Job vacancies are booming, how will you stand out and attract top talent?

With the jobs market booming, you need to work hard to retain and attract top market and you need to be on the top of your game, here’s a few pointers.

In their recent labour market review, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in October there were 29.3 million employees, up 160,000 on the revised September 2021.

These figures could be slightly skewed as it’s possible that those made redundant at the end of the furlough scheme will be included in the Real Time information (RTI) data for a few further months, while they work out their notice period. However, responses to a recent ONS business survey suggest that those made redundant were likely to be a small share of those still on furlough at the end of September 2021.

The number of job vacancies in August to October 2021 continued to rise to a new record of 1,172,000, an increase of 388,000 from the pre-coronavirus pandemic January to March 2020 level, with 15 of the 18 industry sectors showing record highs. Both single month vacancies and Adzuna’s online job advert estimates reached record levels of vacancy numbers in October 2021.

If you’re one of the many businesses in the Thames Valley that is continuing to thrive through the pandemic then you’ll likely be affected by the squeeze on quality labour. There’s a number of things you can be doing to make your business attractive to new staff. In addition to reviewing your pay and conditions to be as competitive as possible, these include:

• Task recruitment as a permanent process
• Regularly ask your people, customers, suppliers and wider network for introductions and offer incentives for doing so
• Keep active on social media and use these channels to speak to your potential recruits
• Explore how flexible working can work in your business
• Consider how much location matters or if you can cast the net beyond your usual radius allowing for remote working
• Get your culture right (this is a long game, not a quick fix, but start as you mean to go on) and ensure you’re conveying this and your business personality through your communications, so people get a feel for what it’s like to work for you, to be respected, given a voice. 83% of employees surveyed recently said that workplace culture is something they look for in new roles – more on this later
• If need be, hire a professional to write your job ads for you so they can convey your culture – but be authentic, or you’ll get found out
• Get testimonials from existing staff to use for recruitment campaigns – also take this opportunity to talk to your people and make sure they’re happy
• Use government initiatives for apprentices
• You can look at Introducing a “Golden Hello” and loyalty bonuses for length of service (typically one to three years); but remember you’ll need to consider how this impacts existing team members and what the long-term impact is on the business and cash flow.
  

  But and this is a big BUT, and the most important piece of the article! Keep communicating with and listening to your people. Remember that if there’s an abundance of vacancies then other businesses will be looking at (and possibly talking to) your people too. So getting the culture right and maintaining it is not just about attraction it’s about avoiding attrition – creating an environment where your people can look forward to work every day and thrive too, with an inevitable positive impact on your business.

Building the right team is one of the 7 Pillars of business success. You can learn more in our blog here, or download the whole ebook here.