UK unemployment rates have dropped to record lows, meaning more people are in work and not actively seeking jobs than previous decades. This has meant many of the top UK companies are having to seek out talent by targeting passive candidates.
A passive candidate is someone who is already employed and not looking for a new role. They are notoriously harder to employ because you have to offer them a better working experience or more money than they are already earning. To do the latter, there are a number of techniques you can try.
Using local job portals to find candidates searching for jobs in Leicester, Birmingham and even smaller local regions is an excellent idea, but here are a few ideas on how you can broaden your searches by using alternative methods of recruitment.
Create a Referral Scheme
A referral scheme is an effective way to reward your current staff for finding your business top talent. If one of your existing employees can convince their already-employed friend to try for your opening and they get the job, everyone wins. You find valuable professionals to add to your company with little effort and your current employees are rewarded for their additional work – and persuasion power.
Sometimes friends can be better at persuading people to apply for jobs (especially at companies they already work for) than the most meticulous recruitment methods.
Build an Employer Brand
An employer brand is a way of advertising your company as a fun, caring and great place to work. You do this by showing how you create the perfect work-life balance, recognise your employees’ achievements and provide them with support.
Building an employer brand is a detailed topic and involves many strategies. Here are some of the most effective ways to build your employer brand on social media:
- Let employees take control of your social media and interact with your following
- Create behind-the scene videos such as office tours
- Make meet-and-greet videos with bosses and host Q and A sessions
- Be active in the community
Do Your Research – And Act on It
Most companies will send out the occasional survey to find out what their staff think of current processes or their responsibilities. But it is how those companies react to them which makes a difference.
If you can research your staff’s likes and dislikes and make positive changes, then you can promote your research and actions to a wider market using social media channels or newsletters.
Attend Events
Networking remains a beneficial way of finding skilled individuals. Sending senior staff members to conferences and events can be beneficial for their own development, but by giving them a secondary task to promote current openings can help you drive awareness of the position to a segment of the job market that would never have looked your way.
The passive candidate may be hard to reach. Yet, with a strong employer brand, a referral scheme, research and continued networking, they are possible to attract.