Our founder Stephen Carter sat down to write an insightful piece about the current talent shortage many business are experiencing. Keep reading below to hear his insights on what business should do to secure talent during these tough times.
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I have worked in the recruitment industry for 23 years and have never seen such an imbalance between the supply and demand for talent.
Given the industry is so talent short here are 5 tips to improve the odds of securing talent in your organisation:
1) Speed is of the essence.
How long does your recruitment process take? Are you able to make a decision on someone well fitted without points of comparison? How long does the letter of offer and contract take to be sent post verbal offer? Without speed you may lose out on the rare great candidate.
2) What physical infrastructure do you have to support your people within the organisation?
What is your office like? Is it a physically attractive place to work? What learning and development is provided for your talent – is this best in class? What remuneration and benefits are provided to your people - is this competitive with what the market is paying?
3) What alliances and relationships do you have in place to help find talent?
Firstly, you should have the trust and confidence in your own people who should be referring their friends and ex colleagues to work for you. Secondly, what is the strength of the relationships you have with recruitment firms? Because consciously or sub consciously recruiters will refer good people to the firms they have a strong alliance with. And trust me there are plenty of organisations that begrudgingly treat recruiters as unfortunate positions of last resort rather than trusted extensions of their business.
4) It all starts with your culture.
When talent comes to interview at your business and they ask about the culture and leadership within your organization how enthusiastically do your people talk about these things?
5) Attention to detail is critical.
How much planning do you actually put in to the process of securing talent? Are line managers trained in interviewing and selling your organization? Is the receptionist a good master of first impressions? Do rejected candidates (your number 2 choice can fast become your no.1 option in this market!) still leave having had a positive experience? Do you have Employer Value Proposition packs outlining Remuneration & Benefits, your culture, your L&D, some testimonials etc.
If you would like me to have a look at your current talent acquisition strategies please do not hesitate to reach out to me at scarter@sharpandcarter.com.au
