by Ellen Park www.spirehr.co.uk
Is it more difficult to employ the best people for the job? How can people overcome the challenge of employment?
3.8%. That’s the current unemployment rate in the UK.
It’s the lowest the rate has been for 45 years – mighty impressive, especially given the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
For the employed of the country, it’s music to their ears; for the employers, a new problem is making itself heard.
With the potential talent pond at its smallest, there is a real struggle in finding the biggest fishes available.
A real life scenario:
The role is open.
You’ve created the job advert.
You have a clear vision of who you’re looking for.
Interviews start.
That person, simply does not come through the door.
The scenario is getting more and more and more common.
How can you break the mould?
It’s never going to be as easy as a click of the fingers – but it’s certainly possible.
Think ahead
Timing is everything.
By planning ahead for staff changes, and by posting job adverts early you put yourself well ahead of the game, maximising the time available to find the perfect employee.
It also means you can hold your ground.
You have more time to wait, so wait.
The more time you have, the more likely the perfect CV lands on your desk. So don’t wait until it gets to a critical point as this is when we see examples of ‘panic buying’. It’s more detrimental in cost and time to recruit the wrong person than it is to wait it out.
Add style to your substance
Perks. Incentives.
If you want the best, you need to be offering the best – if you’re not, how do you expect to compete for the staff you desire?
Do you offer private health care? A company car or laptop? Performance bonuses?
These are all fantastic benefits, but not everybody has the cashflow to offer such.
Don’t worry, there are alternatives; working from home, duvet days, a flexible schedule, free food/drinks, a compressed workweek.
All of these perks are low-cost, effective ways to make your advertised position feel like an exciting prospect, for an exciting candidate!
Mould people
Sadly, the stars don’t always align and the perfect employee won’t necessarily apply for your role, even if you’ve taken some relevant steps.
If you’ve no more time to wait, create!
There’s no rules that say you can’t improve an employee, and turn them into the person you were looking for.
Offering both in-house teaching from your own skillset, and further education elsewhere, you can easily transform a strong candidate, into the ideal employee.
You’ll help them grow just as successfully as your business!
Yes, the talent pool available is smaller than ever.
Yes, there are more challenges than ever in finding the employee you seek.
Yes, you CAN do something about it.
Educate talent, introduce attractive perks, plan your employment process in advance.
Once you have the employee in the business, then work at keeping them. We can focus on this in another blog on another day.
So if you’re experiencing a change within your business, are preparing to hire a new employee, or need to re-energise your business processes, Spire HR are here for you!
We love to hear your stories, so if you’ve had any employment nightmares, let us know in the comments below!
Meanwhile if you have any HR issues call Ellen on 01925 626253 or email [email protected]
