Identifying and Hiring Candidates for Open Jobs
Canada is a developed economy with some of the most skilled human resources managers in the world. However, the administrators in the field experience diverse challenges as they maneuver the dynamics in the terrain. One of the greatest challenges that the managers experience is the difficulty in identifying and retaining a skilled workforce for the various sectors in their organizations. The issue is profound in the technical areas. It is quite challenging to determine and locate talent beyond the placing of job advertisements. The sourcing of the top talent has been a source of pressure on the human resources managers in Canada as the professional recruiters do not seem to attract top talent which is partly explained by talent shortage. The lack of the practitioners in the technical fields continues to pose significant challenges to the HR managers in Canada.
The implication of the shortage is that the organizations are compelled to delay the long term objectives as they liaise with training institutions for the supply of skilled workforce. The managers have few options in efforts to overcome the shortage of skills (Vaiman, Hugh and David 928). The scenario has increased the demand for HR recruitment services, for example, the request for HR recruiters increased by 44% by the end of 2012 according to the president of Randstad Canada. The high rate of advancement of the information technology has influenced a lot of changes in the entire organizations which has led to occupational shifts with which the HR managers have to learn to cope. The need for specialized skills in the IT IS informed by the use of the databases, design systems, and data analysis applications.
Tapping into social recruiting
The HR managers in Canada have been faced with the issue of tapping into social recruiting in an attempt to connect with the younger workers. The desire to embrace the social media has been an uphill task to the HR managers as they make efforts to identify the interests of the active employees as most of their communications and interactions happen on the social media platform. The challenge is that the HR managers cannot engage them due issues of image-consciousness (Ruël, and Tanya 642). The communications on the social media force the companies to be image –conscious in their engagements which provide a challenge to the HR managers in Canada.
The rate of travel of information on the social media is fast and frequent with the open interactions allowing the candidates to create mental images about the companies' value and brand aspects very quickly. The implication is that the HR managers are unable to connect what the brand promises and what they deliver on the social media regarding perception. The issue is compounded by the fact that young workers do not just give in to promises but want to be happy in their job positions immediately.
The HR managers in Canada are also faced with the challenge of relying heavily on a contingent workforce. There is an increasing need for temporary and contract staffing in the modern changing business world. The HR managers have to deal with the compound supply chains as they manage volumes of requirements while making efforts to ensure that they don't compromise the quality of services. The factor of the aging population has also been a factor in contributing to the myriad of challenges affecting the HR managers in Canada (Lyons, Eddy and Linda 186). The situation has particularly affected the HR managers in the health care sector as more elderly population requires skilled professionals to take care of the health and wellbeing.
Economic shift
On the economic front, several economic changes have occurred and hence altering the employment and the occupational patterns across Canada. There has been a significant shift of the job opportunities from manufacturing and agriculture to the telecommunications and the service industries. The implication is that the HR managers have to reduce the number of employees while at the same time making deliberate efforts to retain the highly skilled workforce that was not in high demand previously.
There has also been a lot of pressure from the global firms regarding competition, compelling the organizations to close some facilities while exploring on how to increase productivity and reduce labor costs to become more competitive. The situation has led to the relocation of most of the manufacturing companies to China and India in efforts to lower the cost of production as the operations in the developed countries are not sustainable and therefore cannot compete internationally.
In conclusion, the HR managers have been faced with different economic, technological and demographic changes as they navigate in the ever-changing sector. The shortage of skilled labor, in particular on the technical front, has been a significant challenge. The emergence and advancement of the technology in the entire operations of companies have ensured that the managers consistently engage and identify professionals to manage the IT sectors in the organizations. The issue of aging population implies that skilled personnel cannot be replaced as fast as they leave the labor market and hence posing a serious challenge to the HR managers.
Works Cited
Lyons, Sean T., Eddy S. Ng, and Linda Schweitzer. "Changing demographics and the shifting nature of careers: Implications for research and human resource development." Human Resource Development Review 13.2 (2014): 181-206.
Ruël, Huub, and Tanya Bondarouk. "E-HRM research and practice: facing the challenges ahead." Handbook of strategic e-Business management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2014. 633-653.
Vaiman, Vlad, Hugh Scullion, and David Collings. "Talent management decision making." Management Decision 50.5 (2012): 925-941.
