There’s good news for businesses looking to grow in 2021, with the jobs market entering the year with strong momentum, according to the ABS, the unemployment rate decreased to 6.6% in December. The easing of restrictions and recent border openings is also promising news for job-seekers.
As a result, now is the perfect time for businesses to re-evaluate their recruitment processes. Here are a few considerations that are essential for any business looking to land top talent:
Creating or re-igniting your employer brand
A company’s brand describes its promise to employees in exchange for their experience, talents, network, or skills. Employer branding, as an extension, is how you market your company to desired job seekers. If you’re a smaller company, look to build up your employer brand via attending networking events and building a cohesive social media presence on platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram. This is likely to be the first point of research for job seekers looking to apply for a position.
Another key part of current employer branding is to monitor review sites such as Glassdoor, Indeed or SEEK. Be aware of how your business is being mentioned in trends from previous employee sentiment. This will help you understand how your business is perceived by employees and understand and react to any unfavourable sentiment towards your business.
Casting a wider net of where and how you advertise
Talent may not always be where you expect it to be. And when talent is hard to find, you need to look in unexpected places. Remote work has offered greater flexibility for employers and employees, however, expanded geographies does make it a little more difficult to get in front of potential applicants.
You may have to adapt your expectations on where to look, if you’re looking to hire candidates with technical skills, it might mean foregoing those with a traditional university degree and broadening your net to include those who have re-skilled via short courses or the government’s latest initiative, Upskilled.
Also, social media has become an intrinsic part of how we connect and should be part of your recruiting strategy, whether it’s as simple as an Instagram post or LinkedIn job ad – it’s a great way to let your network know that you’re hiring.
Going after passive candidates
Filling open roles may mean finding candidates who aren’t even in the job market. Passive job seekers are a great untapped source of talent in industries facing skills shortages. If you’re looking to expand and grow your business, make it known. This can be as easy as reaching out via LinkedIn or attending networking events like industry conferences. Even if you’re not looking to hire, these are great areas of opportunity to build trust and create connections with potential job seekers in the future.
Rethinking your job descriptions
Job descriptions aren’t just a list of duties today, they’re advertisements that are a part of your employer brand. I’m sure you’ve read a lacklustre job description that didn’t describe or excite you about the company, job or culture. A word of advice, when creating job descriptions you should always consider your candidate. Focus on the benefits the role offers to the candidate — as well as how the business can help them grow, and highlight career-advancement opportunities and all the interesting work or partnerships your business is a part of. Always remember to keep it simple. Avoid company jargon that doesn’t resonate outside of your organisation and simplify the descriptions.
Ditching traditional assessments
Just as job previews reflect a modern approach to recruiting, so do more modern assessments. If you rely on assessments of a candidates’ hard or soft skills, or both, ditch traditional paper-based and online pre-employment testing assessments. Instead, choose a modern approach like game-based assessments. This makes the process more engaging for job seekers and keeps them in-tune to your company and it’s values. Game-based assessments are also faster for candidates to complete than traditional assessments, while measuring many of the same competencies — a win-win for you and your candidates.
Empowering your candidates
Today’s leading companies are selling themselves to candidates, not just through their employer brands, but through great candidate experiences. If you’re not already doing this, look to use pre-recorded video interviews to empower candidates. Video interviews provide accessibility and flexibility as they can be completed any time, anywhere and on any device.
Regularly communicate with those that have applied for a role about the status of their application and share feedback with job seekers — especially those you don’t hire — they may also be a current or future customer, and may share their experience of your brand with others.
Reducing your hiring times
My last tip goes hand-in-hand with a better candidate experience. And that is to reduce the time it takes to hire. With the job market so competitive, good candidates go off the market quickly. That means in order to find the right talent today, that is still on the market when you make your final offer, you can’t drag your feet.
Always aim to make the experience as seamless as possible. There are multiple ways to shorten your time hiring times, including video interviewing, automated scheduling and chatbots. Technology can create a great candidate experience and decrease your drop-out rate. Look to implement messaging applications that can help save hours in screening, scheduling and other repetitive administrative tasks.
For businesses looking to hire in the current climate, look at how you can streamline your process to create a better candidate experience. Search for talent in unexpected places, tap into technology and always make sure your brand values and culture shine through every touchpoint of the hiring process to make sure applicants stay in-tune and excited to work for your business. Following these steps should lead you to top talent in no time.
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