The way that successful organizations recruit today is changing. Gone is the short-term, transactional approach that abandons candidates if they are not accepted for a role and releases those that do make it into the business from further attention. Today, building success in a competitive talent market means investing in long-term relationships, including with those who don’t become part of the business. It also means providing opportunities for ongoing development and connection for those who do. So, what does that entail?
Designing a Positive Talent Experience
If your business is able to do this, then you will create a rich talent pool from which to recruit, both now and in the future. This means ensuring that people don’t walk away with a negative impression of your organization, even if they weren’t hired. There is a number of very good reasons to do this — for example, 41% of rejected candidates would apply to the same company again. It’s also worth noting that candidates will often share their experiences of a business’ recruitment process — if you’ve taken the trouble to establish a positive talent experience, you’re more likely to get good reviews and avoid the resentful negativity that can come from being treated carelessly.
Focusing on Existing Employees
Part of building success in a competitive talent market is retaining your existing staff on a positive basis. For many employees this means ongoing learning and development, being given the opportunity to make progress beyond the most basic training programs. Giving your employees the chance to develop within the business in a way that is aligned to their career goals will strengthen relationships and promote a positive employer brand. When the time comes for staff to leave the business, it can be useful to maintain contact with and care of those employees. They can become brand ambassadors with the ability to generate a positive reputation and new connections that will help when it comes to expanding your talent pool.
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Top Tips for Building Success in a Competitive Talent Market
-Review where you are right now. Look at the way that you manage the talent experience across the board, from candidates to employees and alumni. What is working, and where is there room to do more?
– Promote a more inclusive & balanced culture. The hybrid working infrastructure offers a way to build in flexibility, fairness and an approach that alleviates the biases and prejudices that may have defined leadership styles in the past.
-Switch your view of applicants from “candidates” to “customers.” If you start viewing candidates who apply to work with the business as customers, then you’ll take a different approach to the way that they should be treated. Focus on communication and transparency, delivering on promises and being authentic.
-Be proactive about your employer reputation. For example, ask alumni to become brand ambassadors for your business.
-Stay in touch. Keeping lines of communication open is going to be a crucial part of successful recruitment and nurturing your talent pool, whether that’s newsletters or updates.
-Create targeted recruitment marketing campaigns that are designed to position your business as a desirable brand to work for.
Building success in a competitive talent market is about looking further than the end of the recruitment process, extending this to staying in touch with candidates who don’t come on board and ensuring that you’re nurturing and developing those that do.
