Why employers need to be flexible to recruit top talent

By Rob Muddiman, Healthcare Manager at TPP.

The latest figures show that unemployment has dropped to below 1.97 million in the three months to the end of August and although businesses are growing, there is a threat of potential skills shortages. With fewer candidates available and applying for jobs, employers will need to work harder to find staff. The very best candidates are likely to already be happily employed, and are unlikely to be tempted to move unless an attractive salary entices them or the job advertised suits them better in terms of their life stage.

As a not for profit organisation, offering financial rewards is not always possible, so you need to attract staff with a job that suits their lifestyle. This month we give you our top tips on how to attract top talent by offering flexibility.  When writing your job description and person specification consider how you can make this role attractive and what flexibility can be offered and ensure these are advertised in the role from the start.

Life Stage Benefits

Individual benefit plans can appeal to employees, as they can select the benefits that suit their individual needs, tastes and goals at their current stage in life.  For example, childcare vouchers would suit a parent, where as mentoring or vouchers for gym membership may suit people beginning their careers or without commitments.

Other benefits that could be included in life stage benefits include pension, life assurance, private medical insurance, holiday and purchases on items such as laptops/ mobile phones.

CIPD provide more information on flexible benefit schemes here.

Hire and train up

Consider hiring a more junior candidate for the role and train them up. Carry out a job analysis to identify skills and knowledge that are essential before beginning the recruitment process, be realistic with essential and desirable skills.

By offering training, you have the added benefit of being able to employ a more junior candidate at a lower salary and you can mould this person to your organisation, while improving their skills. By offering scope for development, you are more likely to attract an individual that will remain loyal to your organisation and money saved in terms of salary can be invested in on the job and off the job training.

Gov.uk provides further information on hiring and training staff.

Part-time/job share

Consider whether you need someone full-time. If you need someone full-time consider allowing job share applicants. By allowing these you immediately open up your job vacancy to more applicants, such as parents. With job shares you have the added benefit of two people’s ideas and initiatives on your team.

Many part-time workers will also consider travelling further for the right role, as they won’t be travelling everyday, this may be the difference of attracting a great candidate that is the perfect fit for your role.

You can find out more about recruiting part-time workers here.

Flexible working

Flexible working gives people a better work-life balance. Results of our past salary surveys have showed that flexible working is a sought after benefit. Flexible working can include part-time working as mentioned above, but more sought after is flexitime. This gives the freedom for people to work when they want (possibly from home) with core hours when they need to be present.

It is rare to see many jobs advertised with the benefit of flexible working advertised, although are sometimes negotiated at offer stage. This immediately will put some candidates off applying, by advertising this benefit you will have a broader, more diverse applicant pool. This can also help with equal opportunities and diversity for staff that might be unable to work standard hours or full time.

TPP has adopted a flexible working policy to retain our current staff and attract the best new employees in the future. You can find out more about flexible working on the gov.uk website.

Building in flexible working practices and benefits into the job description right from the start of the recruitment process is one of the key ways in which a not for profit organisation can distinguish itself as an employer of choice and compete with larger organisations and the private sector for the very best candidates.

Part time workers can add value to your organisation

38% of voluntary sector employees are currently working part time (compared to the 27% national average) and this percentage is increasing.  Why are not for profit organisations increasingly choosing to employ staff on a part-time basis and how can you take advantage of this trend?

Typical part time workers


Part time staff are those who fewer hours per week than a full time employee. Jobs are generally classified as part time if they cover fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week.
 
There is a growing pool of jobseekers who are specifically looking for part time work, particularly women with young children wanting a job they can fit around childcare.  Typical part-timers also include the semi-retired, students balancing work with study and professionals looking to spend some time freelancing or volunteering.

Make cost savings

Obviously, employing part time staff helps to keep costs down in areas where you don’t yet need full time cover, particularly for smaller charities.  Employing a part timer to help out full time staff can also help save on overtime costs and reduce staff stress and absenteeism.

Using part time employees can also give your organisation greater flexibility to cover busy periods or areas of growth.

Bring in new skills

Hiring a part time employee can also add real value to your organisation, as you can look at more senior staff then you could otherwise afford.  These employees have often had a variety of jobs and can bring more knowledge and experience to your organisation and are used to handling stress and juggling lots of different tasks.

Employers often combine specialist skills in order to create one full time vacancy, such as fundraising and marketing or finance and IT.  However, it can be better to hire two part time specialists, rather than one full time employee who has to wear two different hats.

Part timers can also be used to bring in a specific skill currently lacking in your current employees.  This enables your organisation to grow without necessarily investing a substantial amount of money.

Widen your pool of candidates

Recruiting for part time staff has another big advantage of giving you a wider pool of candidates.  Part time roles are still greatly in demand, as people wanting to work part time greatly outnumber the jobs available, meaning you have your pick of candidates.

This is particularly true when hiring for positions where good candidates are in short supply.  If you’re unable to find suitably qualified candidates at the right salary, extending your search to part timers can give you access to a huge army of well qualified people looking for flexible work.

Offering the option to work part time also allows you to retain talented staff, eg after maternity leave.

Increase productivity

A rewarding side effect of employing part time staff is that it can help boost morale, productiveness and retention.  Part timers usually value their jobs greatly and combined with the increased job satisfaction that flexible working traditionally brings, this is reflected in their productivity.  In fact, it is not uncommon for part-time workers to do as much in their shorter day or week than a full-time worker on the same staff.

Part timers also tend to fit the rest of their life in the time that they are not at work, so require less time off for dentist’s or doctor’s appointments and have lower absenteeism and sickness rates than full time employees.

Young part timers, such as students, can bring energy and enthusiasm to an organisation, as well as a willingness to learn and take on new tasks and responsibilities.

Demonstrate diversity

Employing part time staff also helps to demonstrate that your organisation has a diverse workforce and ethical employment practices.  This is particularly important for charities that champion those sectors of society which have a high percentage of potential part time workers, eg those dealing with women’s rights, parenting or ageism.

Recruiting for part time staff

The next time you are recruiting for a job requiring a high level of skill but with a low salary, or for one spanning several disciplines, consider employing one or more part timer instead of a full time employee.  Even if you do decide to advertise the role as full time, don’t automatically discount CVs from part time candidates, as they might be just the solution your organisation needs.

Unlike some recruitment consultancies, who don’t like recruiting for part-time positions as it results in lower fees for them, TPP are always happy to fill part-time roles and always encourage our clients to consider what option will give them the best value for money.  In fact, 13% of TPP’s own workforce are part time employees.