Attracting the talent you want in 2023

In 2022, it has proved harder than ever to attract top talent, with organisations across the country competing in what seems to be the toughest labour market Australia has faced in decades. The number of job vacancies are increasing, but application levels haven’t recovered since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. What was once a local job market has now become global, with remote work practices becoming commonplace and enabling organisations to recruit from all areas of the globe. Coming into the new year, many employers are left thinking “how long is this going to continue?” or “should I be doing things differently?”

With the challenge of managing workforce needs versus speed to solve your recruitment (and possibly retention) challenges, one thing is for certain, ask yourself what you should (or could) be doing differently. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the basis of insanity. What I know for sure is that it starts and stops with authentic employer branding and employee experience alignment. Company brand alone is no longer enough to attract the best talent. It may grab attention for 5 minutes, but, if the 1st interaction, and every interaction after that is not aligned to the marketing bi-lines, forget it. Don’t throw investment in building out the below 3 recommendations unless you are confident that when your leaders say they are going to meet a potential candidate, they turn up, physically and mentally. Sounds obvious, but, as we all get back to the creation of busy lives post pandemic mental distraction and indulgence in stuffing our diaries so full, when our lives are so full that the only way to fit in a comfort break is to put your poor colleague on hold is crazy. Insanity, yet, how many are back there (or maybe they never took the opportunity in 2020 to leave there).

In order to attract the talent that you want for your organisation in 2023, there are many things you could be focusing on. Let me share my top 3:

• Your Employee Value Proposition
• How to build interest as a potential employer
• Building a strategy now for 2023

Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

In the past, job security and compensation were the most influential factors for job seekers looking to step into a new role. Now, employees not only want to feel invested in the work that they undertake they also want more than ever to feel valued by their organisation and aligned to the higher purpose of why the organisation exists. Going into 2023, it is vital that an organisation’s EVP delivers on its employee experience promise and instills a culture where everyone can utilise their talents to do their best work.

3 ways to revitalise (or design) your EVP in order to attract and retain top talent:

1. Ensuring your EVP is linked to your purpose

Job seekers today are increasingly looking to join organisations with a greater purpose that goes beyond profitability. Ensure that your EVP clearly articulates your purpose and the role your employees have in helping the organisation achieve greater good.

2. Show that you have a culture of opportunity and growth

Your EVP should tell employees how working at your organisation will help them grow both professionally and personally, and what implementations and opportunities are in place to allow for these developments. If job seekers cannot see clear avenues for growth they are likely to either reject a job opportunity or find new employment after a short period of service.

3. Match your words and actions to the employee experience being offered

Anything in your EVP will be meaningless if your organisation’s environment doesn’t support it. It is vital that your EVP is well communicated throughout the company and that the employee experience being offered is genuinely being received.

How to build interest as a potential employer

To build interest as a potential employer, it is important to take advantage of your EVP and brand and advertise on a number of channels that will allow you to target the right pool of applicants. These might include job search websites such as Seek or Indeed, or social media websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

It is common for potential applicants to look at a company’s social media accounts to get a feel about the organisation’s culture before applying. Therefore, it is important that your posts are a direct reflection of the employee experience and culture that is on offer. For example, regular LinkedIn posts showing your employees getting together and facilitating work as a team will show to potential candidates that high levels of collaboration and teamwork are valued by your organisation.

Staying connected to your network and asking them to share posts or job openings can also be advantageous in helping to attract the right candidates for a role. Job seekers are much more likely to choose to work for an organisation that someone in their network endorses and speaks about well than one they have only researched themselves.

Building a strategy now for 2023

It is easy to lose focus on recruitment when you may not need to fill any current vacancies, however the best way to set your organisation up to attract and keep the right talent is by building a strategy well before the need to recruit so that you are prepared and have the right processes in place.

Overall, your recruitment strategy should include the following:

• Developing a clear employer brand/EVP
• Creating social media posts that reflect your company’s culture
• Using the right social media and job search websites to target talent
• Implementing a full package of recruitment tools and resources, e.g. phone screens, interview guides and job advertisements
• Ensuring a good recruitment framework is in place, which may include policies, procedures, Equal Employment Opportunity procedure, codes of conduct and a diversity and inclusion vision

All of these areas are so important. But, without the everyday actions of your leaders aligning with strategy and purpose, you will burn money. Whilst I stood today in a shop awaiting my turn to be served, I read this quote

“Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark” (Jay Danzie)

And I thought it summed it up for me. You, your people and how they show up in the world is your biggest attraction strategy. Having a senior leader ‘ghost’ a potential candidate (yes, this is an experience that a very senior HR consultant had with an Employee Experience Consultancy Partner recently) is an action that leaves the best, most authentic talent clear on where they are going to invest their interest. And it’s not with organisations who fail to value others time. Approach all interactions with an open heart, and an open mind, and the rest takes care of itself.

Jon Burgess, an extraordinary human being (all round) and a leader in the area of advocacy says “connect without limitation and see what you can achieve”. Ego and agenda has driven companies for too long – this software is outdated. Connect without limitation, but be clear on who you are, what your organisation is about and what you have to offer, and the rest takes care of itself. Build your strategy, align your leaders’ behaviours with the employee experience you spruik, and the rest takes care of itself. Work with great HR pros to help you unpack the essence of why you are a great place to work (your EVP), and the rest takes care of itself.

Marry smarts with genuine intent to work with great people, and the rest takes care of itself.

Want a hand to line up all your ducks, drop us a line. With our expert team, from Brisbane, through Newcastle and Sydney all the way to Melbourne and across to Perth, we can provide some tips for you to run with or, do the heavy lifting for you – your choice. May 2023 be the year your talent strategy sails smoothly with the wind behind you.