But while employers consistently rate talent attraction and retention as top priorities for their organisations, candidates are put off by negative experiences in the recruitment process.
"If your application process communicates well, your interview process is thorough and then you dedicate the requisite time and patience to a quality onboarding, it is one of the soundest financial strategies you will ever take as an employer, because we know how costly it is to hire and lose and hire again and lose again," he says.
Increasingly the job application process has become digitalised, with minimum human interaction. Candidates are likely to get an automated response after submitting their CV or LinkedIn profile. "We often hear complaints from candidates about a lack of communication, not knowing enough what will happen next, when they will hear back, and even the outcome of the process," she says.
"Employers need to be upfront with where they are at, as creating a story that will not be the lived experience of the candidate will create a very unsettled cohort of employees," Ms Connaughton says. The HR Buddy CEO says if you have communicated this thoughtfully in your job advert and application form, it will also be much easier to achieve this.
According to CIPD, more attention is going on the skills of applicants and having a mindset open to ongoing learning, rather than just on traditional school or college grades.