New research reveals that candidates overwhelmingly believe that recruiters are biased in some way – although the proportion has decreased since 2022. When Tribepad first did their Stop the Bias research in 2022, every individual surveyed said there was something about themselves that they believed would hold them back in the recruitment process. And now in their latest Stop the Bias report, 11% chose the option ‘none of the above.’ This suggests some progress, but that still leaves a huge 9 in 10 people (89%) who believe that they are likely to suffer prejudice when applying for a role ..read more

By Michael Doolin, below, founder and Group Managing Director,  Clover HR Businesses in the UK are struggling to recruit the talent they need to accelerate their success – and it’s not just a matter of the skills they need being in short supply. Rather, there’s a widespread shortage of available workers on the job market as a whole, be it down to the ageing population, post-Brexit migration or a lack of funding that’s decimating sectors as disparate as healthcare and entertainment. One of the biggest factors behind the current skills crisis, however, is young people quitting. Gen Z – made ..read more

Nearly half of UK managers (46%) say that they regret being too hasty when hiring, with three-fifths wishing they had asked different interview questions before making their decision to take on a new employee, unveiling how ‘post hiring blues’ is disrupting businesses. The new research conducted by Reed has also revealed the top interview blunders managers make during the hiring process include over one in four (27%) calling potential candidates by the wrong name, even more (29%) having the wrong candidate’s CV in front of them during the interview, and over one third (37%) not being able to a ..read more

Small Business Britain is teaming up with the global hiring platform Indeed to help small firms solve people challenges, as entrepreneurs increasingly cite the need for skilled workers as a barrier to growth and a source of stress. The new ‘People for Business’ programme will provide focused help for small firms to find, hire and retain talent to fulfil their growth ambitions. This will consist of a series of free webinars on recruitment and people management topics, as well as sharing research and insight on best practice from successful entrepreneurs. Kicking off on 25 September, the program ..read more

The latest Quarterly Recruitment Outlook (QRO), a survey of more than 5,000 UK firms of all sectors and sizes by the British Chambers of Commerce reveals businesses are still facing record high difficulties in hiring new staff. The first quarter results for 2023 show that recruitment difficulties have fallen just two percentage points from the record high level of 82% in Q4 2022. Attempted recruitment in Q1 was virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, with 59% of those surveyed looking to find staff (61% in Q4 2022). While recruitment difficulties are being experienced across the ec ..read more

By Sean Gray, above, Quality Engineering consultancy Roq’s Talent Acquisition Manager The UK’s skills gap is a major ongoing issue for UK technology companies and great candidates are like gold dust, making the challenge for tech recruiters (internal or agency) harder than ever. With Time to Fill (TTF) on technology roles sitting at an average of 61 days (12 working weeks), it’s essential for organisations to have a robust recruiting process to ensure that they get the best possible people into their business. Quality Engineering consultancy Roq recently became a Platinum accredited Investors ..read more

By Henry Engelhardt, below, founder and CEO emeritus of Admiral Group plc. His new book, Be a Better Boss: Learn to build great teams and lead any organisation to success, is launched on June 8 by whitefox publishing. Finding and selecting senior people in your organisation and/or your team is one of the most important things you can do for the present and future of your organisation/department. Confession: It’s almost a coin flip that you get the right person in just the right spot. It doesn’t matter what searches, psychometric tests, number of interviews, lunches and dinners, graphology ..read more

By Nicola Downing, below, CEO, Ricoh Europe Long gone are the days when a generous holiday allowance was enough to tempt workers to stay in their jobs. Today’s workforce is much more demanding – and rightly so. According to our latest research, work-life balance and employee experience closely follow salary as reasons to stay with an employer. At the same time, unprecedented inflation and price rises are driving up operational costs and squeezing budgets. Resource constraints and an increasingly demanding talent pool mean that many SMEs are struggling to compete for the best talent. With almos ..read more

Kemi Badenoch MP, above, the Minister for Women and Equalities, has launched a new initiative to help people back into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) based careers. The scheme – backed by £150,000 of Government funding – will be run by Women Returners and STEM Returners and will target those who have taken lengthy career breaks to care for others, giving them the skills they need to succeed in the workplace. Minister for Women and Equalities, and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch said: “I learned how to code at the age of seven and trained as an eng ..read more

By Emma Robinson, above, founder, Red Diamond Executive It is no secret that hiring and training a new senior team member is an investment. It can take months – even years – for an executive to create a return on that investment. So, imagine 12 months and thousands of pounds later, they hand their notice in. Only for the cycle to repeat itself over and over. Low staff retention is a symptom of poor culture. If you want to curb wandering eyes, here are our five tips to boost morale and retention: Empower them Many businesses hire leaders but then clip their wings. When there is little ..read more