The phrase "Talent War" is a bit dramatic, but I’m not really sure I’m exaggerating. Like all other sectors, technology is changing how people engage with employment opportunities. New generations are entering the workforce with completely different views on how they want to work and who they want to work for. And increasingly, the lines between companies and charities are blurring. The result of all of this upheaval is that charities are perfectly poised to pick up the very best young talent – the much-maligned Millennial generation. The reality is that they are losing that war to digital-savvy, cause-adopting, big-spending corporates.

All is not lost. This is a war that charities can win. BTA have been winning it on behalf of our clients for years now. There is no trick, no one thing that works best. Its down to the 3Rs:

Recruitment – The days of “spray and pray agencies”, headhunting, print adverts, generalist jobs boards are gone. Recruitment has gone digital and the lazy agencies and dinosaur headhunters, the old school HR Managers and the “jobs for the boys” brigade have been wiped away in a Digital Ice Age.

Retention – Millennials have many great attributes, but loyalty is not one of them. Leave them unengaged, unsupported or lacking direction and they’ll be off to another job without a backward glance. Retaining staff is SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than finding new ones, so value-based recruitment, behavioural and competency questioning, family friendly working and outstanding on-boarding are increasingly vital.

Remuneration – For the last two years BTA’s recruitment team have been diligently tracking and monitoring EVERY job advertised in Scotland. The statistics cannot be argued against as an EXACT picture of what the going rate for every type of job at a Scottish charity. We launch this report on June 7th, and it will be invaluable for charities not wanting to over reward or underpay any of their key staff.

Charities have the two greatest weapons possible for the Talent War – PURPOSE and CULTURE. Surveys show that Millennials (who make up 50% of the workforce) hugely prefer to work for companies with a cause or value base, Companies can only adopt or align with cause and values often sit difficultly with them. Charities however OWN this stuff. We are causes, and while our culture may vary from organisation to organisation, we are part of a sector that shares, cares and literally changes the world.

If charities would only raise their heads, change their recruitment messages, adopt modern recruitment practices and work with suppliers who genuinely understand their world – the war would already be won!

Join us on Friday 7th June to hear more on the 3 Rs and how your organisation can win the talent war.