Have you ever posted your job opening on craigslist and then said a little prayer, asking for the perfect person to apply? How did that work for you? My guess is, most of the time, not well! A good recruitment strategy covers a few more steps than craigslist and a prayer.
A good recruitment strategy is your roadmap through the jungle to find that perfect person. They may be buried deep in the bushes, head down, working hard and your job isn’t even seen. You can’t wait for them to notice! It is up to you to source them out and find them through a variety of creative tactics (and if prayer is one of those tactics, more power to you!).
Here are some recruitment strategy best practices for you:
- Make recruitment a priority. Posting a position and 2 weeks later looking through a pile of resumes is not a recruitment strategy. You need to be consistently and regularly marketing your opportunity. Post it your website, share it on social media, remind your employees, and send an email to your network. Spread the word far and wide, throughout the sourcing period.
- Have good tools in place to support the process. These tools include, at a minimum, a job description, a job posting, and a list of online job boards. Clients of Engaged HR also develop their Ideal Candidate Profile™. When you have good tools in place, the kind of skills you need, the type of personality you want, and the kind of attitude that succeeds will become very clear.
- Create a REALISTIC timeline. Many times we wait until the last minute to decide if we are going to hire a new employee and then we rush through the hiring process. Being realistic with your timeline will ensure that you find the best person for the position in the long run, not just the best person who showed up this minute.
- Consider the candidate experience. A good candidate experience can make or break your hiring process. Make sure that your recruitment strategy includes touch points with the candidate that sells them on the opportunity to work for you. Get them excited about it and the chances of them accepting another position are dramatically lowered.
- Get creative. Don’t just post and pray! Take a look at where the best person for this job might be and go to them. Post your position with trade associations, go to meet-ups of people in your industry and share the opportunity, invest in a bus ad. Whatever it takes to get the word out there. Think big. Get creative.
Your Engaged HR Assignment: For your next job opening, take a look at implementing just one new tactic for each of these best practices and you will see more consistency in your approach and more results in the quality of candidates applying for your job. I promise!