they are values-driven, striving for work/life balance, and are concerned about the environment, the state of the world, and the future! This year, employers can empower these workers by leveraging their passion and determination to create a better future through activities and policies such as establishing employee support groups (ESGs), supporting community activities, and offering volunteer time off.
Creating a future proof workforce takes time and planning, HR professionals who are empowered to embrace technology and use insight to drive the talent lifecycle will benefit from the trends currently set to shape 2024.
As a human resources professional, ensuring reliable recruitment is crucial to the success and longevity of your business. With this in mind, adopting certain strategic reflexes is essential. Discover ten tips you can adopt to enhance the reliability of your recruitment processes, from building a strong employer brand to implementing an effective onboarding process. By following these tips, you'll improve the quality of your recruitment and contribute to the growth and stability of your organization.
