As companies begin to jump back into hiring, successful recruiting strategies can make all the difference. Your business can take steps right now to stay ahead of their competition by developing an effective recruiting process in conjunction with your HR resource. Keep reading for guidance on strategies you can implement today to elevate your recruiting practices.
Utilize Data and Technology
A company’s ability to analyze people trends and the success of their recruitment strategies is dependent on the robustness of their HR analytics. It is critical for HR business leaders to develop key metrics against which they can measure their success. The results of the data analysis will guide future decisions as you continue to grow your workforce. Also, there are a huge number of tech tools available for companies to create a more efficient recruitment process. One key metric we use is “time to close”, meaning the time it takes for us to make an offer to a candidate compared against when we first posted the job. By setting that metric at a month, we can focus on exceptional candidate experience, efficiently using internal resources, and not losing top talent to industry competitors.
As more and more clients come to us because they are ready to reopen their talent pipelines, we’ve integrated two valuable tools into our service offering as we help them develop sustainable recruitment processes –
- Spark Hire is Red Clover’s video interviewing solution that allows us to screen potential candidates more efficiently, interview candidates remotely, foster better collaboration with our clients, and identify top talent to join their team. We’ve been using Spark Hire’s video interviewing tools since before the pandemic, and it’s helped us use our time more effectively and add more value to the recruitment support we provide. Rather than spending billable hours on long phone screens, we use introductory phone calls to build rapport with the candidates, and then they are able to practice for a one way video interview they do on their own time. Review of the completed video interviews can be done in half the time of traditional phone screens and we can easily share, review and evaluate the video interviews with hiring managers. Having a video interview software suite has helped us achieve better close rates for positions, therefore meeting our HR metrics. We have more time at our disposal to devote clients in addressing other critical change management and people operations projects to drive their business forward.
- We invested in LinkedIn Corporate Recruiter to add to our portfolio of recruitment tools to help clients find the right talent quickly, engage qualified job seekers in a wide open job market, and serve as a strategic partner in developing efficient recruitment processes. We are able to proactively search for candidates who are “Open To Work” with focused keywords and specific criteria we establish as part of the position requisition process. We save time because we aren’t triaging hundreds and hundreds of resumes from individuals who aren’t qualified. We control the outreach and can be candidate-centered with our outreach strategy. We also have the functionality to post a job, and since the opening is posted on LinkedIn, a social network developed for job seekers, we’ve seen increased quality in applicants, with relevant experience, compared to other job sites.
These technology tools are fully integrated components of our talent strategy offerings and have helped us develop and meet ambitious HR metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs.)
Introduce an Employee Referral Program
Although we have driven employer branding campaigns to help our clients set themselves apart from competitors, a strong employer brand starts with the people already in your organization. If your current employees can speak positively about their experience with your company, they are one of the best recruitment resources you have. Introducing a referral program can motivate your workers to recommend people for roles in your organization. Ideally, your referral sources are your top performers and have bought into the company values and culture. Ideally, your current team members will take advantage of incentive programs and recommend friends and colleagues who are similarly aligned with your core values. As a note, cash incentives can be used at time of hire, but also when the new employee meets a specific employment milestone as a way to retain your work force.
Have an Accurate Job Post
If you want to attract the right person for the job, make sure the right people apply by having a current and accurate job description. You attract top talent by developing a job post that represents your company, clearly outlines the job responsibilities, and highlights the core competencies you expect a candidate to have demonstrated experience in. A number of companies and recruiters run the risk of losing candidates throughout the hiring process if it becomes apparent to the candidate that the job they are interviewing for is vastly different from what is represented in the job posting. We support clients by auditing job descriptions for accuracy before going to market. We also work with internal stakeholders to align expectations to guarantee a consistent experience for job seekers going through the recruitment process. It is sometimes easy for business leaders to change their expectations for a role as we get further into a recruitment project, but our objective is to use the job post as a starting point and stay the course in finding the person who is the best fit for the role we scoped out.
Streamline the Interview Process
When it comes to standing out as an employer of choice in a wide open job market with millions of eager job hunters, candidate experience is key. As mentioned, we’ve used Spark Hire and Corporate Recruiter to improve our recruitment strategy, but they aren’t a required investment for a streamlined interview process. When clients let us know they are ready to hire, we put together a recruitment plan for the specific position, outlining the various touch points of the process for the candidate. Currently, employers think they are trying to mimic their in-person process, with a day full of interviews with various people throughout the organization. We focus on who the candidate will actually be working with, and don’t recommend more than three interview touchpoints. Phone screen or video interview, chat with their manager, and a conversation with the senior leader if it’s appropriate. Interviewing shouldn’t be complicated for the candidate – and they shouldn’t feel like they are going through the gauntlet to earn an entry level position. Even as we begin to return to in person work, we need to have candidate experience at the forefront of our mind. It’s time to reconsider the normal practice of subjecting a job seeker to 8 hours sitting in a conference room with individuals they will never work with (and who aren’t aligned with the company’s recruitment philosophy and strategy.)
Solidify Your Brand and Culture
How you are perceived externally in the industry and internally among your current employees is your employer brand, and your employer brand is a huge tool you can leverage as part of your recruitment strategy. Your employer brand is linked with your company culture and core values. Having a strong culture leads to your people speaking positively about their experience (whether over drinks or on Glassdoor), and people want to work for a company where their employees like going to work and have positive things to say. Clear, consistent messaging about the company’s values and their integration into your recruitment process demonstrates you are a values-based organization. By guiding your processes in a way that is aligned with your values, you have a greater chance of candidates saying positive things about your company, even if they aren’t the candidate of choice.
HR Recruiting Support in NJ
To be clear, Red Clover is not a recruiting firm. We are a consulting firm who will help you build out a sustainable recruitment strategy to identify your next top performers. We do so by working hand in hand with leaders and your internal HR team to innovate your approach to recruiting as a critical part of the employee lifecycle. We are the subject matter experts on leveraging the tools we’ve invested in to provide you with modern, but affordable solutions to your talent acquisition and retention challenges. Want to see how we can help you open your talent pipeline effectively and efficiently? Reach out!
