Master the Art of Winning Recruitment Campaigns
2 Steps to attract, hire, and retain top talent without breaking the bank on recruiter fees!
Ok. So you’ve got your Tech Startup running and you want it to grow. So what do you do next? Improve your offering? Focus on developing your product?
No.
First of all, you need a solid recruitment strategy in place. This is what will grow your business.
So grab that cup of coffee you’ve been hankering for and let us share with you why a recruitment plan is so essential and the steps you need to take to create your strategy.
What is a recruitment strategy and why do you need one?
When most people think about recruitment the first thing that comes to mind is a decent job ad.
If only that was all you needed!
A recruitment strategy is a plan to attract, employ and onboard the right talent for your company. It’s important to remember though, that recruitment is a 2 way street.
Just as you want your company to be considered as a great place to work; your potential hires need to feel that you’re interested in them and that you give them the same common courtesy you expect. If you treat your candidates like customers you can’t go wrong.
It seems obvious right? But a Glassdoor poll found that Job seekers’ biggest frustrations during the hiring process include: companies cancelling/postponing interviews (44%), not having enough information about job responsibilities (44%), and hiring managers not responding in a timely manner (43%).
A recruitment strategy includes (but is not limited to) the below which is what we’ll look at today:
Recruitment objectives
Hiring needs
Employee value proposition
Talent type
Your marketing strategy:
Careers page
Testimonials
Video
Social Media
Meet and Greet
University Recruiting
Glassdoor
Your selection process
Your onboarding process
As Alexander Fleming famously declared, “The unprepared mind cannot see the outstretched hand of opportunity”.
Without a strategy, your approach to hiring will be reactive and hasty. This often results in an expensive and time-consuming process whereby the new hire isn’t even what you really wanted or needed for your organisation.
An effective plan means that you save huge amounts of time and money and you employ the top people poised to make a difference in your company.
The first section of this guide will take you through ‘what to consider’ — the steps that you need clarity on before your recruitment marketing plan ‘goes live’.
The second section will be based on making your recruitment plan ‘live’ and will provide some traditional and some more out-of-the-box options that I feel are necessary to include in today’s fast-moving, instant gratification world.
Section 1: Recruitment Preparation
Outline Your Objectives
Each company is different of course but below are some common company goals. Have a think about what are the most important ones for you.
Growing the headcount and therefore the size of the company
Reducing the time it takes to hire
Reducing the cost involved in hiring
Restructuring the recruitment process
Cultivating diversity
Predict your hiring needs
Of course, this won’t be precise but by forecasting, you are well prepared to hire talent with the right skills for the right roles.
Think about the following:
What skill gaps are missing amongst your current employees?
Are there expected promotions in the pipeline that would then leave a role unfilled?
Is there a new project in the pipeline that you need specific talent for?
Are there people possibly leaving within the next year whose roles will need to be filled?
Reconsider your EVP
This is an often overlooked strategy because for you residing inside the company it’s obvious what the perks and pitfalls are. However, a potential candidate knows nothing about the company culture, hierarchy, office space, and benefits you have to offer.
It’s up to you to communicate it to them.
This way a potential hire knows what to expect (we like to call these the known knowns)
There are no nasty surprises resulting in them handing in their notice before you’ve had the chance to show them the highly coveted coffee machine!
Also, as an SME, this is your opportunity to present the benefits of working for you rather than big cooperation.
Maybe you offer mentorship
A wider range of responsibilities so that talent can be involved in several areas
A less corporate company culture
Flexible and remote working can be your hook
Whatever it is (and it can be more than one of course) shout about it, promote it and most of all embody it.
The kind of talent you’re looking for will assess very quickly if your organisation is a good fit so make it easy for them to decide that it’s a sure-fire YES!
A Glassdoor poll found that 84% of job seekers say that the reputation of a company is very important when deciding on applying for a job. Furthermore, the same poll found that Job seekers’ main points of interest are: salary, location, commute time, benefits, and employee reviews.
With this in mind, it’s important to make all these points easy, clear, and accessible to any candidate whether passive or active. The less they have to do to ‘find things out’ the more impressed they will be as to what’s on offer.
Decide on the type of talent you want to attract
Again, this will be different for each business but it’s important because once you know then you can tailor your messages to speak to those very people.
Think about:
The type of persona they would embody
Are they more corporate or more informal?
Are they looking to grow and develop their skillset?
What values does your organisation uphold that would attract like-minded candidates?
Are these roles suitable for parents who might want to work part-time?
Aptitude confirmed that the candidate experience has moved away from the traditional employer-led position to a candidate-led one as applicants are taking a more proactive role in the job-seeking process. Plus, according to The Talent Board, over 70% of candidates are doing their own research before applying.
Section 2 Recruitment Marketing campaign (AKA Go Get ‘em)
Enhance your Careers page.
This is a must as it’s one of the first places a potential candidate will go so it needs to be easily accessible, optimised for mobile, and looking tip-top.
