Everyone’s looking for their ideal job. We all want to enjoy what we do and people work best when they’re in a job that they enjoy and are truly passionate about. But how can you offer an ideal job to attract the best, most skilled candidates? First, it’s important to understand what exactly an ideal job entails.
What’s an ‘Ideal Job’?
When we discuss ideal jobs, we’re referring to jobs that are so appealing that they stand out to all the right candidates when they come across them. These are jobs that will provide the motivation and inclination for a top-performing candidate to leave the security and comfort of their existing role.
Why is it Important to Create an Ideal Job Offering?
There are a number of reasons why you should want to offer an ideal job. Some of the key reasons are;
More Applicants
Quite simply, the best job offerings receive the most applications. Standing out as the best of the best on job boards will make your opportunity very appealing. This increases the chances of you finding the best candidates for your role.
Better Quality Candidates
When it comes to attracting talent, in addition to attracting more candidates, posting an ideal job offering will attract better quality candidates. This gives you access to the top job seekers, who only apply to roles that stand out as being special and particularly appealing. This increase in quality will significantly improve your recruitment process enabling you to find your ideal hire.
Higher Retention Rate
Recruitment isn’t simply a matter of hiring the best people, it’s a matter of keeping them. Many businesses struggle with maintaining a good retention rate once they’ve made their initial hires. This is why offering an ideal opportunity is key. This improves retention rates for two reasons:
- Receiving more, better quality candidates means you’re more likely to find people who are the right fit for your business, meaning they’re less likely to leave due to the role not being right for them.
- A better job and overall environment results in higher retention rates, as employee happiness levels will be high. This means they’re less likely to ‘jump ship’ to another company.
Higher Level of Employee Engagement, Better Workers
Creating an ideal job offering ultimately ensures that the level of employee engagement in the role is high. This results in more focused, passionate workers who will want to work hard and excel beyond their targets.
Improve Company Brand Image
Your company branding is your silent salesman. Your branding affects how others perceive your business, and it can have a large effect on the likelihood of top candidates wanting to join your business. By creating an ideal opportunity and increasing staff satisfaction levels, your brand image will gain more positivity as a result. This can drastically improve your success in recruitment going forward.
How Can You Make Your Role an ‘Ideal Job’?
Fun Workplace
A positive, fun workplace atmosphere is one of the main contributors towards employee engagement levels. You want to build a workforce of employees who enjoy coming into work in the morning and are eager to excel. Creating a work environment that’s fun and engaging means listening to your employees’ wants and needs.
Consider conducting a business-wide employee engagement survey to find out what kind of improvements can be made to increase the level of passion and excitement your employees have towards their work and you as their employer. Something as simple as a casual dress code can make a huge difference, with two-thirds of UK workers stating their ideal job would have a smart/casual dress code, according to a study by CV-Library.
This will allow you to create a better atmosphere for new hires. It will also help increase the level of positivity your current staff have towards your business, leading to better online reviews. This is highly important as positive online reviews are one of the main things top job seekers look for when researching new opportunities.
Bonuses
For many candidates, bonuses and incentives are some of the most important aspects of a role when they’re considering what to apply to. Bonuses show that you as an employer are willing to go the extra mile to reward top employees who go above and beyond in their work.
Remember that bonuses don’t just have to be monetary. In fact, many modern job seekers look for more than just monetary incentives, they seek fulfilment in different ways. Get creative with your rewards for hard work. Really think about what appeals to talent in your industry.
Offering bonuses for hitting targets is also a great way to maintain employee engagement and keep staff motivated. Without bonuses and goals to work towards, your workers can become complacent and directionless.
Of course, base salary is still the main appeal of a role for many candidates. You should ensure you put a lot of consideration into the salary being offered, taking into account the standard salary for that role, what your competitors are offering, and what bonuses you’re including that could affect your offer. But knowing what salary to offer can be challenging. Studies show that around 40% of workers believe £25,500 a year to be reasonable, whilst over a quarter of UK workers would want around £35,500 in their ideal job. The key here is trying to benchmark the average for the role and industry and then balancing what your candidates want and what they will accept.
Employee Perk Schemes
In addition to bonuses, offering employee perks is a great way to turn your job into an ideal role for many job seekers. These differ from bonuses as perks don’t necessarily have to be earned. Perks are benefits of working for your business, they are rewards for simply being an active part of the team.
Perks can be anything from simple things like free on-site parking or free fruit Fridays, to more substantial benefits such as company cars/phones/laptops, flexible working, gym memberships etc. Again, ask your employees what kind of perks would benefit them. Try and tailor these perks to the nature of your work to maximise employee satisfaction levels. For example, if your staff spend most of the time working in the office on computers, perks such as free gym memberships or fitness trackers can be greatly appreciated.
But what are UK workers’ most desired job perks?
Studies state that the most desired perks include the ability to work from home (which 56.6% of UK workers would place in their top 3 perks), followed by health insurance (41.1%), and a company car (23.2%).
These perks keep your current workers happy and feeling valued, and they help attract new hires to your business by showing you’re an employer who cares about the well-being of your staff.
Working Hours
One of the key factors that determines how job seekers view new roles is working hours. In the 2019 job market, this is more important than ever. Due to modern lifestyles, many candidates now value flexible working hours over all else when searching for their ideal job.
In fact, over 50% of UK workers would prefer to work flexi-time, whilst only a quarter of workers want to work standard 9-5 hours.
In regards to holiday time, modern workers tend to value life experiences more than workers of the past. A lot of millennial workers have a large interest in travelling and seeing new places. CV-Library state that 38% of workers are happy with 25 days holiday per year, whilst 36% would want 30 days.
Location
The location of a role is a vital aspect for most candidates. While it’s true that some job seekers are happy relocating long distances, most are selective about where they want to move. Put simply, you need to offer something special to encourage people to relocate. According to research by CV Library, UK workers vote London as the location they’d most like to work in, with over 27% of people stating that their ideal job would be based in the city. The most popular locations after London are Brighton and Bournemouth.
Generally speaking, roles based in or around major cities tend to have a lot more appeal than more rural roles. This is due to a number of factors including proximity to areas of interest, good transport links, and atmosphere/cultural attraction.
However, if your role is not based around a major city, all hope is not lost. Consider offering travel benefits in your role to help remedy this. Many job seekers are more likely to take a role that offers the opportunity to travel as part of the job, whether it’s locally or internationally. This, of course, ties into offerings such as company cars or travel passes. Many top candidates will love any opportunity to travel to new places.
Through our job advertisement service at Hiring Wizard, we ensure your advertisements are well optimised, branded with your company name and logo, and posted in all the right places. All for the same cost as a single job ad on one of the main job boards. If you want the best candidates applying to your ideal job, we can help. Don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0161 696 8899, our talented team will be happy to talk you through how we can save you money and find you the best candidates.
