9 Strategies for Recruiting in a Candidate-Driven Market
The information in this article is timeless, but it is very relevant for the turbulent landscape that we find ourselves in at the moment. If you read this article and implement its advice, you will be better equipped to deal with the trends of todays fast moving recruitment landscape.
This article covers the following subjects and strategies:
1- Be Decisive and Fast! This WILL Make All The Difference!
2- Something That Most Interviewers Forget to do at The Interview Stage
3- The Recipe and Lure of Desirable Benefits Packages Vs More Money
4- The Power of Consolidation - Early Onboarding, Use it or Lose it!
5- 2021 Workforce Demographics - Do You Really Know Who You Are Dealing With?
6- You Need to be Aware of The Changing Company Climate
7- Your Hidden Weapon, Your Brand is King - Tactics For Using it!
8- Use Your Values and Company Culture to Win Top Talent
9- Think Beyond The Standard Social Media Platforms
Let’s start……
1- Be Decisive and Fast! This WILL Make All The Difference!
First of all, let's get this one right because it’s a big one! The long and short of it is you have to be decisive and make decisions fast.
Research suggests a large percentage of candidates will accept the first good job offer they receive. And 80% of candidates will choose one job offer over another based on the relationships they formed as part of the recruitment journey (IBM’s research – The Far-Reaching Impact of Candidate Experience) So, both of these issues need to be addressed, but if you don’t get the first one right, you may not get the chance to win on the second! Get them both right and you win more often than not! Have a look at the following 4 tactics, these will give you a good start.
Tactic 1:
First of all, if your company has a lengthy HR process, prepare for it so you can get the offer out within 24 hours of a final stage interview. Make sure ahead of the interview that 24 hours is possible and that there are no potential hold-ups in the system. Try and put things in place before the interview to make this a smooth, fast process. You’d be amazed how often a good candidate slips through the net because a key decision-maker is unavailable to authorise sign off. Delivering the offer within 24 hours will give the Candidate confidence and raises the likelihood of them accepting. Remember if you think this is the right person, be sure to be the first one to get an offer to them both verbally and in writing.
Tactic 2:
A good strategy to apply in making fast decisions is to make sure you have done your research and know what you are looking for. This may sound obvious and simple, but what if you see a knockout candidate but they have not quite got the experience or that qualification you wanted? Sometimes your gut instinct on a person can go a long way, so be flexible and look outside the “norm” and then set your parameters. In the post-COVID recruitment landscape to think creatively and look at candidates that lay outside your original remit is a clever tactic. You can train most people in anything, you can't train a good temperament and the motivation to succeed! Taking too long to deliberate over compromises will likely result in someone being taken from under your nose. Remove deliberation from your decision-making process by spending a bit of extra time upfront working out all the logistics of the person you may need, and be creative with this! Now you are not in deliberation mode, if you find the right person then you can act upon it fast. A great potential candidate could take another offer if you spend too much time on the decision.
Tactic 3
We are touching on interview strategies with this one which we will delve further into in the next section, but on the topic of being decisive why not show that you are decisive in the interview? If the person has impressed you, then tell them so! Don’t hold back on giving great feedback. Whilst it’s not advisable to put someone on the spot by making a job offer during the interview, it might be useful to introduce them to the team and potential coworkers. If following the interview you make an offer, this would go a long way to them feeling wanted, included and important. They could leave your interview and receive an offer from another company so you still need to be in the game at this point. Letting them know you are very interested in them and are considering them for the position keeps you in the game, especially if they prefer you!
Tactic 4
If you know the person is for you, or has the potential to be, discuss any issues they face that may prevent them from accepting a job. For instance, inflexible hours and long commute times. Address these issues as they will be thinking about this when they eventually make a decision, so why not put their mind at ease at this stage? Again, be decisive during the interview with what you can do for them, it will give the person real confidence that you want them. Let’s round all this up. Be as quick and as decisive as you can, not only before the interview but also during your time with the candidate. As soon as you have a decision call the person straight away, put the offer to them and say you will confirm in writing within 24 hours. You know it is a fast-paced job market at the moment, so use this as an advantage rather than getting caught out by it.
