Tips for Attracting and Recruiting Top Talent in a Candidate-Driven Market
With reports in August from the CIPD and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that the employment market is remaining steady as a candidate-driven market, what does this mean for employers?
The ONS’s recent report on the UK’s labour market highlights that employment is at its joint-highest rate since records began, at 76.1%, with unemployment also remaining low at just 4.0%.
The CIPD report highlights an increasing number of ‘hard to fill’ vacancies across all sectors, accounting for 67% of vacancies.
A candidate-driven market means the supply of talent is not readily available to fulfil organisations recruitment needs. As a result, employers need to review their recruitment practices and think outside the box in order to attract and retain top talent.
Here are some tips to help companies attract top talent:
- Develop an employer brand. Think about; what makes you different from any other organisation? Why would candidates want to join your company? What makes employees want to stay with you? A good employer brand can enable you to attract, retain and engage with the right people.
- Review employee benefits; benefits need to align with the company and its employees whilst also being attractive to candidates and employees.
- Write good and honest job descriptions; this will allow a candidate to understand the responsibilities and duties that are expected of them when they join.
- Promote employee referral programs; if you’ve got great people working for you already, they may know great people who could join your company. Set up a reward scheme to encourage your employees to access their own network when you have a vacancy.
- Grow your own talent; apprenticeships, graduate schemes, contacting local schools and colleges. Allowing employees to develop in their roles very often makes them feel more valued and more invested in the company.
- Use social media platforms; not only is this important as technology is evolving, social media platforms allow you to showcase your company and job vacancies.
- Make contact with passive candidates; these are people who are not looking to make their next career move but have the skills you are looking for. Make use of social media to show you are truly interested in an individual, and even if they don’t join you straight away they’ll know you’re keen for when they are ready for their next career move.
- When using job boards, don’t wait for the 30 day window to close before reviewing candidates: top talent will move quickly, so don’t hold off contacting them straight away.
- Interviews are a two way process; candidates will be assessing if they want to work for you and your company as much as you are assessing if they have the right skills and aptitude for the role. Make a candidate feel comfortable, let them meet the team, and get a feel for the office environment.
- Communicate with candidates throughout the recruitment cycle; the recruitment cycle can be a long process, so ensure you keep candidates engaged by regularly informing them of where you are in the process. This will also help you understand how their job search is going, and if they have any other offers on the table.
- Ensure an excellent onboarding experience; now you’ve recruited your ideal candidate for the role, don’t lose them by not making them feel welcome.
If you would like further guidance or support on recruitment or require advice on other people management matters please contact Clover HR on 0121 516 0299 or email us at info@cloverhr.co.uk
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