The current job market is highly competitive. Many candidates are, in the current situation, unwilling to take the risk of leaving their existing job and perhaps finding themselves unemployed.
This is making headhunting more and more common. Poaching talent from the competition is a perfectly legitimate way to attract good employees, and one of your most powerful weapons to do so is a great benefits package. This can be hard for a smaller company to achieve without help.
But there is a solution when it comes to gaining passive candidates.
The Search for Passive Candidates
Active candidates are people who either don't have a job or are profoundly unhappy in their current position. These are the people searching job boards for opportunities, actively contacting recruiters, and calling companies. When you post a position, the vast majority of the people who apply are active candidates, and many are not even qualified.
However, many people would leave their current job if a better opportunity comes along. These people aren't necessarily unhappy, but may feel as if opportunities for promotion are stalled. These are called passive candidates, and they tend to be of considerably higher quality.
Passive candidates already have a job, one which they are doing well. By definition, this means they are more likely to do your job well. You can also be sure that they are not hiding anything about the reasons they left their last position. On top of that, when you reach out to or make contact with a passive candidate, you already know they have the experience and skills you value. They may even be referred to you by an existing employee who can tell you they are a good fit for your company culture.
To catch these high-quality candidates, you have to offer them something their current employer isn't. This might include more money, but can also include a different and more compatible work environment, a good reputation and, of course, improved benefits.
The Importance of Benefits
When it comes to attracting top talent, 66% of recruiters say the most important perk is medical and dental insurance. A 2019 study by Zenefits showed that better benefits is the number four reason why employees change jobs. While it is not as important as improved pay, it is still key to encouraging people to head for greener pastures.
High-quality candidates are also looking at your retirement offerings. Productive workers tend also to be the kind of people who think about the future; in fact, worries about retirement can be a positive sign when recruiting. Another benefit that attracts top talent is tuition reimbursement, which can help with continuing education or paying off student loans. The kind of employee who asks about continuing education is absolutely the kind you want. Voluntary benefits such as disability and accident or critical illness coverage can also be important.
Think about what kind of person cares about the benefits you offer and make sure that those benefits specifically attract the kind of employees you need.
Gaining Competitive Benefits
The downside to offering benefits is that it can be cost-prohibitive to offer better benefits than a competitor of a similar size or larger. This majorly disadvantages smaller companies. Health insurance, in particular, gets more expensive all of the time and a single claim can skyrocket your premiums if you have a small number of employees.
The best solution to this problem is to work with a Professional Employer Organization. A PEO can get better prices and more extensive coverage.
The PEO pools together all of the employees of their clients into a single master plan. This gives them the economies of scale needed to obtain lower premiums, and significantly reduces the impact of claims. Your employees also gain access to the PEO's retirement plan.
Rather than compromise on benefits and fail to attract top talent, partner with a PEO. Their HR outsourcing services include access to better benefits. On top of that, outsourcing HR tasks gives your in-house HR team more time. Instead of wasting their valuable talent on mundane tasks such as payroll, your team can concentrate on strategic goals, which includes headhunting top talent.
