When you’re running a company, your staff are your biggest asset. By hiring the right people, you can ensure you have the skills, innovation and creativity you need to grow your business. However, you’ll need to make sure you can attract the best candidates if you want to achieve commercial success.
If candidates aren’t clamouring to work for you or your job adverts rarely prompt interest from the cream of the crop, take a look at these top 5 reasons why people don’t want to join your company…
1. Your job adverts don’t excite people
No matter what type of role you’re advertising, people need to feel excited and intrigued when they see them. Most people search for new jobs online, which means you’ll only have a few lines to grab someone’s interest. What’s more, your advert will be surrounded by similar posts from your competitors, so it’s vital your content stands out and makes a positive impression.
Simply stating the job title and a list of responsibilities isn’t going to cut it in today’s climate. Workers are more aware of their value than ever before and job satisfaction is routinely cited as one of the most important aspects of a role.
If you want to ensure your job adverts are being seen – and acted upon – by the best people, take the time to craft them. If in doubt, outsource your needs to professionals and see just what effect an expertly worded job advert has on the number of applications you receive.
2. You don’t have brand ambassadors
A job advert should pique someone’s interest, but the best candidates will always research your company before deciding whether or not to submit a CV. As well as visiting your website, a savvy applicant will seek out additional information and look at who works or has worked for your business.
Having a ‘Meet the Team’ page on your website can be an effective way to introduce users to your current staff. However, everyone knows your own site content will reflect well on your brand. It’s the online content that appears elsewhere that will give potential candidates a real insight into what it’s like to work for you.
When your existing employees and previous staff are singing your praises on social media, job sites, blog posts and in industry videos, it’s always going promote your company. In addition to this, receiving positive feedback, ratings and reviews on employee survey sites will stand you in good stead when it comes to hiring new people.
3. You don’t provide enough information
Take a look at any recruitment website and you’ll see tonnes of advert that don’t really tell you anything about the role or the employer. While it’s easy to post generic information, potential candidates really want to know more about the type of company you are and the ethos you implement before they submit their application.
Everyone can imagine the generic day-to-day duties of a ‘Social Media Manager’, so your job adverts need to go one step further and really sell your workplace. Although you may not want to give too much information away at first, it’s important to strike the right balance. Keeping some information confidential while giving users enough material to make an educated decision about the suitability of the position will help to ensure you attract a substantial number of suitable applicants.
4. Your salaries are too low
No company wants to hear they should be paying their staff more but a lack of interest in your job vacancies could mean just that. Salaries are no longer a taboo subject and the internet makes it easier than ever to discover what other people are earning. If you’re offering a wage that’s lower than your competitors, you’re unlikely to attract the best candidates.
Remember – people who change job usually take the opportunity to increase their remuneration. If you aren’t prepared to offer successful candidates a higher salary than they’re currently receiving, you’re going to be hard-pressed to persuade them to join your firm.
While you don’t want to attract applicants solely because you’re offering a high wage, no-one’s going to work for free. By offering an attractive and fair remuneration and benefits package, you can highlight how much value you place on your staff and showcase your willingness to repay your employees for their hard work and loyalty.
5. Your website is out of date
If candidates are interested in a job vacancy, at least 59% of them will look at your company’s website. If your site fails to impress, they simply won’t pursue their application any further, which means you could be missing out on swathes of qualified candidates.
When you’re creating your company website, it isn’t just potential clients and customers you need to have in mind. Future staff members will begin their journey with you by viewing your online content too, so be sure that your web design, structure and content delivers the right message.
Adding a careers page to your website can be a great way to connect with potential new employees. By having dedicated webpages that tell users more about what it’s like to work for you, you can ensure that applicants have access to all the information they need. Furthermore, you’ll be able to determine which candidates did their due diligence prior to applying when it comes to the interview stage of the recruitment process.
Attracting the Right Candidates
The success of your business rests largely upon your staff, so recruiting the right people is critically important. Fortunately, you don’t have to manage every aspect of recruitment alone. With industry experts on hand to provide the specialist support you need, finding and acquiring the right employees needn’t be difficult, costly or time-consuming.
By understanding what candidates look for when they’re changing roles and what applicants prioritise, you can ensure that your job adverts and recruitment material strikes the right tone and facilitates meaningful engagement. By doing so, you can streamline your recruitment processes, welcome the best talent on board and look forward to unlimited success as your company grows.