It should include the following:
Company values
Stats on diversity
Any awards or nominations received
Videos/podcasts to find out more about the company and employees (more on this in a moment)
Sell your benefits
Offer candidates all the relevant info they might be looking for
Description of the on-boarding process
Record employee testimonials via podcasts
This is a very current and personal way to engage potential hires. The last time I applied for a job it was after hearing some audio pieces from the current employees. This method has an authentic feel and gives a real vibe about the company.
The spoken word gives something that the written word can’t (maybe I should do an audio version of this blog!) Moreover, it’s a fantastic way to intrigue and engages passive candidates that can listen on their commute or whilst running errands.
Film a recruitment video
Now I know what you’re thinking… I don’t have time for something like this. But consider the effects of creating an awesome video about your company and employees that once made, can be fed out online reaching people in an innovative, thought-provoking way. After all, once the video is done you can use it wherever you like (including your careers page of course!)
Check out these awesome examples
Utilise Social Media
We all know that Social Media is here to stay and has an ever-increasing reach in our lives. It’s no longer just about sharing your latest holiday pictures (not that any of us have had one in a year!) but is a place where people go to read articles, watch videos, follow thought leaders, get inspired, and of course, look for jobs.
Stand Out CV found that 79% of job seekers use social media (including LinkedIn) at some point for their search. This goes up to 86% when you only look at Generation Z. That is a huge number and reinforces the need for organisations to be present and active on social media —LinkedIn especially.
Social media is a fantastic recruiting tool because you lead the conversation the way you want. You can share job posts on various groups and distribute photos and videos of your employees and your company events. You can share award nominations, your organisation's culture, and most importantly start conversations. Job seekers can find out about you and you can get to know them. It’s a win-win.
What’s important to remember is to be consistent and engage when someone comments or reaches out.
Meet and greet with an open house event
In this post-lockdown world, everyone is yearning for a change and some much-needed socialising!
Capitalise on this and show off your organisation in the best possible light by inviting potential recruits to the office for a few beers or a coffee and pastries. This is a fantastic way to ease the formalities and allows both the candidates and yourselves to have a more relaxed and informal experience.
University Recruiting
This is a great way to get fresh new talent right to your door.
Consider reaching out to campuses where students who are graduating will be enticed to join an internship at your company. This way you can build a talented group of young professionals who might be a great fit for a permanent position later down the line.
Use Glassdoor
Glassdoor has been described as a “TripAdvisor for candidates in their job search". This alone tells you how important it is for your organisation to have a positive profile there. Savvy candidates are all over Glassdoor reviews to check out potential employers and what they read matters. Own your brand and company page, take reviews and comments seriously, and share updates about your businesses’ latest projects. People want consistent content and you need to feed that need.
Attracting top tech talent
Technology is moving at a break-neck pace and so tech talent is of course, in high demand.
To appeal to those candidates you need modern recruiting techniques to be noticed.
This means taking inspiration from companies like Goldman Sachs who used Spotify to recruit fresh new talent with and ad that linked to a career quiz
You can also grab attention through gamification which is a fantastic tool for both parties. You can pre-screen applicants according to certain skills they need for the game and the candidate enjoys an interactive experience with a possible job opportunity at the end of it!
Check this out for some cool examples
Within your careers page dedicate a section to IT or Engineering where employees can talk (written, video, or audio) about their latest tech projects or releases. Such employees should also be present in the open day meet and greets so they can directly engage with potential tech candidates.
Selection process
So you have a bunch of applicants and now it’s time to select those you feel are suitable for the interview stage.
Traditionally this involves gathering information on the candidates:
Skills
Experience
Qualifications
Social media profiles
There are 2 schools of thought here and it ultimately depends on what works for you.
You can deploy an HR software tool like SageHR to help automate and streamline this process. Such software makes the process faster and is undeniably the go-to for many organisations.
I would, however, proceed with caution. Automated software doesn’t allow for the all-important human element. A resume may not have an exact word match but it may have the skills you need. A candidate may not have a specific set of qualifications on paper but may have great expertise and experience. Moreover, it can often lead to candidates from more modest backgrounds without, say a university degree, not being considered.
You’re hired! How to on-board successfully
According to Pinpoint HQ, a whopping 30% of new employees leave their new job within six months.
So what can you do to ensure your new hire isn’t one of them?
Always make sure their IT is set up and ready to use. It is an often heard bugbear amongst new employees that their computer and other devices aren’t ready on their first day. This is frustrating and time-wasting so be sure the tech team is on top of it.
Send them information ahead of time including projects and maybe an org chart so they can see the team set up.
Plan a team meeting or coffee break for current employees to say hi and introduce themselves.
Organise for the new hire to have regular weekly meetings with their manager.
Show them where to go or who to call for whatever problems or questions they may have — from a tech issue to a more personal matter; give them all the tools they need to feel comfortable and secure.
As you saw from this article, having a winning recruitment strategy involves way more than just a job ad. By thinking about the points in section 1 and using the marketing tools in section 2 you will have a recruitment strategy that you own and that works for your organisation.
Attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent without breaking the bank?
Sounds like a dream, right?
Well, dreams do come true!
Let me show you how to master the art of winning recruitment campaigns.
Are you game? Master the Art of Recruitment