Tips to improve your recruitment

There are plenty of articles and news clips about how it is an employee market at the moment – and it is. Candidates have competitive options, and businesses and organisations are struggling to bring in candidates.

It’s time for businesses to adapt to the changing job market and start appealing to the demands of job seekers. We have compiled a list of the top six things candidates and employees want. Retaining established quality employees is the best solution for businesses, but we can’t expect our team members to be able to cover every job role.

If you aren’t getting candidates applying to your positions, look at the list below and see if you can add some value to your proposition.

Top six things candidates (and employees) want:

1. Flexibility. COVID-19 changed the way we work across industries. How your team perform their roles has been turned on its head. If your team members could work from home during COVID-19 – why should they be expected to return to an office 9-5 role? Many team members want flexibility, and there are various ways employers can build this into their business in a way that suits the majority. If you can offer full-time Work From Home (WFH), this might be suitable for your team who are living in different parts of the country or foreign countries. Hybrid-working seems to be the most sought-after, having some days in the office and the rest WFH. Another change is when the hours are worked, compressing the traditional five-day work week into a four-day work week without cutting pay, or starting earlier or finishing later. One-third of Australians are now seeking WFH as a standard in their next role.
2. High remuneration and salary reviews. Offering the base award wage is not enough when the cost of living keeps rising faster than the wage growth. Above award wages and sign-on bonuses make you an attractive employer. Candidates want to know they are being paid fairly and treated equally. There is growing pressure to remove the silencing of remuneration. People are talking about how much they are getting paid and how much they should be paid. Uncompetitive remuneration will see candidates declining your offer quickly. As well as offering increased remuneration, salary reviews are essential to discuss achievements and pay raises. At a minimum, this should be done annually, not just in line with the minimum wage review.
3. Longevity. Another impact of COVID-19 was the sheer amount of job loss and unemployment. People want to job security. They want progression, and if you aren’t offering a career progression, chances are you will have a higher turnover of employees. You can help mitigate these fears by reducing the trial or probationary periods and having regular mentoring or catchups with your team members. You have to remember that your job isn’t a job for your candidates, it’s their career, and they will want to keep moving up the ladder. Offer professional development opportunities for casuals, PT, and FT team members to help them progress through your business.
4. Employee Well-being. It’s not enough to have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and not back it up with leadership. If your team members don’t have a productive and healthy lifestyle outside of work, how can we expect them to give 100% of their energy during work? Leadership must actively back and advocate these programs, meet with the team regularly to explain the benefits and encourage the use of the EAP at every opportunity. The EAP must become part of the everyday culture and all stigma removed. It’s not enough to offer a cuppa on R U OK? Day and not back it up throughout the year. When team members have a productive home life, they will have a more productive work life.
5. Healthy working conditions. Everyone is different, so it doesn’t make sense to offer a one size fits all approach. Get to know and understand your candidates and team members, find out what they need to thrive and come up with an offer. Do they prefer to work by the window? Do they need a quiet workspace, or can they use noise-cancelling headphones? You don’t have to provide every request, but working with your team to ensure they feel valued will benefit you with a more loyal and productive team.
6. Fast recruitment process. Review your recruitment process and determine where the roadblocks are and how to remove them. Are you spending weeks deliberating about a candidate only to find they have accepted another position? Are you expecting them to meet 100% of your job requirements when they can meet 70% and learn the rest? Are you roadblocking yourself? Do you spend too much time on recruitment with minimal returns? Candidates are not waiting on you. They have options and power here.

It’s hard to find great candidates, but it can be done. There are strategies you can implement to benefit your recruitment process. If you’re still struggling or don’t have the time, reach out to our team, who are experts at finding unfindable candidates.