News: Performance Management
Training can ease recruitment difficulties amid 'skills crunch'
12 June 2008
Staff training is the most effective solution to current recruitment difficulties brought on by a so-called 'skills crunch', it has been suggested.
Following on from its latest analysis of recruitment, retention and turnover among British organisations, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) confirmed that three quarters of bosses think training is key to filling vacancies.
Regarding talent shortages, 70 per cent admitted that a lack of necessary candidate skills is the main reason for recruitment problems, while 42 per cent lamented the "generally insufficient" experience of candidates.
"From an employer's perspective, one of the positive outcomes of a jobs slowdown might have been an easing of recruitment difficulties," remarked Deborah Fernon, organisation and resourcing adviser at the CIPD.
"But these problems have persisted and there is still a struggle to find and hold on to the right people."
She went on to reveal that 75 per cent of employers said effective training provision would enable internal staff to fill posts, thereby alleviating recruitment difficulties.
Businessman Sean Taggart, a member of the government's ministerial advisory panel for leadership and management, suggested earlier this month that investment in training and development is "essential" for any business to sustain growth and success.
