The most untapped candidate pool in the IT market & tricks for attracting & retaining talent
With the borders currently closed in New Zealand and tight immigration regulations it’s nearly impossible to bring over skilled staff into New Zealand. Even with skilled staff in the country the visa delays are meaning there’s very little appetite for companies to go through a painful process for no outcome.
So what can you do to attract talent and ensure you get great people on board?
Some gaps we see in the market are offering part-time work. This opens up a whole untapped candidate pool - mostly parents returning to work after looking after young children. I see A LOT of very skilled & experienced workers who can only commit to 20-30 hours work per week who have fantastic skills & experience - often international that is going completely untapped.
When we advertise part-time roles we get swamped with applications it’s really quite mind boggling….
Companies often find part-time workers produce more outputs than their hours suggest as they tend to be more focused.
So think about part-time or job share splitting a whole FTE between two people.
Did you know 33% of new starters decide if they will stay or join in their first week, it is essential to deliver an excellent first day
Once you have offered a job to a new team member there is a large hole in the recruitment process which is onboarding. And this is NOT just HR’s job…
Some key tips here are:
Once you’ve offered the role to a candidate get them their contract quickly preferably the same day or 1-3 days at the very minimum - sorry there are no excuses these days with technology to get quick sign offs when these are your most precious resources in an extremely competitive market
Add some personal touches with the line manager reaching out to congratulate the new team member. Have them come in or have a coffee before starting. Give them some documentation so they can start reading
Have an onboarding / induction process that is simple but also let the candidate know what’s going to happen on day one. Some companies have a hundred day onboarding plan on what the first one hundred days looks like
So in summary it’s essential to make their first day a really good one & have a well organised onboarding process
I heard a story once of a company overseas having a new member start and the manager didn’t have their desk ready so had the new starter awkwardly use the manager’s PC sat as their desk. Needless to say they didn’t turn up on day two….
Another key area is off boarding - ‘Love your Leavers’ is a great saying. Yeah it sucks when someone good leaves but look it as an opportunity to thank them for their great work and leave a lasting impression on them. It’s extremely nerve racking for someone resigning so if you can make it as easy & painless process as possible they’ll remember you for your professionalism. Conduct an exit interview but keep it prompt & positive.
Technology actually feels like a small industry globally - amazing who I bump into from years gone by or have people who have worked together before. Think of someone leaving as if they’re heading away but could quite probably return to you for a different role later, if you handle this well they might even refer a friend. Always keep your options open especially in a small market like New Zealand.
I'm Paul, I love coffee, dogs (and cats) & biking. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment & HR company specialising in recruiting software development & IT roles including, web, digital, mobile, data, cloud, hardware, security & networks in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.