As Seen in the January Issue of HR.com’s Talent Acquisition Essentials Publication
Technology has catalyzed an irreversible shift in how the world connects and communicates. As a result, today’s businesses are forced to rethink recruitment and sourcing with a social and mobile mindset, requiring them to both engage potential candidates and stand out from an endless virtual sea of competitors. This rapid, easy access to information has caused a shift in the expectations and behavior of job-seekers as well. Just like retail consumers, today’s candidates want a relationship with potential organizations ahead of time. They want to feel and be part of the brand prior to considering employment. They want to hear from others and know about their experiences. Thus, today more than ever, the importance of strong employment branding and consistent messaging of employment value proposition—spanning all media platforms—is vital. This is particularly important when trying to reach the allusive passive candidate.
According to recent research from Gallup, the benefits of a strong employment brand include higher quality candidate pools, increased attraction of passive candidates, decreased applicant-to-hire ratios, decreased time-to-fill ratios, decreased cost-per-hire ratios, lower turnover, and a greater likelihood for employees to be brand ambassadors for your company. In other words, companies can no longer afford a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to the effectiveness of recruitment messaging… There is simply too much time and money at stake.
One solution to all of these concerns that is being embraced by best-in-class organizations is the use of dynamic video, or in layman’s terms, video that renders and plays on any type of device. Because it is already a key player in today’s information-sharing culture, video is a highly efficient and effective tool that seamlessly integrates into existing recruitment strategies. Consider this:
- According to VisibleGains, video increases retention of website contents by up to 300%.
- Socialtimes.com finds that when a website contains a video, viewers spend an average of 5.33 times longer than a text website.
- Brainshark notes that mobile video traffic grows 92% per year, and by 2015 it will account for 2/3 of all mobile traffic.
- 75% of executives watch business-related videos weekly.
In addition, sites containing video are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of a Google search than text-only sites. Therefore, with its dramatic ability to improve content retention and expand the reach of messaging, the value of video integration is clear.
HOW TO GET THERE
Building a dynamic platform does not have to be complex or expensive. A great place to start is by simply leveraging your existing social media channels. For example, Twitter can be a great, low-risk approach given that it is one-way communication and is a popular avenue for industries facing tough compliance regulations, such as the financial or insurance industries. Facebook and LinkedIn are also powerful platforms for video due their ability to show thumbnails of videos, which in turn boosts the chance of click-through.
With 4 billion mobile phones in use globally and over 200 million YouTube views occurring through mobile devices every day, mobile campaigns have the potential to provide content that is just as dynamic and compelling as an online campaign. Plus, research has shown that mobile campaigns are effective for all levels and types of positions, not just those geared towards younger generations.
Though the word “video” may evoke trepidation in those with limited budgets, taking advantage of this technology does not have to break the bank. While video can certainly mean hours spent scriptwriting, filming on-location, and editing in post-production, it also can be simple. By seeking-out an HR-specific video company, organizations big and small can get a short, informative video that is designed in a way that allows it to be extremely effective, all for only a few hundred dollars. In fact, HR video can incorporate Cloud technology, which allows organizations to go in and make changes to the information in their videos real-time and then automatically feeds the videos back to their ATS for seamless distribution throughout the recruiting sites they utilize.
Regardless of strategy, properly executed video campaigns should easily integrate into existing sourcing strategies, have a clear call-to-action, and have some sort of measurement in order to track and respond to results. This helps you to determine where specific pockets of talent reside both internally and externally and provides insight into what devices and methods potential candidates are using to communicate. With this information, companies are better able to focus future recruitment campaigns for maximum results, saving both time and money in the long run.
IMPLICATIONS
As we look toward the future, utilizing video through mobile and social channels can be
applied in other areas of HR beyond external candidate recruitment. Many companies have begun integrating video with onboarding applications to provide new hires with orientation and training before they even step foot on the job. Web-based video also poses an opportunity for existing employees to brush up on job skills or attain required certifications with the flexibility to do it when and where it is most convenient for them. Additional applications where dynamic video can be a good educational tool include redeployment, employee transitions, and benefit open enrollment season.
With interactive social and mobile campaigns steadily becoming the norm for every aspect of business, recruiters are being challenged to embrace new technologies and attract and engage candidates like never before. Fast, dynamic, and impactful, video is a familiar tool that represents the logical next step in strategic talent acquisition.
— Lindsay Stanton
