People power our success.

And we’re fortunate to have some of the very best leading our operations across the globe, showcasing innovation, a deep understanding and a real passion for solving the problems our clients face when it comes to sourcing, attracting and retaining top talent.

Their experience and insights are fundamental to Hays and sharing this vision enables us all to deliver the tools, technology, and insights to build more strategic workforce solutions in partnership with our clients.

The latest edition of the Director Digest series sees Jon Mannall, Managing Director in EMEA, offer his insights on the impacts that economic slowdown could have on the dynamics of attraction and retention strategies and the importance of acknowledging nuances across language, legislation and expectations when operating in this region.

One region, not one country

EMEA is perhaps the most diverse region in which we operate. I’m responsible for operations across 11 different countries, meaning my scope stretches from Southern Europe (Iberia region) across to Central Eastern Europe countries such as Poland and Romania.

While some may look at EMEA as a singular region, it is in fact a mosaic of different countries, different markets, different cultures and different challenges. The richness created by such a unique combination of countries and the diverse range of clients we work with across the region is what makes my job so interesting.

We are a business about people, powered by people – and in EMEA, I’m fortunate to work with some of the best. While we may operate across borders and speak different languages, we are united by our passion for solving the challenges that our clients face.

The solutions we build are as unique as our clients and the industries within which they operate. In some countries, you’ll see a focus on implementing and refining Managed Service Programmes, for example, while others are leveraging the depth of our supply capabilities to fulfil their IT contracting or permanent staffing needs.

A rising threat

Economic uncertainty is not a challenge unique to the EMEA region, but the difficulties it creates is impacting our clients in distinct ways.

We’re seeing dramatic rises in the cost of energy, a return to levels of wage inflation that we’ve not seen for over a decade and the ‘soft winds’ of a recession looming on the horizon.

Some of these challenges presented themselves very quickly. The war in Ukraine, for example, had an almost overnight impact on the energy markets, with implications not only for organisations but also everyone on a personal level through rises in their household energy bills and consumer price increases.

The effect on individuals is something we need to keep front of mind as we look ahead to the next 12 months. The people who work for us, partner with us and the employees that we are looking to hire into organisations have faced a huge rise in their cost of living over the last 6 months. This brings a very different dynamic into the candidate market.

The opportunity within

While the uniqueness of the EMEA regions can create challenges for our clients, the diversity we see across countries may also be the answer to many of the problems we face.

The European Union has progressed well on legislation in areas of equal opportunity, fair working conditions and social protection, however there are still notable differences in levels of reward for equivalent roles between member States. The reality is that there are still higher wage countries in Northern Europe, with some Southern and Central Eastern countries reporting relatively lower costs.

These lower wage countries provide access to impressive talent networks, with multilingual, highly skilled workers searching for their next challenge. As a result, EMEA provides excellent opportunities for organisations to leverage the wage arbitrage of repositioning teams and migrating functions.

There’s a similar case for the strength of EMEA when we look to access to skills. Europe has a rich availability of expertise, the product of incredibly strong education systems with different parts of Europe providing employers with the opportunity to access different talent networks.

The opportunity in EMEA is for employers to adopt a holistic approach towards engaging these networks based on their specific needs to avoid a mismatch between the skills that employers need, and the skills that are available in their immediate market.

Crossing Borders

For organisations to adopt a ‘borderless’ approach to their workforce brings with it greater complexity in legislation and expectations.

The scale of our knowledge means we are able to offer insights across labour markets, from skills availability to compensation structures. This expertise is critical in helping our clients make the right choice in their workforce migration projects, finding a sustainable location that will ensure skills are available to tackle not only tomorrow’s challenges, but the complexities of an evolving world of work over the next decade.

Retention is on the rise

The labour market has been supercharged in recent times, with a rising cost of living encouraging some employees to secure new roles on higher salaries. This has forced organisations to refocus not only on how they attract expertise, but how they attempt to retain critical skills.

But these sands are shifting.

Rising attrition amid concerns linked to the cost of living have prompted many organisations to adjust their compensation structures in the past few months to secure the retention of skills in a highly dynamic labour market. Against the current backdrop of financial uncertainty, a growing number of workers are seeking stability.

The result? The rate of turnover has slowed considerably.

For organisations, a new challenge emerges. We’re advising clients on how they can attract talent in a market where people aren’t as open to moving, who fear the ‘last in, first out’ approach and the impact this will have on their career.

The culture you create and the strength of your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) become even more important in these times. People are looking at your organisations through a slightly different lens. They want to understand how you’ll deal with the challenges ahead, the opportunities on offer and an understanding of how you’ll combine the two in order to provide a sense of stability.

Looking ahead to 2023

I think the next 12 months can be categorised by two opposing forces. The first will be the increased challenge in the labour market that comes with the threat of an economic recession.

But the talent market itself will remain rich, with individuals less likely to want to move roles. To tap into this availability of expertise, organisations will need to double down in their focus to create a tailored value proposition. Those that tackle this directly; investing in their partnerships, defining their purpose and planning ahead to identify and attract the people they need will be successful amidst an ever-evolving market.

Together, we’ll navigate the uncertain path ahead. Contact the team at Enterprise Solutions to discuss how we can help your organisation transform challenge into opportunity. 

AUTHORS

Jon Mannall
EMEA Managing Director, Enterprise Solutions at Hays

Jonathan is the EMEA Managing Director for Enterprise Solutions at Hays. Previous roles held at Hays included Service Delivery Director, Head of Sales for the UK and Global Head of Sales, Solutions and Innovation. He is now responsible for leading our teams across 11 countries in EMEA and evolving our approach to engaging, delivering and developing our strategic client relationships across the region.

Prior to joining Hays, and after completing his Masters in Philosophy and Management, Jon worked in the RPO and MSP sector for 10 years with a range of Financial Services, Public Sector, IT & Telecommunications, and Insurance clients in Sales and Operations Director roles.

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