Attracting Top Talent in Today's Economy

Focus on What Matters to Candidates Now

• Between Q4 2007 and Q4 2008 the unemployment rate in the US rose from less than 5% to over 7% while the economy moved into what many fear will be the worst recession since the great depression. The global economy is not faring any better as the IMF predicts the lowest levels of world growth for 2009 since WWII. These changing economic winds and looser labor markets have greatly altered what matters to candidates.
• While layoffs may be the norm in some cases, most organizations find that while they may not be hiring much (or at all) now, they are always "recruiting."
• The best organizations will focus their attraction efforts and messages on what matters to candidates in today’s market, and leverage the soft labor market to attract critical talent.

Changing Times Result in Changing Candidate Priorities

Economic uncertainty has produced unprecedented changes in candidate conversion factors.

The Recruiting Executive Dashboard (RED), the Roundtable’s ongoing global survey of new hires at more than 100 organizations, reveals significant recent changes in candidate conversion factors, namely the reasons why a candidate accepts a new job. Up until recently candidate conversion factors saw little change over time, however, the global impact of the recession on the labor market has produced significant changes in what candidates consider when evaluating a new employment opportunity.

Play Up Organizational Factors like Stability, Market Position, and Location

The Roundtable’s analysis reveals a year over year increase of almost 9% in the importance of organizational stability as a conversion factor for candidates. While stability is more important for every function, candidates in functions that are more vulnerable in a recession, such as HR and Marketing, saw even larger increases -- in the case of HR an increase of over 30%.

In addition to organizational stability, the analysis uncovered significant movements in how candidates prioritize other organizational factors such as market position and location. Again these movements are most profound in recession-sensitive functions -- Marketing and Sales saw jumps in the importance of market position of 18% and 13% respectively.

The housing crisis has placed additional importance on location for many candidates, who now have a hard time buying a new home or selling their existing one. For instance, the importance of location jumped almost 25% for HR candidates between Q4 2007 and Q4 2008. In a recent Roundtable survey of recruiting organizations over half reported that the economy has made candidates less willing to relocate. Moreover, the importance of location has increased within the last year for more experienced hires, with mid-level and senior managers seeing jumps of 11% and 8% respectively.

For Better Results, Focus on What Matters to Candidates Now

Top tier organizations will tailor their messages to candidates during these trying economic times to address concerns over job and organizational stability. Moreover, they will realize the limitations that broader economic conditions, like the housing crisis, have placed on candidate employment options and rethink their attraction strategies accordingly. By tailoring attraction messages to candidates, organizations will be able to get better talent while managing cost.

Roundtable Resources

Are your recruiters still proactively keeping a "pulse" on the market even if hiring has slowed?	Does your team know what it should be focused on now?	Do you need to figure out, and track, what your candidate conversion factors are?
Talent Attraction Playbook	Recruiting During the Financial Crisis Resource Center	Recruiting Executive Dashboard