Top talent trends SMEs should be aware of

Jason Collings and Lucy James, co-founders of recruitment agency Quarsh, started their Vistage relationship as members of two different groups. Since then, they’ve become well-known amongst Vistage members: Lucy on the speaking circuit, Jason for his insightful white papers. 

These white papers cover a range of talent-related topics: including six-monthly talent trends report that delve into some of the biggest challenges and opportunities around recruiting, managing and retaining talent. 

In his new report – Talent Trends: 2024 Mid-Year Review – Jason describes the UK workforce as being at a “pivotal point of transformation”. The report highlights both long-term and immediate trends that business leaders should be aware of, and actions they should take in the coming quarter. 

Below, Jason gives us a taste of what to expect – read on to discover how to download the report in full. 

Is COVID still impacting the workforce? 

The pandemic may seem a distant memory for some. However, it’s still very much present in terms of its impact on the workforce. 

A historian by background, Jason describes how major events – like wars or pandemics – are often a catalyst for change, but this change is not always seen immediately. 

“You have a sort of peak of transformation and then the changes happen later”, he explains. “It’s generally only when you look back that you can see the depth of those changes.”

He uses generational differences as an example. “Those differences have always been there”, he says, “but the pandemic has made them more stark. It’s not that young people aren’t interested in work – although it can appear like that from the outside. It’s more that they have a different attitude to work.”

The generational divide – which he refers to as “disaffected youth” is one of the trends covered in Jason’s report. The paper also includes trends like employee experience and adapting to new working models – both of which, he says, have been accelerated by COVID-19. 

Trends such as these have highlighted one significant challenge: the need for a greater focus on management training. 

“An excuse for bad management”

Jason cites the results of a survey which state that over 85% of people in UK management roles have never had any management training. “Contrast that with the US, where over 90% of managers have had formal management training”, he says. “It wouldn’t happen in other roles. You wouldn’t ask someone to go into a surgeon role and say, ‘there’s the patient, here’s a scalpel, get on with it.’ It’s ludicrous – and yet still we ask people to join management teams on the basis that they are good at the completely separate role they’ve been performing.”

A greater focus on management training would solve many of the issues caused by trends like hybrid working, Jason says. “Historically, most people have managed teams by walking around the office”, he says. “They’ll look over people’s shoulders and be able to see if they’re on Facebook or playing Solitaire. That’s easy – and it’s made an excuse for people to be bad at management.” 

He continues, “The reality now is that if you’ve got bad managers, hybrid working doesn’t work. If you’ve got good managers, it works perfectly well. Good managers, though, need management training in addition to the management processes and models you have in place.”

As well as management training, communication can also go a long way to resolving many of the current challenges in the workforce. 

Jason explains how this is true in the case of the generational divide. “Generation X, for example, is fairly willing to accept whatever management says”, he explains. “If the boss says that a task needs to be completed by a certain date, they’ll just accept it.”

“Generation Zs and Generation Alphas are different”, he continues. “They’ll ask why this deadline is in place – and if management can’t explain, they’ll just work to their own agenda. Managers need to understand that they can’t just expect younger workers to accept their authority with no explanation all of the time.”

Doing things better

Jason’s Talent Trends white paper ends with suggested actions that CEOs and MDs should be taking in the coming quarter to make the workplace more agile, innovative and empathetic. “What you need is for your people to come in and be as productive and engaged as possible – and to want to be part of your organisation”, he says. “There are lots of alternative ways of living now that don’t involve getting a ‘traditional’ job. If you’re not going to give them something that’s appealing, that’s engaging, that develops them and gives them interesting experiences, what’s their incentive to be there?”

But how can managers do this? The actions highlighted in Jason’s white paper are a good starting point for managers looking to make a real difference. Embracing change can foster innovation and significantly improve the employee experience.

Download the paper in full here to find out more.

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