Throughout the past year I have written on many occasions about the lack of staff shortages, not only in the UK, but globally and how this is affecting recruitment, it’s now on individual companies and organisations to up their game and stand out from the crowd to appeal to candidates looking for work. So what will companies be doing in 2023 to ensure candidates are attracted to roles and keep their current staff happy?

#1 invest, invest, and invest!

With available, skilled candidates being hard to find these days companies are focussing on investing in their current employees. So what does this look like? Research shows that since the pandemic employees are feeling more insecure in their skills and abilities but are also more motivated than before to improve upon their skills. Offering regular appraisal meetings with staff to discuss job direction, growth and development is a good way to begin this, companies can then investigate training routes to further skills. With technology advancing at a pace even the most tech-savvy can find hard to keep up with, many employees find they are lacking in basic skills including email and Microsoft Office packages, giving refresher training on IT systems is another simple way to improve productivity and employee confidence

#2 Benefits, benefits and benefits!

Companies are turning to company benefits to make it harder for employees to leave; who wants to leave a position which offers holiday increases year on year and matches your pension contributions? These don’t have to be purely monetary, benefits can be simple office adjustments like allowing a “bring your pet to work day”, allowing employees to take a certain amount of paid time off each year to carry out charity work, or encouraging occasional “mental health days”.

#3 Flexibility, flexibility and flexibility!

Since the pandemic, we are no strangers to hybrid working and flexible working options and this will only continue in a bid to keep employees happy. Gone are the days of the 9-5, with options for working from home, more part time roles available and the opportunity to start earlier and finish later and vice versa are appealing options, particularly for those with dependents at home, long commutes or additional roles.