CHRO Voices: 6 in 10 say Competition for Talent is Biggest Workforce Challenge

This is the first of what I hope to be many future LinkdedIn newsletters on the voices of CHROs, or Chief Human Resource Officers, sometimes called Chief People Officers. My content will be based on the statistics and practices we learn from The Gallup CHRO Roundtable, the largest club of big company CHROs in the world, with over 1,000 members averaging 60,000 employees per member.

This year, 6 in 10 CHROs told us their greatest workforce planning challenge was competition for talent. For some industries, this was even higher, with 67% of manufacturing CHROs, 67% of hospitality CHROs, 75% of financial services CHROs, and 88% of technology CHROs telling us that competition for talent was at the top of their challenges.

For some industries, labor shortages are at the heart of the challenge this year, with 71% of manufacturing CHROs, 69% of healthcare CHROs, and 67% of FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) CHROs stating there simply isn't enough talent.

One healthcare CHRO recenlty told me their talent pipeline flow was down 36% compared to an industry average of a 40% decline in talent. Nurses are simply leaving their industry or retiring early as nursing is one of the hardest hit roles in the healthcare industry. Another healthcare CHRO told me, "nurses want real change to how they work and are not interested in anymore 'gratitude journals' or other ideas that won't create those meaningful changes." She continued, "they are overwhelmed by staff shortages, tired of pay freezes while traveling nurses are making three times the amount, and during the pandemic, scared they could die from their jobs."

Some HR leaders have told me lately as they begin budgeting season that talks of a coming recession may change the competitive landscape and there is hope that companies will have more influence over the talent marketplace as the leverage swings back to companies. However, currently, all CHROs recognize that the individual employee has a lot of leverage right now. As consumers of workplaces with ample open roles, employees have a lot of options right now, and can therefore demand more. One healthcare CHRO told me that nurses can often get a signing bonus of around $25,000. They might negotiate the amount between two hospital systems and get it up to $26,000 or even $27,000, which will require the nurse to stay with the hospital system for two years. However, when those two years are up, they call up the hospital system they turned down previously, and switch to them for the signing bonus offer that is still standing. This is one of many reasons, healthcare CHROs and other industries are struggling to compete.

In order to win new talent, it is a constant battle for some of these HR leaders and it requires more aggressive approaches, more proactive recruiting techniques, and more sophisticated talent marketplace practices. I will continue to share CHRO perspectives and practices on this and many other topics to come!