Why Headcount Growth in 2021 Could Be 2022’s Greatest Challenge
The Perfect talent storm
Trade press and social media has been awash with pharma and bio outsourcing companies celebrating their 2021 highlights. Without exception, every example I’ve seen includes headcount growth. Massive growth.?From the teens to hundreds of new hires during the year. The growth has been staggering, with no signs of the demand relenting in 2022.
Headcount growth has occurred despite the backdrop of a skills deficit and unprecedented demand. A perfect talent storm if you will.
The continued demand for talent is the source of much debate, but in this blog, I’m concerned about those who have changed roles during 2021.
Pressure on those frantically trying to hire skills brings much needed focus and investment in the short term. But it can bring unwanted by-products in the medium to long term.
With uber high competition for talent and a preoccupation with the skills needed for operational delivery, businesses move quickly, but in doing so all too often neglect understanding the person and their “fit”.
Failing to prioritize those behaviors, characteristics, and traits is a recipe for disaster. New hires fall short and ultimately leave because of a cultural mismatch rather than their technical competence.
The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) states that 2 in 5 hires will turn out to be “bad hires” within their first 18 months. That’s 40%. Wow!
One global CDMO recently quoted they had added 260 heads in 2021.?So, the REC is saying they can expect 100 of those new heads will be “bad hires”.
With a marketplace full of opportunities, people have choice, so those who don’t “fit” will leave.
The cost associated with losing a new hire is enormous. Whatever you think the number is, forget it. It’s much worse than you think. If you’d like to know the true cost, check out our Bad Hire Calculator?.
So, what can you do?
Well, other than hiring the right person in the first place (I’ll come back to that), the key to navigating the perfect talent storm is retention.
As a priority you need to understand engagement levels. In their January 2022 eBook, our friends at HiveHR state that highly engaged employees are 40% less likely to seek a new job than their disengaged counterparts.
Their research identifies the key drivers needed to boost engagement and in turn retention. They are:
HiveHR’s amazing People Scientists, go on to provide a bank of questions employers can use to determine your engagement priorities. To access the full eBook, including the question bank, click here and register your details. You won’t be disappointed.
As I mentioned earlier, hiring the right person in the first place doesn’t replace the need for robust retention strategies, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. Bad hiring accounts for 80% of all turnover.
The challenge of course is finding the people with the right mix of skills and personality. And quickly.?Thankfully there is a solution.
We’ve developed a tool to help managers hire the right skills, with the right fit, quickly and efficiently.
Our LC3 talent acquisition platform has been developed to assess skill competency and cultural fit via one convenient tool.
It provides a comprehensive, layered assessment without compromising speed and efficiency. Delivering 96% new hire retention, it tackles the talent storm head on and is saving our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.
Click here to learn more and book a discovery call to see how LC3 can elevate your hiring process to a new level.
Andrew Mears, CEO – Lead Candidate
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Tom Kirkpatrick, Andrew Mears, Raman Sehgal, Fiona Cruickshank