As recruiters in the renewable and energy sector, we often see the chess pieces moving around the board – organisations on the lookout to take talent from their competitors. In this game, we often see clients struggling to get their messaging on point – while failing to consider how they actually look to the people they want to attract.
Whether getting caught up in new technology, the many benefits of their workplace, or that one really big name everyone wants to work with, it’s not enough to get really special candidates over the line. In fact, in listing all these wonderful benefits, many organisations are missing the chance to bring exceptional people in-house.
When working with senior, specialised or rare talent, as recruiters we know that many of these candidates aren’t actively looking for you – at first, anyway. So, when attracting high quality people, the biggest stumbling block we see is an employer’s ability to articulate this message in their Employee Value Proposition, or EVP.
Our list of prompts below will help you craft an EVP that looks to the outside as well as the inside, and really jump out to the one-of-a-kind talent you’re looking for.
- Distinguish yourself. Make sure you’re clear on why a candidate should join your team. Keep in mind that talent is in short supply and the interview process is a two-way street. It isn’t enough anymore to say, “we have a fruit box” or “we offer flexible working arrangements” – you need to distinguish yourself and relate that point of difference to your potential employees.
- Check online. Your website and social media postings are important, and this is the first place a candidate will check. Does your careers page portray what you want? Do you have social media postings recognising your employees’ achievements or is it all about ‘company wins’?
- …keep checking. While you’re online, did you check your hiring manager’s LinkedIn profile? Do they have a professional photo or a picture of them down at the pub? This is a grey area, but I would encourage employers to speak to their hiring managers about the external image that they are portraying to a potential hire or client!
- Interview skills. Your hiring manager must sell the role, organisation and articulate their vision for the team. So can your hiring manager interview well? In the energy sector for example, many of our hiring managers have technical backgrounds, and we find that their interviews mainly focus around the technical aspects of the role. While the candidate maybe suited to the role and answer those questions well, they often leave the interview not really knowing about the company culture, future progression or even ‘connect’ with the hiring manager. If a potential candidate is engaged by the person interviewing them, the success rate of hiring is greatly improved.
Finally, finish up the process and come full circle. Follow up after interviews and onboarding are also critical to the candidate’s experience. Think about how you might apply and progress through your own company recruitment process. In articulating not only how great you are, but what the candidate might respond to favourably may be the difference between a good and a great hire.
