Source: www.thestar.com
Employers are struggling to find skilled workers during the pandemic, but they’re missing out on a key recruitment and retention tool: career development
The Great Reshuffle has many workers on the move — and it’s creating significant challenges for Canadian businesses of all sizes.
According to an Environics survey of 500 Canadian executives for the charitable career development organization CERIC, 81 per cent of employers are having a hard time finding people with the right skills to fill open positions. This was the top challenge identified by employers — ahead of supply chain issues, red tape or technology. Ontario employers were the most likely to report a shortage of skilled workers, followed by Quebec and the Prairies.
More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of executives say it is increasingly difficult to recruit people with the soft skills they need, such as good communication skills and dependability.
Employers are also finding it challenging to hold on to talent during the pandemic with nearly four in 10 executives reporting a harder time retaining employees compared with two years ago. Despite this, only 18 per cent of organizations are putting a lot of effort into recruiting from under-represented groups.
Given these hiring challenges, one might imagine that if an employer knew a quarter of their employees were planning to quit this year — 19 per cent without so much as a job offer in hand, according to a Robert Half survey — they would do everything they could to keep them. But that’s not what’s happening.
Most employers are missing a key piece of the retention puzzle: career development.
Career development is how a person manages learning, work and transitions throughout their lifetime. Managing one’s career in the workplace is done in partnership with employers and managers.
A quarter of executives say losing skilled workers after investing in training is of great concern to them. However, when employees feel like their employer is invested in their career, they are more likely to be engaged at work. According a 2020 PWC report, 67 per cent of Canadian employees who were given upskilling opportunities were more productive and had more confidence in organizational leaders.