Engaging Minds sponsored The FIRM (Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers) event in Manchester last week. You’re reading the fourth blog post in a series inspired by presentations and conversations from the day.
73% of employers report a skills shortage in their industry, yet only 19% of them are running proactive attraction campaigns.
I can understand why this is, as attraction seems to be one of the areas our clients struggle with the most.
But, I think we can learn from the great marketeers who work first and foremost on the basis of how can they help those they are seeking to serve NOT how can they sell something to them.
How does this translate into talent attraction? There are three things we can take from great marketing to improve our ability to attract more of the right people and fewer of the wrong ones.
(Volume recruiters this is for you too, if you want to save a lot of time (and money) by reducing the number of applicants who aren’t right for you.)
- First, understand who you are seeking to attract
Understand your ideal candidates deeper motivations and strengths. That way you get to people who will be a good fit. Ask yourself, ‘What are these people like and why would they love doing the roles we have on offer?’ If you can do this and move from a selecting out mindset to a selecting in mindset, it will change the way you approach attraction and will bring you more of the right candidates and fewer of the wrong ones.
When you write a job advert that describes the motivations and values of someone who will love and be good at the job, people read it and say to themselves “oh that sounds like me” or not. It really works.
- Second, understand what appeals to your ideal candidates
This means understanding what matters to them and how you can best communicate with them. Put yourself in candidates’ shoes – what will appeal to them and how can you offer that and articulate it in a way that will resonate with those you are seeking.
Instead of listing all the benefits of your EVP (Employer Value Proposition), think about which of the benefits will matter to those you want to attract, otherwise you’re making assumptions about what people want which is never an effective attraction technique.
- Third, think of candidates like customers
This means responding to applications in a human and respectful way, being honest about why a candidate did or didn’t get the job, and being generous about spending time giving feedback. So if they’re not right for the job, give them some feedback about the strengths they have that will help them find work that is a good fit for them.
According to Manpower Group’s report Candidates Are Consumers Too, 50% of candidates say that a negative experience makes them less likely to buy a company’s products or services and 69% of candidates would tell others about a negative experience.
Recruitment sure is a bottom-line enhancing activity and attracting the right candidates is on a par with attracting the right customers!
Read the third post in this series inspired by presentations and conversations at The FIRM Manchester 2019: Three myths about strengths-based selection.
Read the second post in this series inspired by presentations and conversations at The FIRM Manchester 2019: Recruiters, let’s go retro!
Read the first post in this series inspired by presentations and conversations at The FIRM Manchester 2019: Three shocking recruitment statistics.
Sally Bibb’s book Strengths-based Recruitment and Development: A Practical Guide to Transforming Talent Management Strategy for Business Results (for organisations) is available from Bookshop.org worldwide, or from the Kogan Page website.
