The last two years have changed the corporate landscape. With a push towards digitalisation and hybrid work scenario, the modern workforce has evolved.
If you are struggling to meet your talent acquisition targets in the last two years, you are not alone.
The changing business environment is leading to strategic changes and triggering changes in the workforce. Companies across the globe are changing their recruitment strategies in line with the changes in the technology, expectations and demands.
Here are the top 5 changes that you need to make to your recruitment strategy today if you want to win the talent war.
1) Personalised Approach
Gone are the days when companies dictated terms and candidates were just grateful to get a job offer. Candidates are now more selective about who they want to work for, where and how.
To attract the right people for your organisation, you need to ensure that the candidates get a personalised experience. What this means is understanding and treating every candidate with dignity and care.
Use the data you have on the candidates and draw out your process such that you can personalise the interactions you have with them.
Start with your career site – it should be able to provide information to diverse set of potential candidates.
Build in touchpoints at different stages like screening, interview, assessment tests. Communicate and connect with the candidates with the help of technology – virtual tour of the workplace, live chats with team members, etc.
80% of candidates say they would choose the job offer based on the relationships they formed as part of the recruitment journey.
2) Create an Appealing and Exciting Job Description
In the recruitment process, time of the essence. In order to attract the right kind of candidates for a job, it is crucial to have a job posting that inspires and motivates a candidate to not just apply but also look forward to work with the organisation.
Companies can no longer post the laundry list of requirements as a Job Description. Candidates want to know what the company is bringing to the table and why is the company a good career choice for them.
You need to sell the role to the candidate through the posting.
Here are some tips to create an exciting JD.
- Use specific and clear job title.
- What is unique about your company? Provide interesting facts about the company culture, employee quotes.
- Outline the main job responsibility, day to day activities & how the role fits into the organisation.
- Include list of skills – ‘must have’ and ‘good to have’.
- Specify the job location – remote, hybrid, onsite.
3) Explore New and Unique Ways to Look for Candidates
Apart from the major job boards, it is a good idea to explore smaller and more niche sites. For eg. if you are looking for content writers, you may want to look at sites like contentgrow.com.
Apart from LinkedIn, networking sites and events can be a good source of quality candidates.
Lastly and most importantly, existing employees can be your best source. They know the company goals, values, culture inside out and they can be the perfect internal candidate. Identify top performing employees who can be trained to take over different roles or even executive positions.
Employees can also be your advocates. Employee referrals are a great way to attract best quality candidates.
InMobi, the mobile advertising giant, created a unique employee referral prog, where they offered attractive rewards like Royal Enfield, trip to Bali, to their employees for every candidate that got hired. They took their referral rate from 20% to 50%.
4) Look for Company & Cultural Fit First
Skills can be developed. Focusing on attitude and values will help you acquire employees who will more efficient, work cohesively in teams and stay longer with you.
Choose candidates that fit in culturally and are aligned with the company’s goals and values. They will be eager to learn and develop new skills and contribute to the company’s goals.
Moreover, in the fast-changing modern age, technology changes every day and along with it, the skills needed to do the job. skills that they have today may become obsolete tomorrow. Focusing on attitude works better in the long term as compared to skills.
5) Use Technology and AI
Using analytical tools to get clarity about the skills gaps and aligning organisation goals and values with the employees will enable HR managers to create better and timely talent acquisition strategies.
You can use AI for screening to eliminate bias during recruitment and save time. Candidate engagement can be automated with the help of chatbots.
Use available data to create more focused & targeted advertisement / social media plan. Deep Analytics can be used to attract, connect and engage niche & quality candidates.
And lastly, create a strong feedback mechanism and use these valuable insights to make improvements.
Change is the only constant. Your hiring process also needs to evolve with changing times.
