Top tips and trends from CIPD Conference to help improve talent attraction

Written by Charlie Wetton

Last week (Wednesday 9^th of November), my colleague Cath and I attended the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition. Held at Manchester Central, the event offers an opportunity for HR, talent acquisition and recruitment professionals from across the UK to come together, share ideas, learn more about industry trends and hot topics, and gather ideas on how to implement these to help improve talent attraction strategies.

It's no secret that the UK is experiencing a tough recruitment market, with the number of jobs outweighing the number of people searching for employment. It’s therefore also no surprise that emerging trends discussed at the conference focused on this shift to a candidate-driven market, and in response to that, how organisations could leverage their employer branding and EVP to improve their talent attraction strategy. In other words: people can be picky about where they apply. Your competitors are stepping up their game. So how can you make sure your organisation stands out from the crowd to potential applicants? 

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Stand out from the crowd… or get left behind

One interesting talk placed emphasis on the key elements of the candidate journey, which reiterated where the focus should be shifted:

Awareness is always the first step of the candidate journey, and your first chance to make an impression. Therefore, it’s the most important part of your talent attraction strategy. And it’s both interesting and surprising to see how little emphasis is placed on awareness by some employers: particularly with job advertisements. The most purposeful, and often most effective way, of getting word out that you’re hiring. 

Increase quality applications, without increasing salaries.

Questions and discussions at the conference focused on how employers can attract quality applications, without having to increase salaries dramatically during a cost-of-living crisis, in which no doubt pay and other financial rewards will be a key consideration for those looking to leave the stability of the jobs they’re in. Solutions to these concerns focused on making the most out of the opportunity you have to promote your employer brand and EVP to the people you’re trying to target and attract, particularly through job advertisements. 

There was no doubt among listeners that the best talent is looking for the best workplace. And (good news!) that doesn’t necessarily mean where offers the highest salary. It means building a picture of what makes your organisation the best place to work, including the non-financial incentives like culture, the environment, job security, and sense of belonging. All things you can do through your adverts. According to the CIPD Good Work Index 2022, the 7 dimensions of job quality are: 

Like all great pieces of marketing, there’s science behind writing effective job adverts

But it’s not just about getting the word out there through a copy and paste of a job description, or even by simply “optimising” this for the job boards. Like all great pieces of marketing, there’s a science behind job advert writing. Harnessing the power of your employer branding and implementing this into your talent attraction strategy will not only encourage more applications, but will attract the right talent. Those who are joining for the right reasons. The people who share the same goals and values as your company. And hopefully, in doing so, positively impact retention. 

The top tip to share from some of the talks at the conference was to consider: if I were given 30 seconds to convince the ideal applicant to come and join our company, would I read out a “copy and paste” of a job description? If your answer is “definitely not” … are your job advertisements doing the same thing?

We’re experts in job advertising and marketing, and it's what we do here at JVP Group, day in, day out. The market is moving extremely fast with people accepting jobs within a matter of days of applying for roles, and we’re more than aware of the impacts that a streamlined recruitment process can have on the success of hiring the right candidate. 

Still, it was surprising to hear that 71% of applicants consider dropping out of a lengthy or confusing application process, reflective of the candidate-driven market. It’s true that job advertisements can be amazing pieces of marketing, drawing in exactly the right applicants, but this statistic reiterated the vital part all stages of the candidate journey have in ensuring a streamlined recruitment process. Look out for our next article, in which we’ll provide advice on how to improve the candidate journey, to reduce the number of drop-out applications, and ensure job ad campaigns lead to a speedy hire.

Ready to transform your talent attraction strategy, but could do with support?

Get in touch with one of our job advertising and marketing specialists, who will provide advice to help your organisation harness the power of your EVP and employer branding to improve your talent attraction strategy.