Over the years, GRS has helped to fill available vacancies in numerous sectors, including the highly flourishing forex, binary options and payment solutions sectors in Cyprus. These sectors have been very supportive to the Cypriot economy during its challenging financial times and during Cyprus’ recovery following the economic crisis of 2012 that resulted in a €10 billion international bailout. The sector has created ample employment opportunities for Cypriots and other European and non-Europeans living in Cyprus.

Cyprus has long been a magnet for forex sector companies, with the first establishment of a forex company more than 25 years ago. Today, the country hosts some of the world’s leading names in the industry and is internationally renowned as a finance centre and a retail FX hub.

As the sector continues to grow, the owners and investors in these companies face the challenges of identifying and attracting the best talent in order to safeguard and sustain growth. The creation of more jobs in the sector requires the most distinguished talent to help bolster the sector and assist with its expansion.

Finding Top Talent

Freedom of movement helps to fill job vacancies in many EU countries and gives employers a wider talent pool. More than 14 million EU citizens are resident in another member state - 2.8% of the total EU population.

Population:  838,897 in Republic of Cyprus

2011 census: 78.6% Cypriot, 21.4% Non-Cypriot

Unemployment rate: 17% (Apr 2016)

Cyprus Talent Pool consists of EU and Non EU residents

According to the 2011 Census there are 170,383 non-citizens living in Cyprus, of whom 106,270 are EU citizens (Greeks (29,321), British (24,046), Romanians (23,706) and Bulgarians (18,536) and 64,113 are from third countries.

As a member of the EU, there are no work permit issues for EU nationals looking to work in Cyprus. Cyprus offers a well-educated and multilingual workforce at significantly lower costs compared to many Western European countries. According to Eurostat figures for 2014, labour costs per hour in the business sector were estimated at €15.80, with the EU averaging €24.60.

Cyprus is uniquely placed for attracting talent and has a number of significant advantages over other countries and jurisdictions for a number of reasons, primarily costs and the recruitment landscape:

The excellent climate, low crime rate and high quality of life means that Cyprus is a very attractive destination and as such frequently and easily attracts workers from Northern Europe looking to work abroad.
For some EU member countries, Cyprus offers higher salaries and low taxation when compared with those of their own countries.
Languages available in the Cyprus Talent Pool:

Close ties with Russia on both an economic and cultural level has led to a large Russian speaking community. Cyprus residents also include many from Russian speaking countries such asLatvia, Lithuania and Estonia, where Russian is taught as a second language in school.
There are approximately 20,000 people of Lebanese descent living in Cyprus many of which migrated to Cyprus after 1975 during the Lebanese Civil War. As such there is a population of Arabic speaking workers, many of which are also Greek & English speaking.
73% of Cypriots speak English fluently. Many have attended a UK or US University with many continuing their education and obtaining masters degrees.
External recruiting brings a wider talent pool

When it comes to recruiting top talent, many businesses prefer to adopt an external recruitment process to pass the responsibility of recruitment onto an experienced consultancy who will seek, screen and deliver employees on their behalf.

External recruitment possesses countless benefits. Professional agencies, such as GRS Recruitment, possess a large pool of qualified candidates that they can easily draw upon. Employers thus gain access to the right candidates who are specifically qualified for the role they are trying to fill.

Recruitment agencies also possess in-depth market knowledge and expertise combined with state-of-the-art technology and assessment tools designed to locate the most applicable candidates for the position. As Cyprus’ leading recruitment agency, GRS has a database of more than 30,000 candidates. Drawing on such a wide pool of talent helps to fill available positions quickly and with the right company-specific skills required to fulfil the desired role.

Recruiters also provide employers with a complete end-to-end recruitment process that begins with screening and shortlisting appropriate candidates and assisting with the interview process. Upon selection of a successful candidate, they will also assist you with creating an appealing and competitive package.

How to Attract the Best Talent to your Company

In order to attract and retain top talent it is therefore critical to have a talent strategy in place. To attract top talent you need to:

1. Identify critical roles within your business that will add strategic value. Assess factors affecting supply and demand; scenario test to prepare for future attraction and retention challenges.

2. Understand your target talent and what they value in their careers. Define your target talent group; build relationships and develop insight into what is important for them.

3. Assess the strength of your current employment package to ensure that it is attractive and effective. Define and deliver a compelling new employment package that includes attractive benefits, a flexible working schedule and bonus structures. Pay attention to market trends and review compensation and benefits packages at least annually.

4. Sustain and grow your employer brand. Define your business’ success criteria by reviewing, monitoring and refining your brand so that you create and promote an identity that top-tier candidates will find attractive. Position yourself asthe best business to work with to instill candidate confidence. Prove that you have the best work environment, reputation, benefits package and career development opportunities.

