As a chartered accountant and former recruitment business owner, ICAEW Head of Business Simon Gray can assess the jobs market for corporates from several perspectives.

“As a result of uncertainty, the rising cost of employment and regulatory concerns, businesses are holding off on making final hiring decisions,” he says. “One major factor here is the Employment Rights Act. But in general, large businesses can be risk averse when it comes to bringing new people into the organisation.

Recruitment processes are still quite simplistic, he explains: first interview, second interview, perhaps a few psychometric tests somewhere along the line. “So, you never really know for sure whether the individual is going to work out until they’ve been with you for three to six months.”

However, Gray notes, despite an increased availability of candidates, there is still intense, underlying competition for the highest-quality talent, leading corporates to focus their attention on a subset of the overall market.

As such, Gray recommends the following five steps for corporates eager to compete for top finance talent:

1. Build a credible ethical identity

A decade ago, Gray notes, people would come into organisations with the attitude that they would apply themselves to any sort of task, as long as the salary was right. But that is no longer the case.

“Finance staff heading into industry are not just thinking about the salary and long-term earnings potential,” Gray says. “They’re asking, ‘Does this business sit well with my identity?’ In other words, does it have sustainability policies? Does it have a mission other than being profitable? Is it giving something back to the world?”

Gray cites B Corp certification and the Investors in People badge as strong signs that a business has a tangible commitment to ethics.

2. Give candidates a vision

“One of the best ways to retain people is to provide a positive, long-term vision of what their future in the business will look like,” Gray says. “Some companies will always leave room for giving top employees more money, or more benefits. But if you can weave those people into a vision of the company’s growth journey as it progresses, so much the better. That should begin at interview stage.”

3. Provide a positive recruitment experience

As soon as a candidate is locked in a recruitment process, Gray stresses, it is vital for each stage to move at pace. One of the biggest bugbears that candidates have with the jobs market is lengthy, deafening silence between stages, leaving them unclear about the hirer’s intentions. The larger the business, the higher the stakes.

“Having to wait weeks and weeks to hear about how you’ve done on a particular stage is completely disengaging,” Gray says. “Strong candidates will also be considering other opportunities. So you must give yourself a fighting chance to attract them through the experience you provide. It has to be timely and attentive.”

Gray notes that this is a reputational issue as much as a hiring one. Candidates will always tell their friends and networks about negative recruitment experiences. How many good people are organisations missing out on?

4. Offer a wide package of benefits

“About 10 years ago, I went to a big marketing conference and the head of one major company said that the worker of the future would want to work wherever and whenever they like,” Gray says.

“Fast-forward to now, and flexibility is hugely important – a real hot topic. So are a plethora of workplace benefits, such as bonuses, pensions and healthcare. Corporates must make competitive offers on all those fronts.”

5. Put an emphasis on compatibility

For Gray, the ideal interviewing approach is to speak to each candidate at three different times of the day, in a different location each time, to really understand who they are and what they could bring to the organisation.

As the stages progress, gradually introduce the candidate to more people in the business. The objective is to give the candidate a proper flavour of what it’s like to work for you, and to assess their interactions with potential future colleagues, so you can see what it would be like to work with that person.

“It’s essential to give the candidate the best chance to make an informed decision,” Gray says. “Plus, you could be talking to the most talented candidate out there – but if they don’t fit with the culture and vibe of your organisation, you’re just setting them up to fail.”