How your business can be competitive in a candidate short market
- August 24, 2023
How your business can be competitive in a candidate short market
As an employer, you may be facing recruitment difficulties due to candidate shortages. With the market challenges we currently face, you need to be proactive, competitive, and adaptable in your approach to talent acquisition and retention.
In this article, we'll talk you through some ways to be competitive.
What does a "candidate short" market mean for employers?
In a candidate short market, the demand for skilled employees exceeds the availability of talent. This shortage of talent has several implications and consequences for employers including increased competition, difficulty in recruitment, employee retention issues, and skill gaps.
In a candidate short market, multiple employers are competing for the same pool of candidates. Increased competition has made it harder for employers to attract the best talent. Recruitment has also become more of a challenge and can be more time consuming, which can lead to increased costs and disruptions to business workflows.
Industry talent shortages are also causing skill gaps for many businesses. So, it’s more important than ever to think about how to invest in training and development programs in order to bridge these gaps.
Tips to help your business remain competitive
In a candidate-short market, it’s important to have an effective strategy that’ll help you attract the best candidates. So, here are some tactics to help you:
Build an appealing brand that people want to work for
In order to highlight why people should join your business, you need to have a compelling narrative about your company’s culture and values. One way to do this is to showcase success stories and testimonials from existing employees. Make sure to also highlight unique perks that help your company stand out from the rest.
Leverage employee referrals and networking
Employee referrals are a great way to hire new talent. Not only are you more likely to find quality candidates that align with your business values, your current employees can also vouch for your company as a great workplace. Networking and industry events are another great way to expand your talent pool. Try to attend as many as possible and make sure you highlight why your company is an exciting place to work. If you haven’t already, also consider partnering with educational institutions to help you directly access emerging talent.
Create a positive workplace culture
In order to stay competitive in a candidate-short market, as well as to help with overall employee retention, it’s important to create a workplace that nurtures the growth and well-being of employees.
Here are a few ways to improve your work culture:
- Encourage a good work-life balance
- Promote overall well-being of employees
- Recognise your employees work
- Set incentives and reward employees for great work
- Review salaries regularly and ensure they are competitive
- Consider enhancing your benefits package
Embrace remote and flexible working
In order to appeal to top talent in a candidate-short market, it’s essential to embrace flexible working. Offering remote work options will help you to compete with other companies. If you’re not able to accommodate fully remote roles, you could also consider offering a relocation package to recruit candidates from further afield and capture a larger and more diverse talent pool. Just make sure you’re able to invest in the right technology to support remote working.
The other thing to consider is flexible work schedules. Amongst your workforce, employees will have diverse lifestyles and commitments. So, it’s important that your work options reflect this to encourage employees to effectively balance their professional and personal lives.
Have a streamlined recruitment process in place
In today’s competitive job market, streamlined and efficient recruitment processes are essential. In order to streamline your process, make sure your job descriptions are concise, and clearly highlight the requirements to ensure both candidates and hiring teams have an accurate understanding of expectations. Also ensure your application and interview process is as efficient as possible, by removing any unnecessary steps that may act as barriers are take up too much time.
The benefits of collaborating with Stonor as your recruitment agency:
Collaborating with our experts at Stonor recruitment offers several benefits for employers seeking top-tier talent, including:
- We have access to a vast network of potential candidates, saving valuable time in the hiring process.
- We’re experts in identifying the right fit for your company, ensuring candidates meet your specific requirements.
- We can streamline the screening and interview processes, improving the quality of hires.
- Our knowledge of industry trends and salary benchmarks helps in offering competitive compensation packages.
- We can also support administrative tasks, reducing the burden on internal HR teams.
Ultimately, partnering with Stonor will improve your ability to attract and retain skilled professionals, contributing to your company's long-term success.
Take the hassle and stress out of recruitment. Contact our team today and we’ll help you find the best talent for your industry.