Salary Survey 2010 - Nicva

Organisations which had experienced recruitment difficulties in the past wereasked the reasons why they felt they had encountered them. Figure 1 showsthat the main difficulty with recruitment is the lack of suitability skilledapplicants (55.2%) followed closely by a lack of suitability qualified applicants(48.3%). These issues are not unique to Northern Ireland and a study byCIPD also shows the main problems with recruitment are similar to thoseexperienced by the voluntary and community sector in the UK. 54 Despiterecent high levels of unemployment as a result of the economic downturn,surprisingly over half (51.7%) of organisations reporting recruitment difficultiesreported that their problems were due to an insufficient number of applicants.Short term or temporary contracts as well as salary levels also emerge asproblems for voluntary and community organisations’ recruitment. Over aquarter of organisations (25.9%) in the sample who reported recruitmentdifficulties, stated that the salary level was a barrier for potential recruits incomparison to 36% for the UK as a whole.State of the Sector V outlined funding as one of the key challenges faced bythe voluntary and community sector. 55 As funding for the sector is often shortterm or project specific in nature, it can be deemed a challenge when it comesto the recruitment and development of staff and volunteers. Nonetheless, lackof funding was one of the least frequently cited problems with regard torecruitment. However, perhaps respondents may have only advertisedvacancies after funding was secured so it may not have been deemed asignificant problem for recruitment. Further narrative cannot be provided asthere is no comparable data in relation to this problem in the previous SalarySurvey in 2006. 56Table 11: Extent of Challenges in Recruiting New Staff over the Next 12MonthsCount %Great extent 34 8.0Some extent 71 16.6Not sure 110 25.8Limited extent 88 20.6Not extent at all 124 29.0TotalBase: 427 organisations (17 missing)427 100As Table 11 above highlights, nearly one quarter of organisations whoprovided data stated that they believe they will face at least some challenge inrelation to the recruitment of new staff in the next 12 months. The respondingorganisations were also asked to indicate whether they believe the challengesfacing their organisation in relation to the recruitment of staff in the next 12months will be a result of the current economic downturn. Overall the majority54 Chartered Institute for Professional Development (2010) Annual Survey Report Learning and Talent Development55 NICVA (2009) State of the Sector V, Northern Ireland Voluntary and Community Sector Almanac.56 NICVA (2006) Salary Survey, Job roles, salaries and benefits in the voluntary and community sector.NICVA: December 2010 32