In today’s highly competitive business marketplace, the challenge of attracting new clients is rivaled by the difficulty of attracting young, qualified talent to service those clients. And while this new challenge is systemic throughout many industries, perhaps no two professions have been impacted more by this phenomenon than the legal and accounting fields. According to The State Bar of California, the average age of an active attorney is 49 years old. Similarly, DataUSA reports that the average age of accountants and auditors is 44; still some years before retirement for either group, but where the next generation of professionals to replace those soon-to-be-retirees will come from is a question that remains to be answered.
If any firm is fortunate enough to secure a bounty of clients, the next problem they face is how to adequately service them. Often, business development can out pace an HR department’s ability to hire the well-qualified candidates needed to maintain and grow a company. So, where is the next pool of talent to be found? What is the root of the hiring problem? Are HR departments being given the solid recruiting tools to effectively communicate with, and attract, the right applicants? Often times management assumes that the same tools the business development team uses to attract clients is sufficient to attract young, bright talent. This old school thinking is an unfortunate fallacy that persists in many companies.
It is a fallacy to believe you can attract young, bright talent with the same tools your bizdev team uses to attract clients.
Today’s young people want to work for firms that reflect their voice and culture. If a firm is tone deaf in showing potential hires what it is they hope to see, they will take their talents and look elsewhere. Of course, this is all relative to what the changing job market will bear, the firm’s economic realities, and what other, similarly sized companies in the same industry are offering. But keep in mind that if you sacrifice in your hiring practices your will surely suffer in your client services abilities.
To clearly communicate your firm’s message to new hires you will need specific new tools. Chief among them would be a dedicated section of your website specifically for recruiting new hires. This is a space where you can tell the firm story from the employee’s point of view. Where you can let the candidate see and understand the realities of what a “Day In The Life” looks like and what the firm’s expectations of them as an employee truly are. It might offer employee interviews and testimonials. If you are already using your company’s best assets, such as the firm’s website, to get new clients why not use it to pitch your firm to potential new hires? Looking for other ideas on how to grow and maintain your business? Let’s talk.