In 2016 a study was conducted by Career Builder that estimated the average cost of a bad hire was $17,000. Some reports on the extreme end studying the impact on large organizations when the wrong hire is made at the leadership level have stated that it can cost the company well into the $100,000s. Regardless, if you are in the position of hiring staff, and have gone through the process of hiring someone, and then having to let them go relatively quickly, you know the financial impact it had on your company, let alone the impact it had to the rest of your team.
Matthew Jeffrey, the Global Head of Sourcing and Employment Brand at SAP has been quoted saying “Recruitment IS marketing. If you’re a recruiter nowadays and you don’t see yourself as a marketer, you’re in the wrong profession.”
You can simply hire a recruitment firm to reach out and effectively head hunt for you on LinkedIN, and you can task your HR team to visit local universities and colleges to present information to future graduates. Small businesses can post advertisements on Craigslist and in the newspapers, but the reality is; it can be difficult to attract the right applicants, and it can be even more difficult to find someone who is going to be passionate about working for your company.
Here are some tips on Recruiting in 2019.
- Use Data!
Google is a powerhouse when it comes to data. Spend time looking at your website’s analytics and search console information to see what people are searching for when they end up on your website. You may be surprised to find that specific geographic and demographics are searching for careers in your field. Google’s Ad platform allows you to see search trends by geographic location, you essentially can find out what people are searching for when it comes to your company’s sector. And lastly, ad platforms such as Facebook and Linkedin can provide major insights into your target demographics to help you drive your recruitment campaign. - Your online presence should communicate your culture!
Social Media isn’t just for selling your products and services, it’s critical you convey your company’s culture.
We know that people are spending tons of time “in the feed”. Whether it’s on their mobile device or their computer, eyes are on companies. We also know that potential hires are researching companies they are applying for positions at. Whether it’s browsing your website, scrolling through your business’ Facebook page, or checking out your top-level executive’s Linkedin Profiles, it is happening and it is playing a role in their decision to apply. If someone was browsing all of the above, would they be convinced that your workplace provides the type of culture where they would excel? - Online Advertising works.
You need to treat recruitment like a campaign, and like any campaign, it needs to rely on a strategy. Don’t just “Wing it”. Spend some time thinking through your ideal recruit personas, and specific tactics that you can do to attract them to your application process. Like any online campaign, it needs to optimized for lead generation. In this case, your leads are your applicants. You want high-quality recruitment leads. Your campaigns and advertisements need to be optimized using data. - Integrate your offline recruitment strategies with your online.
Offline and in person recruitment can still work for a lot of sectors. However, you should aim to bridge offline with online and start utilizing a streamlined approach to assess applicants. Bridging this gap can drive more of the right applicants to your application funnel. The better the applicants, the more time you are saving your hiring team, and the better the teams you are building at your company. - Optimize your website for applicants.
Your website should be optimized for recruitment. You should integrate your social media so that you can convey your company culture in a centralized location. Your application process should be simple, but just difficult enough to filter out the half-hearted applications you may be receiving that read a lot like junk-mail. Recruitment platforms can be utilized to accept applications, but for smaller businesses, there are multiple ways to use your existing website to accept online applications.
Here at Agency, we strongly believe in conveying our culture on our social media channels! Check out this 2018 recap video.
And as always, if you have any questions about the above strategy, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to chat!