As difficult as it has become for companies to find the quality job candidates that they most desire, it is now more important than ever that companies shirk the ineffective recruiting tactics that were insufficient even at the best of times, and which now have become an even greater detriment to companies’ most integral, internal element, that being their employee base. With this subject becoming an ever greater issue for many companies in this time of economic uncertainty, executive search firms have put together a few important points companies should consider in order to strengthen their recruiting efforts.
To begin with, the most fundamental step that hiring managers must take to strengthen their recruiting efforts, is in learning how to create a proper position ad. Job ads, much like any other advertisement, must not only convey the necessary information to the reader regarding the necessary skills and duties required of the candidate in a concise manner, but must also be accompanied by a call-to-action, driving viewers to take the initiative to apply. The information to be shared with the potential candidate can best be collected by interviewing other employees whose jobs function in close proximity to that being filled, and who would then have a good understanding of the role and requirements of the job. A call-to-action can be generated by including a brief list of the compensation and/or benefit opportunities inherent in the position.
Second, hiring managers need to take a step back and begin taking a much more hands on approach to their executive search and candidate sourcing techniques. In this new digital age, more and more employers have begun falling into an automated process by which applicants send in their resumes through a company’s website, or through some third-party job posting site, after which programs can be used to then scan the resumes for preselected keywords to narrow the applicant pool. Needless to say such lazy techniques are not conducive to a thorough candidate sourcing process and should be used sparingly, if at all. Rather than tapping into too large an applicant pool with these methods, employers should instead be focused on quality rather than quantity in their candidates.
On a similar note to the previous point, far too many employers have begun tapping into social media networking as a means of spreading information about job postings to a massive pool of individuals free and easy. While social media has certainly provided a valuable tool for employers to make use of in their hiring processes, the real failure here is on the part of hiring managers who neglect to learn the real intricacies of social media sites which can allow them to conduct detailed and thorough searches in order to source select, quality candidates rather than an expansive applicant pool.
Finally, in case the other points haven’t stressed this enough, it is time that employers became more involved in their hiring efforts again and stopped relegating these duties to automated, technical systems. This means that hiring managers will need to begin playing an active role in developing human connections and building physical networks through alternate, more traditional means than social media and job posting boards. Making phone calls, using industry conferences and meetings, and other person-to-person means, are still the best methods for network building and should no longer be overlooked by employers seeking the easiest route.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
