Employee Wellbeing from a candidate perspective.
Interview: Nikki Beaumont, CEO and Founder of Beaumont People, spoke to WRK+ about Wellbeing Initiatives form a candidate experience.
Beaumont People are a different kind of recruitment business. They exist to connect people with organisations that empower them to do meaningful work and to create more opportunities for meaningful work in Australia. They are a team clients love working with and candidates trust. Recognised as Recruitment and People and Culture Specialists, Beaumont People are the partner of choice for hundreds of organisations across Australia because they care and their unwavering commitment to “Placing People First”. That is all people involved in the recruitment process from candidate to hiring manager to broader client stakeholders.
Beaumont People specialise in all levels of recruitment both temporary and permanent across the industry areas of corporate services, customer experience and sales, education, associations and memberships, health and community services, information and communication technology and charities. They also provide executive recruitment across all sectors. In addition to providing a complete 360-degree recruitment service, they also provide Coaching, Outplacement, Strengths Profiling and Professional Development support as well.
Beaumont People is ranked #3 on the 2022 Best Places to Work in Australia list.
Q1.
Are you noticing that candidates are asking more about how organisations demonstrate they have a culture of wellbeing?
Candidates often ask quite limited questions, they usually ask about culture, salary, location and hybrid work policies.
They want to know the company that they are stepping into is a good place to work, they want to know about leadership style and about being treated as a person and not just a replaceable employee.
Secondary queries are around wellbeing benefits such as the Employee Assistance Programs, extra days off or fitness programs or gym access. There is a huge opportunity for those involved in the hiring process to be proactively sharing all of this.
Candidates will make their decision on what they learnt through the process and what is important to them. People have diverse needs, so it is important that you promote what you do and offer throughout the entire process, from advertising, to interview to offer and of course contracts. It may well be a key element of the decision-making process but often goes unsaid.
Q2.
Have you noticed changes in the way organisations create their job advertisements to promote their position to include their wellbeing offering?
Less than 50% of adverts mention benefits.
The majority of job advertisements talk about the responsibilities, expectations, requirements of the role etc, and a few may talk about hybrid working if it is offered. Very few will focus on “wellbeing” and what their organisation does to look after their employees from a more holistic perspective.
Hiring managers may talk about it during the hiring process, however, the focus is more about what the organisation’s needs are and less about what the candidate is getting out of the job/work environment.
There is a real opportunity here to set yourself apart and stand out as a better place to work.
If you want to attract great talent, organisations need to document and communicate their Employee Value Proposition more clearly.
But more than that, organisations need to make it a priority and people need to sit at the top of their business strategy.
The most common benefits we see advertised are:
Flexible/ hybrid work practices
EAP services
Volunteer days
Mental health days additional to sick leave
9-day fortnights or RDOs
Social gatherings
Extended parental leave
Subsidised gym memberships
Q3.
What best practices/advice do you have for organisations looking for talent right now?
There is a huge talent shortage across all industries, across the whole of Australia, and talent is getting harder to find, but talent can be found if you play your cards right.
You can only hire great talent if you connect with great talent in the first place. Advertising alone is often not enough or may provide no candidates at all. The best people are moving jobs these days when they are being professionally approached or they happen to see or hear about something that sparks their interest. In some of our specialist areas, 90% are filled by approach. You can do that yourself. Use a recruiter that specialises in what you do or what role you have to fill.
Be very clear on your EVP (Employee Value Proposition) and what is unique about your organisation and shout it from the roof tops in your job ad and interviews and throughout the recruitment process! There are so many competing opportunities, do what you can to stand out from the crowd.
Wellbeing is a priority for many candidates however, they may not be aware of it, and therefore will not ask the questions.
Be clear on what you want and need from the get-go, be open to interviewing and talking to a range of candidates. A resume is just a static representation of a person, it is not the life and soul of the person that could prove to be the perfect fit for a role that is hard to fill or requires a certain skillset.
Act fast, do not wait for a comparison, in this tight market, you may not get another comparable candidate.
Play the long game.
Watch the Wellbeing Initiatives at the 2022 Best Places to Work - full recording below.
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