Chances are, your firm has a few roles that need to be filled and your traditional recruiting tactics – job ads and word-of-mouth – just aren’t cutting it.
If you want better hiring and recruiting results, it’s time to bring in a new strategic partner: your firm’s marketing department.
Marketing’s Role in Recruiting
Today, job candidates are savvier and more informed than ever before. They research jobs in much the same way as they would make a major purchasing decision, and the internet provides the resources to learn everything about your firm before they even think about applying.
Job candidates today use multiple technologies to do that research, so it’s essential to ensure you have brand consistency when job seekers interact with your brand across channels. Have you put any thought into what they see, read and hear about your firm when they do that research?
All the touchpoints along the journey can make or break their experience with your firm and ultimately directly affect your bottom line.
Doing research online will help you envision the whole journey, from the job ad or career page on your website to the online application, follow-ups, interviews, automated nurturing, job offer and onboarding. Then, ensure you have synergy across all messaging, creating an engaging and authentic experience for job candidates.
Online Presence and Social Media
Your employer brand is and will continue to be a focus as you seek to gain the attention of new talent. Your firm’s online presence and social media help showcase your brand values and your firm’s culture.
Communicate your brand and culture on your website and social media channels. This includes benefits, career growth opportunities and work/life balance. In addition to engaging written content, this might consist of photos of your actual team members (as opposed to stock photos), employees writing blogs or taking part in recruitment videos talking about their work experiences.
Streamlining the Hiring Process
If your hiring process takes too long, you will miss out on hiring top talent. In-demand professionals get snapped up quickly, so it’s crucial to work fast to get them in the door and make your offer.
Review and streamline your hiring process so you don’t lose out to your competition. One-way video interviews are one tool for accomplishing this. Another is to keep the upfront information you request to a minimum – name, phone number, email, and resume or LinkedIn profile. You don’t need a lengthy job application or full history to start the conversation with them.
Employee Value Proposition
The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) defines the employee value proposition (EVP) as “everything of value that an employer provides to its employees – pay, benefits, training, career development opportunities and so on.”
New talent wants to know who you are, what you stand for and how they would benefit by working for you. Clarify your Employee Value Proposition (EVP), incorporate it into your brand and market it to the workforce.
Communicate Your Beliefs
Older generations may have been taught not to talk about politics or sensitive social issues at work. They kept their personal beliefs separate from their work lives, but that separation is not appealing to many Millennials and Generation Z members.
Younger workers have high expectations for their employers when it comes to social purpose and accountability, and they want to work for companies that uphold their values. So put some effort into understanding where your firm aligns on social issues such as environmental responsibility, diversity, equity and inclusion, etc. Then work with your marketing department to communicate those beliefs authentically and consistently.
Marketing professionals have become incredibly sophisticated in how they interact with potential customers, so extending that skill set to assist with recruiting makes good sense. So if you’re trying to attract talent to your firm, start the same way you attract new clients.
The original article appeared on the Boomer Consulting Blog on May 10 and can be found here.
