Recruiting post pandemic? Highlight 4 things to candidates now

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Recruiting post pandemic? It’s a job-hunters market, and candidate priorities have changed.

If your company wants to land the best talent you need to know what’s on their post-pandemic wish list. And you'll need to be upfront about the things candidates want from the first job ad to your interview stage. Here are the things savvy employers are showcasing, right from the start.

1: Your remote working policy

As we discussed a few months ago, remote or hybrid working as the norm has shot to the top of the candidate wish list.

Of course, some roles must be done in a physical workspace. But for jobs that can be done remotely - or on a hybrid basis where some days are remote and others are on-site - it’s wise to spell this out in the job advert and job description.

Go beyond mentioning how employees are able to choose how many days they want to come into a physical office. Talking about having a clear remote working policy in place, covering everything from remote tech support to health and safety for home desk assessments.

2: Your wellbeing benefits

The pandemic has set off a change in the type of benefits employees would like. Perks involving wellbeing and lifestyle support reflect the national crisis we’ve all lived through. So it’s good to highlight these at every touchpoint in your recruitment process.

Here’s the type of perks the candidates we meet at HR GO are now asking for:

• More flexibility about when and where someone does their job, if practical (as we’ve outlined above).
• Expanded mental health support. At HR GO we’ve upped our offering to give six sessions of counselling to any employee who feels they need it, regardless of time served. Candidates appreciate hearing about details like this.
• The levels of uncertainty many people have lived through means that financial security means even more than before. So make sure you spell out any financial benefits including income protection and life insurance.

3: Your back-to-the-office strategy

Planning a safe return to a physical workspace is on every employer’s to-do list right now. But some candidates, especially the least experienced, will only ever have worked remotely. Others may be feeling anxious at the thought of sharing space with new colleagues again.

When you’re recruiting, give a nod to this by sharing the covid-secure precautions you take seriously as an employer. And having a strategy to reintegrate socially helps, too. Teambuilding opportunities seem like a good idea to resocialise people in the coming months.

4: Your recruiting post pandemic approach

When lockdown hit, some businesses insisted on ploughing on as normal without paying any real attention to how their staff were coping or really doing. Those who put operations before the health and safety of their employees will ultimately lose the trust of their workforces. They’ll also suffer reputational damage in the eyes of candidates who might otherwise have wanted to join them.

But if your company was one of those to up its game and prioritise wellbeing and people first when lockdown hit, you can start to reap the benefits now. Employers who reacted to the challenges with empathy and kindness strengthened their reputation and employer brand long-term. And you should shout this from the rooftops.

What you did as an organisation during lockdown can speak volumes about the type of employer you are in brighter times. And in a post-pandemic workplace this matters more than ever.