The job market in this recently strengthened economy is not what it was prior to 2014, and active job seekers are very aware. Talent Acquisition partners need to become increasingly creative and proactive in their efforts to secure true talent on an emerging candidate's playing field.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when forming your strategy for 2016 talent attraction.
1. Make a plan. Understand the company need, and make sure everyone else understands the need. Be aware that every job search requires a different approach. Meet with hiring managers to discuss a customized recruitment plan. Ask for the top 3 skills a new hire should possess to succeed in the role. Find out what is not written in the job description. Get to the core of what the successful incumbent looks like to the manager, and offer advice based on your own knowledge of the company culture, leadership and job requirements.
2. Tailor the job posting to fit the need. Too often, recruiters simply post a job description and little more. Remember the old "Recruiters spend only 6 seconds reviewing your resume" adage? Well, job seekers have one too, and it doesn't include much more time to read a page-long, badly formatted job description stating that the company needs someone "able to multi-task." Add what makes the company a great place to work. The job spec is the first doorway we have to grab a job seeker. Get to the meat of what the job entails, and use the posting real estate wisely.
3. Go where the candidates are. If companies want to attract top-tier candidates, they have to stretch out past the obligatory Indeed.com postings. Think creatively. Network on LinkedIn, industry forums, associations, local affiliated societies. Be visible. Start a local Meet Up group. Know a company in a niche industry that matches yours? Poach, poach, poach! A passive job seeker can be turned into an active one for a good deal and the right situation.
Get up, get out, get in.
4. Guide your management team. Hiring managers are the SMEs of their departments, products and services. They may be adept in understanding their own staffing needs, but if the relationship is good, they'll look to you to fill in the many other blanks. Hiring managers need coaching, too- they may not be aware of recent market trends or hiring best practice, and don't have backgrounds in recruitment. They shouldn't have to. This is why they have you.
A talented recruiter can often detect red flags during the screening and interview process. I call it "recruiter's nose." Conversely, that same "nose" can identify a great candidate that your manager passes over because his/her resume doesn't conform to the manager's list of 7 things the candidate "must have."
If you are good at what you do, trust yourself and trust the "nose." Use it to guide your managers. They will come to depend on it.
5. Revamp your employee referral bonus plan. Great employees consort with other great employees. Reward them handsomely for good referrals who are hired and who remain in good standing during a specified time frame. Pay the employee referral partially at the 6-month mark and the balance at the new hire's 1-year anniversary. A decent referral bonus is not a heavy budgetary burden for a company that can avoid the regular expenses of a long job search and the usual gamble with a completely unknown candidate.
6. Build that pipeline. This is a no-brainer. If you're doing #3, then you're already building the pipeline.
7. Be sure your comp data is up-to-date. When was the last time you used a reputable comp and survey data analytics solution to benchmark or redesign your company compensation program? It may be time. If your company is not at-market, it isn't in the game at all.
8. Be responsive and communicative with your candidates. Your candidates know people. Who know people. Don't you become known for your crappy interpersonal skills, especially when candidates have interviewed. Stay in touch, and let them know when the search has concluded, especially if another candidate has been chosen. It's good for the company reputation, it's good for your reputation, and besides, it's the kind thing to do.
9. Maximize your ATS. Are you adept in the use of your applicant tracking system? If you're not, this is akin to being disorganized. Your ATS is designed to keep things straight through every single step of the recruitment and/or audit process. If you aren't familiar with every aspect of it and what it can do for you, contact the vendor and get training. If you aren't utilizing every tool at your disposal, you are sidestepping best practice, and are only handicapping yourself and your company's concentrated efforts to bring on new talent.
10. Know your product. In the days of "personnel departments," the common hiring sentiment was, "Why should we hire you?" That mentality is crusty and dated. Today's talent acquisition specialists know that interviewing is not a one-way street. We aren't personnel paper-pushers, peering over files and down our noses at job seekers. We are salespeople. Effective salespeople know their products inside and out, and venture out with all the reasons why you should buy those products or services. The best of us are passionate about what we sell, and that passion comes across to the candidate. If you want to attract talent, know the company and product/services as well as the true salespeople and understand why it's marketable and appealing. If you don't believe in it, neither will your candidates.
The 2016-2017 job market need not be an impossible arena for companies in hot pursuit of solid talent. Additionally, Talent Acquisition partners can use the challenges to showcase their own capabilities through best hiring practice, and build greater alliances with their internal clients and managers.