Why You’re Losing The War For Talent (and how to fix it!)

As the job market continues to improve we will inevitably begin to hear again about the War for Talent. Utilising my extensive experience in identifying and placing candidates I can help you successfully stay ahead of your competitors.

Don’t Fight – It’s worth noting that not needing to go to war for talent is by far the best strategy. Ensuring your current team are happy, well trained, supported, rewarded and on board with their mission will negate the requirement for you to have to go to battle in the first place.

Learn from previous skirmishes – What learning is there to be had from your previous engagement? All things change – Technology, benefits, landscape, pace. Looking to hire candidates by offering longevity in a role will not appeal to candidates looking to build their own career ladder. Expecting candidates to undertake an onerous application process when your enemy is reaching out to them directly is putting you at a disadvantage.

Know the terrain – Have you undertaken reconnaissance of the terrain? How does your offering compare to the wider market? Are you competitive on Salary or Incentives? Have your competitors reduced sales targets in order to focus on customer satisfaction? Do you have, as a leader (or organisation), an image problem? Take every opportunity you have to understand what your competitors are doing. Keep in touch with potential candidates, take them for coffee, listen to them. Their insight will provide valuable ammunition in preparing your strategy.

Stealth – You might not wish to openly fight your war for talent. For example, you might not wish your current team to be aware of your search or you may not have immediate approval to identify talent. In these instances, you might prefer to use a 3^rd party (including a recruitment specialist) to discretely begin the conversation.

Having a trusted relationship with a market specialist will help with your reach and discretion. They can provide you with an overview of well regarded candidates in the market, steer away candidates who may not be culturally aligned and help to connect with the more difficult to find talent.

Speed – I have a client who tells his staff ‘Speed Kills’. It does. Moving quickly on a suitable candidate prevents the opportunity for other competitors to begin their process with the candidate. It reduces the time wasted on candidates who might not move, and it helps prevent counter offers. It also sends a strong and positive message to the candidate.

Modern wars are fought using rapid response teams. Having talent available to you quickly due to the warm bench you have built puts you at an advantage. Being ahead of the curve then doesn’t limit you to only considering candidates who may have seen your job ad, and who may have then applied (typically only within a 2-week advertising period) and who may have then successfully passed through off site recruitment teams.

Logistics – Relationship building with potential candidates is rewarding but requires a long-term investment. All of this can be undone with a bureaucracy that slows recruitment down such that it provides competitors the opportunity to begin talks with a candidate. Delays in background checks, letters of offer etc are often the soft belly that a competitor can take advantage of. If delays can’t be prevented then it is vitally important that you keep moving, keep talking with the candidate and keep them fully engaged. Leaving them out on a limb leaves them vulnerable to being considered by your competition.

To conclude, it is worth remembering that you need to remain vigilant for attacks on your business by your competition. Assuming your star performers are building a positive brand in the wider market, you can guarantee that they will be attracting interest.