By: The Client Training Corner
Some of you are faced with increased talent demand while other recruiters are holding back recruitment efforts until the market shifts. Great news! Although the current economic conditions present daily challenges to our business models and recruitment methods, there are areas of sourcing that can be put into action regardless of your customers’ recruitment strategies or needs.
Attract More High Quality Candidates
There are candidates out there were who were not previously pursuing your open requisitions that have now moved themselves from the passive seeker pool to the active one. Get their attention with your employment brand. Remain consistent through all candidate interaction and messaging. Sourcing is the name of the game! Call candidates you shelved months ago. Tough times at their firm may now be a selling point for yours. Call those boomerang seekers -- top talent who left your company and may be ready to consider returning. And don’t forget to use targeted media campaigns to grab niche seekers -- including recruiters for your team!
Use Creative Sourcing Methods
This might be the time to do less with more. Utilize the free sources you have been hoping to try. What technology options do you have available? Attend networking events. Research details of positions and industries on blogs, social networking sites and Internet search engines to better identify untraditional candidates. Build your pipeline by making calls to the candidates in your proprietary database. Consider new competitors outside your sector or industry. And of course, ask for referrals, referrals, referrals!
Retain Your Talent
Now is the time to make certain that you are reaching out to your top talent and involving them in conversation. Keeping the internal pipeline active is critical. Remember that if you are not recruiting your best people, someone else is. Focus on retention with “stretch” assignments and increased internal movement. Talent should be developed to prepare them to assume key roles that open up as a result of turnover, retirement or growth. Earning your top talent’s loyalty during these stressful economic times through career planning, employee development and training programs that will better position you to grab market share.
Revisit Your Recruiting Process
This is your chance to look for process improvement opportunities in your current recruitment process. During this time of limited organizational budgets, streamline your application process. Is it is as simple as your closest competitors? Do you need to update or create screening questionnaires or testing to handle the additional seekers applying to your postings in the current economy? Consider reworking your response letters and letter library to incorporate your employment brand.
Strengthen Your Employment Brand
Speaking of employment brand, the bottom line is that job seekers are savvier and better prepared than ever. Your long term strategy to engage these well-informed job seekers will hinge on your employment brand. Why are you an employer of choice? What do you offer in this current economy that other organizations do not? Media placement such as video can highlight your company’s value proposition or present a typical “day in the life” at your company. Use consistent messaging to tell a compelling story. You can use this platform to capitalize on your brand strength or if you are a lesser known brand, use the opportunity to increase your brand awareness. Never forget that these job seekers are also consumers and every organization has something to sell or a message to share.