Is your recruitment strategy failing to bring about desired results?
In the words of the great Albert Einstein…
‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
And if you’re approaching your recruitment with the same strategy that you’ve always used, that might have worked well for you in the past but is now not garnering the results that your firm urgently needs, it’s time to mix things up.
In this article we wanted to unpack the most common feedback we currently encounter from talented accountants who have chosen not to accept job offers or who have been put off entirely from even applying to work at certain firms.
1. You’re approaching your recruitment with the traditional assumption that you’re the one interviewing for the perfect recruitment match.
We’re sorry to break it to you but in 2022 it’s more often than not, the other way around. The market is totally candidate led and when we encounter really good job seekers at almost every level, more often than not, we’ll be able to arrange several interviews for them with multiple employers. So in these instances it’s actually the job seekers who are interviewing the firms!
Obviously you want to know the person that you make an offer to has heaps of skill and experience to offer your firm. But assuming you decide that they are right for you, the burden of responsibility lies with you to show them why your firm is the one that they choose.
The moment you adjust your mindset to one where it’s down to you to showcase all of the brilliant things that your firm has to offer that candidate during an interview, you’ll start to see better results.
Too often we hear from candidates who have been grilled about how hard they will be expected to work and how demanding some of the firm’s clients can be. If they have 2 or 3 offers on the table why on earth would they choose yours if this is the culture you’re using to tempt them in!
2. You’re not keeping up with the market salary in our industry.
On average we’re securing pay rises for our candidates of between 20 and 40% on like for like job changes over the last six months.
And we 100% understand that those figures sting! We know you might want to laugh in our faces and move along to work on your own recruitment. But we’re not in this business to lie to our clients and consequently not bring about results.
Pay in accountancy is rising exponentially and you can either swallow that and recruit talented accountants to help you to continue to run a thriving and profitable business, or you can fight it and watch the tumbleweed of job applications and see your existing valued staff jump ship for better paid roles in teams that are adequately staffed.
It really is that simple! And we’ve written before about the benefits of working with us on a retained basis – the concluding message when it comes to recruitment expenditure is you get what you pay for!
3. You’re neglecting to add in the additional benefits that modern professionals want and need.
The demands of modern workforces to have work life balance might make your blood boil. You might be from a generation of accountants who left the house at dawn and returned after dark and don’t really understand why today’s workforces can’t do the same.
But that’s just wasted energy.
Instead channel your energy into creating an enticing workplace with additional benefits that will make your workforce happy, healthy and productive (you never know – you might enjoy the benefits too!)
You’ll recoup the investment twice over when you manage to retain potential and see a long term reduction in your recruitment costs and benefit from new clients who are attracted to the great buzz your happy and valued staff give out.
Don’t say you can’t afford it – we’re 100% certain that you can’t afford NOT to do this!
4. Finally partner up with a niche recruiter who understands.
Our sector is unique and we understand that that must be frustrating. But if you’re at the end of your tether with a recruitment strategy that is consistently failing to deliver the results that your firm needs, calling in the experts is the best way forward.
And that’s where we come in. As experts in the UK accountancy recruitment, only we know this industry inside and out and we’re just an email or phone call away.
Today can be the day you decide to fix what’s broken. We promise you won’t regret it.
