Talent Attraction Trends to Inform your Recruiting Strategy
People are the heart of any organization. They keep an organization moving toward a common goal, support its mission, vision, and values, and keep each other motivated along the way. This is why attracting top talent to join your team is so important.
Hiring new talent has been a challenge over the past couple of years. Looking forward to 2023, here are a few tips you can add to your recruitment strategy to attract, engage, and retain top talent.
Part 1: Attention to Detail on Job Postings
“A poorly or inaccurately written job posting could unintentionally be preventing the exact candidate you are seeking from ever entering your hiring funnel,” wrote Kristin Barry, Gallup.
When looking for a new hire, it’s important to craft a job post that will entice the right kind of talent and properly represent your organization. Job postings should address top motivators for individuals looking for work.
Consider covering the following points on your organization’s postings.
Remote and hybrid work
In December 2021, Ladders predicted 25% of all jobs in North America would be remote by the end of 2022. That number is expected to continue to rise through 2023.
If remote or hybrid work is available for a position, be sure to include it in the job posting, as flexible work arrangements can be a major selling point of your organization over a competitor.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
Focusing on DEI is not just the right step because it shows you are an accepting and progressive organization. An organization focused on DEI can be a draw for exceptional talent. As well, there are many studies to prove organizations that anchor their recruitment program with clear DEI practices are more effective.
Career development within your organization
A LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report states 94% of surveyed employees said they would stay at a job longer if they had opportunities for career development offered to them. Highlighting how people have grown or moved within your organization is a way to demonstrate longevity and development opportunities to potential employees, should they choose a career with your organization.
Compensation
Making a position’s compensation clear, including highlighting the type of compensation package you offer (benefits, bonus, commission, etc.) or including a salary range on the job posting is a practice on the rise.
Salary transparency is trending up and being in front of this trend may save you trouble in the future. In 2022, California passed a law to increase salary transparency on job listings. This may be the first of many governments making similar changes.
“Compensation is one of many motivators that influence a job seeker’s decision when considering taking on a new role,” says Emily Toth, HR Consultant at People First HR. “However, if the compensation rate is not assessed as ‘competitive,’ job seekers may not look past the number to see what other offerings the organization provides. Ensuring that your organization is confident that their compensation rates are competitive within their defined labour market (sector, industry, size, geographic region) is imperative to ensure that you are able to attract and retain quality employees.”
Part 2: Employer branding
By the time you are interviewing, candidates will already have formed an opinion about your organization — thanks to social media, the company website, the job posting, their own network, and the interactions they had with employees leading up to the interview.
Well before the interview phase, it’s vital to consider your employer brand. TalentLyft reported that “83% of employers say that employer brand plays a significant role in their ability to hire talent.”
Through the job posting and any interactions a candidate has with your organization, ensure you are communicating what makes your organization unique and how joining the company can benefit them and their career.
“Leaders who use their power to invest and build a premium employment brand continue to attract top talent to their brand, even in difficult times,” said Barry, Gallup.
How you market your brand can heavily impact your recruitment efforts.
Part 3: Interviewing
Job seekers have seen your job posting and applied, and you have interviews lined up with the top candidates. Prior to the first interview, you need to have a plan to align the first impression made online with the in-person impression to draw in your top pick.
“An employer can make a strong first impression by being prepared for the interview,” says Tara Gousseau, Senior Consultant & Associate Recruiter Team Lead at People First HR. “Review the resume beforehand, be prepared with relevant behavioural questions, be respectful of the candidates’ time (show up on time, utilize the time wisely), and be prepared to answer the candidates’ questions.”
Preparing your interview questions in advance will help to keep you on track and focused on your ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’ for the role. Behavioural questions will help to draw out hands-on experience and provide insight into how the candidate approaches their work and interacts with peers and leadership.
Part 4: The Goal = Retention
Developing and enhancing retention strategies will be a key focus for 2023, as organizations look to retain the top talent they have worked hard to recruit. There are key factors to consider when building your retention strategy.
(For a deeper look at the importance of employee engagement in regard to retention, see Dr. Thomas Hammond’s article on Understanding Engagement.)
Onboarding
You may not think of onboarding as part of a recruitment strategy, but it is a necessary step to ensure you retain the employees you worked hard to find.
“Recruitment efforts are optimized by strong onboarding programs that result in engaged employees who feel a strong connection with the team and are much less likely to leave,” says Ed Gapate, Senior HR Consultant at People First HR. “Overall, it is less costly to invest in onboarding a current employee than it is to find and hire a new one, so it is wise to treat onboarding as a priority and not just a routine orientation.”
Without proper onboarding your new employee may end up feeling a lack of connection to your organization, making all your recruitment efforts a waste if your new employee decides they made the wrong decision for their career.
Research by Gallup found that “70% of employees who had exceptional onboarding experiences say they have ‘the best possible job.’ These employees are also 2.6 times as likely to be extremely satisfied with their workplace — and consequently, far more likely to stay.”
Looking forward
Being aware of recruiting trends, and having a strong recruitment process in place, can help you attract strong talent. As you move into 2023, make sure to keep these tips in mind:
- Ensure your job postings are well thought out and up to date
- Keep your employer branding clear and consistent, demonstrating value to candidates
- Prepare for interviews to support a solid first impression
- Make sure your recruiting efforts build toward a great retention strategy
If you are interested in learning more about how People First HR can support your recruitment efforts, connect with us to learn more.
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Source links:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/353096/practical-tips-leaders-better-onboarding-process.aspx
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/317867/leaders-control-employment-brand.aspx
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321638/recruit-top-talent-rethink-job-postings.aspx
https://www.talentlyft.com/en/resources/what-is-employer-brand