How Do I Attract The Best People to My Business?

Right now, job adverts are getting a very poor response. Potential applicants are there, you've just got to reach them.

So what are the top two steps, in addition to offering a competitive remuneration package, that you can take to maximise your chances of attracting the best candidates before you impress them with your slick, efficient recruitment processes?

Improving application rates in the short term

People want to enjoy what they're doing and have a purpose, yet so many job descriptions we see don’t effectively communicate the extent of the opportunity they are meant to be advertising.

Ideally, the description will highlight what makes the company, team and role exciting as well as articulating the future opportunities i.e. the company’s vision and the prospects of the role to grow.

Potential applicants want a positive story or ambition to engage them. Using dynamic and positive language in the description and highlighting recent successes or achievements as well as the critical elements of the job and remuneration package/ benefits is a great start but many employers are now going beyond this.

Leading employers are creating employee profiles – for example, “Anne, the part-time mum” or “Jon, the holiday worker” and creating case studies that help target candidates relate to how they might fit into the company and showcase the prospects it offers them.

Videos with a company overview or job description are also increasingly common though think carefully how you do this as a video auto-playing in the middle of the job seekers’ office can reduce applications!

Mid to Long term – build your reputation as an employer

Whether you are using job boards or headhunting to fill a role, your business’ reputation is critical to your ability to attract candidates. Not every company can be glamorous and cutting edge but people want to work for organisations that other people respect which means

you need to be able to articulate your success stories;
there needs to be a consistent narrative about the company’s vision and values.

In companies with a strong sense of purpose, employees are able to articulate what motivates them and what they respect about their employer. When, as recruiters, we can sense this genuine interest and commitment it inevitably translates into our ability to pitch the role and application rates soar. Also, feedback post-interview is invariably more positive.

Not only does this investment in the brand reduce your cost of hiring and attract better applicants, but it also builds your company’s reputation within the supply chain, the wider industry and the community primarily through extended networks of associates, friends and family as well as being reflected on sites like Glassdoor.

It is never a bad time to invest in your employer brand. But at the moment it is particularly important.

If you thought this blog was insightful, you might also like these:

How to Interview Like the Best: https://www.clarityappointments.co.uk/view-details/36390/Jobseekers-How-to-Interview-Like-the-Best.htm

Why Kindness During the Recruitment Process Pays: https://www.clarityappointments.co.uk/view-details/36379/Why-Kindness-During-the-Recruitment-Process-Pays.htm

Clarity Appointments is an independent recruitment agency specialising in accountancy and office vacancies. Situated between St Neots and Cambridge, we work within Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, with some clients further-reaching due to work won through referrals.

Clare Wight is the founder and Managing Director of Clarity Appointments, an independent recruitment specialist. She served as a Regional Director for The Employment Agents Movement, supporting other independent recruiters.

She remains an active member of Recconnect (formerly Members Only), a recruitment leadership network promoting high ethical standards, collaboration, diversity, equity and inclusion.

She believes business owners are more fulfilled and higher-performing when they provide emotional and professional business support to other business owners, even those they deem to be competitors. She does this actively, whilst challenging and updating her skills and knowledge of the recruitment sector, enabling her to offer the best advice to firms looking to make their next hire.