Championship Recruitment: 7 Key Plays for a Winning Hiring Strategy
Elevate Your Talent Acquisition with Affordable Methods Designed for Growth-Focused, Employee-Centric Organisations
Ok, so how do you build a cost-effective recruitment solution utilising a hyper-personalised recruitment strategy that will enable you to hire and retain the top talent you need to grow your business?
I’ve tried every trick in the book to reduce the time it takes to hire and reduce the cost of hiring whilst improving the quality of hires. But more often than not I’d be unsatisfied with the results. I was engaging people who were simply put chasing the money, unsuitable for our client business's culture and didn’t have the passion and vision that we needed for them to be fully invested.
Having learned about the power of hyper-personalisation it’s shown me that quality over quantity wins every time and I’m now attracting exactly the right people to sustainably grow and scale my client's businesses.
In this guide, I’ll cut out all the noise and BS to show you the ins and outs of what hyper-personalised recruitment is, why it’s so important, and the tools and resources available so you can start reaping the benefits today!
Hyper-personalisation is a model that allows you to reach your desired candidates through an intimate and tailored approach to give your business a huge competitive advantage. It’s exactly what it says it is — a one-to-one communication technique that allows your business to easily capture the attention of potential hires by treating them as individuals and not just a number.
For example, imagine if you were a job seeker and a job ad not only addressed you directly but was entirely customised to meet your needs and interests. Imagine being treated as a highly regarded customer where the employer asks you for your timetable instead of just setting an interview date, one who sends you directions to the office and details about the teams you could be working with.
This is achieved through leveraging various forms of customer data including an understanding of their current employment circumstances, their location, their most-used apps, and their online activities.
Why Is A Hyper-Personalised Approach So Crucial To Adopt?
Nothing is more attractive than when people feel they are being ‘spoken to’ directly. That’s why studies show that even something as simple as using people’s names when talking to them, grabs their attention and builds an immediate connection.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that in this fast-paced world where information is abundant and job offers are two a-penny, SMEs, startups, and scaleups need to stand out in their search for talent.
Thanks to rapid technological advancements, almost all aspects of jobs can be tailored to the candidates that you need and want; including the role itself, business benefits, compensation, and career development.
Offering candidates opportunities and prospects that resonate with them is a fantastic (and much underutilised) way of accurately hiring the very people you need.
Everyone is an individual. That’s not news, but when businesses are looking to hire talent they usually have a standardised approach, job ad, and compensation/benefit to offer. In today’s world, candidates are savvier than ever before and they are looking for the role that suits them and their specific needs. For example, some might be money-oriented, whilst others are looking for a job that allows flexible working hours.
With hyper-personalised campaigns, you’re reaching your ideal talent in a highly engaging way because it’s specific to them. Tailoring the job spec to their interests, the benefits to their lifestyle, and allowing them to choose the career training that works for them, has an immense impact on employee autonomy, productivity, and happiness. They’re being treated as an individual by a business that understands what drives them. Their needs and wants are being met, so their energies and passions are channeled effectively into their role to grow your business.
Increases Your Chances Of Landing Top Talent
Making a candidate feel special and valued instead of just one of many, will greatly increase your chances of keeping them engaged and therefore winning that in-demand talent that you need. A tailored approach makes you stand out from the competition in an incredibly positive light. Those who are high in demand know they have options. They aren’t just going to settle for more money — they want to feel as though they are contributing to the business as a whole and they want their needs met in terms of development, flexibility, and benefits.
Boosts Your Employer Brand
With literally everyone having a voice online, your employer brand holds more weight now, than ever before. A customised approach to hiring gives your candidates the message that they are unique and special and this, in turn, gives your brand a great reputation for being candidate-centric. Even if the said candidate doesn’t get or accept the role they will have had an excellent experience and will have a positive message to communicate to other potential applicants as well as on sites like Glassdoor which also holds a lot of weight. As Jillian Einck the Director of Employer Brand Recruitics so candidly says "Your employer brand is never what you say it is. It's what your employees and candidates say it is".
Saves Time And Money
Leaders are often short on both time and money. Using a hyper-personalised approach enables you (or indeed us as your recruiter) to directly target the exact people that you’re looking to hire. No more piles of CVs to trawl through or pointless interviews to conduct. With hyper-personalisation you will hone in on exactly who it is you want to engage and put your time and efforts into those few candidates. The hiring process is shortened which benefits both your business and the candidate’s experience and you save money in the process!
Positively Engage Candidates And Your Existing Talent
You’ll motivate and influence passive candidates (those who have jobs) as well as those who already work for you. Potential candidates who are employed elsewhere need a very good reason to leave their comfortable job to come and work for you. A hyper-personalised approach gives them that reason. They feel specifically selected and identified as being someone that can make a difference in your business. This is what they need to hand in their notice and join you on your business’s mission.
