One of the most important success factors of an organisation is its workforce. Without the required skills and talent, the company is unable to keep up with the changing business environment. Although HR teams have been investing time and money in hiring individuals with such desired skills and talent, external business factors have highlighted the importance of empowering existing employees.

Speaking statistically,

  • Job vacancies in the United Kingdom have witnessed a drop of 2% in the present day.
  • Although the number of job vacancies reached a record high of 1.3 million by the month of May 2022, the number has been falling since then.
  • 75% of HR professionals believe that there is a skill gap among their applicants and therefore, the trend is to invest in the existing talent pool of the company.

Additionally, uncertainties such as the pandemic, leading to a significant recession have made the organisations realise that retaining and upscaling the top talents will help combat business challenges. The pandemic outbreak has transformed digitalisation and employee-employer relationships. Hence, 2023 is introducing different trends in human resource management, where the HR team can impact the company and its workforce tremendously and guide them through inflation surges and economic slowdown.

Why has recruiting gone from HR’s second-highest priority to eighth?

Skill gap among applicants – One of the major aspects of recruiting the right candidate is hiring candidates with the required skill set. However, in the changing business environment with advancing technology, HR managers are observing a skill gap among the candidates. With the changing skill necessity in an organisation, HR directors are struggling to hire trained workers that match the job profile. This mismatch between the skill sought by employers and the skill contained within the job seeker poses a fundamental issue to fulfilling the job vacancy, not to forget the long, strenuous procedure of recruiting and onboarding. Moreover, this skill gap is leading to the HR team investing more time in changing the hiring procedure and finding suitable candidates in comparison to other HRM tasks such as training existing employees, improving workplace ethics and conflict resolution. Harvard professor, Joseph Fuller, points out that employers should identify the skill/knowledge gap and “rethink their strategy in nurturing talent”.

  • External business uncertainties – The dynamic environment of an organisation is subjected to various external factors such as economic instability, disease outbreak and even change in government laws. Every uncertainty cannot be responded to by hiring new employees. The coronavirus outbreak is a classic example that transformed the face of the workplace. Sudden dependence on technology for business activities was a challenge where HR teams could not replace an entire workforce with individuals trained in technical solutions. Hence, the HR teams are required to focus on investing in the talent they have rather than only acquiring new talent.
  • Changing HR trends – Human resource management team comprises several responsibilities including setting workplace policies, maintaining total well-being and ensuring that the present workforce receives the required training and development. These responsibilities are becoming increasingly crucial with the changing trends. Today, the HR teams are more focused on the professional development of the employees and maintaining their complete well-being. Hence, the priority has been shifted from hiring individuals to facilitating the development of existing employees.
  • Higher focus on DEIB – Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) are closely associated values that are embraced by many organisations. Studies have shown that these four factors enable companies to retain their top talents and receive higher financial and non-financial returns. Diversity, equity and inclusion of all races, ethnicities, genders and ages provide the workforce with a sense of belonging, thus reducing labour turnover. A high focus is diverted towards DEIB to ensure that the workplace remains positive while creativity and collaboration are enhanced. Therefore, in the current scenario, HR teams are investing much more in DEIB aspects of the organisation.

Ways to invest in the existing talent of your organisation

  • Increase employee engagement – To ensure the talent your organisation has, it is essential to implement employee engagement measures. 26% of an employee’s working day is wasted without the implementation of an efficient management process. Hence, you can apply work management strategies to facilitate your employees to focus and streamline their performance. Employee management is highly dependent on communication. Therefore, communicating the organisational vision will enhance their engagement and decrease resistance to change. In addition, employee engagement is increased with increasing encouragement for interaction. Positive interactions also foster and nurture trust between employees. As a result, the employees are more open to expressing their opinions and creativity. This helps in identifying the employee’s requirements and enhancing their skills and talents for their productivity and professional development.
  • Enhance workforce DEIB – Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) have emerged as essential criteria for a positive workplace functioning. Including these aspects in your organisational vision and goals is one thing, but it is a completely different type of commitment to applying those values in practice. When you successfully implement diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the workplace, your employees will depict higher engagement with their work and become more empathetic. This will encourage them to bring in higher creativity, productivity and performance. The major reason DEIB implementation is ranking higher on the HR team’s priority list is due to the possibility of “hiring and recruitment bias”. Since such bias can be detrimental to the organisation, the HR and Talent Acquisition teams are required to track DEIB in the organisation and ensure a more equal and inclusive environment for everyone.
  • Improve employee skills – Investment in an organisation's existing talent pool enables their continuous professional development. Such development includes the curation of appropriate training and development programmes that helps the employees enhance their skills. The HR team of the organisation is responsible for ensuring that the skill gap within the organisation is identified and relevant strategies to reduce the gap are implemented. Additionally, improving the skills of your employees consists of higher opportunities for mentoring as well as peer-to-peer feedback. A process of continuous feedback is necessary to help the workforce collectively improve. As an HR manager, you can invest in the talent of your organisation by carefully formulating career-pathing strategies for your employees. However, your contribution does not end at forming strategies, but implementing them and enabling the new skills or knowledge to be adapted to the task at hand is of utmost importance.
  • Create a positive workplace environment – Talent is nurtured when it is allowed to grow. A well-established growth environment requires high positivity and better opportunities for learning and development. The assurance of such a positive environment is a major responsibility of the HR team in an organisation. To maintain constant positivity, the employees need to be appreciated and rewarded for their optimum performance. Additionally, acknowledging their efforts make them feel valued and encourages them to cultivate their skills. As a result of your employees feeling valued and recognised in your organisation, the possibility of them remaining in your organisation will increase. Along with rewards, a frequent check-in is essential to identify the problems employees are facing in the organisation. Receiving proper feedback and allowing them to express their concerns will enable the HR team to bring in the necessary changes and continue improving the organisational culture. Furthermore, a positive workplace environment consists of facilitating employees with learning opportunities. Learning contributes to improvement in their skills and talent, leading to high organisational output.
  • Continue rapid learning – As a part of the HR team or member of the Management, it is necessary for you to continue learning about recent trends in the business environment and about your employees’ opinions. Such learning will translate to high talent retention and low labour turnover. In addition to this, knowing what works for the employees will enhance the organisational output. Hence, investing in the talent of your workforce inculcates continuous learning of the employer as well as identifying gaps in the organisational requirement and the employee talent. Moreover, rapid learning will enable the HR teams to improve the organisational culture based on the feedback of the employees and the necessities of the organisational functioning. As a result, optimum productivity and performance will be achieved, thus ensuring that investment in the existing talent pool is done the right way.

In conclusion, organisational and HR trends are evolving with a higher emphasis on improving the existing talent pool rather than turning to “hiring and recruitment” for every skill gap. Statistics indicate that hiring has fallen from the second position to the eighth on the HR priority list. Factors like the pandemic, external business uncertainties and skill gaps among the applicants are major reasons why the focus from hiring has shifted to empowering the existing employees. In addition, the aspect of DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging) have become extremely important in the workplace. Moreover, to reinvest in the existing talent, HR teams are required to increase employee engagement, help them improve their skills, create a positive work environment and continue learning.