In today’s highly competitive job market, attracting and maintaining a sustainable team is a challenge for both employers and recruitment consultants. In this blog, we will explore effective strategies for attracting the right candidates to your organisation. To build a talented and diverse workforce, organisations should be proactive in their recruitment strategy, engaging candidates through a number of compelling approaches that recognise candidate motivation and engage prospective employees. From job advertising to employee expectations and from adopting new technology to the employer brand, companies need to implement innovative strategies to keep pace with a fast-moving recruitment market.

The recruitment market is ever-evolving, and changes have to be embraced quickly to be sure of attracting and retaining the right people in a push towards sustainable recruitment. At Oliver King Consulting, we work with our clients to ensure that recruitment processes are proactive and ahead of the curve in a challenging job market. If you are currently hiring and need help from an experienced recruitment consultant to attract local people that want to work for you or need our assistance to make your recruitment process more effective, contact us today to discuss implementing a successful recruitment strategy.

Building an employer brand that stands out

Companies with a strong employer brand attract a sustainable workforce and candidates that are closely aligned to your business values. How you market your business and what employees say about working for you really matters in a recruitment strategy. According to an article in the Harvard Business Review last year, there are three main components to an employer brand:

1. Reputation

Business reputation is high on the list of job seekers today., so organisations need to create and portray a positive image both internally and externally. Job seekers are interested in moving their careers forward, so companies that are invested in their employees through development inside and outside the workplace are more attractive prospects.

In order to attract those in the local community seeking work, the culture of the workplace and its employees has to resonate with candidates. Happy employees are more productive, so the more closely aligned candidates are with the vision and values of an organisation, the better the prospect of success.

The reputation of a business within the wider context of community and social responsibility plays a big role in attracting candidates. Talented candidates want to work for companies that care about their locality and the global community. Initiatives that encompass diversity, demonstrate involvement in local schools and universities, and highlight fundraising for charity and a commitment to environmental projects, will be more attractive to an employer.

2. Proposition

An employer value proposition (EVP), represents the two-way relationship between an employer and its employees. It demonstrates what a company expects from workers, both from job performance and the wider context of employee behaviour, and also establishes what employees can expect in return for example:

  • Financial reward
  • Development opportunities/investment in training or further qualifications
  • Bonuses/perks
  • Health rewards
  • Flexible work options

Organisations need to keep their promises to uphold a good reputation in the recruitment market.

3. Experience

The reputation of a company is reflected in the experience of its employees. When current employees are fired up about working for an organisation and retention rates are high because of a positive employee experience, it enhances the performance of individuals and the company as a whole.

What can organisations do to make sure that their employer brand is strong? If businesses want to attract a sustainable team who share their vision and values, they have to show that they are a great company to work for:

  • Celebrate employee achievements on social media platforms/websites through pictures, reports and interviews
  • Shout about community involvement and initiatives through the local press, social media pages/website
  • Have clear environmental, slave, diversity, and social responsibility statements
  • Feature charity events, and fundraising activities via press, website and social media channels
  • Use clear job descriptions with inclusive language, a diversity statement, objectives, how goals will help the company to grow, performance measurements, and what candidates can expect in return
  • Use the careers page on the website! There is nothing more off-putting to candidates than old, out-of-date careers pages on a company’s website

We talked in more detail about the benefits of a strong employer brand and a positive candidate experience in our article titled ‘Is your current recruitment process harming your employer brand?’, if you would like to read more about the role of the employer brand in the recruitment process.

Levering technology and social media in the recruitment process

Technology

The advance of technology has had a major impact on the recruitment process. The majority of today’s job seekers live their whole lives online, so although the basic elements remain the same – job advertising, application, interview and offer, the methods have completely changed from a more time and labour-intensive manual process to leveraging technology throughout to speed up and streamline the experience for candidates. Today, the recruitment process mainly happens online:

  • Job advertising via job search engines, job boards, online media/newspapers, careers web pages, social media platforms
  • Adapting processes to embrace mobile technology, ensuring candidates can process their application via their smartphones
  • Online interviewing via Skype, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or Zoom

These changes were mainly driven by the pandemic, when processes had to change through necessity, but all have resulted in a more streamlined approach to recruitment, speeding up the process, and saving time and resources, whilst improving the candidate experience.

