8 Ways to Attract New Talent to Your Business

The job market right now in a very precarious state. We are seeing more skilled openings than we are talent coming up through the ranks. As businesses, there is little we can do to affect the quantity and quality of talent in the pool at the moment, which is why we must work harder to attract THE RIGHT kind of talent.

So, the million dollar questions is, how do we attract new talent to our businesses? How do we find the right candidates for our job openings that are skilled, reliable and the right fit for our values? Well, here we present 8 ways in which you can do just this. From promoting your inclusive environment to utilising social media, take a look at these ideas and see which you could implement today.

Corporate Culture Check

Gone are the days of candidates seeking out the biggest paycheck as their main priority in the job market. Money is quickly becoming secondary to a welcoming and nurturing working environment. Candidates want to work for a business with a positive and inclusive corporate culture, a company who has a clear vision of what their brand stands for. Looking at your company, how do your values and mission hold up in a modern world of business? Consider how welcoming you are to talent of all backgrounds and abilities. Do you offer accessibility provisions? Do you have a mental health first aider or offer a counselling service? By creating a nurturing environment, you will not only attract future talent, but you will also be able to retain the existing talent, who, would much rather move “up the ranks” than leave for a business without a positive corporate culture.

Branding Strategies

Once you have your positive corporate culture in place, it’s time to brand it and shout about it! Utilising a brand strategy that focuses on the talent you are seeking and why that talent should choose you to work for will help to both promote your business and get those job openings filled. A series of ads or media campaign highlighting the roles you are looking to fill and promoting these in sector specific areas (such as medical journals or industry related publications) will allow you to pool candidates over a longer period of time.

Passive Candidate Pools

As mentioned above, candidate pooling is a great resource to have to hand, particularly if you have job openings regularly or have a niche skillset opening. Collating candidates across several months and storing their resumes (with their permission of course) alleviates the need to publicise and promote openings and also helps you to whittle out talent you feel won’t fit with your brand. Opening up passive candidate pools every 3-6 months will bring in multiple applications in one influx, which you can then dip into as and when you need to across the year.

Building An Inclusive Environment

As with a positive corporate culture, an inclusive environment is likely to attract more candidates to your job openings. People with different cultural, religious and lifestyle backgrounds are looking for companies where they feel welcome and valued as equal. This might mean allowing additional time off, celebrating a wider variety of holidays or showing allyship as a business to your LGBTQ+ members of staff, but the aim is to make everybody feel valued, no matter their uniqueness.

Collaborate With Others

If you are really struggling to fill your job openings, then you might need to start getting creative (as well as looking to the future). Joining forces with other companies, educational facilities and recruitment consultants can all help you to find talent without exhausting your own resources. Joining up with companies who have the training facilities to upskill your talent pool while you have the facilities to offer paid employment to their graduates can work well for both parties. Maintaining these collaborations can also help you in the future as openings become available and talent is sought in a smooth and easy transaction.

Offer Internships

Similarly to collaborations, offering internships is a great way to get talent through the door and mould them into the way that your business works. Candidates looking for their first job in the sector or looking to get more work experience after university will happily take an internship year when a permanent contract is waiting for successful candidates at the end. Offering a range of internships in different departments will help to fill all roles regardless of whether they are industry specific or in areas such as HR or marketing. It is worth noting that internships benefit both new talent AND existing talent as mentorship is a key skill to acquire as you progress through your career.

Retain and Upskill Existing Talent

If you don’t have the manpower to offer internships, why not consider upskilling your existing talent? As business progresses and industries develop, we see the need for newer and fresher skills and abilities. There is no reason why your existing workforce could not acquire these skills and with your support, they are improving both their own abilities and benefitting your business simultaneously. Note that this might cost your business in the short term, but the initial outlay will pay dividends in the long run.

Utilise Social Media

Never underestimate the power of social media and digital marketing. With so many of us having accounts on multiple social media platforms, from family friendly Facebook to a more corporate Linkedin profile, your potential candidate could be one liked photo away from being hired! Whether you are looking to increase your passive talent pool or looking for that special someone, make sure you are utilising the power of social media to spread the news far and wide.

While the job market might be a tricky place to navigate right now, providing a welcoming environment, fulfilling employment and the opportunity to develop one’s skills will have your job openings stand out from the rest and help you to attract new talent. Good luck!