The effects of the Great Resignation and the low unemployment rate are adding up to make 2022 an incredibly challenging year for organizations looking to hire new executive talent. Competitors are becoming more aggressive in courting talent. Hiring bonuses, once reserved for the highest-level executives, are now offered to nearly half of all senior management hires. Shorter work weeks are becoming de rigueur. Not just for private enterprise, but are also being considered on a state wide level. How to win the war for talent in 2022?
There are plenty of talented people ready to join your organization – if you know where to look and learn what engages them. Here are some thoughts to consider while hiring executive level talent in 2022’s candidate driven market.
Knowing your company’s value proposition is critical
It’s a deceptively simple question. “Why?” Why your company and why this role? Looking at your employer brand from the point of view of potential talent is critical to your success in engagement. But far too many companies are conducting talent searches as if they’re doing everyone a big favor. Yes, it’s about finding a talent that wants to work for you and can excel in the role. But it cuts both ways.
Executive candidates are evaluating what constitutes meaningful work for them. How job structures meet their personal situations and priorities. The pandemic changed “work-life” balance to “life-work” balance. Does your company’s opportunity fit this executive’s priorities for their life as a whole?
The obvious parts of a company’s value proposition – competitive salary, enhanced benefits, flexible working environment, etc. – are most likely to be mirrored by your competitors. What makes your company different? What opportunities are you offering that other companies are not? Those answers will be of the most interest to executive talent.
Passive executive candidates need to be connected with, not interviewed
Passive executive talent do not need to take your job. They’re already doing that job for someone else. The upside is that with all the changes wrought by COVID, many experienced executive level candidates are open to new opportunities. Research has shown that a sourced or outbound candidate is 4-5x more likely to be hired than an inbound candidate. That requires engaging passive executive talent with a different mindset than you would an applicant to a job opening.
It’s a matter of creating a compelling reason to consider a role on your team. Understand where they are in their career. Does your role provide an opportunity for them to achieve their goals? Do they get a chance to make an impact and create positive change? Their joining your team is an opportunity for your company to move in a different, positive direction. What’s the different, positive direction that your opening affords them?
Employee Experience is crucial
92% of employers worldwide said the employee experience will be a priority over the next three years. Prior to the pandemic, only 52 percent indicated it was important. And the first part of any employee experience is the initial contact and interview when exploring a potential new opportunity.
Salary transparency, clearly defined job descriptions, explanation of benefits, a description that depicts the impact the role will have on the organization. These are the basic building blocks of a nascent employee experience. But passive executive talent require a very different and much deeper employee experience to make the equation work. Make genuine connections and have real conversations with executive candidates. Not just about what they want out of a new opportunity, but what they want for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
Tell them the truth – Good and Bad
Every touchpoint in the interview process with an executive candidate should be thought out and strategically implemented to ensure a seamless journey through your company’s process. It has been said you only get one chance to make a great first impression. When it comes to executive employee experience, each and every member of your interview team, from the recruiting coordinator to the CEO, is making their own “first impression” on the candidate (and vice versa).
Ensure that all team members share a clear, consistent narrative about the company and role. Have employees and interview team share what they like – and what they’d like to see change – about your organization. You’ll find that an honest accounting of the challenges your organization is facing (coupled with its successes) is what motivates many executives to consider other opportunities. Truth and transparency are a major part of the employee experience.