Competing for talent in a competitive market: upskilling to upscale

Learning and development opportunities continue to feature highly as those which leaders think are most important to attracting talent (94%). Alongside this, a modern working environment with access to tech has increased by three points (93%) and a generous salary and benefits remains in the top spot (96%). However, this view is potentially at odds with what we know it takes to attract the best talent with more flexibility in the current climate. 

Opportunities to work remotely feature at the bottom of the list at 86% – arguably, an oversight but it’s also an opportunity for leaders to readdress their business strategies, listen to their people and create a sustainable working model that retains experienced workers and attracts new talent – both of which will welcome collaborative upskilling through learning and development. 

Bring back employee engagement 

Talent scarcity is no joke, but neither is a shortage in skills or engagement with your people. For that reason, I’m amazed by such high levels of positivity in relation to the growth outlook – we need people to do that, and we need them to optimise new technology solutions if this is a strategic priority that will enable businesses to grow. 

For me, there are two things missing that leaders should be focusing on: 1. intergenerational differences and the development and engagement of our talent; 2. the difference in generations and the way they look at their career is completely different to what C-suite executives view as the most important aspects of attracting, or retaining, talent. 

We cannot bring back what we had before Covid-19, although some have tried to do that, and personally I don’t think we would want to. If leaders expect and push everyone back to the office 100%, they will lose people. I also don’t like the words, ‘go back’ – leaders need to provide clarity and engage their people on the specific reasons to be in the office together at certain times. One of the reasons being the development of our talent. You cannot expect to lead any organisation as you did even 10 years ago. 

To create engagement, it’s important to give people the trust and responsibility to ensure they know that they matter. At Forvis Mazars, we do this through our own people surveys to capture a consensus of opinions as well as the more personal day-to-day discussions during development. This is a great way to establish engagement and receive more value in return from your people.