Just as a gardener must plant different seeds and use varying techniques to cultivate a diverse array of fruiting plants that thrive in different conditions, an employer must use a variety of recruitment strategies to attract and retain employees from different backgrounds and within a changing demographic.
It is time to reassess the climate and consider who sits within your candidate pool, how to reach them, how to attract them to your role by meeting their diverse needs and lastly how to retain them. It is no secret that the demographic in the veterinary industry has changed significantly in the last 20-30 years.
Techniques may include:
· using social media to reach younger job seekers
· offering flexible work arrangements to appeal to working parents or caregivers
· offering return to work programs
· implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives to attract a more diverse candidate pool
· offering pathways for career progression including business ownership, leadership training and bespoke continuing education plans.
From a practical perspective, the content and presentation of job advertisements must be alluring in this competitive climate.
· Remuneration must meet current market demands. Applicants prefer to see figures rather than ‘above award rates’ or ‘commensurate with experience’.
· Images catch the eye and allow the possible candidate to imagine themselves in your workplace.
· Testimonials from previous or current staff members send a powerful positive endorsement.
· Specific information about hours of work and rosters are helpful in adverts in the veterinary industry to specifically demonstrate how ‘work life balance’ is managed.
· A splash of personality is attractive. The advert needs to stand out from the crowd. How is your clinic/business unique?
· How can your potential new team member grow professionally within the advertised role or your business? (Employees want to have the opportunity to “grow their fruits”.)
· What are the talents of current employees (possible colleagues)? How can the individual plants in the garden collaborate/symbiose for a better overall harvest?
A business or company is quite like a well tended garden. A nurtured workforce watered, fertilised and cared for, can yield a fruitful, firmly rooted garden of collaboration and productivity. How you nurture your garden needs to adapt with the changes to the climate.