Coming Out On Top in the Fight For Fresh Talent
The term ‘war for talent’ was coined back in 1997 by Steven Hankin, referring to the ever-shifting landscape around attracting and retaining talent.
It was difficult back then, and it can still be difficult now to attract and retain top talent.
The reason the war for talent seems to crop up every few years is because employers aren’t just looking to fill vacancies…they’re looking for top talent.
So how do you go about finding the most in-demand candidates and filling skills gaps?
The increased demand
Almost two thirds of HR professionals believe that organisations will need the best people on board to help them rebuild following the pandemic.
The war for talent is certainly boosted by a period of economic uncertainty, combined with global competition for job roles, skills shortages across sectors, a workforce split with hybrid working models, and candidates who have shifted priorities as a result of the pandemic.
With so many different contributing factors, it’s no wonder why the war for talent is set to increase.
The role of shifting workforces
If you want to meet the demand, you have to know which demographics you’re likely to be hiring from to find top talent.
Millennials are currently the largest demographic, expected to comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025, with Generation Z close behind.
With this shift in demographics comes a shift in values, expectations and methods of working, and attitudes.
Millennial employees have listed personal learning and development as their first choice benefit from employers, with flexible working hours as a second – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is also a huge factor in potential candidate perceptions, with 86% of millennial employees considering leaving an employer whose values no longer meet their expectations.
Rather than a slower, more gradual shift, employers are having to account for more rapid change in order to fill skills gaps and attract the best candidates.
The difficulties of talent competition
Traditional rivalries when it comes to hiring are becoming more obsolete.
A company is no longer competing on a skills, seniority, and location basis – every company is, realistically, competing with every other company.
Additionally, traditional incentives of employment (e.g., money) are no longer holding as much sway as value-led incentives such as sustainability, flexible working, and personal development opportunities.
Remote working opportunities are more widespread, which means that there is no longer just a local emphasis, so employees have more choice in their employer, and employers have more competition in attracting candidates to their company; hence why it can seem like an uphill struggle to attract the best talent when considering the complex range of factors involved in the process.
Employee experience
If you’re looking to attract in-demand candidates, employee experience is an essential factor.
According to Glassdoor, two pieces of key information job seekers want to see from employers as they research where to work is details on what makes the company an attractive place to work, and company mission, vision and values.
One other key area for employers to consider is an equally relevant topic – diversity.
Ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to have a financial performance above the industry mean, and 67% of active job seekers say diversity is important to them when evaluating offers.
Factors such as these are a huge influence on employee retention, too.
Even offering remote working opportunities can result in 25% lower employee turnover than companies that don’t.
Long story short? Attracting the best candidates requires knowledge on what candidates are searching for.
How to attract in-demand candidates
Increased options for employees means increased competition for employers – so how do you attract the candidates that will make a huge difference to your company?
Primarily, you need to consider aligning your business practices with the will of employees, namely, focusing on the shift in employee priorities such as growth and fulfilment.
If you don’t have a diversity and inclusivity strategy, it’s time to start building one to benefit from increased innovation, candidate attraction and overall business success.
We’ve written about building a inclusion and diversity strategy if you’d like to find out how to make your recruitment and onboarding process more diverse.
Focus on three key areas: purpose, development, values.
Employees want to find a sense of purpose in their work, which means they want to work for a company with a clear mission – so, throughout the recruitment process, emphasise your mission statement to make it clear to potential employees that it’s more than just a 9 to 5 job.
When it comes to development, a potential candidate will likely be swayed more by the potential to have extra training and personal development opportunities than they will be by casual Fridays, so including any development opportunities in job adverts can go a long way in attracting candidates.
Finally, values cover the areas that the current workforce prioritise, such as flexible/remote working, diversity strategies, CSR, and the general ethics of a company, which should also be outlined in job adverts and the onboarding process.
How can ex-forces candidates help to fill your skills gaps?
Diversifying your recruitment process can open up your company to a host of benefits, which is significantly true when it comes to the ex-forces market.
More than 53% of organisations that have employed veterans say they tend to be promoted faster than their general workforce, and 72% of organisations that utilise active ex-forces recruitment would recommend hiring veterans.
Most of the skills gaps that need filling are areas that veterans routinely perform well in, such as: picking up specialist knowledge, team-working, problem-solving and managing other staff.
Bringing ex-forces candidates into your company not only brings a wealth of experience, but also a host of transferable skills.
A wider talent pool means that employers can benefit from more access to in-demand talent, whilst also benefiting from the variety of skills that ex-forces candidates bring to the table.