WAR FOR DIGITAL TALENT
Digital is not a normal recruitment sector;
it is devoid of reality compared to the general recruitment market. Digital is
the football equivalent of Manchester City, operating by a unique set of rules
in the employment industry.
As the country constantly sits on the brink
of another recession, digital basks in the sun of job security and often incredible
salary increases. And this situation is not likely to stop anytime soon. The
fact remains that Digital is rapidly expanding as quickly as skilled people can
be trained/hired. The war for Digital talent is the most eagerly fought of any
recruitment sector.
The rapid rise of Digital has created a job
vacuum and the industry has far more jobs available than skilled people to take
them, this has generated a candidate driven market in which everyone is hunting
for talent.
Taking this into account, it is fascinating
that so few employers have created any innovative recruitment strategies other
than ‘let’s offer them more money’. In fact it is strange to see so many
companies scrambling for talent but investing little into a strategy of how to
secure and retain it.
So here are a few points I believe can help you improve
your conversion rate and win the war for talent.
- Don't rely on the power of your brand; often it is not as
powerful as you think! Believe it or not your brand does not sell itself
as I have been told several times. The key is to ensure the people who are
running the interviews can actively sell and promote your business but equally
promote the benefits of working for them as an individual: people buy into
people and the people who run the best interviews secure more talent than
the people who don’t sell and let the company speak for itself.
- Research! So few companies ask me what does the candidate
specifically want? Is it progression, is it training, is it money etc.
It’s vital before a candidate attends an interview that you have a grasp
of what you need to specifically promote in order to secure that
individual if you decide they are right for your business.
- The recruitment process in digital is often expedited; it has
to be because the best candidates go on and off the market so quickly.
Nothing frustrates a candidate more than a company not being able to
officially offer a job because HR have no sign off. Don’t win the battle
for the candidate but lose the war internally to hire them.
- The most perilous stage of the recruitment process is the time
between a candidate accepting a role and starting the role. Often
companies think job done and wait for the candidate to start. But this is
Digital - the company the candidate is leaving is well aware of the cost
associated with replacing them and so often go to work during this time
trying various methods to try and get the candidate to stay and renege on
the new job. If only one party is talking to the candidate for potentially
upwards of a 3 month notice period, this can have a devastating effect. As
a recruiter I spend a lot time educating clients on methods of keeping in
touch with candidates after they have been offered and including them when
possible in social events, creating buy in to the new business.
- Shameless plug I know… But work with good recruiters! A
recruiter’s value is not sourcing candidates; anyone can go onto LinkedIN
nowadays and compile a list of Digital ADs for example but a recruiter
manages every part of the recruitment process. They flag up concerns, they
personally get involved in ensuring a candidate starts and they educate
your line managers. The difference between a good recruiter and average
one can define the war for talent in Digital.
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