Rapid Growth Recruitment — How to recruit top talent

3 Lessons for Recruiting the Best Talent in a Candidate-driven Market

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Key Takeaway — “The recruitment market is forever changing — so, plan your hires far ahead of time and deliver an excellent candidate experience at every interaction.”

Recruitment is an exciting time for any company — it means you’re growing! Whether you’ve raised a round of investment or grown organically, recruitment is your fuel for growth — with the right people, there are no mountains you cannot climb. However, finding the right people to fill your new roles can be difficult and time-consuming.

Hiring exceptional people is only half of the battle — ensuring they stay is even more important. The cost of attrition, recruitment and onboarding of new team members is much higher than retaining them. The impact on managers’ time, project delays and knowledge transfer can cripple a scaling organisation. Therefore, keeping your team motivated and highly engaged to deliver their best work is critical to any growth strategy.

“The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.” — Steve Jobs

Naturally, recruitment is a 2-sided marketplace and, as a recruiter, you need to ensure the role is a good fit for both parties — the candidate and the company. This blog will illustrate the importance of approaching recruitment from both sides of the table — helping you to hire and retain the right people to scale your business!

Get to the Point — What are the lessons?

1. The Labour Market is Forever Changing
2. Plan Your Recruitment Far Ahead
3. Candidate Experience is Everything

Lesson #1 — The Labour Market is Forever Changing

As the world changes, so do the labour markets — as such, you can’t take your eye off the proverbial ball. You may think you know what candidates want or how quickly you can fill a role — but that can change in an instant. The ‘great resignation’ and the rise of remote working have already shifted the landscape. The situation is complex and can depend on a range of factors outside of your control including; regulation, skill shortages or even economic conditions.

Early 2022 has proven to be a candidate-sided marketplace — putting the power firmly in the hands of the job seeker. For instance, some software roles are so hard to place that companies are offering salaries that are 50% more than advertised, in an attempt to seal the deal quickly!

So what can you do about it? Simply put, you need to change with the market and behave in a manner that reflects the new status quo. To thrive, you need to be aware of the environment and adapt accordingly. If you don’t, you may miss out on the best talent or lose your team members to a competitor.

Practical Advice — How to navigate the changing market landscape

• Research the Market Conditions — Understand how the market is changing, what has changed and where the power lies (candidate or employer-driven). If you don’t understand where you are starting from, you cannot take advantage of the opportunity, even if it’s right in front of you. In practice, you can achieve this by speaking with recruitment specialists or directly to candidates.
• Understand your Competitiveness — Do you know how attractive your proposition is to a candidate? How does it compare to other jobs/companies? How easy is your interview process for candidates? Most recruiters can point you in the right direction and give you honest feedback from candidates, however, this is role-specific. For example, a software developer in high demand may refuse an interview due to a lengthy assessment process.
• Consider what People Want — Something that’s important to one person may not be the same for another. As such, you need to be considerate of individual situations and question your applicants on their needs. For example, this could include; remote working flexibility, room for product innovation or even the distance to their children’s school. You need to dig deeper to truly understand their motivations!

Lesson #2 — Plan Your Recruitment Far Ahead

Knowing that the market will change — you can plan to take advantage of the periodic swings in demand and supply. There needs to be an element of flexibility in your forecast, however, planning is still essential. Planning gives you time to understand, interact and establish strong relationships with exceptional people. That way, you can build a strong pipeline of candidates and ensure they can start when you need them most.

A common misconception amongst passive employers is that “If I don’t need anyone now, I don’t need to recruit”. The problem is — if you need someone now, you’re already too late. When you’re in a rush to recruit, you tend to panic-buy and hire someone who may not be a great fit for the role. You will inevitably pay for your unpreparedness one way or another. As they say, if you buy cheap, you pay twice.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” — Benjamin Franklin

Recruitment is not an overnight process either, most senior roles have a 3-month notice period and can take months to fill (or longer). A good recruiter will build a talent pipeline and work with potential candidates before they are needed. The perfect person may not be there when you need them, however, if you are patient — you will eventually find them.

Practical Advice — Questions to ask to structure your recruitment

• What/when is your next inflection point? — Be more strategic with your resource and capacity plans by mapping projects or revenue targets to recruitment campaigns. Try to prepare a talent pipeline ahead of time to be less reactive and more proactive. To achieve this, continually question your business objectives — What are the goals for this hiring period? What are the core deliverables? When do we need them to start?
• What level of experience do you need? — The more senior the role, the longer it will take to find the right person (depending on the market conditions). Ensure you plan sufficient time for candidate sourcing, interviewing and the dreaded notice period. A minimum of 3 months is a good starting point.
• Are there any short-term opportunities? — Sometimes, outstanding people appear on the scene who will likely disappear just as quickly (due to their skillset or experience). As such, keep your eyes open for candidates who may not fit with your active campaigns but may be ideal for a role 6 months down the road. You will never regret hiring excellent people.

