Innovative Talent Acquisition Strategies That Will Help You Find the Best Candidates
Going through the recruiting process to find the perfect candidate to fill a role is often difficult, with companies spending millions each year on innovative talent acquisition strategies.
The Society of Resource Management recently found that its surveyed companies had spent at least $4,425 per hire . Of course, that number can significantly change depending on the business’s size and the position they are applying for.
But despite their best efforts, over 69% of companies report that they face challenges when recruitingemployees. That shortage can be attributed to the Great Resignation and the difference between available jobs and candidates to fill them, reaching an all-time high of2.8 million .
With fewer employees to choose from and even more competition, you should be able to find talented candidates to fill those roles. And the only way that you can do that is with innovative talent acquisition strategies that enhance your hiring process.
Innovative Talent Acquisition Strategies You Should Consider
Talent acquisition can be complex, requiring recruiters to consider multiple factors to create a dedicated talent strategy. So to help you make a better decision, here are a handful of techniques that you should consider.
1. Make Use of Referrals to Find Good Talent
While it might not be the most innovative talent acquisition strategy that you can implement, it happens to be one of the best. People are more inclined to believe testimonials and referrals of fellow employees than what the company has to say.
“Your employer brand is never what you say it is. It’s what your employees and candidates say it is.” – Jillian Einck.
In a study that recorded 329,000 hires, employees referred to the company were 30% easier to hire compared to others. Therefore, you will need to encourage employee advocacy among current employees to create an innovative talent acquisition strategy.
They can help share posts by the company, which are 25 times more likely to be shared than a company making the same post. Furthermore, employees can have widely different social circles, often giving the company a vast pool of employees.
One way to make a referral more enticing is to add benefits to the strategy. People who can refer the company to other prospects or bring friends or family to work could get a bonus. While the amount is something you will have to set up yourself, remember to offer them an adequate amount to make them feel better compensated for the effort that they put in.
2. Design an Innovative Talent Acquisition Strategy that Works with Your Business Goals
Every business has a precise vision and goals in mind. While these goals tend to change often, depending on the business’s performance and public perception, you should consider its objectives for the next five years. Keeping those goals in mind, you should develop an innovative talent acquisition strategy that will help accomplish them.
Is the company planning to expand to a new country or region? Focus on finding talent native to the area so that transition is not difficult. Is the company focusing on developing new software? Then your recruitment efforts should focus more on finding developers and programmers who would best fit the bill.
Depending on the business’s goals, there is a chance that the role you will be trying to fill might not exist yet. However, even if that is the case, you want to find the right talent to ensure that you can put all of the pieces together when the time comes.
3. Work On Your Company’s Brand Image
The online presence the company has is indicative of its values and long-term goals. Through the content they create and how they engage with their audience, candidates can determine how they will be treated. Up to75% of candidates looking for a job will also look through a company’s social media, making the brand image even more critical.
So what can you do to make a brand look more appealing? For one, you should show potential employees that your company can be a great place to work. And one of the best ways that you can do that is with the help of your employees. Posts revolving around employees working, laughing, or even just lounging can show that the company has a great working environment. It can also show how content the employees are with their current working environment.
4. