According to data from Haymarket Business Media’s job sites, the new year is a peak time to recruit, with 22% more job applications made on the sites in January 2019 than the average over 12 months. The number of job views also saw a 21% spike in January.* It’s a trend we’ve seen year-on-year, which […]

Whilst it would seemingly stand to reason that a bigger team includes more minds and therefore a larger scope for positive output, quite often the reverse is true. One of the most successful companies in the world operates a ‘two pizza’ rule. An article on The Guardian explains that CEO Jeff Bezos initiated a rule: […]

Inspiration to help you take a more creative approach to your recruitment advertising.

The 2019 Employer Branding Insights Report from Wonderful Workplaces highlights that 94% of jobseekers said they took an employer’s brand into consideration when applying for jobs, which is up four percentage points from our 2016 findings. This demonstrates the increasing importance of a strong brand in hiring talent. However, according to 46% of survey respondents, their employers are failing to effectively communicate their employer brand.

Here are some top tips to inspire you to go the extra mile to attract the right talent you need to help your organisation thrive.

Think creatively

Employers have to work a lot harder and smarter to stand out from the crowd and build an employer brand that attracts the best. The explosion of content and social media has meant that employers are becoming increasingly creative about how they target prospective employees, so don’t get left behind. 

Are you communicating what it’s like to work in your organisation? If so, are those messages reaching the talent you need? Here are some ideas to help you:

• Video is a powerful way of engaging with time poor candidates. You can create rough and ready 360° videos of your office or interviews with employees to give candidates an audiovisual insight into your organisation’s culture. 
• Get employees to shoot short videos on their smartphones and share on social media what they love about working for you.  
• Publish thought leadership and Q&A articles on your website, publications and other channels that your prospective candidates are using. 

Make life easier for applicants

In a candidate-driven market, if you’re not making it easy for candidates to apply for your roles and find out about your company culture, your competitors may well be. Is that something you’re prepared to risk in such a tough war for talent? Make sure your application form or process is no longer than it needs to be. Make sure your job adverts sell your company with the right, honest, messages that will attract the sort of people who will thrive in your organisation. Don’t just list a load of requirements you seek from them.

The onus is not just on HR and in-house recruiters

Everyone in your organisation should have some responsibility for recruiting the right people. Do you feel that there should be a greater onus on hiring managers and senior stakeholders within the business? Why not find the top fans of your business  – these could well be your ‘low hanging fruit hires’.

Need advice or help building your employer brand? Get in touch with Wonderful Workplaces on wonderfulworkplaces@haymarket.com 

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Jennifer Jackson is the senior content editor for Wonderful Workplaces, helping organisations attract and retain top talent through content, research and events. She has over 12 years experience in HR communications and also manages commercial careers content across Haymarket Business Media’s print and online publications, including Campaign, PRWeek, Third Sector, Horticulture Week, People Management Jobs and Planning Jobs. 

Get top tips to help you implement creative approaches to your recruitment marketing activities. Apple, Google and Starbucks are businesses that have successfully positioned themselves as employers of choice. They don’t struggle to find top talent, and such is the love that is felt by their employees, they continuously rank as outstanding places to work. […]

Be inspired to embed a culture of flexible working that permeates throughout your organisation. 

The Employer Branding Insights 2019 whitepaper from Wonderful Workplaces found that for 71% of respondents, a flexible working culture makes for a great place to work. Not only does this contribute to a powerful feel good factor but the bottom line benefits of improved profits, employer brand and employee motivation levels can be financially favourable and far-reaching. 

Leadership from the top

Nothing says more than a leader who is prepared to show by example. Banishing age-old perceptions that you must be visible and present in the office to be working and productive begins with managers and heads of departments breaking down these notions. By working from home, remotely, core or compressed hours and, demonstrating that not only does this work but can boost productivity and levels of motivation, junior colleagues will be encouraged to adopt flexible working practices too. 

It’s important that leaders are champions of flexible working and that it is not viewed as predominantly a perk of senior management. With an accessible policy for all levels, trust is also a key element in embedding flexible working, and leaders can achieve this by empowering employees, celebrating their achievements and supporting their new working patterns.

Open communication

Key to incorporating flexible working into your company’s culture is having open lines of communication with employees. Guidance on how flexible working policies work in practice is crucial for setting boundaries and expectations. Tips and advice on how to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and other key stakeholders if flexible working is adopted is also helpful.

Professional body, The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), suggests that organisations should examine the attitudinal and behavioural barriers to effective flexible working that exist within their own workplaces. Having an open dialogue can go some way towards removing these outdated practices and ideas.

Working parties that support flexible working ensure that issues are discussed, and people management systems and processes are in place to support new ways of working.

Supporting technology

Flexible working relies heavily upon robust technology and SMART enabled devices. To truly embed flexible working practices into business culture it therefore follows that employees are equipped with the right technology and supported in how they use it.

Workers can be enabled to work as part of a team even if they are dispersed geographically with skype, cloud and video conferencing. E-mail, Whatsapp messaging and social media can also help employees to feel connected virtually and importantly feel aligned to their organisation’s values and people. Technology can also be deployed to develop employees when they are not in the office with e-learning modules and apps available anytime and anywhere.

Adopting flexible working practices takes time but by making incremental changes and getting buy-in from those at the top of the organisation, a culture of flexible working can be embedded into any organisation whatever the sector or size. Technology that is reliable, well supported and utilised by employees will ensure that when face-to-face contact is not possible, communication doesn’t suffer.

Need advice or help building your employer brand? Get in touch with Wonderful Workplaces on wonderfulworkplaces@haymarket.com 

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Annie Hayes is a specialist HR, skills, careers and L&D writer with 19 years experience in the sector.