Jobs change lives. We don’t hire like they do.

Your work here will change lives. Make a difference. Make an impact. Give back. Do work with meaning and purpose.

These are powerful statements for a recruitment campaign. 

Every non-profit and purpose-led organisation in the world can claim these things — because they’re true.

If you’re one of the 1.4 million people who choose to work in the Australian NFP sector, you ARE changing lives, families, communities… maybe even the world.

But that’s only part of the story.

The right job, employer and working environment can change a person’s life.

The next step in a career. A higher salary. A new location and life chapter for a couple or family. Better flexibility and work/life balance. A positive working environment. An inspiring or supportive leader. A change or escape from a job or employer that wasn’t ‘right’. A fresh start. A brighter future.

Jobs change lives — but we don’t hire like they do.

Most organisations are reactive at best. Recruitment is treated as a process to manage, rather than a moment that matters.

How we hire needs a shake-up. Not because of a lack of effort, but there is a clear gap between the importance of hiring — and how it’s approached.

Hiring is the mother of all variables, the one that can boost performance to the moon or crash a company in no time. 

Yet it remains a significant challenge for many organisations. 

Recruitment difficulty remains. 47% of employers are finding it difficult to fill vacant roles and 36% of employers are unable to fill roles within a month. While this data from Jobs and Skills Australia shows recruitment activity is down 1 point compared to 2025, recruitment difficulty is up 6 points and employee turnover remains the main reason for recruitment activity (62%). REOS

Employee tenure is on a downward trend. We stay in our jobs less than half the length of time we did a decade ago.

Average turnover remains steady at 16%. More than one-third of Australian employers report turnover of 20% of more — an historic high. AHRI

Talent market dynamics are no different to consumer market dynamics. 

People expect more. They change jobs more often. They have a different relationship with work and their employer than they did in the past. 

When you’re hiring, your job is to win hearts and minds.

You’re not acquiring talent. In fact, you’re not buying at all. You’re the seller.

Your candidates aren’t simply applying for a job — they’re making a decision about their future.

Effective recruitment is transformative — for the team, the leader, the organisation and the person you hire. Yet many of the leaders I speak to say it’s a challenge.

“We’ve underinvested in the work that attracts, retains and grows the capability of the workforce.”

“It’s very hard to get it right all of the time.”

“We often get lost in the noise online. It is hard to stand out if you’re not a known brand.”

“Some of our team leaders approach recruitment and interviews from an outdated mindset that suggests ‘you’d be lucky to have this job’ when the reality is quite the opposite.”

“The recruitment process is part of your brand. If it’s clunky, slow, inconsistent or lacks transparency, people notice.”

Jobs change lives — and hiring is one of the most important things leaders do.

There is no shortage of effort, but we do need a shift in mindset: from acquisition to attraction. 

This is a core theme in my book Attract: Recruitment Reimagined and what I share through my new recruitment mentoring program — supporting organisations to bring marketing and consumer-thinking to their hiring approach, communicate more clearly, build trust and ultimately hire better.

We need to start hiring like it matters.