The ‘Great Resignation’ is burning out hiring managers

Employers have now been grappling with the ‘Great Resignation’ for almost a year. This is putting pressure on HR teams who are responsible for replacing those who are quitting, as well as trying to keep attrition rates down.

As a result, it is no surprise that 84% of hiring managers are burning out, and 88% feel increasing pressure in their jobs. This is according to a survey of 1,500 hiring managers by applicant tracking software company Greenhouse.

Colm O’Cuinneain, general manager for EMEA at Greenhouse, told UNLEASH:”To remain competitive, companies should take a people-first approach where hiring is central to everything they do. Providing support for hiring managers through a structured hiring process reduces burnout and ultimately delivers a better experience for candidates.”

Their main stressors come from sourcing talent (41%), candidates dropping out because of better offers elsewhere (26%), and unstructured, ineffective hiring processes (16%).

A major issue is that candidates are getting more demanding about the pay and benefits they expect.

Candidates are particularly keen for flexible working options (54%), paid learning and development (41%), and wellbeing provisions (39%) – this fits with burnout, and a lack of flexible working and career development options being leading causes of the ‘Great Resignation’.

Greenhouse found that 35% of hiring managers are challenged by losing out to competitors offering better pay and benefits packages, as well as sign-on bonuses. This explains why 80% of hiring managers think they should advertise salaries with roles.

Using pay rises to retain talent

On the topic of salaries, Greenhouse’s survey identified that employers are keen to use pay not just to attract new talent, but to retain their existing employees.

74% of hiring managers plan to give staff a pay rise in 2022 – 36% said this was linked to company performance, but 21% noted the cost-of-living crisis the world is facing as a major cause.

Just over half of hiring managers surveyed were planning to give employees at least a 10% rise, whereas 15% were willing to give a 20% pay rise.

In this context, it is no surprise that internal talent is a major source of candidates for open roles for HR teams. In fact, internal employee promotions and transfers were the leading source of talent for employers, followed by the company’s career site, employee referrals and social media.

Employees (and candidates) are being squeezed by high inflation right now – so if you want to attract and retain talent in this period of the ‘Great Resignation’, it is time to rethink pay. links in second half