Written by Glenn Beauchamp Managing Director | Principal IT/ICT Executive Recruiter
Western Australia is well known for its fantastic entrepreneurial talent and rich culture of optimism, mixed with a ‘give it a go’ approach. Combine this with a capital city that is ranked as one of the top ten places in the world to live and work, and you have a wonderful story to positively communicate and describe to your prospective (and reminder to current) employees.
Surprisingly when consulting with various hiring managers however, Perth’s highly enviable “liveablity” value is not consistently mentioned as part of talent attraction strategies. Why not? We compete globally for talent and this is a genuine differentiator for your business.
Remember the 4P’s
When assessing new employment options, exceptional talent always have work location as key assessment criteria within the personal pillar of the “4P’s”. The four key candidate employment assessment pillars are (in priority order):
1. Peers;
2. Projects;
3. P&L;
4. Personal
The personal pillar includes the normal criteria you would expect a prospective employee would have in their assessment process. Everything from family benefits, lifestyle values, employer training options, long term career value, financial benefits etc etc and… geographic work location.
Genuine talent does’nt have financial benefit as their number one criteria when assessing new employment opportunities.
When running your best practice recruitment process discuss with your prospective candidates the peering value to them of their future co-workers, the exciting projects they will be working on; contributing to their value and sense of purpose, the brand value, resources and financial strength of your company, and importantly Perth, Western Australia.
You could mention things like
· Climate – Perth has on average 265 days each year of beautiful sunshine. A number of employees around the world work in poor climates and some with adverse health effects (haze, pollution etc). Weather is important to a number of people.
· Lifestyle and Liveability: For most people this is priceless and rates very highly when people have been surveyed. People may be able to earn a great deal of money in another city, but at what personal cost (personal safety, relationships, health, family etc). Your assessment process should have questions that identify what is really important to your prospective candidate. Make sure you then have two to three examples to provide. For more information check out –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_most_liveable_cities
· High standard of living: Yes things do cost a little more in Perth (the price of a cup of coffee is coming down), but things work. People say Perth should have done much better from the last mining boom (and could have), however it has generated some great future growth opportunities for generations.
· Core Infrastructure Investment (Health, Education, Utilities, Law and Order): If you get sick, the standard of health is comparatively high and affordable for most. Your candidate’s kids can get educated and attend some top ranking, world-class standard universities. Utilities are reforming and public safety is a core priority.
· Australia. Future Forward: The Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull has said, “the Australia of the future has to be a nation that is agile, that is innovative, that is creative. We can’t be defensive, we can’t future-proof ourselves”. We’ve all heard the expression “offence is the best form of defence”. Candidates will value an Australia that is focused on “looking through the windscreen and not through the rear view mirror”.
And don’t forget the partner!
Finally, don’t forget to ask about their significant other. If your star future recruit has a partner or significant other, the value of living in Perth is just as important to them as it is to your next great hire. Remember to include them in your best practice hiring process.
If you would like more information on how to Recruit, Retain and Retrain A-Player employees, please get in contact.
