The post-Covid conundrum ?
In this guest article from tfconnect ’ s talent partner , Liz Sinclair , MD , ESP Recruitment , says the events industry has never paid the highest , but has remained full of loyal professionals . She asks , however , whether it is now time to increase salaries
W ith the industry back into full swing this year , wouldn ’ t it be great if everyone could engage top gear and maximise the opportunities that our customers want from us ? However , the current economics mean that there remain some challenges ; one of those is ‘ talent ’.
Companies have weathered the storm of the pandemic and have been trying to find top talent to further grow their business but are finding that candidates have multiple job offers on the table and are asking for higher salaries to leave their current jobs .
This obviously varies country to country ; for example , the US is such a huge market there is less of a staff shortage , but other countries are really suffering .
We have found that with junior and mid-level jobs , candidates are demanding between 10-15 % higher salaries than they did pre- Covid . We can put this down to a shortage of candidates as well as the growing cost of living crisis , leaving more candidates struggling to pay their bills .
The events industry has never paid the highest salaries , but has remained full of loyal and passionate event professionals that thrive from seeing their events come to life . Are these increased salaries overdue ? Should our hard working , creative , fervent staff be
paid on a par with other industries they have often lagged behind ?
But the real conundrum comes when companies must balance listening to the industry and what candidates are demanding with what their current team , who have the knowledge of their business and events , are already being paid ?
Do they offer the requested higher salaries to new staff , while their existing staff are on less ? Do they hold out to find staff willing to take the salary on offer ( this can sometimes take several months to find those candidates rather than several weeks )? Should they look for more junior staff that will take the salary on offer and train them ? Should they offer the whole team an increase to keep up with rising
Liz Sinclair
“ Listen to what your staff want from a job , it might be totally different now to pre-Covid .”
Are you ready for the brave new world post-Covid ?
salaries ? It ’ s a tough call when budgets are tight .
One area that has seen significant shortages and large salary increases is the event marketing sector . Companies looking to gain the edge over competition by focusing on online content and data , as well as general visitor and exhibitor promotion , have seen wage increases and huge staff shortages reflecting the demand . This has led companies to take candidates from other industry sectors and train them .
As well as higher wages , employers are forced to really look at work / life flexibility and staff mental health and well-being .
It seems more important than ever to give your workplace and its values the competitive edge . Some employers are trying to identify which benefits , incentives and cultural factors matter most to their staff . Listen to what your staff want from a job , it might be totally different now to pre-Covid .
Another factor worth considering when recruiting in the current competitive market is offering a positive candidate journey during the recruitment process . When there are more jobs on the market than candidates , the candidate journey should not be overlooked . This process can really make a difference between successfully landing a sought-after candidate and not .
Provide a fast turn-around for interviews , feedback and progression . This will help keep candidates engaged when they could be receiving a lot of interest in their CV from your competitors .
It is key to remember that in our sector , candidates are no longer having to look for jobs as roles are coming to them . You need to be proactive and communicative in your recruitment process to land the best candidates to move your business forward post-Covid .
www . exhibitionworld . co . uk Issue 2 2023 31