A company is only as good as it’s employees.
Whether you’re a small startup or a Fortune 500 company, finding and hiring the right candidates for the job is vital to the longevity of a business as you need to keep a dedicated and capable team of staff to do what needs to get done. But often companies get so caught up in the product or service, or other internal affairs, that recruitment often falls by the wayside.
In today’s hyper-competitive market, ignoring the hiring process simply isn’t going to cut it.
That said, recruitment is as difficult as it is important. For example, it can be difficult to know whether or not a resume is legitimate. And any recruiter knows how stressful it can be to select employees, as you will be constantly judged on your selection and obviously can’t please everybody in your company. After all, everyone has slightly different ideas of what an ideal employee looks like.
But there are certain rules you can follow to increase your chances of making the right hiring decision and ensuring your company thrives.
The new year will bring a fresh set of recruitment trends that will significantly impact your process. Here’s how to stay on top:
1. Cater to the candidate-driven market.
Just a few years ago, good jobs were scant and great candidates were plentiful, so employers didn’t have to make much of an effort to lure top applicants.
But today’s candidates have way more power in the hiring process. According to recent research by the MRINetwork, 90% of respondents feel the executive, managerial and professional sector is candidate-driven.
This means you don’t pick talent anymore—talent picks you.
Unfortunately, a lot of companies still have the mindset that they owe nothing to the people who want to work for them. They’ll make applicants wait for hours, reply brusquely to questions about the company and job, or even ignore them. A candidate who has a bad experience will tell their friends, which will, in turn, generate a bad reputation for your company. And that’s the last thing you need in this market.
On the flip side, candidates who have a good recruitment experience are more likely to accept the job if offered, reapply in the future, or refer friends.
Remember that your recruitment process affects the way candidates perceive your company and that you need to develop hiring procedures that draw candidates to you.
2. Consider inbound recruiting.
In a market where the best employees aren’t necessarily looking for work, you have to be proactive about recruiting.
Inbound recruiting combines elements of employer branding and recruitment marketing to lure candidates and retain current employees.
There are more parallels between recruiting and marketing than people realize. In marketing, the “buyer journey” explains how someone goes from a stranger to a customer. And in recruiting, transforming a talented stranger into an enthusiastic applicant is a nearly identical process.
To draw customers and employees alike, you should put substantial effort into your branding, company culture, and personal story. With inbound recruiting, the point is to differentiate yourself from other organizations to add value to the candidate’s experience before they even begin their job search.
When you position yourself as an enjoyable and important place to work, the top talent comes to you.
3. Use social media to your advantage.
Social media has become an invaluable tool for recruiting.
Studies show that close to 90% of recruiters use social media to find the perfect applicant.
If you want to remain competitive, you need to start embracing the tools at your fingertips today. You can use your social channels for more than just posting vacancies–you can use them to search for candidates, too.
LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all allow you to cast a much wider net than you could a few years ago, making your applicant pool infinitely larder and more talented. And while personal questions face to face can be awkward and stifle conversation, your human resources team can analyze potential employees’ social media presence to get a sense of their personality and identify any red flags.
We’re all on social media—it’s high time recruiters learn to use it to their advantage.
4. Give automated recruiting a shot.
Social media isn’t the only new technology taking over recruiting.
Recruitment automation tools like Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Recruitment Marketing Software streamline the hiring process by allowing you to screen candidates before you interview them or to conduct a recorded first interview with basic questions. Chatbots can answer frequently answered questions, which frees up your time for more important tasks.
Google is getting in on the recruitment game, too.
Last year, the company unveiled “Hire by Google,” its automated recruiting tool designed for small and medium-sized businesses. The app is available for users of Google’s G Suite tools that have fewer than 1,000 employees. The program offers features like quick interview scheduling, auto-highlighting resumes, and logging communication with candidates.
Overall, automated recruiting makes the hiring process easier and more efficient, and allows you to spend more energy on internal affairs.
This software is still in its early stages, so it’s likely to become more popular and more helpful in 2019.
In 2019’s candidate-driven market, you have to take advantage of any and all tools you can use to separate yourself from the abundance of other similar companies.
