The recruiting game has changed. If you aren’t ready, you’re probably missing out on some really great opportunities. In this short video, Monster explains the three critically important areas of focus in recruiting today: engagement with potential candidates, employer branding and employee advocacy. You won’t get very far in your recruiting efforts without mastering these three areas. There just aren’t any shortcuts.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvb0hp-k01M[/embed]
Engagement with potential candidates is a really big deal
Everyone is busy these days, but it seems everyone has time to watch a cute cat video or retweet the answer to life’s biggest questions in 140 characters or less. Social media is where potential candidates are, so that’s where you have to be.
Engagement with potential candidates means having conversations. Simply posting catchy headlines and pretty pictures is not engagement. Talk with them.
Using Twitter hashtags, for example, can increase the size of your audience beyond your followers. Take some time to brainstorm with your team about which hashtags might be of interest to the kinds of potential candidates you’re seeking.
Here are some examples of generic hashtags, but you can get far more creative to target your niche:
#jobs, #jobsearch, #Jobhunt, #healthcarejobs, #careers, #nursingcareers, #employment, #jobopening, #hiring
Once you have a good list, follow the hashtags yourself. Look for trends. Also, monitor other social media platforms to learn what’s important to your potential candidates. This will help you choose relevant content to post. You’ll find yourself engaging in conversations that allow potential candidates to get to know you and your company better.
You can engage on Facebook, LinkedIn and all other social media platforms that are relevant to your potential candidates. Find them and engage in a dialogue so they begin to seek you out. You do have LinkedIn and Facebook pages, don’t you?
Monitor, post and engage regularly, but don’t get overwhelmed. Managing social media accounts for your brand is a full-time job even with the aid of social media monitoring and scheduling tools. Your advertising or marketing agency can develop a social media strategy for you. They can also monitor and manage your social media accounts full-time.
Employer branding is an absolute must
Branding requires some introspection. Many of us don’t want to look at ourselves critically, but we have to take a good, hard look at how we appear to the outside world. Ask yourself:
- What do people outside of my company think about us?
- Why would someone want to come to work at my company or why would someone not want to work at my company?
- Are my managers trained to deliver the brand messaging to potential candidates?
If you’re like most talent acquisition managers, you’re overworked. Initiating a new brand strategy may seem overwhelming, but it’s a vital part of recruitment today. Again, seeking the assistance of an advertising agency that can develop an employer branding strategy for you can only help you boost your company’s brand further.
Employee advocacy is the key
Do your employees recommend your company as a great place to work? If so, make it easy for them to recommend jobs through social media.
Employee advocacy can mean so many things. It can be something as simple as when your employees share positive company information on social media. Or, it can be as strategic as an employee referral program.
Advocacy emanates from your company culture and it’s not is a one-size-fits-all solution. Employers big and small can benefit from employee advocacy. You and your employees know the company culture better than anyone, but you may not be leveraging it to the fullest. This is yet another instance where an advertising agency can consult with you to create a strategy and develop employee advocacy programs that are specific to your company’s culture.
Whatever you’re doing in the critical areas of engagement with potential candidates, employer branding and employee advocacy should be strategic. Develop a plan and execute. Measure your results and revise the plan as needed. It’s worth the effort and I think you’ll find it to be a game-changer too.