The war for talent within professional services shows no sign of slowing down. For those in the industry, this is not new news - firms and recruiters alike are looking for new and innovative ways to keep their top performers, as well as attract new ones.
How best to do this though?
Increase salaries in line with inflation?
Expand benefits packages at all levels?
It turns out the answer may centre around your firm’s culture.
What do candidates want nowadays?
This is a question a number of firms are currently asking themselves. For most businesses, the main focus is around salaries; more specifically around whether an increase in what can be offered will help attract top talent. Salary is obviously important to people, especially when you consider the ever rising cost of living - just recently, two of the accounting world’s “Big 4” firms grabbed the headlines with inflation equalling pay rises for nearly all employees and four figure non-performance related bonuses, with both also openly stating this was in response to the ”competitive recruitment market” we find ourselves in. Is this enough on its own though? And what do firms without the resources of the industry leaders do to stay competitive?
To help answer these questions, I’d like to reference a recent survey* conducted by Law Firm Ambition around what was important when considering a new employer, as it brought some incredibly interesting insights. First and foremost, the right culture and brand by far outweighed salary for those that answered (92% sited this the main driver), showing that it’s not just about who pays most. Instead, candidates these days are far more interested in hearing about what makes a business unique, what values they adhere to and what sort of people typically work there.
Candidates want to work for firms with a moral compass that aligns with their own, they want to work for a firm that cares about their personal development and progression and they want to work for a firm that offers them opportunity. Candidates also want to work for firms that will support them professionally and personally, again highlighting the need for firms to get their wellbeing strategy in order.
What is my firm’s culture?
Your culture is defined by what is seen as the normal behavioural and procedural practices within your business. This covers everything from your polices, ethics and values as well as employees typical behaviours and attitudes. At my own firm, Armstrong Watson, our culture is front and centre of everything we do and we constantly measure how our culture feels to our people, however in another survey conducted in the same event by Law Firm Ambition, almost 20% of those polled said their firm didn’t measure culture at all!
For those businesses, it will be very difficult to know if the culture they are trying to develop is working, and more importantly it becomes difficult to sell that culture correctly to incoming colleagues. This will severely hinder recruitment strategies, even where high salaries may be on offer, as candidates want more than just a bump in wage.
How do I get culture right?
Each firm will have their own version of what is the “right” culture is; for some it’s a culture of long hours and perceived high rewards, for others it about flexibility and balance. The truth is, as long as your culture fairly defines what it is like to work for your organisation, then it’s right. If you have a culture of working long hours and pay high bonuses as a result, tell your candidates. This may drive away individuals that want more of a work life balance as opposed to reward, but if you hire those individuals under false pretences, chances are you’ll lose them in the first year of their employment anyway, which in itself can damage culture.
For most people, going into a role that marries up well with the way in which they like to work will be far more important than salary. For those individuals that purely move for salary, there is always the risk they are tempted away by the offer of more cash elsewhere, meaning they are only ever going to be with you in the short term.
Conclusion
The current trend when it comes to salaries is unsustainable for most firms, however the positive news is that candidates, for the most part, are not purely driven by the need to earn more. Instead, they want to know more about who you are and what you do, so they can make a fair assessment on whether the fit is right. This should put culture as the single most aspect in any recruitment strategy.
Getting your culture right can also help with retention, with a high number of employees in professional services scoring things like flexibility and progression in their role as more valuable to them than salary. This is not to say that salary is unimportant, as it most certainly is, however getting culture right is proving to be far more impactful with people.
Once you have the right culture in place, think about how you can best demonstrate that culture to people outside the organisation. As an example, when you choose to interview a candidate, I would encourage you to invite that person into the office as opposed to going to Teams or Zoom as a default. As we all know, candidates and businesses alike have become used to conducting interviews virtually, mainly as it is seen as a more convenient way to meet someone. For a candidate this is almost certainly true, however it is also far more difficult to get a feel for a firm’s culture virtually. Where candidates can’t come into the office to interview, invite them in for a tour one afternoon so they can get a real feel for the place.
Think about the make-up of your interview panels as well. Are the people talking to candidates the best cultural representatives of your firm and are they clear on what the culture of your firm is?
Make sure that you also reference your culture in the conversation with candidates, and make sure that message is consistent. This above all else will help you differentiate from your competitors, which in turn will help you recruit the right people for you firm.
This book of culture is issued to all potential candidates prior to any formal discussion in order to show them what they can expect from a career at Armstrong Watson.
