There are so many challenges that businesses face, not to mention the current complexity of hiring along with the way candidates now view the market. Whether you have an in-house recruitment team or outsource with a specialist recruitment agency such as ourselves, there are a few considerations when looking to create your recruitment strategy.
Be specific.
Do you know what are you looking for? Do you have an idea of what your ideal risk, credit, or legal candidate looks like? We do not mean this in the literal sense – read more on how to embed diversity and inclusion into your recruitment strategy if you need help with this – but what experience or skill set does your candidate and company need. Be clear in your requirements but remember to be realistic with experience and salary and always consider attitude over experience.
When do you need them by?
“Yesterday” is the answer we get from a lot of our clients. With corporate governance recruitment being niche, it is good to get ahead of any hires you need especially with the average time to hire being around 40 days.
If you have a strategic business plan with multiple roles available or are trying to build out a new team, consider working with a specialist recruitment agency such as Saxton Leigh as we already have relationships with professionals in your specific sector.
What do you offer that sets you apart?
Candidates are no longer looking for just monetary gain. When looking for a new role, regardless of sector, candidates are looking for roles that come with scope to develop and grow as well as taking to account a company’s own growth, diversity, and ESG strategy as this can make a real impact on the culture of a business.
Candidates are not only considering culture and company growth, but since the pandemic, gone are the days when working from home is considered a company perk. Working from home is now considered by the majority of candidates as a right – with the Netherlands even becoming the first country to make working from home a legal right, according to a report by Bloomberg published 5th July 2022.
Does your budget match your role?
With salary still being a key motivator for candidates, we would advise that if you want the best talent available, you must factor in paying 15% premium to someone’s current base salary. It is best to do some salary research prior to requesting CV’s and interviewing candidates to ensure you are targeting the right skillset and experience.
Salary information is readily available on LinkedIn and Glassdoor as well as in salary surveys from recruitment agencies. Salary surveys are current, accurate and industry-specific.
Download our 2023 Saxton Leigh Salary Guide for salary insights on corporate governance.
When reviewing specific salaries, it is also a good opportunity to review your organisation’s recruitment budget. It is also good to consider the salaries of your current employees, especially if you don’t want to replace them any time soon!
What is your time to hire?
Time to hire has decreased, with an average in the UK corporate governance space down to only 34 days. It’s a candidate market, so companies with lengthy recruitment processes or those who leave large intervals between each stage of the interview have found that the most sought-after candidates were off the market by the time they reached the next stage in their process.
It is worth reviewing and streamlining your internal policies and processes to ensure your interviews remain effective and swift and of course that the candidate experience is good – even if they are not successful.
Outsourcing
The main benefit of outsourcing your recruitment to a specialist agency is that they know the market and candidates best. A great recruitment consultant will understand the challenges when searching for candidates and are skilled to help you build an exceptional team, with the right candidates and budget.
Recruitment consultants such as ourselves also provide benchmarking for salary expectations and are able to provide an insight to prospective candidates into the company culture and interview process – a good recruiter can also coach you through best interview practices as well as, doing all of the leg work from communication through to salary negotiations and final contract.
Why Saxton Leigh
Finding great people for your company, can be time-consuming and stressful, it doesn’t have to be with Saxton Leigh. Our mission is to make the risk, credit or legal recruitment process a smooth and simple one. With over 11 years of experience, our complete job search and hiring service has helped both job seekers and employers to achieve their hiring ambitions.
By specialising only in corporate governance and legal, we’ve become experts in our field. This means we can provide the support you need with our years of market knowledge.
Ready to take the next step?
Talk to a knowledgeable member of our team today to discuss your recruitment strategy.