Recruitment of communications professionals needs to have a pan-European reach and focus on developing strong relationships with passive professionals if businesses want to attract top talent, according to a new survey by corporate and marketing communications recruiter, VMA Group.
Talent strategies need to focus efforts on the passive audience
In its survey of the 700+ delegates at the recent European Communications Summit 2014 in Brussels, VMA Group revealed that the majority of professionals in the sector (70%) are open to new job opportunities, even if they are not actively looking. Only 17% of those questioned were actively seeking a new job, although another 70% not actively looking would move for the right role if approached.
This growth in passive candidates will require greater engagement with individuals, as Willem de Ruijter, Head of Continental Europe at VMA Group explains:
“With the jobs market now shifting to become much more candidate led, it’s unsurprising to see that the majority of candidates remain passive. This puts a great deal of stress on recruitment strategies as it becomes ever more difficult to engage with these professionals. However, this can be turned into an opportunity for those able to engage with individuals and maintain a wide network of potential employees.
“It’s also important to note that this passive audience will need to be approached by someone they both know and trust. Without the pre-existing relationship, organisations will struggle to recruit these individuals both now and in the future.”
Communications recruitment must be Europe wide
The survey also identified that businesses seeking communications talent must have a pan-European reach. With the majority of those surveyed (69%) stating that they would be willing to relocate to a new country for a role, organisations across Europe could be missing out on potential sources of top talent, as de Ruijter outlines:
“It’s much easier to secure a role in another country now than say ten years ago and more communications professionals are willing to look beyond their home country. However, for organisations seeking this talent, the challenge is how to ensure their recruitment strategies and employer brand messages appeal across Europe.
“For a company that is headquartered in Germany, for example, recruitment activity is likely to be heavily focused on that country. As a result many organisations are missing out on a vast percentage of the candidate pool. The solution is to ensure attraction strategies have a Europe-wide approach, by either using your own resources or engaging a partner with the appropriate reach.”
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