Recruitment challenges to continue for 41% of businesses, according to new HR survey

Recruitment challenges and the rising cost of living were themes highlighted by businesses in a recent survey carried out by Basingstoke-based consultancy Reality HR.

The research was part of a detailed survey of 65 Reality HR clients, which asked what the businesses felt would be major challenges over the next 12 months.

In all, 41% of businesses cited recruitment as their biggest challenge.

READ MORE: Basingstoke: Reality HR continues growth with two new recruits

More than a quarter (28%) felt retention would be a problem, and one in 10 (13%) said pay and benefits was a pressing issue.

The CEO of Reality HR Sally-Ann Hall-Jones said: "We understand the challenges organisations are facing in keeping pace with evolving employee priorities, such as pay and benefits, particularly as rising costs impact a growing number of workers.

"Employers need to remember it’s not all about salary," she added.

"If pay increases are not possible, there are other ways, such as financial education and wellbeing support, that can help employees with the rising cost of living.

"We’re focused on keeping businesses up to date on these trends and challenges and finding solutions to keep them ahead of their competition when it comes to recruitment, retention and business performance."

Comments from firms questioned included: "We are finding it challenging to retain talent while not being able to offer the benefits, such as salary and bonuses, candidates are looking for.

"We also reduced the workforce, so we are establishing it while maintaining the motivation to go forward."

Other companies cited issues such as "recruiting the right calibre of candidate", "keeping up with market related salaries", and "not being able to offer high salary and bonuses".

Hall-Jones added: "This exercise has helped us gain a deeper understanding of the most pressing issues facing the businesses we work with and has been a valuable way of gauging feedback.

"We are delighted with the results, which reflect our commitment to supporting businesses through the wide variety of challenges they face, and to providing a flexible and responsive service to enable them to get the very best out of their people."

In response, Reality HR has created a free-to-download Recruitment and Retention Guide which covers topics, including how employers can attract and retain staff in ways other than salary, pay and benefits. See HERE.

Reality HR is a team of expert CIPD-qualified HR consultants that supports businesses with day-to-day outsourced HR support, complex people management projects, recruitment and training.

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