Listen to me – it’s not about the pay
A business contact (let’s call him Matt) recently shared a recruitment experience with us that speaks volumes about the chasm that sometimes exists between candidates and employers. Matt received a call from a Head of HR after turning down a job offer. The call went like this:
HR: I’m calling as we are surprised you turned down our job offer.
Matt: Thanks you for the offer but I felt I couldn’t accept.
HR: But the job paid £10,000pa more than you currently earn, did you get a counter offer to stay where you are?
Matt: No I didn’t, I’m staying with the company at the same salary. It’s not about money, as I explained during my interviews.
HR: Then I don’t understand. After we invested in a written assessment, two telephone interviews, two face to face interviews and call with the CEO, I would have thought an offer of a position paying £10,000 more was an easy decision.
Matt: As I’ve said a few times, it’s not about the money.
HR: I don’t understand.
Matt: The recruitment process you invested in took over six weeks. One of the telephone interviews was put back twice and when I turned up on time for the second interview I was kept waiting for over 30 minutes. I was told to expect to find out about an offer within 5 days but heard nothing for another two weeks when I got the call to speak with your CEO. The job offer came another week later.
Apparently the head of HR went on to explain that the CEO was very busy and they had to take time to be ‘sure’ Matt was the right person. From Matt’s point of view the head of HR was just digging bigger holes.
Some employers still fail to understand that candidates have choices and that the way they are treated throughout the recruitment process says lots about what a company might be like to work for. Lack of respect, a drawn out time consuming process and slow decision making are cited over and over again as reasons why a good candidate turns down a job offer.
It seems that often it’s the employer who is hung up about pay, when the potential employee is looking at the whole employment package.
Tricia Hay and David Tovey
Five tips that will help you find the best talent
It’s a buyers market
A client recently described the current recruiting environment as a ‘buyers’ market. We understand the sentiment – candiates are no longer desperate for a job, they are discerning about which jobs they will apply for.
It’s not easy finding the right candidates at times of high employment and the cost of taking on the wrong person can be high – potentially many thousands of pounds invested in recruitment, on boarding, training plus the hidden consequential costs of unhappy colleagues and customers (not to mention the cost of re-recruitment).
Here are our five tips for staying ahead of the curve at a time when employment rates are high and candidates are in the driving seat.
1. Be creative
More and more of the best employers are telling us that they will find or adapt roles for the best talent. When they recognise that a candidate has the qualities they need, they are prepared to invest in ‘technical’ training to ensure they don’t miss out on the opportunity to bring in people that can make a long term contribution to the goals of the business.
2. Be decisive
In a ‘buyers’ market, more than ever you have to be prepared to take action and avoid losing candidates because of slow follow up. Good candidates have choices and lack of timely follow up can suggest indifference and discourtesy. It is the number one frustration candidates have with employers that is shared on social media. Don’t become a bad news story!
3. Communicate your employer brand
Use attractive language that highlights the benefits and rewards of working in your organisation. Instead of just listing 15 things that candidates must have in order to apply, take the opportunity to hook candidates and convince them that they ‘have’ to work for you. Communicate positive messages on social media and make sure the ‘work for us’ pages on your web site a kept up to date and inspire potential employees.
4. It’s not always about ‘fit’
If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got. Sometimes you need to bring in people who will challenge the existing culture and bring new ideas. Don’t automatically dismiss good people because they might not ‘fit in’ – they might just bring the energy you need to move your business to the next level.
5. Apply some TLC
Make your recruitment process candidate friendly by using some TLC – Thinking Like a Candidate. Put yourself in the shoes of a potential employee and ask yourself if your recruitment process is candidate friendly or if it there just to make your life easier. Remember that every person that goes through your recruitment process, whether you take them on or not, has the potential to share their experience far and wide. Treat candidates as, hopefully, you treat your best customers.
Recruiting the right people has never been easy and it’s even more difficult right now. Investing more effort in these five tips should help.
Tricia Hay and David Tovey
Want help with how to attract the best candidates? Contact tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk
Why should I work for you?
Establishing your Employer Brand
By Tricia Hay and David Tovey
The ability to attract and retain the best talent in the market is key for any organisation, but never more so than in highly competitive sectors where niche skill sets are in high demand.
Right now there is fierce competition for the best ‘talent’, employment levels are high and candidates are ever more discerning about which employers they will consider joining.
What is an employer brand?
“Employer brand is what people say about your reputation as employer when you are not in the room”
Employer brand refers to the perceptions that key stakeholders, and specifically current and potential employees, have of your company, business or organisation. It is about how they view the company; from how you conduct yourselves in the market, through to what they think it would be like to work for you. An effective employer brand presents your organisation as a good employer and a great place to work and can, as a result, help with recruitment, retention and generally affect market perception of your company.
A clear employer brand offers significant benefits to an organisation. It can significantly improve job application rates and put your company and provide a wide pool of top candidates to choose from. In tight recruitment markets, where competition for the best talent is fierce, it can also help keep an organisation top of mind, make your company stand out in a crowded market and provide compelling reasons to join your company rather than going elsewhere.
It’s about retention too
In organisations where values, culture and desired behaviours have been deeply embedded across the organisation, employers are more likely to benefit from an increased level of engagement from employees. Improved employee engagement and motivation has a well-established link shown to greater productivity and higher retention rates; all of which contribute to retaining skills and knowledge, and ultimately improving bottom line results.
Increased engagement with a brand also helps to build employee loyalty, thus reducing the risk of losing your best people to competitors, and avoiding the financial implications of recruiting and on-boarding their replacements.
With such significant benefits it isn’t surprising that employers across all sectors and of all sizes are investing in developing and more effectively communicating their employer brand.
Establishing your brand
Questions to consider when establishing your employer brand include:
- The current perception of working for your organisation (internally and externally) and how this affects your ability to recruit the people you need.
- The roles critical to your future success and what you need to do to attract the best candidates.
- The most attractive attributes of the organisation to existing and potential employees.
When you have a clear understanding of the above you can start to build a picture of what reputation you want to communicate as an employer and, even more importantly, ensure that this is fully embedded into the culture of the business.
If you would like to know more about how First-Base can help you develop your employer brand contact tricia.hay@first-base.co.uk
CV help and interview advice – free sessions
Join me at our offices in Stroud; 9-10 Rowcroft, Stroud, Glos. GL5 3AZ
If you, or anyone you know is looking for a new job, pop in between 11.00am and 2.00pm on a Wednesday for coffee, biscuits and job opportunities!
We’re a friendly, local, owner managed employment agency in Stroud; currently looking to recruit people* for a wide range of jobs throughout Gloucestershire.
Currently recruiting for the following roles specifically:
– Finance related admin roles (full time, permanent)
– Engineering
– Industrial (Manufacturing, Warehousing, Labouring, Assembly)
– Forklift Truck Drivers
*A great work ethic is essential and your own vehicle will help.
enquiries@first-base.co.uk
01453 755330
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