Hiring outside of talent hotspots

How can you attract diagnostic talent to work outside of the traditional talent hotspots?

It's widely known within diagnostics that there are a few key areas in the UK that are the 'hubs of talent', including London and the 'Golden Triangle'. These areas form a cluster that is at the forefront of innovation in the industry, attracting the most investment and some of the most skilled workers across the industry. So really it's no wonder that a lot of candidates in this industry say that they want to work for companies that have their base in these areas. 

For companies that aren't based within these areas, though, it may seem like a tough task to compete for talent with companies that reap the rewards of having their HQ in hotspots. But there are ways to stay competitive without the fancy location, let's dive into detail about the options available to you…

Bonus, bonus, bonus

The first option is also probably where your mind went when thinking about ways (other than salary) to attract talent, and that's in a cracking bonus scheme. The thought process is simple enough; people like to earn money. A bonus structure that rewards top performers is a sure-fire strategy to attract said top performers, particularly in sales roles.

But as we know, the companies in these talent hotspots are not short for cash, so traditional bonus structures might be easily matched or beaten by this players. Getting creative with how you offer bonus might be your best bet - this could include profit-sharing or even opportunities to receive equity in the business.

Flexibility

Besides just salary, one major factor that comes into a career decision is the working pattern expected as part of the role. Particularly in the last decade, candidates have started to place real value into flexible working, coming in the form of flexible working hours, home working options, and even work-from-anywhere schemes. For roles that have an option to shift away from a traditional 9-5 office-based pattern, there are many candidates who place a level of flexibility in a higher standing than most other benefits.

Talent hotspots will have great office spaces, but this means that their employees will be expected to be in office a lot of the time. A great talent attraction tool for those outside of these hotspots is to offer flexible working patterns and support to set up effective remote working - an allowance for a home office for example. To compete against talent hotspots for field-based engineers, your best bet is in the car allowance available. 

Jam-packed benefits package

When working with our clients, one of the first questions we ask before we begin working on filling a position is about the benefits package they have on offer to their employees. This isn't a question we ask for the sake of it, we know that a great benefits package is a real selling point that we can put out to the market when pitching a client. A benefits package that can stand out in a crowded market, either due to the volume of benefits or the quality of the offerings, can be a mighty attraction (and retention) tool. 

Quite simply, to make a benefits package stand out against companies in talent hotspots, you need to try to offer benefits that they cannot. Think about anything great that's not purely financial; healthcare and employee assistance schemes, annual leave allowance, gym discounts, birthday and work anniversary treats are a selection of benefits that go above and beyond to show potential employees that you look after your own.

Having a great benefits package is great, but potential candidates need to know about the benefits as well - make sure you are promoting any benefits on your website career page and in external comms as well.

Streamlined hiring

This final point may seem trivial, but hear us out, a smooth recruitment process that doesn't take an age for candidates to receive a response can do wonders for potential acquisition. We all appreciate how important it is to secure the best candidate possible for your open vacancy, but a thorough process doesn't necessarily mean a long one. There is nothing a candidate wants less than a million different interviews and assessment stages when in the process for a new job; a drawn-out process might even be enough for people to drop out.

For companies outside of talent hotspots, think about how to streamline your recruitment process so that you can get to a decision as quickly as you can. Remove any interview stages that may be unnecessary, work with your existing team to ensure any questions or tests in the process are valuable towards the role, and ensure quick, concise feedback to both successful and unsuccessful candidates. Top talent are likely to be in multiple different recruitment processes in the industry, a quick, effective decision may be enough to convince them to join you over the competition.

Or, you can pass a lot of the legwork onto us. If you're looking to hire soon and want support from a recruiter who properly gets the market, get in touch on adam.leeder@fmctalent.com