Lesson #3 — Candidate Experience is Everything

Candidate experience is probably the most undervalued part of the recruitment process and, arguably, the most important. It impacts your ability to attract potential candidates, and successfully hire and subsequently retain the best talent. If done poorly, it can hurt your bottom line and impact all areas of your business. For example, if your interview process involves long delays, a lack of feedback/poor communication and unrealistic expectations of candidates (interview times / lengthy assessments) — does that sound like a great company to work for?

“Poor candidate experience is synonymous with poor customer service. If you were treated terribly at a restaurant or hotel, would you recommend it?”

A good candidate experience is all about communication — it’s the way you interact, set expectations and connect with each person as a human being. The experience begins with the first interaction with your job advert or application form. Being overly demanding or tenacious in your job description can be the first of many deadly sins. It is much harder to remedy a bad experience once you’ve been rubbed the wrong way. Especially in small, close-knit communities with specialist skills (such as software development) — you are unlikely to get very far with a negative candidate experience.

Practical Advice — What does a positive candidate experience look like?

• Constantly Communicate — even if it takes you 5 min, that short one-line message to say “we haven’t forgotten about you” will make a massive difference. When you’re excited about a job, you’re eager to get feedback. However, if you don’t hear anything — you’re likely to continue your search and invest your time elsewhere.
• Reduce Unnecessary Steps in your Recruitment Process — Hiring doesn’t need to be complex, being clear about your objectives for each stage will help you structure your assessment criteria. This could be a simple 3-stage approach; a screening call, technical test and final interview.
• Put Yourself in the Candidate’s Shoes— An interview is a two-way process, it’s like going on a date — you need to fulfil the other person’s wants and needs for the relationship to blossom. Avoid trying to “trip up the candidate” with challenging questions — you’ll still need to work together in the end.
• Don’t forget about Onboarding your New Team Members — Recruitment doesn’t end at the offer letter stage — you still need to onboard your recruits and retain them. Starting a new job is a big deal, so turning up to a chaotic office environment or an unprepared management team on your first day doesn’t look good. Get prepped ahead of time and help your team settle in!

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Closing Thoughts

The goal of a great hiring campaign is to bring talented people with the right skills, experience and motivation together. Recruitment is all about relationships— so, don’t forget about experience and retention. If you treat a candidate poorly from the start, they are unlikely to stick around. So, rather than simply asking yourself “Why should they join us”, you should ask “‘why should they stay”!

Top Tips to Take Home

• Manage Candidate Expectations (for good or bad) — If it is going to take 3 weeks to complete your interview process, make sure you have set this out clearly from the start. If things change, ensure you communicate this ahead of time and provide regular progress updates.
• You’re a Brand Ambassador for your company — Every interaction with a candidate or new team member impacts the image of your company. Give all candidates a positive experience — whether they are successful or not.
• Be careful about Offering Under Market Value — 9 times out of 10, if you do not offer a candidate their expected salary, you will lose them eventually. This is often referred to as “low balling”. You may end up getting 80% of their capacity or losing them within the first 3 months of their start date — normally because they have found a better-paid job. If you have a good candidate — they will likely have multiple offers on the table, so don’t overplay your hand.

About the Authors

#ScaleupLessons is written by serial entrepreneurs, engineers and technologists to share knowledge about scaling startups across a range of industries. This blog was written by:

Chris Chapman — is a Director at Eclectic Recruitment with over 12 years of experience in the UK recruitment market, working with startups and even FTSE 100 companies. Chris champions a true “recruitment partner” model and drives his team to deliver high-quality candidates that achieve each client’s long-term goals.

Jamie Page — is the Recruitment Manager of the IT division at Eclectic Recruitment. Jamie has placed senior candidates across the UK in development, infrastructure, and data-related fields.

Selby Cary — is a serial entrepreneur, inventor and engineer with a passion for data-driven and automated systems. Previously, Selby co-founded ZIVA Robotics, an award-winning deep tech startup based in Edinburgh, before joining TestCard.com to accelerate affordable at-home digital healthcare. In his free time, Selby hosts the Startup Founders Meetup and coordinates various tech startup networking events.