Why Offering More Money Won't Get You The Right Candidates

Thursday, 07 July 2022

I have recently observed an interesting post-pandemic trend where some companies have failed to attract qualified managerial and above talents to join as new employees.


I tried to do a simple analysis to find out the root cause of this problem. I concluded that all the efforts to attract these talents still focus on offering high salaries or anything related to monetary benefits alone, and less attention to other things that are non-monetary benefits and seem to have become a more important factor to consider for these talents, especially the young ones.


So, if offering high salaries or anything related to monetary benefits alone is increasingly ineffective in attracting highly qualified talents to join, then what should companies do to change their recruitment strategy to become more effective?


Build a Good Corporate Image.

It is necessary because talents with outstanding careers will never be interested in joining companies in the public spotlight because of negative things, such as tax evasion, problems with the authorities, or bad history regarding working relationships with their employees. In this era of social media, it's getting more critical to ensure that your company has a good corporate image, not only from the insiders' perspectives but also from the external parties' perspectives.


Building Good Corporate Culture.

I am one of those people who strongly believe that company culture is one of the determining factors for professional talent in deciding to join a company. When they could see how their values and characters fit with your culture, it would be easier for them to decide to join your company.


Challenging and Measurable Role and Responsibilities.

This concept is explained very simply by Ken Blanchard in his phenomenal book, One Minute Manager, where these talented talents prefer to be shown the result they want to achieve within a certain time limit, given full responsibility, trust, and freedom to achieve it, and take responsibility. at the agreed time limit. It will be more interesting than working under the continuous supervision of his superiors with very limited work functions and responsibilities.


Trying to Understand the Passion of the Targeted Talent.

This aspect is one of the most forgotten things in the recruitment and selection process, but when a company tries earnestly to find out what the passion of the talent is and then offers a position that can accommodate the desire for an interesting role that aligns with the company's goals, at least the talent will seriously think to join since it's something that would intrigue their interests.


Trying to Accommodate Future Career Aspirations.

No single talent with great potential is content to occupy one position for too long. Those people are active, dynamic, and progressive humans who are always hungry for new challenges and very aggressive in pursuing their career aspirations in the future. When a company tries to think long through to be able (and willing) to accommodate its future career aspirations, I believe this type of company will be more attractive in the eyes of these highly qualified talents.


Opportunity to Balance Professional and Personal Life.

I must admit; that there are still very few companies in Indonesia that pay attention to this aspect. Living in a city with a high level of "traffic chaos" like Jakarta makes it seem as if a worker is forced to sacrifice one side of his life, professional or personal. It is conceivable that if a company could accommodate these two sides and pay attention to the importance of the work and life balance of its employees, it would make the company more attractive in the eyes of potential talents.


Great Leaders Who Can Act as Mentors

It doesn't matter how well-known a company is in the market. Still, if the leaders within that company consist of people who do not care about their team members' career development, work purpose, and mental well-being, it's a recipe for disaster since words spread out extremely fast in this era of social media. Leadership development should be a priority in every company, so each leader understands the importance of the ability to act as a coach to mentor their team members effectively.


What I have described above might not be complete. However, at least it's enough to give a big picture that there are still many other factors (other than money) considered for professional and highly qualified talents before deciding to join a company.


Of course, it's necessary to get full support from the company's top-level management to create a company policy that emphasizes the importance of non-monetary things as the attractor factors because these things become one of the strategic initiatives to ensure the achievement of business goals.


In conclusion, if there are still thoughts with the old paradigm that attracting potential talent is enough by offering high salaries and lucrative facilities, please change that paradigm. Qualified candidates will certainly look for more than money to have a slight intention to join your company.