Danny Wareham
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Academic Research  ·  Culture  ·  Employee Engagement  ·  Team

Attracting applicants

11 February 2024

What attracts potential applicants to apply to work for a specific business or organisation?

It can be argued that better talent is worth fighting for – in terms of attraction, development and retention – and is vital for the survival of organisations (Chambers et al., 1998; Armstrong and Taylor, 2020, p.327).

However, as the definition of ‘talent’ is not easy to identify, organisations can struggle to understand what type of candidate(s) they’re attempting to attract (Bratton, 2020, p.226; Chambers et al., 1998).

Chambers et al., (1998) also identified that the largest decision driver for candidates in attracting them to an executive role within an organisation was ‘values and culture’. Rampl (2014) also added that work content and work culture were identified as the only significant employer brand considerations in attraction.

This culture requirement is, perhaps, unsurprising, as culture offers a way for employees to understand their organisation, to voice their views, and to develop connections and common purpose (CIPD, 2021).

However, since culture is a complex phenomenon ranging from underlying beliefs and assumptions to visible structures and practices, it’s difficult to quantify or measure organisational culture (Denison, 1997; Denison, Haaland and Goelzer, 2004).

Potentially we have an unclear view on:

  • what talent is
  • what type of talent we want to attract
  • whether the main attractor of talent is measurable

When it comes to more tangible attractors, the ability and choice to tailor individual benefits (flexible) compared to those consistent across all employees (fixed) is preferable. This includes the ability to choose workplace and flexible hours (Vidal-Salazar, Cordón-Pozo and de la Torre-Ruiz, 2016; Cleaver, 2012, p.42).

There are also foundation factors to consider. Base salary, working hours, holiday allocation and other core employee contract-related attributes must meet requirements before other benefits – including culture – are considered. Salary continues to be the most investigated aspect of job searching (Glassdoor, 2021; LinkedIn, 2021) – despite fewer than 50% of job adverts publishing the salary (Hunter, 2013).

In summary, once foundation factors are considered, candidates then consider the values and culture of an organisation.

To improve talent attraction, organisations could benefit from transparency around the foundation factors, investment in understanding their own culture and future requirements, and tailoring a flexible package to candidate(s).

References:

  • Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2020) Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. London, UK: Kogan Page Limited.
  • Bratton, J. (2020) Organizational Leadership. Los Angeles: Sage.
  • Chambers, E., Foulon, M., Handfield-Jones, H., Hankin, S. and Michaels, E. (1998) The War for Talent. The McKinsey Quarterly, 3(3), pp. 44-57.
  • CIPD (2021) Organisational Culture and Cultural Change. CIPD, [online]. [Accessed 17 November 2021]. Available at: <https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/working-environment/organisation-culture-change-factsheet>.
  • Cleaver, J. (2012) The career lattice. 1st ed, New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Denison, D., Haaland, S. and Goelzer, P. (2004) Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness. Organizational Dynamics, 33(1), pp. 98-109.
  • Denison, D. (1997) Corporate culture and organizational effectiveness. Ann Arbor (Míchigan, Estados Unidos): Denison Colture.
  • Glassdoor (2021) Glassdoor Study Reveals What Job Seekers Are Looking For. Glassdoor.com, [online]. [Accessed 17 November 2021]. Available at: <https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/salary-benefits-survey/>.
  • Hunter, A. (2013) 50% Of UK Employers Do Not Advertise Salary In Job Ads. Adzuna Blog, [online]. [Accessed 17 November 2021]. Available at: <https://www.adzuna.co.uk/blog/show-me-the-money-50-of-uk-employers-do-not-advertise-salary-in-job-ads/>.
  • LinkedIn (2021) Here’s What Candidates Actually Care About In Your Job Description. Linkedin.com, [online]. [Accessed 17 November 2021]. Available at: <https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-acquisition/job-description-heatmap>.
  • Rampl, L. (2014) How to become an employer of choice: transforming employer brand associations into employer first-choice brands. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(13-14), pp. 1486-1504.
  • Vidal-Salazar, M., Cordón-Pozo, E. and de la Torre-Ruiz, J. (2016) Flexibility of benefit systems and firms’ attraction and retention capacities. Employee Relations, 38(4), pp. 487-504.