Candidate short, candidate driven, candidate led?

No matter what term you use, the problem for organisations looking to build their payments team remains the same, top talent has become increasingly difficult to attract, find and secure.

I like to use the term 'candidate choice' as I currently see candidates having the choice when it comes to their next career move. Highly skilled payments professionals are likely to have multiple job offers on the table, lucrative counter offers from their current employer and won’t actively be ‘on’ the market for businesses to easily approach via job boards.

According to a recent report from KPMG the UK recruitment market is at a critical point as there are record levels of available permanent vacancies whilst simultaneously we have seen a decreasing number of candidates available to fill the surge in roles for the fourth consecutive month (June 2021).

These market conditions make recruiting a time consuming, stressful and sometimes costly process, especially within a highly competitive market such as the payments industry.

So how can you navigate your way through a candidate choice market? I’ve written 3 of my top tips for securing the best talent in a candidate choice market below…

1. Differentiate your organisation by developing a flexible working scheme

In a candidate choice market, organisations will often find themselves competing within the same talent pool as their industry competitors, making it critical to stand out from the crowd.

The working world has changed significantly in the past 18 months and employees now seek a more flexible working environment. Most businesses will advertise ‘flexible working’ but not all can back it up with a well thought out employee policy. By taking the effort to speak with employees and listen to their concerns, companies looking to hire top talent can truly differentiate themselves by creating an environment that offers flexibility on the employee’s terms.

It is important to note that flexibility looks different to each individual but we are continually seeing top talent expecting to be offered choices when it comes to:

-      Flexible Employee Benefits

-      Where and when they are expected to work

-      How and when they receive payment

2. Be prepared to act fast when you meet with the right candidate

As a seasoned recruiter, I should be telling you to go through the motions of the full recruitment process to ensure that you see enough candidates to make an informed decision, on your next hire.

However, in a candidate choice market, the rules can change and you should be prepared to move quickly when you meet the right candidate. By no means should you rush into a decision but it is important to consider that top candidates may have multiple interviews at once and timing can be critical to securing their signature.

In these market conditions we would advise on being prepared to make your recruitment process as efficient as possible or risk the candidate losing interest/accepting an offer elsewhere.

3. Ensure your employer branding/employee experience is a top priority

Having a great company culture is critical to having a happy workforce. Having this workforce shout about how great the culture is, is a sure-fire way to attract the best candidates in your industry.

If a potential candidate sees multiple employees sharing authentic content about your company they will naturally be impressed and want to be involved. Ensure that employee advocacy is encouraged and not forced as the impact of negative connotations can have a profound effect on potential employees and stop them moving forward with an application.

The best way to do this is to invest in your employees working experience and by ensuring your marketing team is focused on authentically sharing behind the scenes content to give potential candidates a sneak-peek into life at your company.

Selling your organisation at every stage of the application process (and even before they apply via social media) can make potential employees a fan of the business, making it much easier to attract them to open vacancies.

Final Thoughts

It is clear that hiring within these market conditions can be seriously tough and the cost of a bad hire? Well I could write a whole other article on this.

My final thoughts on hiring in a candidate choice market is that it is critical to be fully prepared for the current conditions and to ensure your recruitment process is a well-oiled yet flexible machine that can qualify top candidates and act quickly when they are identified.

Hiring or planning to do so? If you would like to discuss the current payments recruitment market or find out how a specialist consultancy such as Mostyn Chase can help with your hiring needs, get in touch today!