"The Talent Hunt Decade" Begins

    
         Changes in labour market mean HR needs to embrace Marketing;
            Workopolis introduces new product to assist employers
    

TORONTO, May 11 /CNW/ - A transformation is underway in the Canadian labour market as economic recovery and demographic changes put qualified employees in the driver's seat and require employers to compete harder for the best talent. According to Workopolis, 2010 marks the start of "The Talent Hunt Decade", a new era in which organizations will have to market themselves to qualified candidates just as vigorously as they market their products and services.

"The tables are turning from the unemployment spike of the recession to a long-term talent shortage that will dominate business priorities for the years ahead," says Gabriel Bouchard, President and Chief Brand Officer of Workopolis. "The day is done when a company could post a job and take their pick from the responses. Now it must sustain an ongoing campaign to court and entice the best talent over a period of time."

Workopolis is leading the industry by today launching the Employer Brand Optimizer, the first solution of its kind in the online recruiting industry. It reaches far beyond job postings to help an employer truly engage with potential candidates. The web-based Employer Brand Optimizer gives employers a turn-key solution which will enable them to generate interest from candidates currently looking to make a transition, stay in touch with workers who express interest in learning more about a company, and help build an employer's brand equity over time.

Qualified Candidates are in the Driver's Seat

Potential candidates for key positions have become increasingly selective and sophisticated when it comes to finding their next employer. New research conducted for Workopolis by Harris/ Decima found that the top three attributes workers are now seeking in a job opportunity are:

    
    - Good work/ life balance (78 per cent);
    - High compensation/ benefits (71 per cent); and
    - A strong relationship with boss/ co-workers (71 per cent).
    

"Skilled candidates are increasingly discerning about what they want in a job and their criteria now includes aspects like corporate culture and self-development opportunities as much as concrete features such as compensation and title," says Bouchard. "Candidates are back in the driver's seat and are looking for opportunities where they can shine - they want to excel and feel fulfilled in their jobs. That means employers have a much more complex message to communicate about their employment opportunities to encourage candidates to send their resumes."

Workopolis has transformed the look and functionality of the site as part of a significant re-branding initiative under the banner, "Time to shine." The new functionality enables companies to create their own unique employer brand and showcase what makes them unique to candidates; attributes such as work/life balance, location, education and training opportunities, and much more.

HR needs to embrace Marketing

To add to the recruiter's challenge, employers have come to recognize that the most valuable candidates are often the ones not currently looking for a job. In a survey of Canadian Human Resources professionals by Workopolis and the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA), 97 per cent of respondents said they want tools to help them reach employed candidates. Three-quarters (75 per cent) said it was particularly critical to get in touch with individuals who aren't actively looking for a new job. That's because when it comes to hard-to-fill roles, the best candidates are almost always employed.

To attract these candidates, employers need an approach that's closer to marketing than traditional recruiting.

"Employers have to sustain a compelling employer brand in the marketplace at all times," says Bouchard. "An employer brand can create the idea, even for employed workers casually browsing the website that you are an employer of choice, an organization they would aspire to join and want to stay in touch with."

Top 10 Rules of the Talent Hunt Decade

Workpolis has published The Top 10 Rules of the Talent Hunt Decade which include tips for both employers and candidates and is available at www.workopolis.com.

About the Polls:

The HRPA survey was conducted in February 2010 by the Human Resources Professionals Association in partnership with Workopolis through an online poll of 1,022 HRPA members.

The Harris/Decima study was conducted via teleVox, the company's national telephone omnibus survey, with a representative sample of 1,095 working Canadians between April 22 and May 2, 2010. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percent, 19 times out of 20.

About Workopolis:

Workopolis provides Canadian employers and candidates with unrivaled access to one another by combining unique employer branding tools with the largest pool of candidate resumes on the Internet. Through the reach and scope of www.workopolis.com, extended by exclusive partnerships and community sites including social networking and mobile applications, Workopolis allows employers to engage with qualified candidates, allowing both parties to best assess fit online.

Canadian owned and operated, Workopolis has grown to 200 staff members across Canada since 2000. Workopolis is in an equal partnership with Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. and Square Victoria Digital Properties Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.

Workopolis was chosen as the first organization to be given the Best Emerging Organization distinction as part of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures program.

For further information: to receive a copy of The Top 10 Rules of the Talent Hunt Decade or to schedule an interview, please contact: Amy Davidson or Meredith Adolph, Environics Communications, [email protected], [email protected], [phone], [phone]