Revealed: How to win the war for talent

How to overcome recruitment challenges, according to mentors on London & Partners’ Business Growth Programme

Jobbio is a two-way career marketplace that gives jobseekers access to some 6,000 employers.

Once they’ve created a profile on Jobbio’s secure, private online platform, candidates can apply directly for vacancies in a few clicks.

On the other side of the coin, organisations get valuable insight into candidates; a slick applicant management experience; and a way to build their employer brand even when they’re not hiring.

The platform gives Jobbio’s head of content and employer branding an inside view of the recruitment landscape for start-ups. “It’s a talent-driven market,” affirms Dee Murphy, head of content and employer branding, Jobbio .

“So jobseekers have high expectations of businesses.”

Jobbio data suggests that 92 per cent of workers would consider changing job if offered a similar role by a better employer brand.

“Reputation is everything in today’s marketplace,” Dee emphasises. “The paycheque is no longer a clincher.”

“Without a strong engagement strategy, you’ll soon find yourself losing the war for talent.”

For high-growth businesses, success poses its own recruitment challenges. As a firm expands, it becomes more difficult to maintain its culture – which is a major component of its employer brand. And as recruitment steps up in response to growth, assessing candidates’ cultural fit becomes harder.

Founder and CEO Melina Jacovou describes Propel London as a “full service staffing agency for the digital economy”. Her firm exists to help London’s start-ups and scale- ups to “get talent right”.

Propel London’s suite of staffing solutions includes executive appointment, team-building, and contract and contingent recruitment.

Its offering covers a diverse range of roles, taking in technology, operations, commercial, creative and marketing.

The firm also publishes market data, such as its Digital Salary and Industry Insights Survey.

Like Dee Murphy at Jobbio, Melina believes that talent is a seller’s market: “In the digital economy, there are more roles to be filled than people to perform them,” she says.

That, of course, pushes up the cost, which can be a challenge for start-up firms lacking big reward budgets.

And to complicate matters, the prospect of Brexit has introduced a note of uncertainty and volatility to the talent market.

However, Melina cautions against taking the easy route to resolve your recruitment issues:

“I’ve seen many start-ups try hiring friends and family, because it’s cheap,” she explains. “Friends and family may well be willing to help – but they’re rarely the best people for the roles you need to fill.”

Want to learn how to overcome major recruitment challenges coming in the way of business growth?

Crucial ways to create a solid workforce have been detailed in the Access to Talent report – brought to you by London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s promotional agency.

Download the full report here.