The candidate driven market is a reality many companies are facing in the wake of record low unemployment and a growing skills gap. If you’re a recruiter who works for a staffing firm or job placement company, you may be struggling to help qualified jobseekers land their dream job.
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Professional staffing firm, Addison Group, recently released the survey report, “How Hiring Managers Can Navigate a Candidate’s Market.” The report aimed to uncover how much jobseekers knew about the candidate’s market and the impact to their job search, as well as how hiring professionals can succeed within a more challenging hiring landscape.
We break down some of the findings from this report and turn to Peg Buchenroth, HR Director at Addison Group, to answer a few questions related to ways recruiters can help jobseekers in this difficult hiring market.
Q) The research finds that staffing firms remain a largely untapped resource for jobseekers—as only 30% of respondents say they’ve used a recruiter over the last 12 months. How can staffing firms/recruiters stand out and “market” themselves to jobseekers who aren’t aware they even exist?
A) Networking is one of the best ways to do this—get involved in local associations or meetup groups and attend industry events. From there, it is important to focus on building your personal brand.
Stay on top of the latest trends within your industry and offer your candidate base valuable insights and thought leadership. Most importantly, focus on building long-term relationships as opposed to transactional exchanges, and make sure candidates know that you are focused on their success not just while they work with you, but throughout the life cycle of their career.
Q) According to the research, candidates are generally optimistic about the current job market, but they don’t fully understand how to use the candidate’s market to their advantage in their job search. What tips would you offer recruiters, to help candidates get a better understanding of this current hiring environment?
A) There are a number of resources that can help candidates understand the current market, and most of them can easily be found online. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a great resource for digging into labor market conditions on both a national and local scale. From there, candidates can search average salaries online using websites like Glassdoor or Payscale.
Obviously, recruiters should be seen as a resource—they are living and breathing the hiring landscape every day and are able to give candidates an insider’s view of what they’re seeing in the market from salary and benefits to how to negotiate a raise.
Q) We know that candidate’s crave constant communication in order to have a memorable candidate experience. The research finds that in order to showcase your value as a recruiter, you must provide meaningful support and exceeding expectations. Other then offering constant communication, what other ways can recruiters support jobseekers during the hiring process?
A) The best way recruiters can support jobseekers is by acting as a consultative partner throughout the lifecycle of their job search. While the goal is to find candidates their best fit in the next role, good recruiters will provide value to candidates even if they aren’t able to place them.
That can come in the form of résumé review, interview tips, or consultation on how to approach difficult conversations. From there, recruiters who keep in touch with their candidates long after they are placed in a role are able to distinguish themselves from others and establish long-term relationships that will be mutually beneficial.
Q) Jobseekers expect a speedy hiring process, but what happens if your company isn’t equipped to offer that? What tips would you offer recruiters/employers, who are looking for top talent, but aren’t currently equipped to offer a speedy hiring process.
A) While our Workplace Survey finds that most employees expect to hear from an employer within a week, many companies are unable to meet that expectation. That said, in almost all cases, companies are able to find certain efficiencies to speed up the process.
Taking a look at where there are impediments is the best place to start—are there things that can be automated? Are there too many decision-makers involved? While not everything is in your control, tightening things that are (response times, scheduling, etc.) will be a huge help and can move the needle slightly when a complete overhaul of the hiring process isn’t possible.
Communication is key! If a final decision is anticipated to take a bit longer, having constant communication with candidates so they always know where things stand is vital.
Q) Compensation continues to be a hot topic for talent attraction, but what happens if the employer doesn’t have the budget to meet these demands? How can an employer/recruiter hook the candidate in, if salary negotiations are off the table?
A) Companies who don’t have the budget to meet salary demands should be looking at other areas they can be flexible in, including benefits, paid time off (PTO), work from home opportunities, free lunches, and other perks (wellness programs, etc.). These are a great way to attract candidates.
From there, focus on building a strong internal culture that separates you from your competition. While money will always be a significant factor, employees also want to enjoy going to work every day. There are other ways to make employees feel valued and appreciated, and companies who can zero in on those additional perks are more easily able to attract candidates.
Q) According to the findings, 92% of candidates have researched the average pay scale for their current job, how do you retain that worker if he or she finds out that the competition is paying better? Should you work to negotiate a higher salary? And if so, what happens if there isn’t room in the budget to offer a higher salary?
A) If the ability to negotiate salary exists and the employee makes a good enough case for a raise, then meeting their demands or discussing a plan that achieves a comparable solution is recommended. That said, if that is not possible, focus on finding other ways to appease the employee and on building a plan for career progression that will allow them to reach their financial goals while providing additional value to the organization.
Moreover, keeping a pulse on current market conditions and being proactive (vs. reactive) with market pay adjustments or other ways to appease workers will improve retention.
Q) Addison Group research finds that 55% of respondents say the work that they do keeps them loyal to their current employer. And understanding what matters most to your workforce will help retain them in the long run. So, how can employers ensure that their workforce is engaged in meaningful work, to keep them sticking around?
A) Strategic goal setting and regular check-ins (and stay interviews) are vital to ensuring that employees are engaged in meaningful work. While most positions require a certain amount of tedious work that might be less engaging, it is about finding the right balance and working with employees to ensure that their work is connected to the larger company goals.
By keeping the above tips in mind, you’ll be able to help jobseekers land their dream job in no time. For hiring managers and HR professionals, you should keep these tips in mind for talent retention. In a tight labor market, it may be easier to retain talent than to find candidates to replace them.