If you want the best young talent, show them you really care

Modern recruitment needs to be a two-way street where employers try to see things from the candidate’s perspective.

Chorus Executive Christine Khor.

The famous self-help author Dale Carnegie once said: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years of trying to get other people interested in you.”

The same thinking needs to be applied to recruitment if busi­nesses want to win the war for talent. The legacy of the industrial revolution has us operating under the archaic idea that people should be grateful for employment. In the face of rapid business growth and relatively low unemployment, Australian organisations are in the midst of a skills shortage. This means truly talented people have their pick of jobs and can be more discerning with opportunities.

In an increasingly tight talent market, the secret to attracting great people comes from switching the focus from the company to the candidate.

Rather than resting on your laurels and believing talent should be clambering to work for your brand, it pays to refocus efforts to answer the question “What would my target talent want?”

Modern recruitment needs to be a two-way street where employers make an effort to see things from the candidate’s perspective.

We’ve all heard the old aphorism that “people don’t leave companies, they leave leaders” and, while true, it works in the opposite way too. Great leaders are one of the primary reasons people are attracted to a company and one of the primary motivators to stay.

In a poll of Chorus Executive candidates, 60 per cent would consider taking a pay cut to work for an inspiring leader. This demonstrates how important quality leadership is to attract and retain exceptional talent.

With tools such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor, talented people are doing homework on the leadership team of companies before they sign employment contracts. They’re looking for a credible work history, strong thought leadership and to see how effectively leaders communicate within their industry.

Having a strong employer brand is critical, but this means more than just offering glamorous benefits — though those can help. Your employer brand is built from how you advertise job vacancies, how you treat candidates throughout the recruitment process, what you offer in terms of remuneration as well as learning and career opportunities, and current staff satisfaction.

Benefits are deal sweeteners that can be used to grab the interest of a certain demographic.

For example, if you are looking to engage a young professional, a higher percentage of superannuation will not appeal to them because they think more in terms of the immediate.

Instead, education opportunities, travelling, flexible working arrangements and social events are likelier to grab their attention.

Values-based alignment between talent and employers also has become a key success factor for staff attraction, placement and retention. Top talent wants roles that align with their personal values and sate their hunger for a healthy ration of authentic meaning and purpose. Organisations need to be able to define and communicate their vision and values to their teams and to the candidate market. This will help to attract like-minded talent who already shares your company’s values and will feel more allied to your ­business.

Along with taking action to ensure their business is built on a genuine, values-based platform, companies that are really serious about attracting top talent are listening harder and taking a much closer look at the jobseeking methodologies, thought processes, wants and needs of their target talent.

Christine Khor is Chorus Executive’s managing director.