Attracting and retaining talent in a tight labour market
By: Nicola van Heerden, Enlighten Talent
You’ve heard it in the media, seen it addressed in business blogs and you’re very likely discussing it around your boardroom – finding talent right now is a struggle for small businesses and social enterprises.
Many factors combined are making it hard for employers across almost every sector at every level to find and keep the talent they need: the great resignation, rising living costs, and the slow and often challenging immigration processes for talent overseas.
What can you do to attract and retain the talent you need?
1. Share your values and purpose
Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a significant change in what candidates look for in an organisation. More than ever, they’re curious about a potential employer’s values and purpose.
Potential recruits are asking, ‘Does an organisation have an ethical business model? How do they contribute to society? What about the environment and the wellbeing of others?’ The ‘good’ your organisation is doing has become just as important to candidates as how well you’re performing financially.
As a small business or social enterprise, your values and purpose are your ‘super-power’. Sharing your purpose and values will help position you as an ‘employer of choice’ in a highly competitive market.
2. Take a people-centred approach and think outside the box
Taking a people-centred approach when sourcing talent requires a mindset that puts the candidate, rather than the role, at the centre of the process. It means being more fluid around acquiring skills and how you shape your teams.
Organisations are being more holistic in their view of a team and considering how best to utilise the wider skillset of a candidate. This is put into practice by looking at all the skills a person has and shaping the role to best utilise their skills within a team. Yes, the person will need some key skills to perform a role, but it pays to think about which skills you can be flexible about. Perhaps some tasks can be performed by an existing team member for their personal development?
Shifting to a more people and team-centric approach plays to an individual’s strengths, creates development opportunities and nurtures diversity. Ultimately, it supports your people’s well-being.
Being a leader who can think about a team more flexibly and holistically will help you win in a tough talent market. You’re also more likely to face the future with a more resilient and vibrant team.
3. Be strategic
As the labour market changes so too must your recruitment strategies. Old-school approaches, namely the ‘advertising and screening approach’, have shifted toward deeper networking, search, attraction and retention strategies.
In a candidate-driven market you need to be far more proactive - going and finding the candidates you need, not expecting them to find you. But this takes time. Your ideal recruitment business partner will use the latest digital and search tools. In addition, they’ll spend numerous hours proactively identifying, targeting, and enticing candidates to work with you.
4. Invest in your employer brand and share it with the world
Building and promoting a compelling employer brand that will endure into the future has never been more important. It’s common for businesses to spend time and money marketing their product or service. It’s also critical to promote your employee experience and employer brand so that you’re seen as an ‘employer of choice’.
Candidates want to know that you’re walking the talk. They want you to be transparent about how you live your company’s mission, values, vision and culture. For example, your approach to diversity and inclusion, your level of commitment to te ao Māori, evidence of your care for the environment, and any training and development opportunities you offer.
As a small business or social enterprise, you’re doing good work every day so you're well positioned with one of the most attractive messages to entice talent in a tight market. It’s time to share your name, logo, and story with everyone!
5. Get policies and programmes in place
While there has been a return to the office of sorts, this varies between organisations. Without a doubt, working from home and flexible working is here to stay. Having policies in place and being clear about your working from home and flexible working practices, plays a key role in attracting and retaining people. Having a strong health and well-being program in place will also be important as part of your value proposition.
Planning for the future
The latest research suggests that less than a third of recent recruits will have the skills required for their future roles. Any one person is likely to require a dozen new skills over the next three to five years. While recruiting someone with the skills you need now, it’s important to think about someone’s ability to learn, be flexible, solve problems, communicate, grow and change, as your business or enterprise changes over time.
It’s impossible to predict if or when there will be a recessionary dip, a depression, or a dimple of a downturn. The market indications are suggesting a change is likely. I’ve managed a recruitment business through a recession before and learnt some important lessons: investing in your employer brand and having your team stacked with the best possible talent, will see you best positioned for the future, whatever that holds.
Meet Nicola van Heerden
Nicola van Heerden, founder of Enlighten Talent
Nicola van Heerden is the founder of Enlighten Talent and is Ākina’s preferred talent acquisition partner. She understands our business, culture and values, and consistently finds us the perfect people to join our team.
Get in touch with Nicola:
www.enlightentalent.co.nz
nicola@enlightentalent.co.nz
