As 2025 begins, my LinkedIn feed is already a flurry with content attempting to quantify what industry trends will dominate the year ahead. Any speculation based on research that focuses on acquiring and retaining talent will always capture my interest so I have done the legwork to analyse and summarise the numerous articles on this topic, to collate the top actions companies can take to enhance their talent attraction capabilities.
Robust Employer branding
More than just having a logo and a website, this is the process of defining and promoting an organisation’s reputation as an employer. Encompassing the values, culture, and working environment that make your company a desirable place to work creates a strong and positive perception among current employees, potential candidates, and other stakeholders about what it’s like to work for your business.
By having a strong social media presence, online staff testimonials sharing their positive experience of working for you on your website, and amplifying publicly the career growth potential that’s available to your staff, you can enhance your company’s digital visibility to potential candidates. According to employer branding experts Wise, ‘crafting a compelling company culture and a clear attraction strategy has never been more important’.
Uplift the value of your non cash benefits.
While salary is important, it’s essential to also consider the value of a carefully curated benefits package and ensure this is effectively communicated to staff. All too frequently employees aren’t aware of the suite of company perks that are available to them.
In a recent survey by Michael Page 81% of candidates rated pensions when considering a role and 71% had their heads turned by private healthcare and life insurance.
57% found stocks and shares appealing and 55% were impressed by wellbeing initiatives like gym membership.
Learning and Development
Often just viewed as a formality, but in Korn Ferry’s analysis of talent trends for 2025, they emphasise not only the importance of offering learning and development but considering it as a core focus of your talent strategy.
In their recent survey, they found that 67% of employees would stay with their employer if they offered opportunities for advancement and upskilling, even if they hated their job.
Couple this with the fact that lack of career growth is the second biggest reason people change jobs and you have a very compelling case to review your learning and development offering.
However, it must go beyond online courses. Korn Ferry outlines the importance of investing in innovative training methods such as virtual reality, gamification, and microlearning, to really develop employees for evolving roles and needs.
Enhance Your Employer Value Proposition
An Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is defined as the unique benefits, rewards, and opportunities that a company offers to its employees. However, it’s so much more than this. EVP is the company’s culture and really defines what makes the organisation an attractive place to work and differentiates it from competitors.
It might sound quite abstract but if you focus all your efforts on self promotion but not cultivating a company culture that allows employees to engage directly in the perception you’re projecting, you’ll fail to retain the hard won talent you’ve attracted. It’s important to think about why someone would want to work for you but also why they’d stay working for you.
Skills based hiring
A trend that’s only recently emerged, this is a recruitment strategy that focuses on evaluating and selecting candidates based on their specific skills and competencies rather than traditional criteria such as degrees, certifications, or years of experience.
While it’s not for everyone, this approach prioritises a candidate’s ability to perform the tasks required for the role, ensuring that their qualifications align directly with the job’s demands. Korn Ferry advises that when hiring for skills, start by focusing on roles that will drive the greatest business transformation, and then identify which skills are needed for these positions.
Of course it would be remiss of me to ignore the importance of working with a trusted recruitment partner. This isn’t about shoehorning in a sales pitch but about recognising that recruiters have a diverse range of often overlooked expertise, including knowing what your competition are offering. As a result, working in partnership with an effective, consultative recruiter can be a gamechanger in honing your ability to attract new talent.
As we look ahead to 2025, it’s clear that talent attraction and retention will remain at the forefront of business’ priorities. By focusing on the key strategies outlined—strengthening employer branding, uplifting the value of non-cash benefits, prioritising impactful learning and development, refining your Employer Value Proposition, and embracing skills-based hiring, you’ll give yourself a serious advantage in becoming an employer of choice.
It’s important to finish with the fact that the competitive edge will belong to those who not only attract top talent but also foster an environment where employees feel valued, engaged, and empowered to grow.
