It feels contradictory but the fact is that despite economic uncertainty, there is a significant talent gap in the market. In fact, according to ManPowerGroup, as many as 75% of employers globally are struggling to fill roles.

Given the challenges of the economic climate, this can be difficult to reconcile; however, when delving deeper, three key reasons become apparent:

1) For starters, many countries see a decline in their working-age population. The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts that Japan, Germany and Italy could experience a 60% workforce reduction by 2050, compared to figures from 25 years ago.



2) Those economic restraints that should drive people into the arms of the workplace are, in many cases, keeping them away. For instance, as reported by ‘Charity Pregnant Then Screwed', up to 20% of UK families are leaving the workforce due to unprecedentedly high childcare costs, with over three-quarters reducing their working hours for the same reason. This is worrying when you consider that families with dependent children make up around 43% of the population.




3) The roles we are being asked to fill at work are becoming more complex. When you consider the levels of technical expertise, emotional maturity, and high EQ required to bring ‘soft skills' to the table, regulatory and compliance requirements, remote relationship management, and the information overload people face; it is no surprise that 71% of employees globally reported an increase in job complexity post-pandemic (Pegasystems Inc, ‘Demystifying complexity in the modern workforce').

Short of inventing a complex and futuristic ChatGPT-meets-3D-printer, how are we supposed to overcome this challenge and find the talent unicorns we need? The answer is simple: a serious and authentic investment in personal development planning.

What does ‘good' look like?

Creating balanced, and long-term personal development plans (PDP) for employees is crucial to ensure a robust talent pipeline for your business.

Successful PDP relies on a firm understanding of the organisation's strategy, culture and goals. After all – guiding employees in the right direction is challenging without a clear destination or roadmap.

Consider the PDP - ‘Pyramid of Needs' . Just as you can't pursue a Ph.D. without completing your undergrad, delving into high-level, complex learning pathways first requires mastering of the basics.

Getting the basics right – a balance of hard and soft skills to result in the creation of a well-rounded high performing talent pool. Then using PDPs to cultivate top-tier – or unicorn talent - for your business requires a laser focus on balance.

The purpose of the PDP is to identify an employee's goals, aspirations, and areas of weakness, and implementing tangible steps to meet them. However, if you want to use PDP to full effect, you must also balance these individual goals with business needs. As the roles created to meet business demands becomes increasingly complex, identifying skills gaps and integrating these into your employees' PDPs is where the magic truly happens. This approach allows you to build the necessary skills within your existing workforce, rather than seeking external candidates to do so.

Feel the love.

It's clear that effective PDP isn't a matter of line managers inputting five goals into their direct reports' employee profiles on your company's HRIS, never to be thought of again. It demands thoughtful, mature, and authentic leadership - managers that are ready and willing, and hopefully eager, to invest time in understanding their employees. This involves grasping what drives them, makes them tick, and what inspires greatness in them. Once you've found the right motivation, extracting the best from someone becomes quite straightforward.

Engaging in good PDP not only meets the sought-after criterion of caring for employee wellbeing but does so beyond superficial gestures like ‘everyone gets pizza today'. Supporting employee wellbeing through PDP is the key to enhancing your Employee Value Proposition (EVP), reducing turnover, improving morale and ultimately fostering a healthy, engaged and happy workforce. Such a workforce, comprising of individuals who embody your culture and vision, can fulfil the unique, bespoke and complex roles that makes your organisation tick.

For recruiters, it might be unwelcome news, but PDP is the future of talent.

For more information visit the web site: https://hr360ltd.com/contact/