Is your business’ reputation putting off the best applicants for your positions? In some industries in the UK there are more jobs than there are people to fill them. So when a good applicant comes along, you might not be the only one offering them a job. The current job market puts lots of power in the hands of the candidates to pick and choose who they work for. You have to make sure that people want to work with you!
It’s not all that uncommon that we find some people to be wary about having their CV sent forward to certain clients, and usually that’s because of the company’s reputation. Stockport is a small town and people do talk! Perhaps they’ve had a friend that’s had a bad experience with a company (either as an employee or a customer) or know plenty of people that have worked in a particular place, none of whom have stayed for a long time!
Starting a new job can be daunting at the best of times, so hearing anything that can give you second thoughts can be difficult to shake. Perhaps it’s a story from a friend about a bad manager, knowing a business has a high staff turnover or simply the whole industry has a bad reputation!
And many of those problems can be difficult for a business to understand from the inside – that bad manager could have left 5 years ago, a high turnover of staff could be because of fluctuating demand on your business, or maybe the commute is a nightmare and people leave to work nearer to home.
If you want to shake your business’ poor reputation, there are solutions. Poor support in furthering a career is one of the main reasons people might be willing to change jobs. Ensuring there are clear opportunities for progression within the company for those that want it are vital for attracting the talented and ambitious people that will help your company grow.
And, though we would say this, make good use of recruitment agency that will meet your applicants face-to-face: as a third party we can sell your company from a balanced perspective, and find the staff who will be a good fit for the job description, as well as having the personality that can mesh well into an existing team.
A bad reputation isn’t irreparable damage for hiring new staff, but it is a hurdle to overcome. The good candidates for new roles are out there, the problem is just that everybody is looking for them.
