Are you struggling to attract the right people to your organisation? Maybe the CV's you’re getting just aren’t cutting the mustard. Or no one’s getting past the first interview stage. Here are our top ten tips to make sure you’re appealing to the right people to work for you.

1. Create a strong employer brand

Your employer brand is how you market yourself to job seekers. It’s the way your current, former and future employees see you. It’s influenced by things like your salary and benefit packages, training and development opportunities, culture, and the way you treat your people. If you find you’re struggling to recruit the right type of employee, it might be because your employer brand isn’t doing you any favours.

Your biggest weapon here is of course your people. They can help you showcase why you’re a great place to work. You might also want to make sure that your company culture is ‘human-focused’. Have a read of this LinkedIn article to see more ways to make your employer brand work for you.

Not sure where your company culture currently is? You can learn more by taking an employee engagement survey. We operate Best Employers Eastern Region every couple of years, as a chance for businesses in our region to learn more about what their employees really think. Visit the Best Employer’s website to learn more about the programme and sign up.

2. Offer a good salary

Lots of job ads just state that they offer a ‘competitive package’. We hate to break it to you, but no one’s interested in that anymore. It’s important to state the salary (or a band) on your adverts. And if you don’t, you might find your ideal candidates are ignoring your ads in favour of the ones that do tell them how much they could earn.

Have a look at our 2022 salary survey to see what pay packets look like in the eastern region.

3. Have brilliant benefits

As well as a top salary, good benefits packages are a great way to make you stand out from the competition, and encourage people to come and work for you. What you offer is of course up to you, but most include things like:

• life and health insurance
• pensions
• dental cover
• health screening
• eye-care vouchers
• wellbeing services (like mental health helplines).

There are also lots of benefits and discounts providers you can use to offer money off meals out, gym memberships, local retailers, etc.

Hybrid or flexible working also falls into this category. Have a look at this Pure Opinion piece which covers just that.

Already got a great package? Make sure you include the details in your job ads.

4. Concentrate on career development

Most of us want to keep moving upwards when it comes to work. Listing potential career paths and development opportunities on your website, job ads or during interviews will help applicants visualise a future with your organisation. And it could be something that makes them stay with you too.

5. Keep your interview process simple

Sites like Glassdoor that encourage users to review interview and application processes mean that it’s a small recruitment world out there. And if you’ve got a reputation for not acknowledging CVs, taking ages to organise interviews and ignoring emails, people just might not bother applying for your positions.

Make sure you leave every applicant – whether they’re successful or not – with a good impression. It can do wonders for your reviews online. Have a look at these recommendations for ways to streamline your interview processes to find out more.

6.Advertise well

Wherever people hear about your organisation, make sure the message they get is the same, whether that’s job titles, advert content or benefits packages. Confusion about what exactly it is you’re offering might put people off.

If an applicant sees your benefits page on the website conflicts with the information on the advert they’ve seen, it’s easier for them to not apply than try to decipher which is the correct information. This conflicting information may be exactly what they’re looking for in this job move, and then you’ve lost the chance.

7. Be visible

Think about where you’re advertising, and if the people you want to attract are going to be able to find you. If you’re looking for graduates for entry-level positions, think about contacting local universities. Or if you’re trying to find techy people, remember that they tend to stay away from traditional recruitment websites. So you might need to try places like hackathons or developer meet-ups.

You might also want to talk to people you’ve hired already about where they were looking when they were job hunting. Then make sure you’re advertising there.

8. Make onboarding flawless

Onboarding  – the standardised introduction of newly hired employees to their roles – starts the minute someone says ‘yes’ to your job offer. So you need to start making them feel part of the team straightaway. That way they’re then less likely to consider a counteroffer or keep searching on the off chance something better comes along.

Keep in regular touch with them while they’re working their notice to make sure they stay excited about the new role. You might also want to encourage their new colleagues to get in touch and introduce themselves before they start.

9. Keep in touch with good talent

Sometimes people find us at the wrong time. If you meet someone at a networking event who matches your company’s values and vision, stay in touch with them. Then when a job does come around, they might be looking.

10. Be flexible

The market is constantly changing. And what works for one role in your organisation might not work for another. Ask for feedback about your hiring process and change it if need be. You might find you need to invest a bit more time or money in finding your perfect applicant.

Can we help?

We train our consultants to find and promote the best parts of your organisation to their networks of job seekers. So if you’re struggling to find the right people, get in touch. We might also be able to help you find ways to up your own hiring game.