A recent survey carried out by TalentPuzzle, found that:

• 86% of employees seek companies that are offering career development opportunities
• 60% consider employer reputations important when applying for positions
• 55% believe it is important other people want to work for their employer
• 86% of job seekers would accept a lower salary if employers make a great impression during the hiring process
• 67% of job seekers would accept a lower salary if the company has exceptional online reviews
• 65% would accept the position with a lower wage if the company had received recent positive press

Making your business a desirable place of employment will enable you to attract, recruit and retain your desired target group and secure your company’s achievement. 

Employee Turnover
Is it a good or bad thing?

‘Good’ refreshing the organisation

• ‘Innovate or die’ – bringing in fresh blood and new thinking to keep ahead of the curve and encourage a thirst for the ‘new’
• Assisting with the management of workforce planning and responding to a change in skill requirements / employee profiles
• Creating ‘head space’ for career flows and replacing instances of poor performance with more effective employees.

‘Bad’ – Loosing key talent

• Critical organisational knowledge/skills
• Small pool of external talent for critical jobs/key people/core capabilities
• It is having an impact on the business

Take note:

• Take note of the benefits that your main competitors offer in order to match or exceed them.
• Aside from tangible rewards, recognise success by rewarding your employees with an engaging, fun working environment as well as status-based recognition.
• Attract the highest quality talent who respect your business and want to stay with your company for many years to come.
• Factors such as social media make employer reputations highly transparent, meaning that nothing is invisible or unknown anymore. Invest in your social media identity to cement your corporate culture image and attract the best talent.
• People have become far more selective and shrewd about their place of employment.

Ultimately, you want to offer an environment that people are passionate about working in.

Integrating a New Hire

High employee turnover is expensive and damaging to a company’s bottom line, as finding and training a replacement employee is estimated to cost almost twice an employee’s salary.

Reducing employee turnover begins with hiring the right people, as hiring top talent is vital to the success of your business. Once you have selected your employee it’s essential to be adequately prepared for their arrival by preparing all paperwork, providing them with a company code of conduct and organising their workspace with all the relevant tools (including building access as well as system and email access).

Look after employees from day one, making every effort to help them adjust to their new role as smoothly as possible. Assign one experienced team member to mentor the individual and facilitate their integration into the company during their first few days.

Begin training from day one so the individual feels confident about their role and contribution to the company. Make the learning process as enjoyable as possible; instead of overwhelming your new hire with pages and pages of information, make the learning process more social by introducing the individual to relevant team members who are knowledgeable about specific subjects. This will make it easier for new hires to seek out the right individuals and enhance their knowledge. Finally, offer small, manageable assignments that prevent them from getting bored yet don’t overwhelm them on their first day.

As their first day comes to an end, ask for feedback. Discuss any worries or concerns they might have and establish what they require for the following day. This will ease their transition into their new role, making them feel comfortable, welcome and enthusiastic about their new position.

Maintaining long-term employment

To retain your employees over the long-term you need to empower them. According to 90% of workers, the most valued attributes in workplace relationships are honesty, trust and fairness, so keep an open and honest connection with your employees that recognises their achievements and encourages them to openly approach you. Give and receive feedback – both positive and negative, provided it is constructive and addressed at an appropriate time. By providing effective feedback, workers know how they are meeting their goals.

Review and assess employee concerns on a regular basis to ensure they continually feel valued. Managers often overlook the importance of a positive working environment in maintaining a happy, productive workforce, but this is a highly cost-effective way to maintain long-term employment.

Further to the above, it’s essential to instill an open-minded culture where everyone’s ideas are welcomed. Empower your employees by encouraging them to give direct input and ideas. This will show each member of your team that they are valued and respected, which will naturally lead to stronger sales, greater profits and lower employee turnover.

Communicate with your team regularly to actively foster trust, honesty and respect. Avoid micromanaging as this creates a negative working environment; instead, show that you trust your employees by assigning them with plenty of responsibilities that will enable them to flourish in their position, as well as stepping back and letting them do their jobs. Showing outward respect and appreciation for your employees contributes to a positive corporate culture, thus leading to a strong, enduring working environment that your employees will enjoy being a part of. This will also show them that their work is essential to the success of your business, giving them additional motivation to succeed in their jobs.

You should also perform regular reviews/appraisals to check in with your team and openly reward individuals with awards, recognition and praise. Small gestures go a long way towards creating a positive working environment that makes employees feel valued. This should go beyond monetary compensation to include company/department lunches or events, parties and thank you emails.

Apart from a competitive salary, consider offering incentives such as flexible working hours, generous holiday leave, free gym membership, food, gift certificates and health insurance, as these have all been proven to decrease employee turnover. Take note of the benefits that your main competitors offer in order to match or exceed them. Aside from tangible rewards, recognise success by rewarding your employees with an engaging, fun working environment as well as status-based recognition.

Ultimately, you want to offer an environment that people are passionate about working in. By operating an unrivalled business with a positive corporate culture that is consistently instilled on a daily basis, you will attract the highest quality talent who respect your business and want to stay with your company for many years to come.