2- Something That Most Interviewers Forget to do at The Interview Stage
There are lots of articles on how to hold a good interview so swat up on them. Also, remember new hires are accustomed to being interviewed and hired without sometimes even stepping foot in an office. So make sure your virtual interview system is as good as your traditional one. All this aside, we are going to highlight one that really counts. Don’t think your Candidate will be excited just because they have read your job spec. The interview is one of the major influencing factors for candidates. At the interview stage, you should be talking about your company culture and the highlights of working for your company. Interviewers often don’t sell their organisation enough in the interview. This is very important to do in the current recruitment climate. We have cited the IBM white paper earlier, but it states that “Providing a great candidate experience can no longer be seen as a ‘nice to have' for organisations. Rather, it is a fundamental requirement with far-reaching implications.” This is a long way from the older more traditional ideas of how an interview should be run, so bear this in mind when you are prepping for your interviews, make sure it is the best one you can give using modern interview techniques, it could make all the difference.
3- The Recipe and Lure of Desirable Benefits Packages Vs More Money
Money is not everything, but we are seeing if you want the best people you need a mix of competitive remuneration and a great benefits package. As the cost of living and inflation goes up, pay needs to keep in touch with this. But, Pay rises aren’t enough to motivate job seekers, saying all that if you are not in the ballpark with pay you may suffer getting good candidates through the door in the first place.
Flexible and remote working is seen as being increasingly popular. Within the UK more than a quarter of employees said they see a high value in possible additional leave and flexibility with future sabbaticals. People these days are putting positive experiences on the same level as money. Showing you have the resources, information and training necessary for a candidate to grow and perform highly in their role is important too. We have established people are looking for an engaging employer, so why not ask them where they see their future and offer them structured help and training to get them there? It is one thing saying you can climb the company ladder, and it is another saying you will invest yearly in structured training to help get them there successfully!
At the end of the day, it can’t just be about great perks and low wages. You need to get the people through the door in the first place to consolidate them with the perks and benefits. If you find someone worth hiring, then they are worth paying for. Offering under the salary going rate is just going to lead to time wasted and problems. Post-COVID even offering a base rate may not tempt someone away from an existing post. Do your salary research beforehand, this is important to get it right in the current recruiting climate. A good overall package and remuneration will see you do well.
4- The Power of Consolidation - Early Onboarding, Use it or Lose it!
Losses over competition and counter-offers in a candidate-driven market are inevitable. But we need to make sure we are doing our best to reduce losses at any stage of the recruitment process with planning and clever thinking!
Ghosting is on the rise! Ghosting is a phenomenon when people you have engaged with disappear without a trace! When your company makes a job offer to a candidate they abruptly do not get back to you and don’t turn up for their first day at work. This not only happens leading up to the job start dates, but it can also happen in interviews. It was reported that a Commercial Director in Oxford had arranged interviews with five good candidates for a job, paying up to £40,000 a year and only one of the five bothered to turn up. This type of behaviour is on the increase so put strategies in place to help. This may change in an economic downturn but putting a solution in place is just a good best practice in any economy.
If you have an onboarding strategy within your company covering all the standard letters of offer, contracts logistics, IT integration, office logistics, employee induction and company orientation, you may want to think about adding a touchpoint strategy to it. Keep regular touchpoints between the time you offer the position to their actual start date. A good post-interview consolidation strategy can start with a phone call a few days after they have accepted the offer. Tell them you are looking forward to having them on board and working with them. You would be amazed how this small gesture can really consolidate the thoughts of your future employee. Also, ask them if they are apprehensive about anything and if they need any additional information before they start. New employees appreciate this, it makes them feel wanted and respected, you can also get a feeling if doubt may be entering into their mind too. Another good integration tactic is to ask your existing employees to connect with them on Linkedin. Just keep giving those regular touchpoints, show that the company cares then you know you have done your best on the ghosts of this world! It's a worthwhile investment and reduces the risk of a first day no show.
5- 2022 Workforce Demographics - Do You Really Know Who You Are Dealing With?
