How to attract the best candidates to your business
Published on 16/04/2020
The 2020 STEM Survey — produced by SRG in association with New Scientist Jobs — is the STEM labour market’s most comprehensive survey yet. By expanding on our annual Salary Survey, the STEM Survey covers the different generations in the workforce, the gender divide, and the factors that motivate people to switch jobs.
The STEM Survey signalled good news regarding UK job satisfaction, with 70% of respondents rating themselves as “satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their jobs (compared to 65% in the rest of Europe). Given that the workforce appears to be generally happy with their jobs, how can businesses attract top talent in increasingly competitive labour markets?
This document delves specifically into results relating to age and gender to uncover actionable candidate attraction recommendations for STEM businesses — recommendations that will help you optimise talent pipelines, build a robust Employee Value Proposition (EVP), and ultimately attract and retain the best STEM talent.
Age
In the survey, we asked respondents to rank which employer offerings would attract them to a potential employer. We then segmented these results according to the different generations.
Generation Z
Among Generation Z respondents (born 1996-), “Career progression” was found to be the most important employer offering, followed by “Attractive salary & benefits” and “Stimulating and & challenging work.” Despite slipping behind factors such as “Career progression” in recent years, “Good work/life balance” also remains a priority.
When looking at motivations to leave a role, “interesting work” was cited as the main influence, whilst “increase in pay” as an incentive was a lot lower.
Gen Z and the human touch
Though Generation Z are frequently described as the first “fully digital generation,” they still yearn for human interaction at work. In a recent Forbes report, 90% of those surveyed wanted some form of human element woven into their work and team interactions.
Gen Z also seeks collaboration and friendly team environments. They crave positive, face-to-face working relationships that go beyond online or social media contact. Continuous feedback is also important, as it helps to improve engagement and productivity.
The key takeaway? A company culture that embraces honest and positive feedback will attract Gen Z candidates.
Actions for Gen Z candidate attraction
● For remote workers, organise team gatherings at certain points throughout the year and consider using video calling over telephone communication
● Ensure line managers provide continuous performance feedback to their teams
● Ensure your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is up to date and properly reflects the day-to-day reality of your business
● Tailoring your EVP to your target candidates will ensure you push the right information to the right people
● Cite the type of projects the candidates would be able to get involved with on the job advert to peak their interest
Gen Y
Broadly speaking, Generation Y or Millennials (born 1981-1995) were found to value similar employer offerings to Gen Z.
Yet again, “Attractive salary & benefits” was deemed a priority, demonstrating that younger generations expect to receive a fair wage and benefits package.
Gen Y: striking a balance
Unlike Gen Z, however, Gen Y respondents placed emphasis on “Good work/life balance” — perhaps as a result of Millennials settling into their careers and starting their own families. (According to the Gen Y respondents we surveyed, 41% earned between £20k and £29k, while 35% earned between £30k and £39k.) “Career progression” and “Stimulating & challenging work,” while important, were deemed less so than for Gen Z respendents.
For businesses looking to attract top Millennial talent, it’s important to offer a flexible approach to work-life balance — particularly given that many in this generation are starting to marry and have children.
What’s more, when we cross-referenced motivations for switching jobs, we found an “Increase in pay” to be the key driver for Millennial employees:
Actions for Gen Y candidate attraction
● Offer a flexible working culture in which home life and work life are balanced
● Encourage remote working
● Conduct regular salary benchmarking to ensure you are a) attracting the right candidates and b) retaining existing people by making them feel they are paid their worth. SRG can help you with this exercise.
● Consider offering benefits related to on-site childcare
Generation X and “Xennials”
Generation X (born 1965-1980) and “Xennials” (a micro-generation born between the late 1970s early 1980s) have similar requirements when looking for new employment. With slightly older families and, generally speaking, more stable careers than younger generations, this group values travel opportunities and flexible working arrangements.
At this stage in their career, Gen X and Xennials are looking for a better work-life balance and a company culture or workplace environment that aligns with their values. “Increase in pay” is important but less so than younger generations — likely because the salary of most Gen X/Xennial employees generally tends to be higher (at the lower end of the spectrum, ~£40k; at the higher end, ~£150k).
Given that burnout can be a major concern for Gen X and Xennial employees (particularly those in senior positions), adopting some form of workplace wellbeing programme can help support them.
One area we explored for each of the age groups was around flexible working, and the answers were consistent across the board. People are confused by their employers’ flexible working policies.
Overall, 70% of the people we surveyed had access to flexible working, but only half felt it was easy to access. Those in industry and contract research were most likely to say they didn’t have easy access: they had to put a case together and gain managerial approval before being considered.
According to LinkedIn, 96% of HR leaders say employee experience is becoming more important — not just for retention but for the bottom line. Ensuring that employees have proper access to clearly defined and disseminated policies is key to facilitating this.
Actions for flexible working
If you offer a flexible working policy, it’s worth conducting an audit to see how accessible it really is in practice. Confusion around company policies can be a major source of dissatisfaction amongst employees.
Gender
According to the survey’s results around gender, male and female respondents appeared to be similarly satisfied with their jobs. Slightly more women were “somewhat satisfied,” while slightly fewer described themselves as “satisfied.”
At first glance, there’s not much to separate the motivations of men and women when it comes to employer offerings. However, women tend to be slightly less interested in “Attractive salary & benefits” and more interested in “Opportunities to contribute to company policies.”
With regard to moving jobs, women are also slightly more likely to move for a better salary, a better work-life balance, and a good company culture fit.
Women: employer offerings
Men: employer offerings
Women: moving jobs
Men: moving jobs
Actions
Ensure your Gender Pay Gap is closing year-on-year to help your business attract and retain more female employees. As a benchmark, the current Gender Pay Gap is 17%.
Nurturing a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
All the offerings outlined in the report form part of a clear Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Given the importance of employer branding in the modern talent market, having a robust EVP makes it easier for businesses to attract and retain the best people.
As stated in a Gartner report, when candidates view an EVP as attractive, a business can reduce the compensation premium by 50% and achieve a 50% deeper reach into the labour market. Businesses that effectively deliver on their EVP can also decrease annual employee turnover by just under 70% and increase new hire commitment by nearly 30%. Investing in an EVP makes business sense.
Developing an EVP: the main points to consider
1. Understand what your business currently offers
2. Research existing and former employees
3. Define the core components/pillars of your EVP
• Financial Rewards
• Employment Benefits
• Career Development
• Work Environment/Culture
4. Publicise your EVP as widely as possible
Need help with your EVP? No matter how big or small your business, SRG’s dedicated Employer Branding service provides bespoke solutions to STEM companies looking to ace their EVP game.
The takeaway
When advertising roles, ensure you are targeting your candidate correctly. If you are trying to target Gen X, female senior leaders, for example, it’s counterproductive to develop a company culture and employer offerings that are more likely to appeal to young men.
That said, some perks are universally expected. Work-life balance, a competitive salary and being stimulated at work are offerings that attract people across gender and generational divide. In other words, these are general workforce trends that every company should strive to offer to their employees.
If you don’t currently have anything in place, starting off by developing a strong EVP that captures your company’s uniqueness will help drive your talent attraction and retention strategy.
Info@srgtalent.com for more details.
