KEY POINTS:
New Zealand businesses are facing an employment "perfect storm" as they struggle to recruit skilled staff and face an ongoing loss of high-calibre recruits to lucrative overseas jobs.
That's the summary from one of the country's leading workplace analysts. And as a leading indicator of just how competitive the jobs market remains, scores of employers are set descend on Auckland at the end of this month to spruik their wares in the country's largest employment marketplace.
The New Zealand Herald Your Career expo will be held at the ASB Showgrounds on September 27-28. The expo will bring employers and potential employees together in the biggest careers event in the country, with a two-day series of workshops, presentations and exhibitions across four pavilions.
Heather King, general manager of workplace analysts JRA (NZ), says employers were still having trouble attracting the right people for jobs.
"Even with an economic slowdown and a softening labour market, skill shortages remain the number one concern of business going into the election."
That was the outcome of the latest Business New Zealand survey of more than 2000 businesses. Combine that with the results from an online poll showing as few as 31 per cent of employees are engaged in their work and concerns that New Zealand is facing an employment "perfect storm", and the struggle to stem the growing exodus to Australia will become very real, King said.
'Even facing this labour supply crisis, organisations are still failing to deliver when it comes to providing a workplace environment that engenders high levels of engagement."
The online poll, run by JRA as part of the lead-up to the Your Career Expo, confirms research which has highlighted the alarming number of employees who are at best sitting on the fence, and at worst actively disengaged with their work. And while the response of many to this crisis involves smartening up their employment brand, this is not enough, says King.
"Our research suggests that most organisations rely primarily on their culture/brand/reputation to attract talent, and on the endorsement of their organisation as a great place to work by existing staff. What chance therefore if around 70 per cent of your people don't really care?"
Employment branding is important, but it's even more important to ensure that you deliver on the promise, a message that does seem to be getting through.
"We're encouraged to see that more than 70 per cent of organisations we surveyed recently have indicated their senior management are attaching 'high' or 'very high' priority to creating a high-engagement workforce," King said.
Building a great workplace "requires vision, leadership, the commitment of all involved, and, above-all, patience".
* Visit www.jra.co.nz/poll