The recruitment market is tough right now. With cost of living sky rocketing, organisations have found themselves in a war for talent. Employees have found themselves in a position where they feel uncomfortable about making changes right now, given relative levels of economic uncertainty. Many are just staying put. While numbers of job vacancies have been reducing, easing the pressure a little, it is still very much an applicant’s market. Firms have to compete hard to secure the right talent.
Many companies are still relying on job advertisements alone to identify talent. Yet it is a well-known fact that job ads online will only access 20% of the talent pool – those who are actively seeking work. The other 80% of talent is passive. And that is where recruitment agents like SureSkills Resource Placement come in.
Recruitment agencies are a great option for accessing talent that is not actively seeking work, but that may be a much better fit for available roles. Recruitment agencies can sometimes have bad press, but it is all about getting the relationship right between company and recruiter. Having the right strategies in place can facilitate extraordinarily successful partnerships with recruitment agencies.
So what best practice strategies work for attracting great talent through recruitment agencies? Here are proven strategies that work with SureSkills Resource Placement:
Develop a genuine partnership – when engaging with an agency, really make the time to ensure that the agency has the information it needs to effectively support your business. Tell them about company culture. What kind of person is likely to be a good fit? What are the business values? Who tends to prosper? Providing the agent with robust information will help them target people who will be a really good match.
Provide access to key people and information – recruitment agents can work most effectively if they have access to the hiring managers and top performers. These people will have the best knowledge about the day to day activities of the job, challenges and future expectations. They can best inform on the technical skills needed. Armed with all the information, recruitment agents can then pinpoint the best-fit talent.
Highlight the employee value proposition – What is it that makes working for your organisation so great for employees? Helping the recruitment agent understand all the elements of the employee value proposition will enable them to sell this to talent that may not necessarily be actively looking for other opportunities, but that may be very interested. Think about career opportunities, professional development paths, flexibility and anything else that makes working for this organisation a great experience.
Don’t lowball at a late stage – being clear about the salary and benefits upfront will help prospective candidates, and agents that they work with know what’s what. Being transparent saves everyone time.
In this exceptionally competitive market, it’s time for out with the old and in with the new. Recruitment agencies can engage with the passive talent market, understanding their requirements and presenting job opportunities to them that are genuinely a strong match. This saves time for both candidates and employers as the job acceptance conversion rate is much higher.
As an experienced and very capable recruitment agency, SureSkills can work together with organisations to attract, evaluate, and hire top level candidates. Get in touch to find out more!
