Our clients in the waste and resource management sector constantly challenge us to bring them the best people, and rightly so. However, in order to attract the best people we as recruiters and employers need to be alive to changes in the wider jobs market.
We have certainly gone through a step change recently. The speed at which candidates are being offered has increased markedly and salaries are on the up. A quick glance at recent economic history gives us a sense of how these changes have come about.
Supply and demand
After the crash in 2009 the UK jobs market has been relatively sluggish and employer driven. An excess of job hunters due to redundancies, less jobs due to lack of confidence and negative growth combined to put downward pressure on wages. Employers could offer a salary lower than market value and still expect to attract great people. Good old supply and demand.
This affected the speed at which people were being offered jobs. With many job hunters chasing only a handful of opportunities, employers could afford to take their time. Even if they lost one person along the way there were two or three more queuing up to take their place.
In the last quarter of 2015 this situation has been completely reversed. A virtuous circle of GDP growth over 11 consecutive quarters and an increased confidence from job creators has caused an upward spiral in the number of jobs available. At the same time unemployment is at a 7 year low meaning less job hunters. The supply and demand picture has flip reversed.
The best talent, those that can truly impact a business, are in high demand and calling the shots in a heated, fast moving recruitment market. Often gaining three offers within two weeks of starting a job search. These job hunters are different beasts to their 2009 counterparts. They are bullish – confident in their ability to find a new role, demanding higher wages and they are certainly not waiting around for a protracted recruitment process.
For anyone looking to attract the best people at this moment in time it is important to recognise that conditions have changed. Move fast and pay well or risk losing out to more aggressive competitors in the contemporary employment scrum.
A few simple precautions can help you avoid this.
Plan the process
A bit of forethought can drastically reduce recruitment time. So check the diaries of everyone involved and plan their time in. This could be the European director required to ratify any employment decision; your operations manager who will run a site tour or your office manager who runs your aptitude tests.
Once you have everyone’s availabilities try and combine all facets of the interview process into one day. This may sound ambitious but only this month we have worked with a client in order to condense a face to face interview, engineering skills tests run by his engineering manager and a site tour into a one step process. They were able to offer candidates on the day of interview and we successfully filled their electrical and mechanical engineers roles in the West Midlands, where good engineers are moving off the market within a week.
Do the admin in advance
So often our clients find the perfect person, make a verbal offer but don’t follow up quickly in writing. This can give job hunters pause for thought – “Is this really an offer?” – is what normally goes through their heads. This creates an open invite for competing employers to gazump any verbal agreement with an offer in writing.
To avoid this ensure you have electronic copies of your offer and contract templates ready ahead of time. Once you’ve found the person for the job all you need do is fill in name, address, package and contact details.
Don’t rely on the post. Emails are instant and signed copies can be scanned back quickly. A signed contract is a sign of real commitment from a job hunter.
Time it right
Begin interviewing candidates when you are ready to employ, not before. Any unnecessary slowdown in the process, for example a week’s gap after first interviews to squeeze in the next EA audit will give your competition time to swoop on the candidates you have short listed, leaving you to start all over again having wasted valuable time.
Communicate your USP’s at interview
You shouldn’t need to oversell but it is worth ensuring you are able to clearly communicate the reasons why your company and vacancy are attractive over the competition.
Make the package attractive
Make sure you know the going rate on Salary & Package and that yours is in line with this. If you understand a candidates’ drivers outside of money this can often be influential. However salary, bonus and benefits are big hitters when it comes to attracting the best people.
We are currently working on a salary benchmarking document for the waste industry with our partners letsrecycle.com so watch this space. In the interim we can advise anecdotally on your wage strategy.
Anticipate other offers
Ask what other opportunities candidates have on and what stage they are at. This will inform your decision making on salary levels and how quickly you will need to act. If you like someone – tell them you are aware it is a hot market and to call you before rushing into any decisions. You are then in a position to act if you need to. Don’t forget the present employer is also a competitor. Two of our clients have recently lost out on good candidates due to counter offers as companies have more in the coffers to keep the best people.
In short, being organised, acting fast and finding that extra little bit on the salary will directly affect your ability to attract the best people. I hope this helps when you’re next hiring in this heated job market and of course Red Kite Waste offer all of the above as part of our fully manged recruitment service. Good luck.
Register for free to comment