The new war for talent

In the current talent market, incentives that were previously cutting edge are now basic expectations. Some form of flexible work options are a given. Candidates expect above market salaries. Candidates receive multiple offers and counter offers.

To be competitive in the new war for talent, firms are becoming more innovative in their workforce policies. For example, global consulting firms Deloitte and KPMG have introduced “work from anywhere” policies that support employees who choose to live overseas while still working in their Australian-based jobs.  Four-day work weeks without a reduction in pay, typically associated with tech start ups in the US, are now being trialled by Australian firms across all sectors.

Smaller firms are struggling to compete. They don’t have the financial resources to keep offering higher salaries. And sometimes they can’t offer high levels of flexibility due to the nature of their work and makeup of their workforce.

When competition for talent is tight, it seems logical to focus on making your offer more attractive to the ideal candidate.

But we are seeing excellent results from taking a different approach – changing your definition of what the ideal candidate looks like to reach a different or wider pool of talent.

Revisit your expectations and requirements

Many hiring decisions are driven by what has worked in the past. When a role becomes vacant, you take the old position description, make a few tweaks and start advertising. While that might have served you well historically, the tightening of the talent market is challenging this approach.

Before advertising a vacancy, we recommend carefully reviewing the skills and experience required to fill it. You might need to challenge some unconscious biases and preconceived notions about the kind of person who is the best fit for the role.

For example. gone are the days where Uni graduates would have to pay their dues working in entry level processing or call centre roles before expecting progression. Now, the top 50% of grads can walk straight into analyst or advanced operational roles with no prior experience in financial services.

We’ve found employers hiring at entry level are having far greater success by widening the talent pool to remove any academic prerequisites. Attracting friendly, enthusiastic hospitality or retail workers who want to move into a corporate career is delivering better results than trying to compete for Finance grads.

At the more senior level, we’ve seen employers relaxing their ‘wish list’ and focusing more on transferable skills. We recently worked with a client hiring for a financial planning role. Their final choice was a candidate who had extensive experience in sales. But in selling motorbikes, not financial products. He didn’t have direct experience in the finance sector. He did have the core sales skills set, and experience selling high end products. He was also great at coaching others in how to sell more. On paper, he was not perfect, but the business saw his potential.

Ask yourself what skills or experience are truly non-negotiable. What skills could be gained through on the job training and experience? What other industries develop these same skill sets?

Look for potential, not a perfect match

Pre-pandemic you might have been able to attract candidates who ticked close to 100% of your boxes across qualifications, skills, experience and salary expectations. But we are increasingly seeing that is no longer the case. It is becoming more challenging to find the ‘perfect match’ across all dimensions.

Our recommendation is to start looking for potential, not a perfect match.

Assessing someone’s potential can look like a few different things, including:

• Their ability to bring a fresh perspective and new ideas
• Their likelihood of staying in the role for longer
• Their power to reenergise the team
• Their willingness to learn
• Their enthusiasm for trying new things and innovating
• Their gift for bringing out the best in others

Taking these elements into consideration can also contribute to improved retention rates, high levels of employee engagement and building a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

If you are struggling to secure the right talent in this competitive market, this is what we help our clients with every day. We develop tailored approaches to get the best recruitment outcome for them.

To discuss how we could help you attract and select the best talent, get in contact with Claire Tate today.