HOW TO MAINTAIN A SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT
STRATEGY WHEN UNEMPLOYMENT IS LOW
National unemployment rates were at four per cent as
of last month, more than half of what it was less than
ten years ago. This is why employers are having such a
time hiring these days. With so many open roles and
not enough candidates to fill them, the competition is higher
than ever. That’s why it’s important to create an environment and
opportunity that will set you apart from the pack – here’s how.
A CULTIVATED CULTURE
Providing a competitive salary, challenging workplace and health
benefits is great, but it’s not going to make a prospective leave
their current roles for what they already have at their current
place of employment. What makes your company stand out?
What would make it worth it for prospective employees to leave
their current jobs for a spot at your organization?
It’s all about company culture – especially for millennials,
who would give up more than $7,000 in salary per year for a
better work environment. An example of company culture is
the employer who supports causes their employees are passion-ate
about (as donors or through company volunteering events).
Another example is the employer who offers a better work-life
balance, which includes options such as working from home,
flexible hours, etc. Many of these organizations also host regular
social events and team-building outings to integrate teams and
foster a social atmosphere.
RECRUITMENT SOFTWARE
If you’re not using applicant tracking software (ATS), you’re
losing time in the recruitment process and missing a bevy of qual-ified
candidates. That’s because ATS streamlines the recruitment
process by combing through thousands of applicants to find the
perfect match for you. It also integrates with social media, which
helps you cast a wider net. This means that you won’t miss the
most prime pool of candidates – millennials – who are more
likely to use this technology for job searching and would miss a
company who relied on more antiquated methods.
If you already use Indeed for your recruiting tool, you might
not know that it offers a built-in applicant tracking system that
allows employers to not only track current applicants, but also to
sort by previous applicants. An email update to those previous
candidates who are interested in your company, but might not be
actively looking, could prove successful.
MAKE SURE YOU’RE MOBILE FRIENDLY
Just like the example above, tech plays a big part in the recruit-ment
process – especially in who and how many you reach. A
whopping 78 per cent of millennials and 73 per cent of Gen
X-ers used a mobile device as their primary job-searching device
in 2016, and these percentages are sure to grow with each pass-ing
year. The moral of this story is if you don’t optimize your
recruitment
listings – and your website – for mobile, you’ll be missing out on
a huge chunk of prospects.
RECRUIT INTERNALLY
When unemployment is low, recruiting from within is one of
the best things you can do, both for finding more applicants and
increasing employee loyalty. Hiring an existing employee cuts
back on time spent training. Plus, employees who switch roles or
departments will be able to add even further dimension to a role
thanks to their seasoned knowledge and experience specific to
your company that an outside candidate wouldn’t have.
OFFER CAREER-GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
Today’s candidates are used to competitive salaries and benefits,
and even company cultures are becoming the norm as a must-have.
To take it a step even further, offer opportunities for growth
so that you’ll be seen as a place where one can develop and be
loyal to, whether it’s formal training, inexpensive or even free
online classes, or room for cross-collaboration and title changes.
GET SAVVY WITH YOUR STRATEGY
Your applicants do a lot of preparation in order to make them-selves
stand out in a crowd for your company – why shouldn’t
you do the same? Videos are a great tool to give potentials a
view into life at your company – if done right. Avoid the stuffy
PR marketing variety videos and shoot real footage of people
at work, snacking in the kitchen, talking by the water cooler or
sharing a beer at happy hour.
Other ideas outside of the standard job posting route are
to recruit via social media. You can use Facebook targeting to
advertise to people who match a selected region, skill set and
even hobbies.
CREATE A REPUTATION OF
POSITIVE INTERVIEWS
Job interviews are stressful enough as it is, but when a candidate
doesn’t know what to expect, it’s easy to get cold feet and ditch
the opportunity. Worse, if you have a history of less-than-stellar
interviews in your past, you can be sure word has gotten around
in your industry. And who would want to sign on for a relation-ship
with a company who gives a first bad impression?
One of the easiest ways you can improve your interview style is
to give potentials an idea of what they can expect. Is your strategy
a one-on-one? Panel or round-robin style interview? Informal
Google hangout? Whatever works best for you, make sure you
share as much detail as possible with your candidates so that
they can feel prepared and therefore confident and relaxed. n
Taylor McKinney is a marketing specialist at TrustRadius.
By Taylor McKinney
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ NOVEMBER 2018 ❚ 61
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