A study found that as consumers, a massive 72% engage with messages customized to their interests. Now if that’s only about consumers then imagine how much higher that number would be for candidates. Your candidates are your consumers. They need to have some connection or affinity with your brand, your mission, or your values, to want to leave their current role to join your business.
Furthermore, those who you already employ will recognize the transformative nature of your recruitment strategies and will immediately feel that they’re working for a business that serves the individual’s needs. It fosters a sense of pride and an assumption that this special treatment will extend to the existing teams through personalised benefits, working hours, and development. This in turn will naturally decrease employee turnover rates.
Demonstrates That Your Business Is Moving With The Times
By modernising your recruitment strategy your business becomes one to be revered. This not only means that candidates see and appreciate the lengths you go to, to give them a unique and special experience but will also give the impression that your very business model, culture, and existing talent are ones to be reckoned with. Rarely is a business very forward-thinking in one area whilst very traditional in another.
Now That You Understand Why Hyper Personalised Recruitment Is So Important, It’s Time For Me To Explain How To Get Started With It.
Research Data
This is where it all begins. Without the data, you won’t have the basics you need to start the process. It’s essential to collect and manage data using the right technology, just as you do with the product or service that you offer your customers. For this, you need the right infrastructure and A.I. technology to understand the patterns, insights, and preferences of those you are targeting for a truly personalised experience. Expandi.io is a fantastic tool for LinkedIn automation and hyperise.com grows conversions with personalised images, videos, and website landing pages to captivate prospective candidates.
Tailored Job Spec And Communications
Send out customised emails and prioritise human interaction. So many of us receive a generic job description that doesn’t ‘speak to us’ on a personal level. More often than not those emails are simply deleted or half-heartedly responded to. When you have researched your ideal candidate you can create a job spec that suits them perfectly. It’s practically impossible for people to say no to something that has been curated, especially for them!
The Onboarding Process
Traditionally there is one onboarding process for all new employees. This is completely overlooking the differences between people and how they learn. By personalising the process you are looking at the situation from the employee's perspective. Just as some people are visual learners, and others are note-takers, some people like to know the step-by-step process whilst others prefer to learn as they go. Stand out from your competitors by asking the recruit how they like to learn and personalise that experience for them. It’ll lead to a much more satisfying, productive, and stress-free start.
Benefits And Rewards
For those who have worked for larger corporations, we are all aware of the generic benefits and rewards offered from restaurant discounts to gym memberships. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that but nowadays people are looking for what suits them. Some might prefer a subsidised gym membership, whereas another candidate might appreciate emergency childcare cover or mental health duvet days.
Recognition
This one is closely related to the benefits and rewards. Encourage a culture where people can choose how they would like to have their efforts recognised. Some might like the idea of a businesswide email as a form of praise whilst others would prefer an extra day of the holiday or a paid-for team lunch to mark their success. It may not feel like a big deal but these small personalised acts make people feel heard and acknowledged.
Flexible Working
This one is major, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 and multiple lockdowns. Consider whether you’re able to offer candidates a Work From Home (WFH) policy if they so wish — even if it’s just for part of the week. Flexible working hours are also something to highlight. A 2018 study (obviously pre-pandemic) found that 51% of employees wished that their business offered more flexible work options. In the post-pandemic world (fingers crossed that’s where we are now!) This number will be even higher given that during lockdown employers and employees realised that presenteeism wasn’t essential. Many were able to perform better at their jobs (if they weren’t dealing with the dreaded homeschooling!) and productivity and satisfaction were higher during lockdown than beforehand. People also found that it improved their work-life balance and reduced workplace stress (we all know that commuting is part of that, I mean does anyone miss the tube? I for one do not miss the central line?!)
Learning and Development
When employees choose the courses they want to attend they will be more dedicated and driven in your business. They will feel valued that the business is investing in their own choices and are more likely to put those learnings into practice. Rhucha Kulkarni explains how L&D must provide a range of learning options including Learning Management System programs, mobile learning, and even gamification.
Above all make sure that you communicate and market all of the above in your hiring campaigns. This will not only get the talent to sit up and take notice but it makes it far more likely that they will accept your job offer.
Ultimately you need to make hyper-personalised marketing part of who you are as a business. This instantly separates you from your competitors, communicates your value proposition, and educates your prospects on how you work, therefore positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry. This will hugely impact not only your hiring campaigns but also your customer satisfaction levels.
A Final Note
We’ve all heard the saying “It’s the little things that make all the difference” so embody this in your day-to-day dealings with potential hires.
Be ready to greet them by name when they arrive for the interview, send them directions to the office, give them contact details of team members and be willing to amend parts of the job to meet their interests and abilities to ensure that they shine!
As Dr. John Sullivan says “…when you add several personalized touches, it can make it seem like the entire hiring process has been at least partially designed specifically to meet an individual candidate’s interests, capabilities, and needs”. And who can say no to that?
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