It is important that the salary range (and if relevant the grading of the position) is on par with what your competitors are offering. However, when considering whether or not to offer incentives (both financial and non-financial) it is important to consider your persona and where you will likely find ‘ideal’ candidates and what incentives may need to be offered to attract them to apply for the position.
The WHO states that to attract candidates the incentives offered need to be sufficient to outweigh the opportunity costs associated with working for the organisation. Increased opportunity costs are experienced if the potential employee will need to relocate to take up the position. [The persona should include if the ideal candidate is likely to be currently living outside the region.]
For positions that are likely to need the new staff member to relocate you should consider offering relocation incentives to reduce the opportunity costs of working for you (compared to other employers where relocation would not be required).
Proven incentives that strengthen attraction of out-of-area professionals include:
- Covering relocation expenses to reduce/eliminate out-of-pocket moving costs
- Providing rental accommodation or financial support to cover temporary accommodation for up to 3 months. [The duration offered can vary depending on availability of rental housing but a minimum of 4 weeks and up to 3 months is the norm]
- Promoting the Community Connector Program and including links and making introductions.
Showcasing the Community Connector Program (CCP) should be an integral part of your attraction and recruitment campaigns. The CCP has tools and resources that can be promoted through your careers page, job advertisement and at interview stage and should be used as an important tool at the attraction stage of your recruitment process.
Read this testimonial from Pental — a local business that worked with the CCP to successfully recruit two hard-to-recruit positions:
Pental Products
“The challenge in finding experienced professionals locally had been exhausted. This program has given us the confidence in moving forward with employing these great candidates with the knowledge the support from the Community Connector Program is ongoing.”
Pental Products
Pental initiated the recruitment process for two new research and development chemists to support the development function in the manufacturing plant at Shepparton. The challenge in finding experienced professionals locally had been exhausted.
We successfully engaged with two potential applicants, one from Newcastle and one from Melbourne.
After initial interview process, the applicants were invited to Shepparton to review the site, the role, and key leaders. It was at this stage we engaged (...) the Community Connector Program.
A great opportunity to focus on the ‘why’ they should relocate to regional Victoria.
Both potential employees were not familiar with the Goulburn Valley area and looked for assurance that they would be supported during relocation if they were offered and accepted the roles.
(The CCP) was contacted whilst the candidates were onsite at Pental and immediately reached out and arranged a casual coffee catch up. The support offered gave both the confidence to move forward in the process and accept the roles urgently required by Pental. Assistance with accommodation, community involvement/support and the opportunity to become involved with likeminded professionals helping them both to realise the benefits of our local community.
The community connector program offers support that goes over and above what could have been achieved from our business. This program has given the Pental business the confidence in moving forward with employing these great candidates with the knowledge the support from the Community Connection program is ongoing.
Thank you for partnering with Pental.
TIP: For hard-to-recruit rural-based positions, Dr Cosgrave has recently seen some of the following incentives being offered to try and attract health professionals:
- Role flexibility including negotiable full/part time contracts
- Active encouragement of workers at any career stage including more mature workers 65+ to apply
- Employer sponsorship for a skill shortage visa (482)
- Application at any experience level with opportunity to increase through levels
- Up 12 months accommodation support for ongoing and fixed term positions
- Financial support and study leave for external professional development
- Reimbursement of relocation costs
