By Barry Vienet, Managing Director

With the holiday season almost upon us it’s a great time to review the year just gone and of course, turn our thoughts to 2023.

We all entered 2021 with cautious optimism that the pandemic might be behind us. We were wrong, which probably made that year all the more difficult. We came into 2022 with that same optimism and thankfully, life has returned to something that more closely approximates “normal” (although, personally and professionally, most of us are still figuring out what this “new normal” is).

Despite its challenges, partnering with such incredible people in the Health, Community and Social Purpose sectors whose values align with ours, has made 2022 rewarding and fulfilling. Working closely with you allows us to understand the opportunities, challenges and uncertainties that you face, and helps us support you to attract, develop and retain your workforce in this uncertain environment. It’s really gratifying when we see the great work delivered by the sector to those most in need.

Recruitment in 2022

2021 was all about how to meet the demand and growth expectations in the most candidate short market we’ve ever seen, and this continued into 2022.

The employment landscape continued to be one that saw low volumes of applicants responding to our clients’ own advertisements. Major Job Boards like Seek continued to report that ad response volumes were well down on pre-pandemic levels which also reflected our own experience. As a result, almost every role we worked on this year required extensive database searching, networking and good old-fashioned headhunting.

We believe that there are a number of factors contributing to this:

• Despite people adapting to living with a pandemic, due to continued uncertainty many candidates are choosing to stay in a role from which they may have otherwise moved on from. 
• Although international travel restrictions have been lifted, we are still seeing fewer new candidates entering the market from overseas and lower numbers of new vacancies being created through people leaving to work abroad.

As if it’s not difficult enough to attract a good volume of quality applicants, we’re all also being challenged by a big increase in the numbers of candidates accepting counter-offers from their current employer and not taking up new opportunities that have been offered to them… even after verbal acceptance of a role!

Candidates continue to be very selective when looking at which roles they’ll apply to and are looking for a real value proposition from a potential employer.

The other obvious change is the crystallisation of the way we now work. The hybrid model is the most prevalent mode of employment being offered and is now a part of every candidate conversation. Organisations demanding working five days per week in the office (where the role can be performed remotely) are limiting their potential pool of candidates and are therefore at a distinct disadvantage in the “war for talent”.

What does this mean for 2023?

 All indications are that we’ll see continued employment growth into 2023. The “Occupations in Demand” according to Government projections are:

• Aged and Disabled Carers
• Registered Nurses
• Welfare Support Workers
• Physiotherapists
• Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers
• Health and Welfare Services Managers
• Social Workers
• Generalist Medical Practitioners
• Child Carers
• Welfare, Recreation and Community Arts Workers
• Medical Technicians
• Human Resource professionals

The requirement for quality staff has meant that the Interim and Contract/Temp roles continue to be popular as employers think creatively about how the work gets done when faced with staff shortages.

It remains incumbent on every leader to have a clear attraction and retention strategy and to ensure their organisation’s Employee Value Proposition is the best it possibly can be if they are to attract prospective talent and retain staff in 2023.

Johnson Team Update

It’s been another successful year for Johnson Recruitment as we’ve maintained our position as the largest recruitment consultancy focusing purely on the Health, Community and Social Purpose sectors. The year has also seen us continue to grow our Business Support practice across permanent and temporary recruitment.

Here’s a snapshot of the sorts of roles we’ve been involved in recruiting during 2022 across Health, Community Health, Mental Health, Disability, Aged Care, Education, Charities/NFPs, Medical Research Institutes and Medical/Dental practices:

• Chief Executive Officers
• Chief Financial Officers
• General Managers of People & Culture
• General Managers of Client Services/Operations
• General Managers of Corporate Services
• Customer Experience/Engagement staff
• Risk/Quality/Compliance professionals
• Fundraising staff
• Finance professionals
• Bookkeepers/Accounts staff
• Payroll staff
• Human Resources professionals
• Technical/Operations/Facilities management professionals
• Business Development Managers
• Project Managers
• Medical/Dental Practice Managers & Support staff
• Marketing/Communications professionals
• Office Managers
• Executive Assistants

Thought-leadership Seminars:

We continued our series of complimentary webinars in 2022, allowing our networks all over Australia (and beyond!) to join us for thought-leadership sessions.

We would like to thank all the speakers who offered their time and expertise to ensure these sessions continue to be as popular as they are. 

Some of the topics we covered this year were: 

• Let’s Talk Culture: The Conversations You Need to Create the Team You Want
  • Shane Hatton
• Outcomes Management: Knowing If You’re Achieving Your Purpose
  • the final session of our four-part “Maximising Impact” series with Social Ventures Australia
• Financial Sustainability: Unlocking Diverse Funding Sources for Not-for-Profits
  • Social Ventures Australia
• Prevent, Respond, Promote: Creating a Safe and Thriving Workplace and Workforce
  • Margo Lydon

We have a number of interesting topics lined up for 2023 and we hope to see you at one (or more) of them. Our first one, scheduled for February 16 is “Increasing your Organisation’s Profile and Strengthening Your Brand”. Watch for details early in the new year.

 Charities:

As well as being passionate about working in the “for-purpose” sector, we also do our best to support our clients’ great work as well. A few causes we were involved in this year include Steptember, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, Diabetes Australia, Radio Lollipop, The Male Hug, Wayss, Salvos Red Shield Appeal, MS Australia, VACCA, and the Vinnies CEO Sleepout (my 13th sleepout in 12 years in support of this great cause).

Season’s Greetings from all of us here at Johnson Recruitment and I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season with family and friends. We look forward to the opportunity of working with you in the New Year.

Insights from Johnson Recruitment

Johnson Recruitment is an independent recruitment and consulting firm specialising in the Community Services, Social Purpose, Health and Medical sectors, as well as in the recruitment of Practice Managers and support staff, across all sectors. Contact us on 03 9946 7320 or info@johnsonrecruitment.com.au to learn more about how we can assist you with a vacancy or new role today. Follow our LinkedIn and Facebook pages for more information and to keep up to date with the latest jobs, events and career advice.