Finding Your Purpose Driven Employees - 7 Ways to Attract Top Talent

2. Bring Experts on Board to Help

As aforementioned, hiring amazing talent can be challenging at the best of times, let alone in a competitive market. With so many considerations to keep in mind, it can be downright overwhelming to go about the recruitment process without professional support.

That’s why if you’re struggling to hire top talent, it’s worth turning to the experts for help. Recruitment software and services can assist you in sourcing and attracting the right talent. In fact, research shows that 68% of recruiting professionals say that the best way to improve recruiting performance over the next five years is by investing in new recruiting technology.

94% of recruiting professionals also say that using recruitment software has positively impacted their hiring process. Needless to say, it’s vital to work with a reputable and highly-experienced recruitment company that knows how to get the job done.

At Catalyser, we recently partnered with Scout Talent, a software company that offers easy-to-use talent acquisition software and services that support companies to attract top talent. Developed by recruiters for internal recruitment teams, Scout Talent’s talent acquisition software and services are used by over 800 clients across a range of industries.

Scout Talent’s software is designed to “accelerate, streamline and automate talent acquisition processes,” so you can easily manage your entire talent acquisition process. If you’re after personalised support, Scout Talent’s Talent Engagement Specialists can help you find the ideal candidate/s for your vacancies by leveraging:

• Proven screening techniques to effectively shortlist the candidate pool
• Best-practice interview strategies
• Behavioural and skills testing
• Professional background and reference checks

If you’d like to learn more about how Scout Talent can help you to achieve your talent acquisition goals, check out their website or request a demo.

3. Offer More Flexible Working Conditions

One of the most unexpected changes the Covid-19 pandemic brought about was how it completely changed the way we work. Remote work transformed from a novelty into an everyday reality for a large proportion of the working population.

Even once restrictions were lifted, many companies chose to stick with a remote working model. And interestingly, after having a taste of remote work, many employees have come to expect more flexible working arrangements. Need proof? According to PwC’s Hopes and Fears 2021 report, which surveyed more than 2000 Australians about their experiences in the workplace, more than 90% of Australians want to keep working from home in some capacity.

The takeaway is that if you want to attract and retain top talent, you may need to start offering your employees more flexible working options. If you’re unable to offer a fully remote working environment, consider letting employees work from home at least one day a week.

Just be mindful that not all job seekers (or employees, for that matter) are enticed by remote work. Some may prefer only working from the office, so try to be flexible. The best way to find out how candidates prefer to work is to ask. It’s good to gauge candidates’ preferences early on so you can make any necessary arrangements as smoothly as possible.

4. Prioritise the Candidate Experience

If you want to hire top talent, you need to make it enticing to work for your company from the get-go. Remember, the recruitment process is likely one of the first proper encounters many candidates will have with your company. If they find your recruitment process overly taxing, unfair, or confusing, they may reconsider their job application.

Consider that research from CareerBuilder found that nearly 4 in 5 candidates (78%) say that the overall candidate experience they receive is an indicator of how a company values its people. So it’s hardly surprising that Recruiting Brief found that 80-90% percent of professionals say a negative interview experience can change their mind about a role or company.

That’s why it’s critical to prioritise the candidate experience. ‘Candidate experience’ is a term used to describe the experience and perceptions candidates have during your recruitment process.

If you want to ensure they leave with a good impression of your company, keep the following tips for creating a great candidate experience in mind:

• Make it easy for candidates to apply for jobs at your company
• Follow up early and often
• Communicate with (and thank) candidates during each step of the hiring process
• Give candidates information about what to expect at in-person interviews
• Give candidates your full attention at interviews

These are just a handful of the many ways you can support candidates through the recruitment process. As you can see, they’re all quite straightforward to execute. Unfortunately, many companies don’t pay enough attention to prioritising the candidate experience. The good news for you, though, is that if you do, you’ll be able to leave a strong impression in candidates’ minds — for all the right reasons!

5. Promote Diversity and Inclusion

If you not only want to ensure you’re attracting top talent, but are also fostering a supportive working environment for all, you may need to reevaluate your diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Research shows that job seekers are increasingly interested in companies’ approaches to diversity and inclusion. For example, research from Glassdoor indicates that more than 3 out of 4 job seekers and employees (76%) report that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers.

Glassdoor’s research also highlights that nearly a third of employees and job seekers (32%) would not apply to a job at a company where there is a lack of diversity among its workforce, with this number being significantly higher for Black and LGBTQ+ employees and job seekers.

Be mindful that job seekers and employees won’t be impressed by tokenistic diversity and inclusion efforts. They want to see real action and results. In order to improve diversity and inclusion in your recruitment process, Hays advises companies to do such things as:

• Update recruitment marketing materials: Ensure that everything from your website copy and the imagery you use, to your job advertisements, effectively represent your workplace culture and reflect a diverse workforce.
• Review your candidate attraction strategies: Look to new means of attracting diverse candidates, including using a variety of recruitment agencies and social media.
• Consider targets: Implement diversity recruitment targets for senior and line managers. Alternatively, use a policy of ‘comply or explain,’ where hiring managers must explain if they’re unable to comply with the expectation to produce balanced, diverse shortlists.
• Run unconscious bias training for hiring managers: Provide testing and training to recognise and mitigate the impact of unconscious bias in the hiring process.
• Create a diverse review process: Involving a range of diverse stakeholders in the initial screening process to review CVs can help to deliver more informed and balanced selection outcomes.
• Consider blind recruitment: Blind recruitment can mitigate bias in decision making. It involves removing identifying features from an application prior to review, such as the applicant’s age, gender or gender identity, ethnicity, or name.

6. Improve Your Job Descriptions

Sometimes, the simplest changes can lead to the biggest rewards. This is certainly the case when it comes to job descriptions. Your job descriptions say a lot about your company. Both what you include and omit can have a dramatic impact on candidates’ impressions of it. Your job descriptions can also influence the types of candidates who apply.

If you’re struggling to attract top talent, it’s a good idea to take a long and hard look at your job descriptions. There are likely at least a few areas you can improve upon. If you’re after a rundown of how to attract the right candidates with your job ads, take a read of Scout Talent’s guide to improving your job ad copy.

Their guide covers everything from how to avoid unconscious bias in job ads, to the ideal job ad structure, to the key features to include in your job ads. As they point out, a job ad shouldn’t just describe the job at hand, but also clearly define who your ideal candidate is. Doing so will make it far easier for your recruitment team to fairly rate and rank candidates for selection.

7. Establish and Communicate Your Employee Value Proposition

Do you have an Employee Value Proposition (EVP)? If so, does it clearly and accurately convey who you are as an organisation, and what employees can expect in return for working there?

Your EVP should be a critical part of your recruitment toolbox. It’s an opportunity to ‘sell’ why working at your company is worthwhile, and what makes it stand out.

When creating your EVP, you should put a spotlight on the benefits of working for your company, including the compensation, leave, and company culture offered. You should also include details around other incentives such as educational opportunities, work-related social events, opportunities for progress and improvement, and health and wellness initiatives. And don’t forget to include a shout-out to your CSR program!

If you’re unsure how to create and promote your EVP, consider working with a talent acquisition company. They will be able to offer you professional guidance to get your employer branding just right. For example, Scout Talent helps companies not only to uncover their unique Employee Value Proposition, but also communicate it in a way that will help you achieve your recruitment goals.

Final takeaways

Without a solid strategy, hiring in a competitive market can feel like an uphill battle. If you’re after some expert advice that will help you transform your recruitment results, take a look at the 7 tips shared above. Put them into action, and you should soon find yourself with plenty of incredible candidates to select from.