It has been noted that today’s hiring environment is ultra-competitive. Recruiters across many sectors / industries are unable to find candidates due to a variety of reasons–chief among them is the demand-supply deficit. This holds true especially for the Indian IT hiring but applies to a variety of non-IT positions as well. There are far too many openings (demand) and proportionately low availability of suitable candidates (supply), thus making hiring very difficult.
It is crucial to understand that the candidates’ priorities and expectations are changing as well. What was important to candidates once may not be so today. For example, a survey conducted by Monster in the United Kingdom in November 2021 discovered that support and care for employees is the primary criteria for selecting and / or staying with a company. Surely the pandemic had something to do with this development. In fact, the pandemic has reprogrammed our relationship with work itself!
There are some steps that firms / recruiters can take to improve their efficiency and get better results. To begin with, it is imperative to analyze what motivates candidates, and ensure that it gets covered while communicating with the candidates–whether through job postings or personalized comms that are sent out. What you say to aspirants / applicants, how you say it, and when you say it will make all the difference when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.
The 8 key factors:
Here are the eight key factors that can make all the difference for recruiters / employers:
- Concern and Care.
- Is it clear you care for your employees?
- Do you have a benefits model that shows concern for employees’ overall wellbeing?
- Have you addressed mental health?
- Do you have accessibility measures in place?
- Application Experience:
- Are you providing the best possible journey for applicants?
- Are the candidates kept informed about the status of their application?
- Are your schedules flexible to accommodate the candidates’ availability?
- Does the JD cover the roles & responsibilities as well the required skillset in adequate detail?
- Security.
- Are you talking about the financial security of your business on your website / company profile?
- Do you have a history of layoffs?
- Is there a major corporate decision looming that is publicly known?
- All-round Growth.
- Do you upskill your employees?
- Do you recognize their accomplishments and provide opportunities for career growth?
- Is there a visible path to promotion?
- Do you have a ‘future fit’ programme?
- Stimulation.
- Is the work interesting and stimulating?
- How are you different from other companies?
- Do you have employee-friendly policies?
- How does the organization value to society?
- Work Environment.
- Does your company have a positive work atmosphere?
- Do you promote teamwork?
- Do you host social events and do anything for team / employee bonding?
- Impact.
- Can the candidates contribute to the organization beyond the JD?
- Are the employees encouraged to come up with and implement new ideas?
- Do you reward innovation and out of the box thinking?
- Compensation:
- Is your pay competitive?
- Are your appraisals competitive?
- Do you provide salary corrections in case a candidate is going over and beyond?
The values listed above apply to all the different generations of workers, albeit in a unique proportion. While ‘concern and care’ has come up as the most important factor for the younger generation of workers like GenZ and Millennials, more experienced workers are motivated by ‘security’ and ‘compensation’, in that order. Further, ‘work environment’ has come up as an important factor for workers across all age groups.
Be vocal about your values
In most cases, the employer brand plays a bigger role than the job itself or the performance of the business. An undesirable employer reputation will absolutely kill any chance of recruitment success. All necessary steps must be taken to ensure that the employer espouses the values that proclaim. Employer branding goes beyond virtue-signaling – we all know actions speak louder than words. Here’s a stat to drive home the point: nearly 70% of respondents of a survey said that they would prefer to remain unemployed over joining a firm with a bad reputation!
Now, of course, recruiters cannot be held accountable for the reputation of the company. This rests with the higher ups within the organization. But recruiters have a great vantage point when it comes to employer branding and must do the following:
- Communicate the employer stands for
- Provide employer branding insights to the management periodically
There are millions of open vacancies in today’s job market. Highly sought-after candidates have the pick of their choice as they have multiple offers in hand. Potential candidates want to know the employer’s attitude towards these factors before even considering applying for the job. Here’s a checklist that can help recruiters better attract talent:
- Have you communicated all that you need to?
- Do the candidates know what you stand for?
- Have you looked at what other candidates are saying about your company?