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Maximise your talent pool

Maximising talent pools and retaining employed staff is key in 2022 – with 87% of CBI members planning to hire permanently but a further 75% agreeing that labour shortages are a direct threat to UK labour market competitiveness.

15 Feb 2022, 4 min read

With 2022 expected to be the busiest year yet for recruitment, your business is likely to be looking for resources on how to win the war for talent – on this page, you can find great insight to help you optimise recruitment and retention to build a steady pipeline of talent for the long-term.

By rethinking job descriptions, focusing on flexibility new ways or working, and embedding diversity & inclusion practices, your business can maximise a broader pool of talent – putting you in a much better position to attract great staff and talent.

1 - Rethinking priorities to attract and keep talented staff

Your new and existing employees will be thinking of your overall Employee Value Proposition (EVP) at different stages of recruitment or progression - including:

  • Pay and benefits
  • Career development and progression
  • Company culture and values
  • Diversity and inclusion

Communicating these to new and existing staff is often the best way to attract or keep talent – with individuals currently switching jobs at a faster rate, keeping a competitive and sustainable EVP can be the dealbreaker for future or current employees.

Flexible working has shot up in importance for competitive EVPs, a key offer that is particularly attractive to parents and carers; and whilst young people are looking for companies that match their values, older workers are focused on traditional benefits like pension contribution and healthcare.

Diversity and inclusion are also at the centre of attractive EVPs – an embedded D&I program allows companies to reach untapped labour pools, like EY that launched its Neuro-Diverse Centre of Excellence to attract workers with the digital and analytic skills the company was missing that often get overlooked during recruitment.

2 - Improve recruitment to align with your D&I strategy

The recruitment journey is the first flavour a candidate gets of your EVP – ensuring that D&I is at the forefront of your recruitment and training processes are a sure-start to convert applications into appointments.

Start by having a diverse interview panel, using D&I-specialist recruitment agencies and a CV-less application process – so that hiring managers can focus on candidates’ skills and experience.

Fidelity International used a CV-less recruitment process to diversify its apprenticeship intake, instead focusing on the attitude, personality and skills demonstrated by individuals in group activities – with candidates placed in roles that matched their key strengths.

3 - Support employees staying or coming back to work

For every new employee you recruit, there is another business that failed to retain them.

Ensuring your existing employees have access to development, learning and progression opportunities is key to win the war for talent, regardless of where employees are in their work lifecycle.

To maximise your existing pool of talent, look at introducing better policies on:

  • Returnships for employees coming back from parental leave
  • Apprenticeships to diversity younger talent
  • Phased retirement to keep older workers

At Sage, older engineers were offered flexible retirement plans such as part-time or short-term contractual work – this eased the pressure of recruiting new staff and ensured that Sage kept the senior engineers’ skills, expertise and knowledge for longer, allowing the company the time to successfully train new recruits whilst meeting critical project deadlines.

Member Case Studies


Learn how Qumodo focused flexibility to attract and retain talent.

Qumodo is a technology company specialising in human interaction with Artificial Intelligence. As a small company that can’t always compete with the salaries of larger firms in the sector, Qumodo prioritises the non-wage benefits they offer employees, including flexibility, unlimited holidays, and fortnightly development days to attract and retain talent.

For more information please read the full case study.

Discover how LexisNexis have redesigned their workspace to enhance their EVP

LexisNexis Risk Solutions have redesigned their office space to enhance their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and make their firm a more attractive place to work, both for existing employees and prospective candidates.

For more information please read the full case study.

Turning the great resignation into the great refresh

There’s been a lot said about the so-called great resignation over the last 12 months. After hosting a series of webinars on the topic, Irwin Mitchell's Jenny Arrowsmith can see it as an opportunity. 

To find out why read the full article.

Executive Interviews - the importance of D&I

Check out our executive interviews as part of our ongoing ED&I campaign Advance in Action and find out how members are placing ED&I at the center of their people strategy  


Want to get started? Read our resources:

 

Read our CEO action plan for labour shortages

Is your business finding new ways to deal with labour shortages?