Talent Trends 2023 | How will these impact you?
Welcome to 2023 and its newly emerging talent trends! Whether you’re looking to advance your career or you’ll be among the organisations looking to attract talent in 2023, it’s important to get a lowdown on what the hiring market will look like in the coming year! This article aims to outline 3 of the emerging talent trends and how these will impact you as an individual job seeker or as a business looking to grow!
Trend #1
Quiet Hiring | In the latter part of 2022, ‘Quiet quitting’ had been hitting the headlines as we saw a prominent trend for the practise of reducing the amount of effort one dedicates to their job. According to Gartner, shrewd HR leaders will flip this around in 2023 and engage in ‘Quiet Hiring’. Most commonly used by Google, quiet hiring is the recruitment strategy of identifying ambitious and high achieving employees within an organisation and rewarding them in the form of bonuses/pay rises, upskilling opportunities or offer them with a more challenging role within the company, in other words – internal mobility. Put simply, those who stand out by going above and beyond will be rewarded with new opportunities.
Impact for job-seekers?
For candidates considering a new opportunity, it is extremely important to understand how the company engage in L&D opportunities and how they intend to upskill employees in order to make room for internal career opportunities. Key questions to ask when interviewing in order to gain this insight could include: Does each employee receive an L&D budget? What type of training is provided? What does success look like in this role? How does the company tackle growth plans? Is internal mobility a key recruitment strategy?
Having knowledge of this emerging trend also highlights the importance of demonstrating your ambition to grow and excel within your career, a common interview question asked by hiring managers. Have a think about how the opportunity to join the company is aligned to your individual career development.
Impact for organisations?
Focus more on the talent development of your current workforce! L&D is more important than ever right now. Investing in your employees will allow for bridging skills gaps, increasing employee confidence and in turn encourage staff to feel empowered to seek internal opportunities for growth. Your company will start to instil a culture of development, demonstrating a keen interest to support and engage employees, in turn increasing retention rates! According to Forbes, retention will be a key issue for employers in 2023, so investing in your employees development will be key. In line with this emerging trend, also focus on your reward and recognition strategies. If an employee is doing a good job, tell them… reward them, allow them to feel valued and appreciated! Oher companies will be doing this…ignoring the achievements of your current workforce will be your major downfall to retaining staff within a candidate-driven market. It is also key to remember, that not all employees will have the confidence or bravado to seek advanced opportunities, but this in no way signals that they are not capable. Encourage those employees – taking an inclusive approach is vital!
Trend #2
Skills > Experience | 2023 will continue to see an acceleration of the talent shortage for skilled jobs. According to Human Resources Online, in 2022, 70% of employers stated that they didn’t receive enough applications for open positions and a similar percentage expressed that the applicants they did interview were not suitably qualified.
Historically, hiring managers have had a tendency to focus on a candidate’s experience to establish whether they would be a strong fit for the company’s hiring needs… suggesting that there’s a strong correlation between skills and experience. However, an emerging trend according to Forbes, suggests that skills do indeed trump experience and more focus should be placed and will now be placed on what the candidate brings to the table, rather than the roles they have previously carried out. Gartner reported that 56% of candidates now apply for jobs outside their current area of expertise and it is very likely that this figure will increase over the years to come. According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), employers will be resetting degree requirements within a wide variety of roles – focussing less on linear career journeys.
Impact for job-seekers?
This is a big win for job-seekers! Zeroing in on skills rather than the traditional check-box items opens a great deal of opportunities for a large population of employees. It is likely that, in the past, job seekers will have been excluded from consideration due to the skills/experience correlation, according to HBR. What this means, however, is that now, more than ever, it is pivotal for job-seekers to showcase their value to potential employers. Have a think about you career history to date. You have gained the experience and from this you have developed the skills – these skills are for the long haul. It is crucial that you convey your skills clearly on your resume. Outline your hard skills e.g. data-driven mentality, marketing and sales skills, proficiency using a particular or various ATS’s etc.
You should then think about which soft skills you have developed that are transferable to any position including emotional intelligence, relationship building and so on. When interviewing, focus more on the skills you have developed, rather than the time spent within a particular company – these will shine much brighter when a company is deciding whether you would be the right fit for the role concerned.
Impact for organisations?
Traditional sourcing methods will most definitely need revamping! According to Gartner, filling critical roles in 2023 should be defined by assessing a candidate solely on their ability to perform the role, rather than their credentials and prior experience. Although often overlooked, it would be advantageous for companies to include competency based skilled assessments within their recruitment process. These tests can allow organisations to evaluate and screen prospective job candidates on the skills needed to succeed in their role, rather than merely focusing on the experience a candidate has to date. Candidates are then welcomed to showcase what they have to offer… walk the walk, as one would say. For example, if you are seeking to recruit a Talent Partner, why not provide them with a job requisition and offer them the opportunity to source profiles? You could also ask them to write some elevator pitches, allowing you to gain an insight into their sourcing skills and ability to build rapport with prospective candidates. A candidate may have all necessary hard and soft skills required to recruit, however may not have the experience within a particular industry – does this mean they are not capable? Absolutely not! It would also beneficial to revise your interview questions and ensure they are aligned to the skills required for the role. Asking behavioural and situational questions is a great approach. These questions are open-ended and allow for candidates to talk about the skills they have developed, allowing for an exploratory conversation surrounding their suitability for the role.
Trend #3
Well-being and work-life integration | Since the pandemic, more importance has been placed on the well-being of employees as well as the flexibility to ditch the 9-5 in favour for a more fluid schedule. According to Forbes, we may actually start to say good-bye to the 5 day working week as companies across the globe have started to adopt a 4 day working week. Whether a company decides to adopt this model or not, 2023 will see a continued rise in flexibility and autonomy over how and where we work. Candidates will be seeking to join a company which promotes work-life integration – allowing work and home life to integrate nicely, increasing individual well-being. According to Gartner, 82% of employees feel that it is important that an organisation sees them as a whole person rather than simply an employee.
Impact for job-seekers?
Remember when interviewing for a position, you are also interviewing the company, so be mindful to ask questions surrounding flexibility, hours, mental health support etc. Those companies who are committed to work-life integration will typically share the specifics of how it is approach and will demonstrate that this is a matter that is important to them. Secondly, do your research! There is no reason to wait for the interview to get an understanding of the companies culture. Take a snoop at employee reviews on Glassdoor as well as the organisations LinkedIn Page. Some will also have a LinkedIn Life page, which is aimed at providing prospective employees an authentic feel for the company.
Impact for organisations?
First and foremost, focusing on your own employees’ mental health is paramount. Strategize the use of tools that allow for automating repetitive work, reducing the hours spent on demoralising admin tasks. Make sure your policies promote a healthy work-life balance in order to tackle burnout symptoms. According to Gartner, organisations should focus on three key factors in order to promote work-life well-being and integration in 2023: proactive rest for employees rather than offering rest as a recovery solution, the ability to talk openly about challenges without placing judgement on employees and the integration of trauma counsellors who can provide on-site mental health support.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, contact me on [email protected]
