Blog

Thanks to the pandemic, plenty of companies are going all-out to improve their workplace environments and the benefits on offer.

Keep working from home? Sure.

Need car parking because you’re worried about public transport? Yes, we’ll cover that.

Flexible work times to assist with family commitments? We’ll see what we can do.

As we’re rapidly moving into a market that is short of quality SAP candidates (and IT candidates in general), employers know they need to offer more than just good money to attract and retain the best talent.

We chat to a couple of our account managers to see what has been standing out with their clients in attracting the quality consultants.

Speller International Senior Account Manager Chris Oughton, who specialises in SAP Change Training and Documentation, says lengthy projects and thus lengthy initial contracts, can be very appealing to candidates.

“The security of a role like that is a real plus, and it stops them looking in the market (every three months) wondering if their contract is due to extend,” he says. 

Chris says employers that are implementing the ‘fun’ or rarer/newer parts of SAP – including SAP S/4 HANA Cloud, SAP Leonardo Machine Learning and SAP Analytics Cloud - are always popular.

Speller’s SAP Account Manager Brad Lister agrees that new technology is appealing for candidates, along with niche fields and industries such as FMCG, retail or utilities.

SAP consultants want to learn new skills while adding value on their engagement and they want to ensure their skillsets remain relevant, so they are often going to choose the role and company that can enhance their skillset over a role that offers nothing new.

“Our SAP consultants also enjoy working with positive leaders who lead from the front, clearly communicate and protect their teams if things go awry,” he says. 

“We often have consultants who follow a project director from company to company rather than worry about the company itself - getting yourself a strong and well networked leadership team with a good track record will assist in building that perfect team.”

 Brad also stresses the importance of the hiring process in making a good impression.

“Managers need to remember that interviews and onboarding are very important – interviews are a two-way street and interviewers need to sell their company and its benefits,” he says.

“In addition, if the interview process is too long, there are issues getting feedback, or it’s a disorganised process, then candidates can take this as a sign of things to come and employers may find themselves missing out on a good candidate to a more organised company.”

Commitment to sustainability, ethical responsibility and diversity is important to many professionals, so they are good company qualities to promote when trying to attract candidates.

Organisations that offer mental and physical health programs – especially in these challenging times – are also attractive to candidates.

And while opportunities for international secondments may not be on the cards at the moment, the day will come when employers can again provide that option.

And finally, we know it’s not always possible to offer long engagements, exciting projects and new technologies, so don’t forget what you as a company does have to offer and why you personally enjoy working there – simply telling this to the candidate at interview could make the difference to whether you get them or not.

What do you think makes a good employer? We’d love to hear from candidates and hiring managers alike.