2025: The Year for Attitude Over Aptitude

Karl Montgomery • December 11, 2024

In 2025, recruitment is set to enter a transformative phase. As businesses grapple with rapid technological advancements, shifting workforce expectations, and growing skills gaps, the spotlight is shifting from hiring based on technical ability alone to seeking candidates with the right attitude. Companies that prioritise adaptability, curiosity, and a collaborative mindset will position themselves for long-term success. Here’s why attitude will matter more than aptitude in the year ahead.


Why Attitude Matters More Than Ever

The workplace is changing at breakneck speed. Automation, digital transformation, and globalisation are reshaping industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and engineering. Skills that were in demand five years ago may already be outdated. While technical expertise is still important, the ability to adapt, learn, and contribute positively to a team has become a critical differentiator.


The Skills Gap Problem: Research shows that the skills gap continues to widen. According to recent studies, 75% of employers report difficulties in finding candidates with the right technical skills. However, organisations that hire for potential rather than perfection are finding innovative ways to bridge this gap. The idea? Skills can be taught; attitude cannot.


The Rise of Soft Skills: Employers are increasingly looking for traits like resilience, emotional intelligence, and creativity. These qualities help individuals thrive in dynamic environments and contribute to organisational culture.


Balancing Skills with Potential

Hiring for attitude doesn’t mean ignoring aptitude. Instead, it’s about finding a balance. Companies that invest in training and development programmes to upskill employees often see greater long-term retention and loyalty. By hiring individuals with the right mindset, businesses can mould them into the roles they need, rather than relying on a shrinking pool of candidates who tick every technical box from the outset.


Case Study: JPMorgan has expanded its skills-based hiring approach in the UK, focusing less on university degrees and more on candidates' potential and attitude. This strategy aims to widen the talent pool and attract individuals from diverse backgrounds, recognising that skills can be developed when the right attitude is present.



How to Spot the Right Attitude

Identifying attitude during the hiring process can be challenging. However, there are proven techniques that recruiters and hiring managers can use:


  • Behavioural Interview Questions: Ask candidates about past experiences where they’ve demonstrated resilience, adaptability, or a growth mindset.
  • Situational Judgement Tests: Present hypothetical workplace scenarios to gauge how candidates approach problem-solving and collaboration.
  • Cultural Fit Assessments: Ensure candidates align with the company’s values and vision.


Success Stories of Hiring for Attitude

Many forward-thinking companies have already seen the benefits of hiring for attitude. For instance:


  • Hilton: The hotel chain has implemented inclusive hiring practices, focusing on the unique talents of individuals with learning disabilities. By valuing attitude and potential, Hilton has enhanced team morale and fostered innovative problem-solving capabilities. 
  • Premier Inn: This UK-based hotel chain has prioritised hiring individuals with the right attitude, including those with disabilities, through tailored training programmes. This approach has led to a more inclusive workforce and improved customer satisfaction. 



These examples underscore how attitude-driven hiring can create a more engaged and innovative workforce.


The 2025 Hiring Mindset

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

The Food Manufacturing Skills Crisis: Bridging the Gap Between Industry 4.0 and Traditional Production Teams

By Karl Montgomery • May 14, 2025
The UK's food manufacturing sector stands at a critical crossroads. With advanced automation technologies revolutionising production processes, a significant disconnect has emerged between the sophisticated capabilities of Industry 4.0 systems and the skills of the existing workforce. This gap isn't just a minor operational challenge—it represents an existential threat to the sector's competitiveness, productivity, and long-term sustainability.

Last-Mile Innovation: How Logistics Leaders Are Redesigning Teams for the E-Commerce Era

By Karl Montgomery • May 14, 2025
The explosion of e-commerce has fundamentally transformed the logistics landscape, pushing traditional warehouse and distribution models beyond their limits. In the UK, where online penetration rates have increased from 9.3% to 26.6% between 2012 and 2022, logistics providers face mounting pressure to deliver faster, more flexible solutions while maintaining efficiency and controlling costs. This revolution isn't just changing what logistics teams do – it's transforming how they're structured, the skills they need, and the roles they're creating to meet the demands of the digital commerce age.

The Hidden Costs of Slow Hiring: Why Recruitment Efficiency Is Your Competitive Advantage

By Karl Montgomery • May 14, 2025
In today's fast-paced business environment, the ability to secure top talent quickly has become a critical competitive differentiator. Yet many organisations continue to struggle with prolonged hiring processes that not only frustrate candidates but also impact the bottom line in ways that often go unmeasured. While quality hiring decisions should never be rushed, there's a substantial difference between thorough assessment and unnecessary delays.

The Technical Interview Blueprint: How to Showcase Problem-Solving Skills Beyond Your CV

By Shazamme System User • May 12, 2025
In the competitive landscape of technical recruitment, your CV might secure you an interview, but it's your problem-solving prowess that will land you the job. Technical interviews have evolved far beyond simple knowledge checks, becoming sophisticated evaluations of how you approach challenges, communicate solutions, and adapt under pressure.

