Sharpening your offer to secure top talent
In a candidate-led labour market, organisations must stand out from the crowd to attract the best senior executives
RECRUITMENT
Image: Istock
Jim Green
Senior Consultant (Recruitment), Campbell Tickell
Even those among us not actively involved in recruitment cannot have failed to notice the profound effect of changes in the labour market. Whether we choose to call it a ‘great resignation’ or ‘great reshuffle’, there are a staggering number of unfilled vacancies across the economy. While ONS data released in July and August shows this is starting to level off, it is safe to say that we are still in an incredibly tight, candidate-led labour market.
When it comes to senior and executive roles, however, the narrative is less clear cut. It has been our experience that organisations can often feel that recruits at this level are immune to pressures in the wider labour market ‘down below’. And while there is some truth in this – the strongest effects are being felt more keenly with junior and mid-level roles – we need to accept that the executive recruitment market is not immune to change.
Trouble at the top?
In our senior recruitment work, we are absolutely having different conversations with candidates to the ones we were having only a few years ago.
While we haven’t seen the number of unfilled roles ballooning, or any ‘great resignation’-type event, we have seen pressure increasing on recruitment at this level.
Candidates are thinking differently now about the roles they want to pursue, whether a change of role at all is right for them, or even perhaps a move to early retirement.
Reasons for this change include:
- considerations around work-life balance;
- a drop in people’s desire to relocate for work;
- a more holistic candidate appraisal of organisations as a whole (e.g. is there a good values match);
- closer assessment of board leadership and strategic direction;
- remuneration, driven by the dramatic rise in inflation.
Strategies for success
To make successful executive appointments, organisations now need now to reflect more than ever on what it is about themselves they are ‘selling’ with a particular recruitment, and how, in order to appeal to top candidates. At the same time, sweating the detail – in terms of what recruitment processes look and feel like for candidates – is more important than ever.
In response to the changes we are seeing, we are promoting a shift in mindset among our clients. We are encouraging them to remember the truism that candidates choose organisations as much as organisations choose candidates – this is now more relevant than ever in the executive market.
Let’s be practical
So, aside from taking the advice of your recruitment partner, what quick practical steps could organisations take to maximise their chance of success with executive recruitment? Here is some low-hanging fruit to consider:
- Stay on message. Or ‘consistency is king’. How you talk about your organisation, in publications from accounts to newsletters should ideally be reflected in recruitment messaging. This includes adverts, recruitment packs, search conversations and especially when meeting at interview. Surprises and contradictions across these touch points can raise unnecessary alarm bells.
- Be open to new ideas. Repeating past practice and expecting different results is not going to cut it. Are you offering a flexible working environment that matches other roles on the market? If you want to increase diversity in your top team, have you vetted the language used in the job description etc., to ensure inclusivity?
- Respect your candidates. This goes without saying, doesn’t it? But small things can really add up. For instance, promptly answering questions fielded by candidates during the search process and avoiding changes to the published process or interview dates. These are seemingly small things that we know can put off candidates unnecessarily.
“Recruiting great new senior colleagues isn’t about to get easier anytime soon, and if anything, we may see the market become more challenging in the months and years ahead.”
Recruiting great new senior colleagues isn’t about to get easier anytime soon, and if anything, we may see the market become more challenging in the months and years ahead. But paying careful attention to the many small steps – some of which I’ve started to outline above – can really help organisations increase their chances of attracting, and keeping the attention of the next generation of leaders.
