ELEVATED RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

Building Your Unique Talent Ecosystem

Recruitment goes beyond merely filling job openings; it’s a pivotal process that shapes your organization’s quality, diversity, and long-term prospects. It also forges the future leaders who will steer your company toward continued success. Central to recruitment is aligning your hires with your firm’s purpose, emphasizing cultural fit (*see call out box) and seeking candidates who share your vision, values, and aspirations. By making cultural alignment a priority, you empower new team members to seamlessly integrate into your workforce, enabling them to make meaningful contributions quickly. This approach also fosters contentment in their roles, ultimately transforming them into star performers and loyal brand ambassadors.

What Distinguishes Your Firm?

Strategic plans define the direction of your firm and identify the goals and In the fiercely competitive landscape of recruitment, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for job seekers. The employee experience, along with ongoing satisfaction throughout their journey with your organization, plays a pivotal role. This involves providing meaningful work, soliciting feedback, offering recognition, rewarding initiative, and fostering a supportive culture. Individually, these factors are significant, but collectively, they set your firm apart from the competition.

Cultural Fit

Cultural fit is a concept that has gained significant attention in the workplace in recent years. It refers to the alignment of an individual’s values, behaviors, and work style with those of the organization they are a part of. While cultural fit is undoubtedly essential for a harmonious and productive work environment, it’s crucial to clarify that it does not mean we all have to look or think the same way. In fact, the true beauty of cultural fit lies in celebrating diversity within the context of shared values and goals.

Crafting a comprehensive recruitment program with compelling, branded messaging caters to the broad spectrum of job seekers while also acknowledging the individuality of each potential hire. This approach helps your organization stand out in a crowded market. In a tight labor market, striking a balance between incentives and candidates’ values is vital. Successful recruiters take cues from industry leaders and leverage various tools to source talent. According to the Jobsite Recruiter National Study 2018, 47% of internal recruiters focus on building brand awareness and sourcing candidates on social media; 21% utilize the company’s website careers page; and 12% concentrate on marketing and advertising.

The Power of Branding

Just as you brand your company, it’s equally crucial to brand your recruitment efforts. Branding fosters a consistent and compelling image of your organization as an employer of choice, building trust, credibility, and loyalty among potential and current employees. It’s instrumental in conveying your culture, values, and mission to candidates and staff. To brand your recruitment efforts effectively, align your recruitment strategy with your organizational goals, define your employer brand identity and voice, create, and distribute relevant, engaging content, and establish goals while continuously measuring and enhancing your recruitment performance. This is a great opportunity to engage your marketing team.

More than 80% of HR leaders attest to the transformative impact of branding on their talent attraction capabilities, according to Undercover Recruiter. Once you’ve branded your recruitment program, design campaigns that resonate with your brand and are purposeful. Start by:

» Setting clear goals with measurable and achievable KPIs – what results are you aiming for?

» Creating taglines and a logo that adhere to your corporate brand guidelines.

» Developing messaging that reinforces your corporate brand while standing out.

» Incorporating your new recruiting brand into all recruitment materials and communications.

» Understanding your target audience, including generational messaging, to appeal to a broad pool of candidates.

» Leveraging all available marketing tools and channels to promote your campaign internally and externally.

» With this refined approach, you’ll not only recruit talent but also cultivate a loyal, thriving, and diverse workforce that embodies your organization’s core values and objectives.

The Value of Team Culture

As you actively engage in strategic recruiting campaigns, consider the invaluable resources within your organization – your team members. Cultivating a cadre of in-house ‘doer-recruiters’ not only offers cost-effective advantages but also reinforces cultural alignment and opens doors to potential candidates that might otherwise remain undiscovered. Just as your clients prefer working with familiar faces, your employees are inclined to collaborate with individuals they know and trust. Empower and incentivize them, providing the tools to spark their enthusiasm for finding your next exceptional hire. A robust “refer and earn” in-house program can be the catalyst for motivating your stellar team.

» Enhance Your Incentives: Supercharge your referral program by offering more enticing incentives that resonate with your team members.

» Maintain Program Visibility: Don’t let the referral program fade into the background after onboarding. Keep it front and center in your team’s daily thoughts.

» Cultivate ‘Doer-Recruiters’: Transform your employees into proactive recruiters through comprehensive training, empowering them to actively engage in the referral process.

» Celebrate Successful Referrals: Show appreciation when a team member’s referral leads to a new hire. Celebrate these victories to foster a culture of recognition and participation.

While generational differences and motivations within the workforce are vast, an astonishing 67% of candidates express a desire to join a team that embodies diversity in terms of ethnicity and age.* Key tactics to attract the ideal cultural fit include:

» Website Enhancement: Revamp your website to showcase diversity, illuminate your company culture, and emphasize distinctive qualities.

» Social Media Amplification: Leverage the power of social media to spotlight your unique culture, acknowledge outstanding team members, and highlight what sets you apart. Consider utilizing video content to provide a captivating glimpse into your team. Encourage active engagement from your employees by encouraging them to share and comment on every post.

» Career Site Vigilance: Monitor third-party career sites to gauge your competitive standing and ensure that your brand is accurately represented in line with your vision.

» Networking Opportunities: Actively seek out career fairs, professional associations, student organizations, and recruiting events as valuable platforms for connecting with potential candidates while representing your firm.

Unlock the untapped potential of your team culture and witness the positive impact it can have on your recruitment endeavors. It’s a dynamic approach that aligns talent acquisition with your organization’s core values and aspirations.

Are your company values clear during recruitment?

» Ensure you have a set of values and how they translate to the role

» Include a page within your website about your company values

» Reference these company values in any advertising for the role

» Discuss the values and how your culture is during the initial interview

» Ask questions that relate directly to these values

» Ensure you have a solid onboarding process that involves cultural orientation

» Schedule a meeting within their first month in the role to discuss further

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Notes, Citations

Your Marketing Team’s Value to Recruiting

Engaging your marketing team in your recruitment brand efforts is crucial for several reasons. First, marketing professionals possess the expertise to craft compelling narratives and visuals that can effectively convey your company’s culture, values, and opportunities to potential candidates. Their skills in branding and storytelling can help create an attractive and authentic employer brand.

Additionally, your marketing team can leverage their knowledge of digital platforms and social media to reach a wider and more targeted audience of potential recruits, increasing the visibility and appeal of your organization as an employer.

By involving them in your recruitment brand efforts, you can ensure that your messaging and content align with your overall brand strategy, enhancing consistency and authenticity in your employer branding initiatives.

Furthermore, marketing teams are adept at analyzing data and metrics to measure success and can apply this knowledge to measure the effectiveness of your recruitment branding efforts, allowing for datadriven adjustments and improvements in your talent acquisition strategies. Involving them in recruitment branding not only strengthens your ability to attract top talent but also ensures that your messaging resonates with the right candidates and aligns with your company’s broader brand identity.

If you lack the internal marketing resources to assist you in your recruiting efforts, Elevate routinely audits and refines existing recruitment programs and creates viable strategies with achievable and accountable recommendations to help clients reach their hiring goals. Reach out today to schedule an audit and get prepared for 2024.

For more information on the importance of campaigns and how to get the most out of each initiative, refer to Altitude, Volume #1 which features the detailed article “The Art of The Campaign”