The Silent Dealbreaker: Why Candidates Reject Job Offers at the Last Minute

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
Picture this: after weeks of interviews, countless email exchanges, and meticulous CV screening, you've finally found the perfect candidate. The offer letter is sent, champagne is on ice—then silence. A few days later, the dreaded email arrives: "Thank you for the opportunity, but I've decided to pursue another option." Last-minute candidate rejections aren't just frustrating—they're expensive, time-consuming, and increasingly common in today's competitive job market. According to recent research by Robert Half UK, 42% of UK professionals have accepted a job offer but continued to interview for other roles. More alarmingly, 28% admitted to accepting an offer only to back out before starting. But why is this happening, and what can recruitment professionals and hiring managers do to prevent these eleventh-hour disappointments?

How Data-Driven Decision Making Can Transform Workforce Productivity

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
In today's competitive business landscape, intuition and experience remain valuable, but they're no longer sufficient on their own. UK businesses facing rising operational costs, increasing competition, and a challenging economic environment can no longer afford to make critical workforce decisions based on gut feeling alone. The difference between thriving and merely surviving increasingly depends on how effectively organisations leverage data to optimise their most valuable resource: their people. According to research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) , UK productivity growth has stagnated since the 2008 financial crisis, lagging behind other G7 nations. With the April 2025 minimum wage increases looming, businesses face growing pressure to extract maximum value from their workforce investments. The good news? The rise of workforce analytics provides unprecedented opportunities to identify inefficiencies, optimise performance, and cultivate environments where employees thrive. As Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Arts (RSA), noted in the UK Government's Good Work Review : "In a world of increasing workplace complexity, the organisations that thrive will be those that measure what matters and act on the insights." This blog explores how data-driven decision making can transform workforce productivity, examining practical approaches that UK businesses are implementing today with remarkable results.

The Battle for Skilled Workers: How Manufacturing Can Compete with Other Industries for Talent

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
Manufacturing in the UK faces a talent crisis of unprecedented proportions. While the sector contributes over £191 billion to the British economy according to Make UK, it's increasingly losing its most valuable resource—skilled workers—to competing industries. This talent exodus comes at a critical moment when technological advancement demands more specialised skills than ever before. The Manufacturing Skills Gap Survey reveals a stark reality: 83% of UK manufacturers struggle to recruit appropriate talent, while 64% report losing skilled employees to other sectors—particularly technology, logistics, and renewable energy. This isn't merely a staffing challenge but an existential threat to the industry's future competitiveness and innovation capacity. "Manufacturing has an image problem that masks its reality," notes Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK. "While other sectors have successfully repositioned themselves as modern, dynamic career destinations, manufacturing continues to battle outdated perceptions that undermine its appeal to today's workforce." The good news? Forward-thinking manufacturers are finding ways to reverse this trend, implementing innovative strategies that not only stem the tide of departing talent but successfully attract skilled workers from other industries. This blog explores how manufacturing can transform its approach to talent acquisition and retention, repositioning itself as an employer of choice in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

From Passive to Proactive: How to Build a Talent Pipeline That Eliminates Recruitment Panic

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
The scenario is all too familiar: a key team member hands in their notice, triggering an immediate scramble to fill the position. Job descriptions are hastily updated, recruitment agencies engaged, and hiring managers pulled into urgent meetings—all while business continuity hangs in the balance and costs mount. This reactive approach to recruitment isn't merely stressful; it's strategically flawed. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), UK organisations take an average of 28 days to fill a vacancy, with specialist roles often exceeding 12 weeks. During this time, productivity suffers, remaining team members face increased pressure, and opportunities are missed. The alternative? Building a proactive talent pipeline—a continuously nurtured pool of engaged, pre-qualified candidates ready to step into roles as they become available. This approach doesn't just reduce time-to-hire; it fundamentally transforms recruitment from an emergency response to a strategic advantage.

The Impact of Same-Day Delivery on Warehouse recruiting: Are You Prepared?

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
The race to deliver ever faster is transforming the logistics landscape. What began as Amazon's competitive edge has evolved into an industry-wide expectation, with same-day delivery rapidly becoming the new standard rather than a premium service. For warehouse and logistics leaders, this shift creates unprecedented operational challenges—none more pressing than how to recruit, train, and retain the workforce necessary to meet these accelerated timelines. According to the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) , the demand for warehouse space has increased by 32% since 2020, driven largely by e-commerce growth and the same-day delivery paradigm. Yet while physical capacity expands, the human capital challenge grows even more acute. A recent LogisticsUK survey found that 82% of warehouse operators cite staffing as their most significant constraint in meeting same-day delivery demands. This isn't merely a challenge of hiring more people—it's about recruiting differently for roles that have fundamentally changed. As Peter Ward, former CEO of UKWA, notes: "Same-day delivery hasn't just accelerated timelines; it's transformed the very nature of warehouse work, creating new roles requiring different skills and aptitudes than traditional warehouse positions."

How to Recruit for Shift-Based Roles Without Destroying Work-Life Balance

By Karl Montgomery • March 17, 2025
In today's competitive labour market, attracting quality candidates for shift-based roles presents a unique challenge for HR professionals. The CIPD Working Lives Report found that 68% of UK shift workers report negative impacts on their personal lives, yet many businesses rely entirely on shift patterns to maintain operations. The critical question becomes: how can organisations recruit effectively for these positions while preserving the well-being and work-life balance that today's workforce demands? Far from being an impossible task, creating attractive shift-based roles requires strategic thinking and innovative approaches to work design. Companies that get this right gain a significant competitive advantage in recruitment, retention, and productivity – all while supporting employee wellbeing.
Show More