Despite popular belief, developing an effective talent acquisition campaign with unique recruiting ideas is not as difficult as many human resources directors and recruiters are led to think. According to top companies in talent acquisition, newbies simply need to learn about the latest trends and slowly incorporate them into their hiring routine. Companies new to talent acquisition do not need to reinvent the wheel. If a strategy has worked great for another business, the technique will likely work for another company too. Here are the top 13 talent acquisition techniques that has help many successful companies hire the best employees on the market.
Leverage Employees and Benefits to Brand the Company
1. Create an Unprecedented Company Brand
A well-proven talent acquisition strategy is to use marketing materials to brand the company as a great place to work. These such marketing materials can include social media/sharing, videos, and blog posts that contain positive testimonials about the workplace from current employees. Whenever potential hires view these marketing materials, they will be reminded of the company’s great work environment.
2. Encourage Employees Referrals
One of the more traditional talent acquisition strategies is an employee referral program. Employees represent the brand of the company, so they are more likely to know other qualified candidates like them. According to a Society for Human Resource Management or SHRM benchmarking study, most small and large companies reported that referrals were their primary source of successful new hires. Despite the obvious positive impact of employee referrals, there are a vast number of companies that only offer mediocre bonuses of $500 to $1,000 to their employees. In order to generate more referrals, businesses need to offer generous rewards to urge employees to reach out to their contacts.
3. Promote a Competitive Compensation Package
A competitive compensation package should be a direct reflection of the culture and brand of the company. When companies present potential hires with competitive pay, the hiring manager can be prepared to negotiate less. Other workplace benefits that businesses should offer in addition to the attractive compensation package include employee flexibility and autonomy. The ultimate goal is to present a company that has many perks to employment while deflecting attention from the workplaces’ undesirable aspects.
4. Consider Adding Part-Time Employees to the Workplace
Human resources directors and recruiters should also consider branding their company with the addition of part-time workers. The advantages to part-time contributors is that they are often paid less and maintain flexible schedules whereas quality full-time employees can be difficult to find and costly to the company’s bottom line. Talent acquisition leaders should also understand that part-time workers are prone to switch careers quickly, so when they decide to move on, human resources recruiters should offer them grace. The grace that is extended to part-time workers will be a reflection of the company’s unique brand.
Optimize Hiring Time with Former Data and Community Boards
5. Implement Predictive Analytics
For the best talent acquisition results, companies should frequently monitor the effectiveness of their recruiting efforts with former data. By using predictive analytics, businesses can understand the probability of recruiting at certain locations, demographics, and even salary points. After accessing the results, employers can then change the placement and content of marketing materials. Managing the recruitment efforts will ultimately optimize hiring time as the marketing will be continually targeted to the right candidates and companies will avoid prospecting to time wasters.
6. Focus on Pre-Candidate Engagement
Maximizing hiring time can also be accomplished by focusing on pre-candidate engagement and not just candidate experience. In other words, employers should be building strong talent networks among potential new hires long before certain job openings are posted. Developing communities of engagement through social media, in-person events, and community boards like Reddit will offer candidates the opportunity to learn about the company and employee experiences in a slow pace. When companies focus on pre-candidate engagement in this manner, hiring managers are more likely to recruit the best of the best since they will be using excellent sourcing strategies.
Embrace Technology with Mobile Devices
7. Develop an Attractive Mobile Presence
Successful talent acquisition is not complete without a branded mobile presence. Many potential candidates are using their smart phones for researching career options and completing job applications. Most competitor employees have also used their mobile devices to obtain their current job. One study noted that over half of all candidates are searching for jobs exclusively on their mobile devices. Not surprisingly, a company without a sophisticated mobile recruiting platform is unlikely to attract well-qualified candidates. Most companies should be able to develop a noteworthy online presence quite easily as the cost for implementing this talent acquisition strategy has fallen in the past few years.
8. Make Easier Job Applications
If an application cannot be completed on a mobile device like a smartphone or iPad, the process to apply for a job is not easy enough. Most potential new hires avoid applications that are long and tedious. In fact, a recent study reported that roughly 60 percent of all applicants did not complete the online job application. The completion rate can be substantially increased by reducing the total application process to just five minutes or less. There is no doubt that creating a simple, fast, and mobile-friendly application is the best way to attract qualified candidates.
9. Recruit Remote Employees
Many companies can also use technology to their advantage when they make use of remote employees. A recent report indicated that approximately 80 percent of professionals in today’s workforce would prefer to work from home as this type of work atmosphere allows for much flexibility. There are also many benefits to employers as well. Along with expanding the company’s global footprint and applicant pool, remote workers are able to complete important tasks by simply using their mobile devices. The best remote workers are those with managers who create realistic goals for relying on technology to tackle key work projects.
Retain the Personal Touch to Recruiting and Relationships
10. Build Relationships with Colleges and High Schools
There are many advantages to finding top applicants through the use of technology, but mobile applications shouldn’t replace face-to-face interaction. Not only will the relationships with colleges and high schools retain the personal touch to recruiting, but the partnership will also help to produce the talent that companies need. Many companies use this valuable partnership to develop the potential of students by offerings prestigious internships and co-ops.
11. Host Onsite Meet and Greet Events
In order to retain the personal touch to talent acquisition, hosting onsite meet and free events may be necessary. At these events, prospective employees will have the opportunity to meet the senior management team in a social setting. The purpose of these professional gatherings is to determine the candidates that would blend well in the culture of the organization. A cocktail party or a career fair where executive leaders describe the unique benefits of the work environment is also a good option.
12. A Clear a Focus on Existing Candidate Pools
One way that talent acquisition leaders can build successful relationships is to focus on existing candidate pools and communities. Some examples of these previously established groups include college alumni, employer alumni, retired military, community boards, and other similar associations. By using strategic marketing, employers can cultivate meaningful relationships with members of these communities to ultimately support a better candidate to employee ratio.
13. Hire More Recruiters
The businesses that attract the top candidates understand that great talent acquisition should be viewed as an investment in the future. Since many in-house recruiters are often overworked, underappreciated and underpaid, many of the best professionals in this field transition to jobs that offer contract recruiting. If CEO’s want to recruit and retain top talent, the businessmen may want to consider hiring more recruiters as independent contractors.
Known as the leading provider of job video solutions, Digi-Me can help human resources directors and recruiters improve campaign performance. The company’s video job ads can feature understandable information about the recruitment process from the moment a potential hire submits an application to the moment a candidate is made an attractive offer and hired. The video job ads presented at Digi-Me should always be a great option for recruiters as the videos can be seamlessly integrated into a company’s current talent acquisition techniques and strategies.
