How to compete for top talent

 

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Our latest salary and trends guide shows that many Data & Analytics skills are in high demand and continue to be scarce, so how do you ensure you get the best candidates to join your organization over the competition?
Unemployment is still relatively high in the UK, yet many great jobs are going unfilled. Most companies we are working with aren't complaining about the lack of applicants; they're often concerned about the quality, as often the best of the best are currently only on the job market for such a short time.

Real talent will be looking for a profitable company where they can build their careers and get paid market value. Other factors that influence individuals to accept a position in a company include structuring a role to suit ‘me’, individual training, customized career paths, workforce flexibility in terms of hours, tailored benefits packages and performance related remuneration. So with those factors in mind, here are some suggestions to ensure you have the best possible chance to secure the best individuals for your Data & Analytics vacancies:

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Make Their Career Aims Your Priority

Offer the Best of Both Worlds

Listen to Their Needs

Appeal to Their Lifestyle

Focus on Your Mission and Culture

Become a “destination employer”

Widen your Horizons

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Make Their Career Aims Your Priority

Without big budgets or maybe a product or service that is not considered cutting edge or glamorous, it's tough to compete with big brands and exciting product ranges. But you can cut through a lot of that by placing a degree of emphasis on the work aims and ambitions of individuals.  Finding out what candidates want from their careers and trying to make that happen for them could be a really powerful tool for hiring and retaining top talent. And it doesn't cost you a penny!

Offer the Best of Both Worlds

Companies often don't take the time to understand why certain people choose to participate in a new or recently launched business over choosing to work for more established companies. These individuals want freedom and autonomy to create something and be in right at the start. So if you’re in the ‘established’ category, to compete for creative talent, you will need to take your core success and provide an environment that supports and rewards the freedom and innovation these individuals crave.

Listen to Their Needs

Treat talent acquisition just as you do client or customer acquisition. Know the type of individual you want to target, go find them, learn what they need and meet those needs. Too often organizations recruit in safe mode with a “here we are and here's why you should join us” attitude. Dialogue is vitally important, so talk to key potential candidates as soon as you’ve identified them, listen to their needs and shape your offering accordingly.

Appeal to Their Lifestyle

In recent years, a very high percentage of employees reports their workloads have grown, as budgets are cut and staff headcount is frozen or reduced.  So many individuals are increasingly becoming discontented and disengaged. Long working hours are a given in the UK now so how do you combat that? Create attractive compensation packages and offer lifestyle benefits like flexi-time, for example as even the most driven employees need to enjoy life outside of work.

 

Focus on Your Mission and Culture

Despite the supposed talent shortage, fast growing companies can absolutely recruit the best workers. Focus on your mission and culture as increasingly, individuals are more concerned with these than with anything else. You may not be able to match the salaries that large corporates can pay, but you can absolutely have an inspiring, world-changing mission and an open, transparent, fun culture that attracts the best and brightest. 

Become a “destination employer”

If a limited budget is a factor in your recruitment campaign, consider developing a brand with a reputation for helping employees build a long-term career. A decade ago, employers could fill jobs by promising a high salary, today, companies can't necessarily up the ante with their pay levels—but that's actually good news because today's employee wants more than just money. So build on this desire and create a reputation that your company offers a good opportunity to develop a career, not just a steppingstone onto more senior level roles. That does mean offering on-going training and career development, innovative compensation and benefits plans, coaching and mentoring, and other ways beyond salary to show employees that they're valued.

As organizations have become leaner, they've cut out a lot of steps in the career ladder, and it's harder to learn from someone with more experience when they aren't there to learn from. So you have to create a framework where people are going to get the opportunities they need.

Widen your Horizons

Finally, don't overlook people who have taken time away from the workforce, whether to raise a family, earn a degree or dabble in entrepreneurship, for example. These candidates are likely to be open to new opportunities—and if they're at a later stage in their career, they may also see it as a last chance to consolidate a reputation as coach and mentor.

In summary, high calibre talent is almost always employed or not available for long when they do look for new opportunities. So to recruit them, you may well need to change your recruitment strategy and introduce a more creative element to your candidate attraction to suit this emerging employment situation.

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<< By Kat Heague >>

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