How to Appeal to the Talent in Today’s Market

Since March 2020, the labor market has been in flux. Following the Great Resignation were mass layoffs, many of which were seen in the technology sector. Moreover, people’s attitudes towards work have shifted drastically.

The pandemic has made people reprioritize the role that work plays in their lives. Today, employees want more respect for their personal lives, and expect their employers to support them in their mental health.

A people-first approach is more important than ever when looking to attract new talent, since a whopping 58% of people said they would pass on a job if they thought it would negatively affect their work-life balance.

If you’re looking to hire talent in today’s market, here are 7 considerations to keep in mind.

1. Demonstrate authentic interest in your people’s well-being

To attract top candidates, it’s important to ensure that the hiring process highlights both your company’s benefits and interest in your employees’ well-being.

So what does this look like?

1. Your interview process shouldn’t be drawn out (more on this later on).
2. Your job postings should highlight what benefits you’ll provide to employees. For example, your job posting can highlight what kind of health benefits you offer, what kind of employee perks new hires can expect, or what kinds of wellness initiatives are already in place.
3. It should be clear through your company website, and interview process, that your people are your company’s most valuable asset. For example, if you’ve recently hosted a wellness event, make sure your social-media or content teams display this so incoming candidates can really get a feel for what it might be like to work for you.

When Gallup asked people what they look for in an employer, employees of all ages ranked “the organization cares about employees’ wellbeing” in their top 3 criteria. For younger workers (Millennials and Generation Z), they ranked it as their number 1 want.

2. Avoid lengthy interview processes to optimize the experience

Many managers and companies are tempted to put candidates through several rounds of interviews to ensure a good fit. Recruiting is expensive for companies, and time-consuming for all parties.

That being said, having more interviews doesn’t necessarily mean better hires. One study from Google found that “four interviews [was] enough to predict whether someone should be hired at Google with 86% confidence.”

But unless it’s for a management position, even 4 interviews is seen as excessive; experts say 2-3 interviews is ideal.

If your process is excessive or tiresome, your candidates might drop out altogether out of frustration for a more streamlined process.

To reduce the amount of interviews per candidate, you can include a few internal employees in the interview, so you have more opinions. This also prevents the candidate from repeating themselves about their background and experience.

3. Be transparent about salary ranges

One report found that knowing the estimated compensation for a position was the number 1 factor when deciding whether or not to apply. It’s also now the law in several states to disclose pay ranges, and there are several companies that already do this, including Amazon and UPS.

It’s important to discuss pay early, and include it on the job posting when possible.

Moreover, it will save both you and the candidate time if you make sure you’re on the same page about salary from the start. This is because the same report found that 50% of respondents abandoned an interview process when the salary revealed did not meet their expectations.

This is why it’s important to discuss pay early, and include it on the job posting when possible.

4. Hire for potential

Some candidates might not have the exact experience you’re looking for. However, they might demonstrate success in previous roles that might make them an excellent fit.

This is why it’s important to consider hiring based on potential, rather than only looking for identical past experience on resumes.

So when looking for your next candidate, you can advertise on job postings and in your recruitment campaigns that you’re looking for top skills like the ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and work with integrity.

5. Allow for flexibility where possible (both location and hours)

The importance of workplace flexibility, both in terms of location and hours, cannot be understated: 39% of workers would consider changing jobs if their employer wasn’t flexible around remote work.

If you’re hoping to recruit top talent, the flexibility you offered at the height of the pandemic should remain in place. Jobs that allowed people to work from home at least part-time saw 7 times more applications than in-person positions.

This might require your company and managers to adopt a new mindset around work from home. It’s worth considering the following:

• Do you actually need your people physically in the office?
• Do you need to learn to trust your people more to do their jobs autonomously?

6. Demonstrate that diversity and inclusion are a priority to the organization

Research supports the idea that when it comes to attracting new hires, a strong DEI strategy is important:

• 42% of job seekers said they want an organization that is diverse and inclusive
• 76% of job seekers and employees report that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers.

When it comes to recruitment practices, your people operations team and HR should be ready to answer questions about your diversity reporting, diversity practices, and steps you have in place to be a more inclusive workplace.

Some ways you can demonstrate this to candidates include:

• Showing plans you have to hire in a more diverse way (e.g. an Affirmative Action Hiring Plan)
• Discussing any DEI committees you have at your company
• Talking to the candidate about internal diversity statistics you’ve measured and action plans you’ve put in place to tackle issues

7. Be vocal about welcoming new hires that have been laid off

With the rise in layoffs, some CEOs and hiring managers have been vocal in extending job opportunities to these laid-off workers. If done tastefully and respectfully, this is a great way to demonstrate that your company is open to talking to them about open vacancies, when they’re ready to start applying for jobs.

Some proactive ways to do this include:

• Posting on LinkedIn to show your support for those laid off
• Replying to those on LinkedIn who are specifically and vocally looking for work
• Reaching out to recruiters at companies that announced layoffs. This way, you could get a list of people who will be looking for work.

Today’s talent has priorities outside of compensation

Today’s talent is looking for a supportive workplace that puts their well-being at the forefront. This goes beyond happy hours or ping-pong tables. It translates to people operations strategies.

Compensation is always a hot topic. However, there are other important considerations that weigh heavily on the minds of employees when deciding to join a new company.

These include allowing for the same flexibility many people were granted during the height of the pandemic, letting people do work they feel good about doing, and prioritizing a diverse and inclusive workplace.