Across multiple sectors, the UK workforce has faced vast challenges in recent years - Brexit, IR35, a global pandemic, all of which have combined to create an unprecedented effect on the world of recruitment. It’s been a pivotal time at Grace May, providing guidance as to how best to address the skills gap, working together with our clients and helping them adapt to the change. How can you attract and secure the right talent for your business in an age of ongoing global uncertainty?

Our industry observations have highlighted several key areas which companies can address to maximise their chances of attracting and securing the people they need.

Improve the candidate experience – Re-framing recruitment as a candidate experience rather than a laborious company process means changing your perspective a little. Recruiting for tech talent is not as simple as uploading a job post on a relevant website. Today’s tech talent pool is more discerning, widening its search net and looking further afield, so aim to be active in non-traditional channels. The top candidates are ambitious and have many options – it’s key to highlight and sell-in your team’s strengths as part of the interview experience. And bring your most relevant people to interviews, events and conferences.

Why would they want to work for you? – The upcoming workforce has adapted to the flexibility of remote working and its various lifestyle advantages, which has had a knock-on effect on the traditional business workplace model. Value proposition – highlighting what a candidate stands to gain by joining your team - is increasingly important and includes the innovative technologies available to them, the skills they will learn, and the connections they could make with inspirational colleagues. Candidates are increasingly socially and environmentally conscious, so recruiting companies should ensure their corporate social responsibility messaging is front and centre. Genuine kindness is also key - people buy from people after all, and it’s important to build trust and align expectations on both sides.

Offer maximum flexibility or a compromise – The greater the flexibility in your offering, the wider your talent pool, it’s as simple as that. Remote working has widened the talent pool in an almost unlimited way, so recognise what works for your organisation in terms of needing people to be physically present, listen to the needs of the candidate and work to reach a mutual agreement that’s good for your business and the candidate.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are essential – not special initiatives – It’s widely recognised that specialist tech talent will refuse a job offer or avoid applying to work for companies perceived as non-inclusive. Is your workforce sufficiently diverse and inclusive? To address this, employers should continually monitor and review diversity of all kinds in the workplace, across recruiting, retention, evaluation and pay.

The Grace May Way – At Grace May People one of our first steps is to help our clients achieve an attractive value proposition, from an in-depth understanding of the current market and the desires of the candidates. We’re here to provide advice and support to guide you with your recruitment strategy, planning and any challenges that arise. Our last recommendation to our clients is to embrace the change and be flexible to a shift in mindset. Now is an exciting time to be recruiting, and we’re here to help it happen.

By Sasha Jaypalan

Founding Director