Let us look at who we may be dealing with before we can put an unbeatable package together for them. Did you know 35% of millennials and 24% of Generation Z’ (born later than 1997) make up 59% of the global workforce? According to (Deloitte) 75% of the global workforce will be made up of millennials by 2025. Looking at your candidate demographic needs to influence your recruitment strategies. It would seem from research that millennials value more than just pay, they have a keen interest in the company culture and get inspired by the company's purpose. Understanding your candidates can go a long way to putting together a great focused package for them.
6- You Need to be Aware of The Changing Company Climate
Of course, it is not just Gen Z and Millennials that are looking for better work lifestyles. Fueled by the debate and new working trends, the concept of working in a great environment and from home post-COVID has filtered into the wider workforce. The world is a small place now, people look at the trends of Silicon Valley companies, those with engaging, fun environments and cool brands and wonder what it would be like to work for them. In our social-savvy world of company communications, candidates have had their attention drawn to companies that have strong visions, selfless values and focus on a positive company culture. These companies although probably not in the majority are starting to become the desired working standard for high-quality candidates. More and more people are looking for something different, refreshing and exciting when looking for a move. Don't worry, there are simple things you can start to implement that will help with this. We cover some of these in the next few sections.
7- Your Hidden Weapon, Your Brand is King - Tactics For Using it!
Whether you like it or not, hiring has changed. Way before your potential candidate has even entered the job market, your company has had the opportunity to have been feeding subconscious positive messages to them, through employment branding efforts. If you have not been using this as a strategy you may want to start considering implementing this, as the companies that do will take the first advantage.
You spend time and budget marketing to your clients but, servicing them with quality employees is just as important. You may want to get into the mindset of marketing constantly to potential employees. This works in two ways, firstly, candidates may reach out to you directly as they feel it would be a great place to work. Secondly, if you do advertise directly or through an agency people may have seen you around, and that can just be what they need to decide to join you. Don't just stop there, treat your job specification and advertisements as a marketing project and make yourself stand out from the crowd! Whether you are thinking of hiring or not, why not consider setting a yearly marketing budget for talent attraction, you just do not know when you will need it!
Be impartial, forget what you know about your company and research yourself online. Imagine you have just got an interview there. What do you see? Does the information motivate you to want to work for the company? If the answer is no, then you know you need to work on this as soon as you can! This is not wasted time in your overall marketing strategy or budget, many clients also love to see you have a great company culture for your employees too.
9-Think Beyond The Standard Social Media Platforms
Think about embracing trusted review platforms like Trustpilot for your business. Encountering good reviews online is such a positive thing. If you are looking to join a company and see positive reviews, it really helps the decision-making process. Reviews about great experiences and good customer service are strong indicators that you are potentially a good place to work for. Yes, you will get the odd bad review, but we all understand that. If the majority are positive your brand looks so much stronger!
Glassdoor is a great way for a potential candidate to look at what it is like to work for you, so don't just leave it down to the occasional disgruntled employee to leave a bad review on there. If that is all people see, it shows your employees are probably not that engaged with your company. If you have employees that love championing the business, remind them that Glassdoor is a great place to do this. Stress there is no obligation, but that you value their opinion, good or bad. Tell them you feel it may help attract like-minded people to the company and having more positive people that you appreciate can't be a bad thing! Can it!?
Conclusion
We have a lot more information that can help with the interview procedure in our blog section, maybe you are looking to employ a more mobile temporary workforce to manage your business environment. If you are, our 'Managing A Successful Temporary Workforce' downtown is a must-read. When looking at potential employees do they fit culturally? Have a look at our 'What Does Cultural Fit Actually Mean', we go in-depth on this subject for you! Lastly, why not have a look at our 'How can you reduce time in your hiring process?'. This article adds a bit more information in and arround this artical.
The main thing is to remember we are entering a new state of employment and recruitment. After COVID-19 and with soaring inflation and war, people's attitudes are changing and there are very different outcomes for people. Some people want more work, some people are just looking to earn more money, some are looking to cut back on working times and others are leaving their job to regain balance in life. The diverse employment market means you have to be switched on and competitive to get the best out of it. Employ some of our ideas in this article and you will start seeing an improvement, but remember, to stay flexible and move with the times.