Hiring in increasingly challenging markets

What to do when there’s more demand than supply? Most companies face the same problem in increasingly specialised markets: abundance of people without the required skills, scarce of people with the required profiles. Eventually, all companies end ‘fishing in the same pond’, and using the same channels to recruit and retain talent.

A lot has been spoken about the the lack of staff in the NHS, which by the way, has experienced a small fall in the overall vacancy figures to 112,000 last June, from a peak of 130,000 in December 2022. But these difficulties in recruitment goes across the whole UK’s labour market, including private companies in the health and social sector.

What to do when our team is at stake because of unfulfilled vacancies? Be open.

New times means new possibilities. The 21st century has brought new challenges and, although running a company means gathering a team to achieve a certain goal altogether, there are different options to do so. There are few ideas here: 

• Direct employment: some people want the security of a big company backing them up with competitive rates of pay, generous annual leave, and great contributory pension scheme. You just need to outpace your competitor and you’ll get the best worker. 
  • Internal market: this is always the most desired and elusive option. Hiring someone, particularly in middle to high responsibility roles, who is already trained and ready to work, and whose availability is immediate. 
  • Visa sponsorship: another good option, but coming at a higher price, is hiring someone overseas. The problem with this options is finding a good candidate in another market different than yours, helping them going through the process of converting their qualifications within the relevant institutions, and providing a generous relocation package that the employee finds affordable. This can be an option when the candidate is required in the middle to long term.
• Employ a freelancer: if you want the best technician in the field, probably the know they are the best ones too. This is a great option for highly skilled roles, but it comes with a cost. In the Care sector are called locums, and usually provided by recruitment agencies, who take a percentage up to £5 on top of the workers’ hourly rate.
• Get a partner: find someone who is aligned with your company’s mission, vision and values. This alliance has the power to escalate exponentially the results of both parties. It’s called synergies. The availability is immediate, and you get the same benefits as hiring someone, but saving the hustle of training and compliance.

At ABM Psychological Services, we understand that managing projects in the social care sector can be challenging. You have to deal with tight budgets, complex regulations, and a changing landscape. That’s why we offer Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) specifically for social and health care organisations.

A PMaaS solution provides you the expertise and resources you need to successfully manage your workload in-house. ABM Psychological Services was set up adopting this framework since the beginning, as it is the most agile and adaptive model in the market for clients. From an isolated PBS for a resident with special needs, to a regular and sustained over time input for the whole organisation. 

The crucial part is that we don’t just provide ‘a clinical psychologist’, we provide the best solution bespoke to your needs regardless of their size or complexity. We offer a team of experienced consultants who are familiar with the sector.Bringing into your company a project management means bringing in a whole lot of processes and trained personnel, and this translates into a quicker response. As we also have a wide range of assessments, project management tools and techniques that can help you improve your efficiency and effectiveness.

Here are some of the benefits of using our PMaaS solution:

• Cost savings: You can avoid the upfront costs of hiring a full-time staff and their materials required to perform their role. You only pay for the services you need, when you need them.
• Flexibility: You can scale your project management resources up or down as needed. This is ideal for organizations that experience fluctuating project volumes.
• Expertise: Our team of project managers are experienced in the social care sector. They understand the challenges you face and can help you develop and implement successful project plans.
• Improved efficiency: Our PMaaS solution can help you improve your company’s efficiency. By using project management tools and techniques, you can track your progress, identify risks, and make timely decisions.

If you’re looking for a way to improve your project management in the social care sector, then our PMaaS solution is a great option. We can help you save money, improve efficiency, and get the help you need to provide the psychological input desired successfully.

Here are some additional benefits of our PMaaS solution for social care organizations:

• Reduced risk: We can help you identify and mitigate risks early on in the project lifecycle. This can help you avoid costly delays and setbacks.
• Improved communication: We can help you improve communication between project stakeholders. This can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the project is on track.
• Increased visibility: The greatest problem managers and directors have is they don’t see how their supervisees spend their time of what they do, they can only appreciate ‘the iceberg tip’. We provide you reports with real-time visibility into your projects to reduce this. This allows you to track your progress and make adjustments as needed.

Contact us today to learn more about how ABM Psychological Services and our PMaaS solution can help your social care organisation in particular.