Today’s Top Talent Challenges for HR Pros – and 17 Resources to Prepare Now

If you’re up at night trying to solve recruiting, skills gap and other talent problems, you might as well join the 2 a.m. HR forum.

You’ll have company. 

Many Talent Challenges 

HR pros report difficulties recruiting for full-time positions, filling skills gaps across their organizations and retaining top talent, according to SHRM’s latest Talent Trends Report. These issues prove some important shifts in talent management for HR pros.

“We must fundamentally rethink how we find and build talent,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President and CEO of SHRM. “Our research demonstrates that organizations embracing skills-based hiring, leveraging technology, and fostering inclusive cultures are best positioned for sustained success.”

Here are the three biggest talent challenges for HR pros this year — plus video, audio and legal tips on how to overcome or manage them.

1. Recruiting for Full-Time Positions

Nearly 70% of HR professionals say they still face challenges recruiting for full-time positions – and more than half of those HR pros said it’s become more difficult in the past year. So what was a problem has only worsened.

A few of the top reasons that have bubbled up over the years include:

• Low number of applicants
• Strong competition for talent from other employers, and
• Challenges with skills alignment. 

Another misalignment: Organizations invest in attracting candidates and getting them to apply, but stall the process there. According to Phenom’s State of Hiring Automation Report, organizations score well on attracting candidates but drop off sharply in qualifying them.

Resources:

• Check out this 3-Point video episode for help: How a Customer Career Site Helped Us Hire the Right People.
• Check out this 3-Point video episode for help: Upping the Ante on Hiring Events.
• Check out this 3-Point video episode for a fun take: Hire Better, Faster: How to Quickly Identify the Best Candidates in Your Hiring Pipeline.
• Check out this Voices of HR Podcast for help: Onboarding Starts at the Job Post: Getting Strategic with Recruiting.
• Check out this Voices of HR Podcast for help: Fair Chance Hiring: Don’t Lower the Bar, Lower the Barriers.
• Check out this Voices of HR Podcast for help: Rethink Recruiting at Your Small to Mid-sized Business.
• Check out this employment law story for help on what NOT to do: No-Poach Recruiting Agreements Cost Employers $25.5 Million.

2. Filling Skills Shortages

About 80% of HR pros report struggles finding the skills they need from the job candidates they see – the greatest difficulty with leadership skills such as judgment, decision-making, complex problem-solving and time management.

Resources:

• Check out this 3-Point video episode for help: How to Identify Your Skills Gap.
• Check out this 3-Point video episode for a fun take: Uncover Employees’ Unique Skills.
• Check out this Voices of HR Podcast for help: Degrees of Change: The Shift to Skills-Based Hiring.
• Check out this employment law story for help on what NOT to do: Spotlight on Illegal Hiring Practices: Apple Pays $25M for Recruiting, Job Ad Mistakes

3. Retaining Full-Time Employees

As difficult as it is to recruit full-time employees, HR pros also struggle to retain their top talent these days. Nearly 45% of those in the SHRM survey say they have difficulties keeping full-timers in the fold. 

Ironically, employees and employers often don’t see eye to eye on why retention fails. For instance, in an iHire study, 27% of employees said they left jobs because of a toxic environment, and 24% said it was because of poor company leadership. But 13% of employers thought employees left because of a toxic work environment, and only 9% thought they lost employees because of leadership. 

Of course, employees aren’t always completely honest when they leave … and employers aren’t always aware of everything that is going on in the workplace. 

Resources:

• Check out this 3-Point video episode for help: Help Employees Find New Careers with You!
• Check out this 3-Point video episode for help: 3 Ways to Keep Your Best People.
• Check out this 3-Point video episode for help: The Shift in Shift Work.
• Check out this Voices of HR Podcast for help: Creating Culture Champions in Your Organization.
• Check out this Voices of HR Podcast for help: Find Your Talent Optimization Sweet Spot.
• Check out this employment law story for help on what NOT to do: Can You Fire an Employee on FMLA Leave? 5 Times Courts Said Yes.