Social Media

Everyone is on social media. If recruiters want to connect with future employees, they have to be active on social media and use their platforms to:

  • Enhance the employer brand
  • Showcase employee experiences
  • Highlight company culture
  • Feature training/qualification achievements
  • Target job application via demographics/location
  • Attract passive candidates
  • Build a following based on shared values and culture

Actively using social media channels will establish a strong employer brand, so that when jobs are posted, they will attract the right candidates. For more on this subject, read this Forbes article ‘The power of social media in recruiting’.

Emphasising sustainable and inclusive recruitment practices

Sustainable recruitment

A challenging job market makes it more important than ever for organisations to retain good employees. The whole recruitment process is costly, (even when leveraging technology to streamline it), and companies invest £1000s to hire, onboard and train just one person. Creating long-term relationships with employees by finding the right candidate whose values are aligned with those of an organisation provides a rewarding, mutually beneficial connection for the long term.

For society as a whole, a growing awareness of social and environmental issues in recent years has driven change. Companies have to think about the impact of their operations on people and the planet rather than purely focusing on profit. Sustainability now affects every part of an organisation, including recruitment, with a focus on hiring the right person the first time, and then nurturing that relationship over time with a view to retaining an employee for as long as possible. The benefits of implementing a sustainable recruitment process include the following:

  • Lower cost of hire – right candidate, first time
  • Better ROI – reduce the cost of hiring over time
  • Building a strong employer brand
  • Higher employee retention rates
  • Improving the employee experience
  • Aligning values – good work/life balance
  • Improve productivity by fostering a feeling of belonging/involvement

Inclusive recruitment

Implementing inclusive recruitment practices will ensure an organisation recruits employees from the widest talent pool possible, ensuring it attracts a sustainable team from all areas of society. A workforce should represent the community as a whole and does not marginalise based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, gender, age or social background. As well as complying with the Equality Act 2010, inclusive recruitment practices bring many benefits to organisations, including:

  • Fresh ideas and innovation
  • Forge connections with marginalised communities
  • Higher employee retention rates
  • Operate in the ‘real world’ by employing a variety of experiences and backgrounds

Above all else, recruiters should focus on candidates with a passion for what they do and the organisation as a whole. Employee relationships should be nurtured via an inclusive onboarding process and further development, encouraging a long-term two-way, mutually beneficial relationship.

Recruitment market – current trends

Businesses have to adapt their recruitment process to make sure they are addressing the current trends in the recruitment industry:

  • Employer branding
  • Candidate experience
  • Engaging prospective candidates through social media platforms
  • Embracing new technology in recruitment processes
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Sustainable recruitment
  • Work/life balance – flexible working practices
  • Transferrable skills and internal mobility 
  • Promoting your CSR side

Like every profession, recruitment is organic with constant changes and new trends emerging. At Oliver King Consulting we adapt our approach to take emerging trends and changes into account, working with our clients to ensure that job seekers enjoy the best candidate experience possible.  By working closely with our clients, we get to know their organisations and objectives. If you are hiring or want to build a successful recruitment process unique to your business, contact us or book an appointment to start the collaboration process.

In today’s challenging job market, where candidates can prove difficult to engage, recruiters need to make sure they utilise all the tools in the box to build successful candidate relationships. Building a strong employer brand by highlighting the company values and ethos, implementing effective community and environmental initiatives and showcasing the employee experience will attract candidates who align their own values to those of the organisation, enhancing the prospect of a long-term relationship.

An effective recruitment strategy employs technology to streamline the recruitment process, cut costs and make the candidate experience engaging and enjoyable. Social media platforms provide an unrivalled opportunity to proactively engage with prospective candidates by sharing values, community initiatives and the employee experience, nurturing relationships with those who echo the same vision and values.

Creating a sustainable team from across society as a whole means welcoming candidates from every community to maximise the diversity of employees and bring new ideas and perspectives into the business. Moreover, incorporating sustainable recruitment practices will ensure that the right candidate has a unique and meaningful experience that can be nurtured and further developed into a career progression and long-term relationship that benefits both the employee and the organisation.