Acquiring talent (people) is crucial to the success of a business. We work with many clients who are not short of work and opportunities to grow, expand and help their customers. But in order to do this, they need the right people and that is where the difficulty lies.

 

If you have been recruiting over the past 2 years in particular, you will likely be finding it a challenge to recruit and always hear comments such as, “There are more jobs than people”, “Employers are fighting harder to keep and attract candidates”, “People want to work mostly remote or hybrid’, “Salaries are going up again to help with the cost of living crisis” etc. The fact is, given how much of a war for talent there is, most candidates who may be interested in exploring an opportunity with you, are likely considering another opportunity! Does this mean they aren’t interested in you? No.

 

Well, how does your company attract the right people? It’s a given that you have to offer a competitive salary and package but what else is important to help compete for talent?

 

1. Recruitment strategy

2. Recruitment process

3. Employer branding

 

 

1. RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

It’s common for companies to receive lots of direct applications to their job adverts from people who just don’t meet the requirements or even half of them.

The time spent reviewing these applications, responding to them (which is important for employer branding), setting up initial interviews to discover they aren’t appropriate is time consuming and therefore costly. How else could all those hours be spent?

The expenditure on job boards to advertise the roles can also result in money wasted.

 

This is why companies sometimes turn to recruitment consultants. We are the experts who talk to people every single day who are or even aren’t considering a new opportunity, because often it is those ‘passive’ candidates who are too busy with their job to search for a job, that are the best fit. Or maybe they want to keep up to date with opportunities so they know when it is best to explore a new opportunity.

 

However, your proposition becomes a little less attractive if the candidate is being contacted by several recruitment consultants. Why? Because there is a risk that you are using an agent or consultant who you don’t know well and therefore might not be the right representative for your company and this role out there on the market. They may also have too many jobs on for them to service properly without payment. Every recruitment agency is busy.

 

For retained assignments with McKellar Consulting, clients don't just receive a few relevant CV’s but they are partnered into a consultative project where the market is mapped out as to who the best targets are, what packages are, who and who isn’t interested and why etc. It can also include any other specific requirements by the client. In these projects, the hire is approached much more professionally, with a better approach from the client and recruitment partner. Most often than not, the desired outcome is achieved. This significantly increases the chances of solving that problem with the right hire and not incurring the costs of not making the placement or worse, making a bad hire. Bad hires are incredibly costly.

 

2. RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Candidates should always be given a job description as well as more information such as the team size, its structure, where they are located, who the most senior person is, the types of work the team does etc.

 

When moving into a formal recruitment process, candidates should ideally know what the interview process entails. How many stages will it be? What timeline will the whole process be covered in should they get to the final stage? Are there holidays on the clients side that will delay things?

 

Similarly, candidates should let clients know if they have any holidays coming up as well as important aspects in their current package which would affect any decision they have on an offer.

 

The best experiences for candidates and employers are when there is full transparency. Working together can save people time and ensure there is no miscommunication.

 

3. EMPLOYER BRANDING

There are some huge brands out there. How do we know that? Because they have successfully communicated who they are, what they do, their values, success and who their people are. But if you are a smaller ‘name’ and without such budgets, there are still ways to positively communicate your company to the market.

 

If you don’t know what your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is, then it’s a good time to have a think about that. EVP is one of the most important ways that a company attracts the skills and employees they desire, and retains them by keeping them engaged. 

 

This requires investment in time and financially. Your recruitment partner can help your branding but only by working together. For example, if they aren’t given feedback to give to a rejected candidate then that’s not going to leave them with a great impression about your company to consider in the future or even to speak to others about.

 

In a recent LinkedIn survey, 2022 Global Talent Trends , the No.1 EVP is work-life balance but fitting work into their lives rather than their lives into work. This was then followed by excellent salary and benefits. No.1 also means that candidates are even more curious about your culture. Is everyone interviewing, on the same page about this? Does it come across genuinely? Go back to the recruitment process. Is that being conducted as well as it could be? 

 

 

 

At McKellar Consulting, our motto is Putting People First. We don’t look at our service offering as a sales job which is what so much of the recruitment industry is. That is short term thinking which can be costly. Yes, there is an element of selling a company and an opportunity but there is a way to do it, and not to do it. We conduct our business with a focus on four core values which are; determination, integrity, confidence and passion.

 

CONTACT US

 

McKellar Consulting is led by Craig McKellar who was a consultant for 6 years at a big4 firm in their audit service line, working with SMEs, large corporates and listed companies across different industries in the UK.

This experience of understanding and working with companies and their senior leaders was invaluable as he transitioned into recruitment in 2016 where he has since recruited largely at the middle to senior level.

In 2020, he launched McKellar Consulting to help companies attract the best but also the right people, by implementing his own ‘people first’ focus to recruitment.

 

McKellar Consulting has clients from independent boutiques to large owner-managed businesses (OMBs) as well as global consultancies.

 

To discuss your recruitment needs, please contact Craig on the below.

 

Email: craig@mckellarconsulting.co.uk

Mobile: 07949925603

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