While on-site with a client to review recruitment strategy we discussed the need to offer better incentives for people to join them, better hours, better pay, more interesting work. After all, 93% of people are in work, and they won't move just for the sake of it, writes Clive Jefferys, JMA Network.
My client, who was not in telecoms (I was seeing them as a 'favour') uses extensive advertising on all the jobsites, their website, newspapers, job centres, roadshows. Yet they struggle even to find, let alone close candidates to an offer. Why is this the case?
Well the recruitment model is suffering the same pitfalls as commercial TV. Compared to even ten years ago, there are so many places to look that hardly anyone is watching any one channel anymore.
Some of my friends watch only movies, others, long running serials. Me? I'm a BBC and CH4 news man. Some of my friends, I won't mention who, are into Reality TV, Towie, Chelsea, X Factor. Nothing wrong in that but everyone fast forwards through the adverts.
Thirty years ago, a 30 second slot on Christmas night cost £millions, but you were guaranteed that twenty million people were watching. Nowadays even good programming only attracts a quarter of that and when the first break comes along we pause it, make a cuppa, and then fast forward past the adverts from then on. It's the same for the online world - who actually looks at those adverts on YouTube or the banners next to the info you seek?
In recruitment today, every candidate is looking at a snippet of this and a snippet of that, across all the channels out there. They surf like crazy and so do you! Your job advert maybe cheap, but even if you want to splash out, no-one can offer the audience figures to justify spending more.
So the only solution is to find someone with a detailed channel guide. The TV Times of recruitment if you like. It's all about focus - you need well-targeted partners in your industry, and this article is a good example of the correct message and the correct medium. For example, 65% of job searches are now done on a mobile device or tablet. Is your website optimised for scroll down viewing?
You need someone who has profiled your target market and knows exactly when your audience switches on, and where, and how. Some of the channels will be obscure, some an utter mystery to you, but as a niche recruiter, that's for us to know and share!