Recruiting is tough and has been for sometime. Labor shortages, pandemics, salary wars, have all contributed to making recruiting more challenging than at any time in recent history. Many organizations are doing the same things they’ve always done, over and over again, to try and solve their talent acquisition problems. It isn’t working.
So what do you do?
There is an old saying that goes, “We can’t see the forest for the trees.” In the case of recruiting, or Talent Acquisition is you prefer that term, the solution is right in front of us. All we must do is open our eyes and see it.
Your own employees are the solution. They can make incredibly valuable contributions to your recruiting if help them understand how. Building an organization wide recruiting culture is a powerful way to achieve success in recruiting. Here are just a few suggestions for building that recruitment culture:
- Encourage employee referrals. In many companies, employee referrals are a top source of quality candidates. Leverage your employee network to its fullest value by making sure all employees are aware not only of open positions, but also what your ideal candidate looks like for each position. The clearer your current employees are about what it takes to be successful in those open positions, the better the referrals they can make.
- Make sure interviewers are correctly prepared. Candidates expect interviews to be a two-way evaluation process. As a result, anyone who is part of the interview process really is also responsible for sales. Educate and Coach interviewers on their role in selling the open position and your company. They should plan time for candidates’ questions, and be transparent and authentic in their answers. Also, help teams of hiring decision-makers understand the importance of being organized so they can contribute to a faster process. Avoid drawing the process out, and making the mistake of asking candidates to participate in too many interviews.
- Involve senior leaders. Securing your management team members’ participation advances hiring and also sets a positive example for the rest of the organization. Encourage them to comb their networks and be on the lookout for great talent, especially for high-level roles. When those positions are open, ask senior leaders to join interviews, even for a short time, to make a positive impression on candidates. A purpose-built video interviewing platform facilitates those drop-ins. And, ask them to hold hiring managers accountable for their hiring decisions.
You must still use all of your other recruiting tools. The Internet, advertising, your company webpage, social media sites and other non-traditional means. For example, I’ve had clients who advertise in grocery stores, libraries and anywhere their particular target candidate might be. You have to research what works best for you and not just do what everyone else is doing. Best practices may not be best for you.
If you aren’t getting employee engagement in your recruiting efforts that could be an indicator of other internal issues. In my experience I’ve found that companies that don’t get active participation from their employees in the recruiting process usually have other issues that must also be addressed. That could be anything form a poor work environment, inadequate leadership, and many other things. If your company is not healthy your recruiting won’t be healthy either.
Recruiting is not a passive activity. It requires non-stop effort, it requires the ability to network, actively prospect, build relationships and sell. You are a sales person when you recruit and you must accept that recruiting is selling.