In my last blog, I wrote about retaining your top talent in the midst of the “great resignation”, I’ve invited some of my esteemed colleagues to write about the kinds of things leaders need to pay attention to and this week I’d like to introduce you to Alison Hughes of Dynami Careers, here Alison shares her advice about how to recruit in a tight talent market…
We are currently experiencing what recruiters call a “candidates’ market”. This is when job seekers hold the position of power in the job market.
Job vacancies are at an all-time high (1.25 million in the UK in Q4 of 2021). There has been a rise in economically inactive adults, reportedly driven by older workers dropping out of the labour force and about 2% of the UK population self-reporting as suffering from long COVID. Recruitment firms and headhunters have more vacancies than ever before, coupled with fewer candidates than ever before. And these candidates are increasingly choosy about what jobs and organisations would whet their appetites.
All of this means that it is currently extremely difficult to recruit top talent. Leaders, alongside HR and talent teams, need to significantly up their game to attract the right sort of hires at all levels.
So, what can you do? Based upon my experience of nearly 20 years in recruitment and career coaching, I have two pieces of advice – innovate and captivate.
Innovate
In a candidates’ market, you need to approach recruitment with an innovative mindset.
Reimagine the role
Most recruitment processes start with the job description. If your vacancy has arisen because someone in your team has left, then normal practice is to hunt around for their JD, dust it off and send it to the recruiters.
But… hold your horses.
This is missing a massive opportunity for you to potentially reshape the team, re-engage and remotivate them and to cast the net more widely in terms of what you are really looking for.
Bin the old job description. It’s time to take a much more flexible approach.
Use the vacancy as an opportunity to find out how your team members are currently feeling about their roles. Are they using their strengths? Do they have a clear view of the team’s vision and their place in it? This activity can be as simple as talking to each of your team members about their role and their aspirations as well as about the vacancy and what ideas they might have for reshaping the team and the role. The same applies if it is a brand new role in the team.
The new JD should be as inclusively broad as possible. Think about what the essential skills, qualifications and experience really are. Challenge yourself on each point. Does this person really need a degree? Do they really need industry experience? Even better, get someone else to challenge the essential points and see if you can justify them against scrutiny.
The ideal is to have as few essential characteristics as possible. This will truly open up the candidate pool. Don’t forget, it’s said that most women need to tick 100% of the “essentials” of a job before they will consider themselves worthy as a candidate.
Increase the candidate pool
There are two great ways to increase the candidate pool.
Firstly, have you considered internal talent? This could be members of your current team or other people in the organisation. Internal candidates already have a personal network, have built their reputation and have a track record of performance. They also understand and (hopefully) align with the organisational culture. So, make sure the vacancy is advertised and networked internally.
The second way to increase the candidate pool is to tap into the passive candidate market. These are the candidates who are in other organisations and not actively looking for a role at the moment – usually because they are performing well and are highly motivated.
There are a couple of ways for you to reach these people.
The first is to use a search firm or you may have an internal search function. These are essentially “headhunters” who have a network in your industry or function. They know who the top talent are, where to find them and what these individuals are looking for ie what would tempt them to move. They can approach individuals on your behalf, start to market your firm, sell the opportunity and help you to navigate the offer process.
The second is to grow and cultivate your own network so that you can spot industry talent and build relationships with individuals who may be able to add value to your team now or in the future. If you don’t have a network, my best advice is to start building one now – “The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The second best time is now.” (Chinese Proverb)
Captivate
Once you’ve got a good candidate pool, you now need to captivate your audience. Don’t forget that the power is with the candidate and this shifts the emphasis of the conversation somewhat. With all candidates, but particularly with passive candidates, it is essential that you sell the opportunity.
Why would someone take a risk on leaving a job and/or organisation where they are happy and performing well? You need to convince them that your role/organisation is better.
A recent Employee Experience study by Willis Towers Watson highlighted the following as most important to employees:
- Understanding the organisation’s purpose
- An inclusive culture where they can fit in
- An organisation that is adaptable to change
- Feeling like they have a voice
- Being fairly paid
- Being able to develop themselves and fulfil their potential
- To work collaboratively and have a good boss
- To trust the organisation’s leadership
Making sure that you can sell the opportunity, taking these points into consideration will hold you in very good stead.
Three things to avoid
Before I finish, I’d just like to share a few things that I’ve seen leaders get wrong when recruiting. Try not to fall into any of these traps!
- Being opaque about salary – be upfront and transparent about the budget for the role and any flexibility – don’t let the process fall at this final hurdle;
- Not giving proper feedback – for any candidate who has been interviewed and then rejected, give them some concrete feedback that will help them develop. Vague or the absence of feedback can leave a bad impression and negatively impact the market view of your organisation.
- Unconscious bias – easy for me to say, but try to bring your biases to a conscious level. Offering a candidate because you “like them” (normally because they are similar to you) is not a fair recruitment process and won’t benefit you and your team in the long run.
I believe that hiring new recruits is a great opportunity to make sure that your whole team is performing, happy, energised and engaged. It can also have a very positive impact on your own personal fulfilment as a leader. Have fun – innovate and captivate!
Alison Hughes is a Professional Certified Coach and Careers Expert. She works with individuals and organisations to create environments and career paths where everyone can flourish. Find out more at www.dynami-careers.com or email alison@dynami-careers.com
