A new report by executive search firm HRM recommends a human-centred approach to attracting talent.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, work-life balance is now the standout reason candidates will be attracted to a potential new employer, according to a recent report by Irish company HRM Recruitment, a global partner of executive search firm IIC Partners.
The report, based on a survey of almost 2,000 professionals by HRM, highlights flexibility and less commuting as essential factors in an organisation’s employer value proposition.
Michael O’Leary, CEO of HRM, said “Understanding the key motivations for candidates is essential to organisations who wish to attract the best talent. We undertook this research knowing that the pandemic has had and continues to have a profound impact on shaping these.
“The first challenge is for organisations to align their employee value propositions (EVPs) accordingly and the second is to ensure that these EVP elements are authentically promoted in the right talent pools and demonstrated throughout a hiring process.”
Of the 1,882 people surveyed, nine in ten (97pc) respondents said a work-life balance is influential in their decision on whether to engage with a new employer.
Accordingly, the report recommends employers adapt to the new remote working culture that has crept into the conversation since the pandemic in order to continue attracting the best talent.
Almost half – 44pc – of respondents said they would refuse a job offer without the opportunity to work remotely in whole or in part.
Just 10pc of leaders and professionals want to fully return to their workplaces. More than two-thirds opted for a hybrid pattern of two or three days alternating between remote and site-based working.
Of those surveyed, 13.2pc worked in engineering, 12.8pc in science and 10.4pc in technology, with the remaining coming from other areas such as HR, management and finance.