How can employers hire top talent in a highly candidate-centric job market?
By many accounts and measures, 2022 is still an extraordinary period in the job market. Employers rushed to fill numerous vacancies by tapping a limited talent pool, especially in the tech sector. Despite recent developments showing that the red-hot job market is now cooling down, the fact remains that many employers still need help recruiting top talent.
The Fed has repeatedly said that there are around twice as many vacancies as job candidates to fill them. This means that demand remains. Why? Because, let’s face it, as an employer, you will not resort to hiring when no one is even buying your products and services.
However, since demand is skyrocketing, but the talent pool is limited, many employers resort to offering job candidates higher compensation packages to attract–and keep – top talent.
Complicating this further is the “Great Resignation.” This refers to the massive resignation of workers who quit their posts, confident that they will find better-paying jobs and have higher work-life balance prospects. A study revealed that people who left their employment in October now earn twice as much compared to their colleagues who stayed put.
As an employer or hiring manager facing a challenging and rapidly evolving job market, you must be very strategic in hiring top talent despite limited resources and rising prices.
Here are some tips on how employers like you can still win top talent in a highly competitive job market.
Tips on How Employees Can Win Top Talent in a Candidate-Centric Job Market
1. Streamline Your Hiring Cycle.
The world of work today requires a great deal of agility. The same thing goes for your company’s hiring process.
According to a survey conducted by Career Builder, 60 percent of job candidates decided to quit their applications because the process just took so long. This is something that employers and hiring managers need to remedy. The longer your application process takes, the higher the chance you will lose your job candidates.
Instead of taking months to complete your hiring process, consider streamlining it to just a few weeks. Streamlining the hiring cycle is also a sign of great company culture. It sends a strong signal to job candidates that you are an employer that values your employees’ time and that you seek to uphold best practices in your company processes.
Furthermore, job candidates tend to focus more on your company if your application process is streamlined and you give timely feedback.
2. Make Flexibility Part of Your Company Culture.
A study from Harvard Business Review revealed that 77 percent of job candidates prefer to accept offers from companies that offer some form of flexibility. Moreover, a similar survey conducted by Indeed showed that 89 percent of millennials prefer to work from home rather than report to the office daily on fixed-time schedules.
Let’s face it. The days of the 9 to 5 work week are truly over. The employees of today are prioritizing work-life balance over a handsome paycheck. The days of cubicles and fixed workdays are coming to an end, and this will be very hard for employers and hiring managers to turn around no matter how stringent the policies you implement on the contrary.
In offering flexibility, consider rethinking your company’s work schedules and how much flexibility you can provide to your employees. Putting flexibility at the forefront of your policies also saves resources on the side of your employees because it is less time-consuming and more sustainable in terms of your company resources.
3. Give A Pleasant and Insightful Job Candidate Experience.
Aside from creating a more streamlined application process, ensure that your job candidates get a pleasant and insightful application experience.
Valuing the time of your job candidates communicates how much you love your company workforce and how respectful you are of their time. This already goes a long way in giving your company a competitive advantage regarding job candidates choosing you over other companies.
In your hiring process, ensure each interview is vital to both the job candidate and you as a prospective employer. Make all questions deliberate and avoid asking repetitive questions to your job candidates.
It is also vital to always be on point and on time in your interview schedules. Please do not make them wait for long periods. More importantly, end with a clear next step and offer timely and concise feedback.
4. Evaluate Salaries and Embrace Transparency.
One essential thing that employers need to know is that job candidates are looking forward to being compensated fairly for the work that they will render. Pay them what they are worth NOW or lose them to other companies soon.
You must review your salary structure and see if you can increase wages across the board. Not all companies have the resources to implement a company-wide salary increase. However, reviewing your salary and compensation package is still necessary for better planning.
Should you be one of those companies with limited resources and currently unable to offer a hefty salary increase, consider revisiting your benefits package. Riding on the overwhelming preference of job candidates for flexibility, you may provide flexible work arrangements or give your employees additional paid time off to cater to work-life balance. You may also want to revitalize your reward and incentive system.
5. Implement More Inclusive Policies.
Nowadays, many job candidates are also curious to know how a prospective company stands regarding diversity and inclusion policies. They need to know that their companies care for them as human beings and not just for what they can do for the company.
In this regard, your company should have policies that address pertinent matters for your employees and job candidates. These include pregnancy and family life, religion, ethnicity, being the primary caretaker in the family, mental health, and general employee well-being issues.
Moreover, consider implementing floating or swappable holidays for your employees to address religious, cultural, and personal beliefs from their end. Lastly, get feedback from them whenever you can. Employees feel valued when they know someone listens to their opinions and actively works on them.
Attracting top talent in your company in these complex times may be challenging but possible. As an employer, you have so many opportunities in your hands to attract top talent and to also retain your company’s workforce. Try these tips and see how you fare as a preferred employer in this candidate-centric job market.
Do you need more help attracting top talent? Strongly consider working with a reputable staffing agency like the Fox Search Group. A recruitment agency with a track record of providing companies with top talent while staying committed to diversity and inclusion. Reach out to us today, and let us show you how your company can stay on top of the game in this very candidate-centric job market.