"About recruitment and the war for talent"

The War for Talent

The 'War for Talent' has barely returned. The websites of the top 30 accountancy firms together contain about 1000 vacancies for professionals with work experience. Law firms are also struggling en masse with unfilled vacancies for experienced lawyers. And then we are not talking about starters and (working) students.

Organizations are once again struggling to get much-needed talent. In the Volkskracht, Jolan Douwes reported on May 11 about the presentation of the Yard & Awards for the best recruitment campaigns: "Come join us".

Authenticity seems to be the keyword, but the best campaigns are apparently still chosen for their originality and the positive effect on the influx. Whether a campaign gives the right picture of the organization does not seem to matter.

Peter welcomes the woman and asks her: "where do you want to go: Heaven or Hell?" I didn't know I was allowed to choose, "she responds surprised." Indeed. But if you find it difficult to make a choice, I have an offer for you. Today you can go to Hell on trial, tomorrow to Heaven. Then you can make a choice. How does that sound? ”The woman does not hesitate for a moment and agrees.

The gates of Hell swing open and she enters. She is prepared for anything. But it turns out to be one big party! With great music, interesting people and great food and drinks. All day long she experiences everything that makes a person happy. As agreed, she goes to Heaven the next day. There she finds exactly what she expected. It is pleasant, no pain and sorrow, grassy meadows, lovely angels and the most beautiful animals and plants.

"And?" Asks Peter the next day, "have you been able to make a choice?"

"I never expected this," says the woman, "but I choose Hell." Peter opens the gate of Hell with a solemn gesture. When the gates close behind her with a chilling sound, she finds herself in Hell that we have always imagined: damnation, evil spirits and a cruel devil. Everywhere fire, horrible screams, pitiful pain and suffering, blood and sorrow….

At the end of this terrible day, Peter visits her. "I don't understand," the woman stammers. “This is a completely different Hell than I first visited. It is horrible here! ”
"That makes sense," says Peter, affably. "You were an applicant for the first two days, now you are an employee."

According to jury chairman Marion de Vries, recruiting sometimes seems like one big party: 'The fun in those videos comes at the expense of the content.' And there the shoe starts to wring. If you look at the main reasons why people leave a company within six months, it is firstly because the job turned out not to be what they expected, secondly that the culture of the company did not and finally that they did not have a good relationship with the manager or colleagues.

From the annual, worldwide Gallup's investigation shows that no more than 13% of the employees are really involved in the organization where they work. That is worldwide. The Netherlands scores even worse with 9%. Offices cannot therefore (permanently) solve their labor market problem by arranging the shop window as beautifully as possible and thus luring applicants inside. A big difference between the shop window and the store itself is disastrous, for the company, for the brand and for the wallet. So there is work to be done.

Medewerkersbetrokkenheid Engagement Survey Gallup

Source: Employee Engagement Survey Gallup

Is your organization a great place to work?

What can you do about this? How do you ensure that your organization is a great place to work and that you don't have to do anything in your labor market campaign or job advertisement other than just telling the truth?

Five key features of a great organization are:

The expectations on both sides are clear and clear.
Your people know what you expect from them and their function or role, the place in the organization and the organization itself are no more beautiful than reality. Every day you give your people the space to do what they are good at.
Your people know the strategic goal of the organization and are involved in charting and following that course.
They know what to do to help achieve that goal. Hopefully that is a goal that is relevant to you, which is “about something”.
You give honest feedback about the extent to which your people meet your expectations, but you are emphatically also open to feedback.
Nor is feedback something that is saved up to the annual formal performance and appraisal interviews. You know what your people are doing and you talk to them continuously, including about what is going well and what is not. You give that feedback to grow your people, not to control them.
The bar is high, you aim for results, the learning and innovative capacity of your organization is great and your organization is focused on development.
This also means that there is room to make mistakes. Growing means pushing your boundaries, trying something new regularly and sometimes something goes wrong. So making mistakes is not allowed, but must be.
Fun is important
Finally, you have not forgotten that life is fun: so 'fun' is an important part of your organizational culture.

Make it even sexier

A few years ago, we presented a new employer branding campaign to the members of an accountancy firm. “We just have to make working with us even sexier,” one of the partners present responded. By this he did not mean that the conditions within the office had to be improved, but that the text of the advertisements had to be adjusted.

Fortunately, this office chose not only to run a good campaign, but also to become a great employer. Because that is the only sustainable solution to your labor market dilemma.

Make your office a great place to work and your employees will never again feel like you've sold them hell like heaven.

Do you want to seduce professionals?

Do you want to tempt professionals to come and continue working with you, simply by telling the truth? How do you do that? Take Contact us, we are happy to help you!