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"Control what you can" to fill talent gaps

There are three levers talent acquisition teams can pull to address workforce shortages, but given the tight labour market, many are using the wrong one, a strategy specialist says.

"There's the obvious one, which is really growing your workforce, and is the traditional lever that most businesses would look to when faced with increasing demand," says Nous Group principal Hamish Ride.

"The second one is around moderating demand. When you're in a really tight labour market, there's always the question of: are there alternative ways to sourcing labour directly for your workforce?

"The final one is what we call skills mismatch. That's really about when the skills are out there but for some reason you as a business haven't been able to source your share of the skilled workers you need for your business."

Understanding whether an organisation has a skills shortage or staff shortage starts with "knowing your environment" and where the organisation is positioned, Ride tells Shortlist...