Hiring has become a minefield for employers in Canada. Why? Well, with over 900,000 job vacancies open over the last year, it’s clear business owners are facing challenges with recruiting and retaining staff.

Employers are locked in a competitive battle to attract new talent, with the added pressure of retaining existing key players.

So, it’s time to assemble your benefits packages to come out ahead of your competitors, lock down that ideal candidate, and win the war for talent.

But where to start? With so many employers undertaking time-consuming recruitment processes—and often without much luck—what’s the answer?

Act fast or miss out!

The employer, employee dynamic is shifting. One method employers are turning to is using counter-offers to keep hold of staff who are thinking of leaving.

The power once yielded by employers has now passed over to the employee. And employers had better get used to it…

Right now, it’s more likely that a candidate will be able to turn down multiple job offers, with them having the pick of the bunch, than it is for an employer to turn down, or lose, good candidates.

Need help speeding up your recruitment process? Tools like People Navigator assist in speeding up the recruitment process and reducing time spent on time-consuming admin by easily managing vacancies and applicants to avoid candidate dropouts.

Plus, with access to a library of job posting templates and offer letters to support you in clearly defining your job roles and salary price points, you can give your new hires a seamless and positive onboarding experience.

Do your research on salary

Of course, salary will always come up trumps for jobseekers, with three-quarters prioritizing it when looking for a role.

Just 53% of Canadians feel they are financially compensated fairly at work, yet only a third of them are comfortable with asking for a pay raise and 35% aren’t sure how to ask for more pay.(1)

This comes at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is hitting households hard and disposable income has fallen by 3.7 per cent, the biggest fall in living standards in a long time.

So, salary research is a must for employers and hiring managers. Without it, how can you expect to attract the right kind of talent—the type of person that has the right experience and qualifications and is likely to stay loyal to your company for years to come?

It’s tough for already overstretched employers to keep on top of salary research in a market that’s constantly shifting. Especially when you take into account different locations, plus seemingly ever-increasing inflation, it can become a daunting task.

However, thanks to technology, tools like a salary calculator can do all that time-consuming research—so you don’t have to. Simply by entering your job title and location, you can instantly access the average salary—plus the lower and higher bands too—to help you make an informed decision when it comes to making an offer.

Avoid those awkward salary questions cropping up and banish those unexpected demands further down the line by ensuring your staff feel fully compensated from day one.

Let’s face it: the current economic landscape is hitting us all where it hurts, leaving lots of businesses unable to fork out extra for the most competitive salary, even though wage growth is at a record high. Having a tool to help with salary research means you don’t need to inflate salary expectations to stay competitive. With accurate research, you can hit the mark every time without breaking your hiring budget.

So, we’ve established when it comes to hiring, cash is king. But, what else can you do to get candidates over the line?

Give your employee benefit scheme some love

SMEs needn’t worry about losing out on key talent to the bigger corporations with higher budgets. With BrightHR’s suite of support and tools, employers can still create an enticing benefits package, desirable to any candidate—even if that salary band just isn’t possible.

And with 94% of HR professionals paying close attention to their competitors’ benefits packages, if you’re not one of them, you risk getting iced out of the competition and being overlooked by jobseekers.

Salaries are important, sure. But get a load of this: with “The Great Upskill” upon us, 90% of employees see learning and development opportunities as a non-negotiable in their roles.(2)

That’s why having a Learning Management System (LMS) in place is a great way to attract and retain staff, by investing in their development and their career journeys. And that’s not all. Our LMS tool embedded in BrightLearn offers bite-sized courses available anytime, anywhere, to help boost those all-important soft skills too that can help in every avenue of life—not just in the office.

And let’s not forget that, in light of the current economic landscape, employees and job seekers are increasingly relying on discounts and offers to maintain a good standard of quality of life. BrightExchange helps you to do just that, by enabling you to reward your staff with access to thousands of money-saving perks online that make their salary reach that bit further.

Need another cost-effective addition to your employee benefit wheelhouse? A bit of employee recognition can go a long way to keeping your staff happy and engaged. BrightHR’s praise feature gives you a platform to instantly recognize and celebrate your top performers. And you can turn it into a fun game with a gamified leadership board for an added bit of friendly competition within your team.

So, there you have it.

Even if that higher-band salary is beyond your means when it comes to attracting or retaining staff, you can still stack up against even the big corporates—but only if your salary research tools and benefits package measures up.

Help your business and your team stay nourished, even when the talent pool is being heavily fished. Check out BrightHR’s suite of products in action, book a demo today.

Do I have to include salary in a job advert?

No, there is no law on this. Many companies list the salary range on the job advert to narrow down the applicants in an attempt to successfully hire a well-suited candidate.

Can I ask job applicants what their current or previous salary is?

Refer to applicable provincial or federal legislation. For example, Ontario enacted the Pay Transparency Act that prohibits employers from inquiring about a candidate’s salary history. Recently, Newfoundland and Labrador have also introduced law that prohibits employers from demanding pay history from applicants.

Have more questions on this topic? We have 10,000+ answers to all your HR and health & safety dilemmas on BrightLightning.

1) Indeed Study Finds That Only 52% of Canadians Feel They Are Being Paid Fairly

2) Canadians are upskilling and reskilling at polytechnics