Jane James's Consultancy Limited

I attended the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s joint launch with London Councils of their report on London’s skill challenges.

Looking through the stats and research put together by their researchers – ComRes who surveyed in excess of 2,000 London based employers this year, one of the key areas I found startling was that illustrated in the feature picture of this blog.  London businesses found the following key difficulties when recruiting:

1.      Applicants lacked sufficient technical ability
2.      Applicants lacked sufficient experience
3.      Low number of applicants for the role
4.      Applicants lacked cv writing/interviewing skills
5.      Too much competition from other employers

I found this startling because nothing has changed since I started working in recruitment in the early 2000s!  Employers have to think differently especially with the uncertainty of Brexit.  We need to think outside the box.

The talent that has the technical ability, experience and cv/interviewing skills is already employed!  We need to look at the vast chunks of our population which aren’t employed.  These people may have some barriers to work which in the main can be overcome by nurturing into employment.

We have to accept the faults of the past and address the issues to ensure we meet the skills challenge:

• Why not train someone in a vacant role so they get the technical skills and experience before hiring – oh wait we already do that on Growing Talent
• Why not select based on attitude and enthusiasm instead of cvs and interviews?  Oh wait, Growing Talent does that too!
• There are plenty of applicants for the role – they just aren’t ‘polished’ at the start but become so on the journey – over 128 people from all backgrounds prove this!
• Selection is in two stages – a speed dating session and a 1-2-1 – no cv, no traditional interview
• Employers won’t have competition from other employers if they nurture as above and will get more commitment because they have given that support.

A report last year showed we have a generation of pre-school children who don’t know how to turn the pages of a book ! – most swipe as if it’s a screen!

Even where people have technical ability, they often don’t have the social skills.  They are glued to their mobiles, don’t know how to network, expect everything instantly etc.

To meet the skills challenge – employers have to be parents, counsellors, coaches – not just employers – but the results are so worthwhile as proved by Growing Talent – http://www.growing-talent.co.uk.