Getting hold of right staff can be tricky

Feb 28 2008 by Laura Maddison, The Journal

OPEN any newspaper at the moment and you can’t help but stumble upon economist X or Y saying how grim things look for the economy.

Thankfully, that’s not the case for the new media marketing and wider digital sector. It continues to grow rapidly, especially here in the North East, and there’s certainly no talk of recession in such circles.

Nevertheless, a recent report from digital careers website Chinwag Jobs said 97% of the UK digital companies find it difficult or impossible to attract suitably-qualified staff, with three-quarters struggling to retain them.

In some ways, it’s inevitable there will be fewer skilled employees to go around, given that the industry that has grown so rapidly. But there’s still plenty that employers can do to find and keep the best people.

Some companies struggle to find appropriately-skilled employees simply because they don’t look in the right places or use the services of specialists to find them.

In today’s digital world, it really is important to use your network of contacts to discover and attract people who are potentially on the move. Thanks to the increase in communities and networks on the web, it’s easier to tap into such information, though it can be very time-consuming.

Another thing more companies should do is to inject a little creativity into their recruitment strategy. If they’re really struggling, the first thing they should do is look at their existing team.

Managers know what skills their next big project needs, so they should ask their current workforce if they have any awareness in these areas.

And if it’s a case where more bodies, not just different skills, are needed, companies should think about targeting career changers with their recruitment drive.

How do you retain staff once you’ve got them? According to Marketing Week, there are three reasons people look to move on from a company: the opportunity to advance, financial rewards and challenging work.

Hardly rocket science, I know. But it’s surprising how few companies pay attention to whether they offer employees at least one – ideally all – of these things.

The companies who do so, and who also go about their recruitment in the right fashion in the first place, are the ones who will prosper.