I seem to have spent a lot of time lately discussing with clients the pitfalls and frustrations of a marketplace that seems void of quality talent. Business owners, managers and decision makers have been questioning whether it’s their business, their culture, what they have to offer, their clients, projects, salaries, benefits or any other tiny detail that has caused them to be in a situation where they are finding top quality talent hard to attract. In most cases, the simple reason is: there are not enough quality candidates in the market to fill available positions. In our local marketplace, we see this in many technical, specialist and professional areas, such as engineers, chartered accountants and technical managers. But the same situation could apply to any market at any point in time – it’s a matter of pure supply/demand economics.
So how do you attract candidates to your business in this market?
In my opinion, there are two key things to look at:
- Rule out the obvious; you need to look really carefully at your business, and attitudes, to make sure it’s not in fact you and your pre-set ideas which are excluding your ideal candidate. What I mean by this is:
- Are you paying a fair market salary which would attract your ideal candidate?
- Are you looking for a candidate with ‘all the bells and whistles,’ but in fact are not allowing this applicant to use all of these on the job?
- Are you looking for more in a candidate than what the role really needs?
- Are you looking for someone who actually doesn’t really exist?
- Once you have ruled this out, you now need to think about how you can attract the candidates you want in a market that is not on your side. And my simple solution is this – think outside the box.
The reality is that it’s not going to be easy, but if you fight on the same grounds as every other employer, you’ll probably lose in one way or another. So think laterally, think like a candidate and think left field! Like when assessing your sales and marketing mix, you look for your Unique Selling Point, do the same as an employer.
What can you offer a candidate that’s better, different or more exciting than other employers in your marketplace?
While salary is always important to candidates, it’s often not the deal breaker, and many candidates are happy to ‘trade’ a little on salary if their other desires are met within a role. So can you offer more exciting projects, creative outlets within work time, other non-monetary benefits like flexible work hours or multiple locations? Get creative, think outside the box and get your applicants attention!
