This is the first of a series of articles providing a guide to attracting and retaining top talent. 2022 was a challenging year for recruitment in Property with the demands and needs of candidates and clients fluctuating heavily. With this series we aim to elevate your approach.
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A word that is used regularly, but one that seems to be an Achilles heel of most companies, “retention”. This begins at the initial offer of employment and continues right through to their last day. With reference to our previous article “Why you should never accept a counteroffer” I believe at that stage, it’s the end of the road.
The lifecycle of a successful hire beginning at an offer of employment brings me to the focus of this article: What makes a smart hire? I would assume the key areas you look for in a candidate include experience, qualifications and character however as the industry moves on, changing your approach and thinking outside of the norm is vital. This is personally where we have had a huge amount of success sourcing candidates.
Below are just three different examples of the approach you can take when looking to make the next pivotal hire in your company:
- A motivation to move which equates to longevity: Impulse reactions to a lack of promotion or pay rise can often transfer the same problem onto your business a year down the line. Motivations such as a desire for a new portfolio, larger clients, wanting client facing exposure or being stuck in a stagnant environment are all positive indicators the prospective candidate is moving with longevity in mind.
- Finding a clear benefit: Often giving a lesser experienced individual, maybe someone working for a smaller firm looking for a chance to manage bigger clients and projects but who has the right characteristics, can be a smarter hire with more longevity. Giving someone a chance creates loyalty and a reason to go the extra mile.
- Strategic hiring plan: Being a company with a flat structure, it can be a struggle to offer employees continuous progression. Creating an employee turnover plan is key. For example in the world of Property & Asset Management, positioning your business as, A stepping stone for Property Managers, looking to step into the world of Asset Management will enable you to budget around the knowledge that every 3/4 years you will begin a new hiring round.
With the current market being driven by the need for quality candidates, adopting a new approach and partnering with the right recruiter to implement new ideas like the examples above could be vital to the success of future hiring.
It would be great to kick start the year with the opportunity to showcase some of the success we at Oyster have had partnering with companies similar to yourself and delve further into what a smart hire might be for your business.
Research conducted by LinkedIn stated that 70% of the global workforce could be classified as passive candidates. This statistic emphasises the need for continuous candidate generation even without a current requirement. This will be the focus of our next article to follow on in February “Proactive vs Reactive recruiting”.
This the first piece of a six part series focusing on Attracting & Retaining Top Talent: #1.1 A Smart Hire, The Truth Behind It
With the current market being driven by the need for quality candidates, adopting a new approach and partnering with the right recruiter to implement new ideas like the examples above could be vital to the success of future hiring.