Earlier this year, James Cockett, labour market economist for CIPD, stated: ‘the so-called 'Great Resignation' is well and truly over and has been replaced by 'The Big Stay'’, meaning employees are valuing job security and stability over seeking new opportunities. In correlation, their recent Labour Market Outlook report found that 55% of employers are looking to maintain their current staff levels – the highest since 2016/17.
On top of this, 75% of employees globally claim to have ‘hard to fill’ vacancies. When you look at all of the data together, you can understand why CIPD are recommending to employers that they focus on upskilling their current workforce. To do this, leaders must look to share their skills and train members of their team... but without understanding each person's motivators and learning style, you’ll only get half-baked results.
A quick way to accurately gather this information is using psychometric assessments. The aptitude assessment (commonly known as GIA) looks at an individual's speed of processing information and ability to learn and develop new skills. Does this person need a detailed, methodical approach to learning new skills? Or would they respond better to a hands-on, practical approach to training? This is information that our aptitude assessments can tell you instantly, all based on our industry-leading science.
Just because employees are looking to stay at their current organizations, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are happy staying within their current role. Another benefit of psychometric assessments is the self-awareness and confidence it gives individuals. If an employee is interested in an open position, the insights provided in the behavior and aptitude assessments are a powerful way for them to see their strengths and what they could bring to that role. When looking at their developmental areas in comparison to that role (perhaps they’re lacking at the analytical skills needed, for example), they can use these insights to create a development plan with their managers or HR.
As for the ‘hard to fill’ roles that 37% of employers are struggling to fill, why not use people science to look at your current talent pool? With a Thomas Assess profile, HR and hiring managers can easily see which employees have the skills and qualities needed to thrive in the different roles. This takes out any unconscious bias a manager may have over an employee when asked for a recommendation as it is purely based on our industry-leading people science.
When you combine The Big Stay, the hard to fill roles and the shortage of talent applying for open positions – look at it as an opportunity. Thomas Assess allows you to easily spot your best talent and develop those who wish to further their careers. If your employees want to stay working with you, then use people science to motivate, empower and promote them and you may end up with more top talent and greater retention than you imagined.
