​ Attracting Talent Post-COVID – Standing Out Against Your Legal Competitors

There is no doubt that COVID will change the way businesses engage new talent and how job seekers approach their search (this has already started). From conversations with job seekers on a daily basis, I predict there will be some movement in the market post-COVID, once there is more confidence in the market. This movement will largely be due to firms’ responses to COVID. Some staff are unhappy with the action and speed that their firm reacted. These are the job seekers who will be the first to move. But how are you going to attract this talent to your business?

My view is that flexible working be in many forms; work from home, part-time options, staggered start and finish times etc. The biggest positive to come from COVID is how law firms have had to technologically adapt to the pandemic with 92% of Australian offices moving to a work from home style and only 59% of those only having skeleton staff (usually between 1 – 5 people to assist with task such as opening the mail) remaining in the office. This means that WE CAN have staff working from home and being productive. Most job seekers want some sort of mix from home and office which means businesses can maintain office culture and ensure mentorship for less experienced staff in person, saving on commercial space and boosting mental health and work/life balance for their staff. Firms that do not offer work from home options will struggle to not only attract new talent to their firm, but also retain their top performers.

It is no secret that recruitment levels have dropped in comparison to last year, however these will spike and when they do everyone will be looking for the same talent. Competition will be fierce. If you can be proactive and get ahead of the curve when it comes to recruitment, you will have the pick of a larger talent pool with less competition from your competitors. Hiring a temporary staff member with the view of converting them to a permanent member, will be a popular way to recruit post-COVID, as it will allow businesses to ensure they can bring someone on quickly. Ensuring they have adequate levels of work for a new staff member and that they are the right culture fit, before committing to them permanently.

Attracting top quality career legal support staff has always been a challenge for law firms and post-COVID this will not change. Job seekers are not applying to roles directly, and are still wanting to be found. Job seeker hesitancy has reached 38% and there are a large number of these job seekers passively looking and are not as active on the market, but still ready to move at anytime.

If you are looking for a further market update or need assistance recruiting, please feel free to reach out to me on 02 8270 9715 or anthony.demarco@people2people.com.au

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