Top Reasons why Companies are Struggling to Find the Right Workers for the Job

Companies are Struggling to Find the Right Workers for Many Jobs – Top Reasons

The Covid pandemic has triggered the wave of “the great resignation” and disrupted the job market across the globe. The employees are leaving jobs for better prospects, work flexibility, convenience, and personal health.

Apparently, there are more jobs available in the market than ever, and employees are not hesitating to leave their present job.

As a result, companies that were struggling in managing their business due to the pandemic are now strained about hiring and retaining employees.

HR leaders are experiencing more pressure to fill positions demanding high skills and adapt to organizational change.

Stepping into the new hiring era, business organizations have broadened their perspective on talent acquisition and hiring strategies.

But despite making vested efforts, the “great resignation” haunts business organizations. One of the reasons is that business organizations are not able to figure out why employees are leaving them. 

Without figuring out the exact cause of attrition, many companies are settling for quick fixes such as loyalty programs or paying bonuses.

A better approach to deal with this critical situation is to investigate the underlying reasons why companies are struggling to find the right workers and find a solution around it.

Top Reasons Why Companies are Struggling to find the Right Workers For the Job

Outdated hiring process: 

Traditional hiring process has worked well in the past, but in the modern era, it has become outdated and less efficient.

Organizations that still rely on traditional hiring approaches are struggling to  fill the position with the right candidate. Their reach to candidates is limited, and they end up hiring candidates that are not suitable for the job.

By switching to modern technology and software solutions such as HR software, organizations can make the hiring process lean.

HR software is laced with advanced technology like AI that can sort and match candidate profiles in a few seconds by applying an intelligent algorithm.

It makes the hiring process efficient and less time-consuming. Organizations can even build a network of candidates by storing all the information on a single database.

There are numerous ways HR software can add value to the hiring process and overcome the pitfalls of traditional hiring. 

Focus on culture and values: 

The new age employees are specific about the culture and values of the hiring companies.

Employees are willing to work in a place that meets their DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusiveness) goals.

Organizations that fail to add value and create a positive work culture in their workplace often see a high attrition rate.

Skill gap: 

Businesses are rapidly evolving at the verge of technology, and to keep pace with it, business owners have to evolve their traditional approach along with it.

However, this is not an issue; the real problem lies in finding a skilled workforce that quickly adapts to the modern business ecosystem.

The employees that have been trained for the traditional business model find it difficult to adjust to the new work culture.

Lack of a clear definition of the employee skills for many positions adds up to the problem and  organizations end up managing the work internally from existing candidates who can take the position with a bit of training and assistance. Companies fail in such scenarios to fulfill the placement of the right workers for the right job. 

Flexibility in work:

Workplace flexibility has become the focal point since the pandemic outbreak. Both organizations and employees are touting the benefits of workplace flexibility.

Today, employees prefer working in an organization that offers flexible work hours and helps them achieve greater work-life balance.

However, some organizations are more proactive in adopting a remote work culture than others. Organizations with no policy for workplace flexibility find it challenging to attract and retain the best talent in the industry.

Looking for jobs outside the domain: 

Remote work culture facilitates work-life balance, but many industries cannot support remote work due to the nature of their work.

For instance, the manufacturing industry requires employees’ physical presence on site. Employees working in such sectors are exploring other industries for remote work or flexible work hours, and due to this, companies are facing issues in hiring or retaining employees.    

Lack of research on the labor market: 

Most companies lack research work to understand the labor market or identify job seekers with requisite skills.

Labor market analysis gives a clear picture of the available skilled workforce in the local area; based on that; organizations can design employee acquisition plans. Companies that simply post jobs without the knowledge of workforce availability cannot find the right worker for the jobs.

Business intelligence software and tools can be pretty helpful in conducting labor market research. Besides that, organizations can go through research work and statistics to get detailed insight into the labor market.

Inconsistent interviewing process: 

There are a lot of factors that work simultaneously to find the right employee for the job. From a clear job description to the hiring manager’s technical knowledge and proper employee assessment process, all work together to select the best candidate.

Weakness in any of these zones could end up in wrong hiring. Sorting out a candidate with a mere job title, education qualification, or skills alone is not enough to identify the true talent. It requires a rigorous and consistent interviewing process to hire the best employee. 

Networking: 

Lack of networking could be another reason companies cannot find the right talent. In the digital age connecting candidates on every platform is the key to successful hiring.

There is no dearth of talented employees, but a sluggish networking approach keeps them out of reach. Many organizations focus more on the traditional way to connect the candidates, such as direct call or email, but ignore social media platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook.

In the age of mobile and internet, organizations should widen their horizon for recruitment by connecting them through social media sites and other community platforms. It can be a great tool even for hiring passive job seekers.

While some have social media presence but they lack a cohesive strategy to attract the best candidates. It is essential that organizations post relevant content with niche keywords that target specific candidates.

Besides that, organizations should use multiple techniques like social media advertising, live video streaming, meaningful hashtags, etc., to engage with the right candidates.

Rise in startups: 

Many employees have chosen different career paths during the pandemic and decided to go after their entrepreneurial instinct.

Some highly-skilled professionals and top-notch executives are utilizing their expertise to build starts-up.

As per one of the surveys, the share of executives viewing the building as a top-three priority has almost doubled in recent years. Due to this, the job market is observing a deficit in skilled employees.

Employees burnout: 

When employees resign, the companies have to manage the business with the existing employees. It means the employees are likely to burn out.

With less staff and more workload, the business sometimes ends-up with more resignations. It can be a disaster for the company.

To avoid this ripple effect, employees have to fill the position quickly and make sure that resignation does not impact the existing employees.

Conclusion

There has been a fundamental shift in the workplace due to employees’ changing expectations towards work since the pandemic.

The employees want to break the monotony of the traditional work structure and switch to a more agile working style. In the last two years, employees have shown more inclination toward human aspects of work than achieving financial goals.

They are paying closer attention to things like work-life balance, work flexibility, and personal well-being. Business enterprises failing to recognize these needs of new-generation employees are at higher risk of losing employees.

In a candidate-driven market, organizations should design a business working model that reduces employees’ turnover rate.

It is possible only when employers can find the answer to why they struggle to find the right workers for the job.  

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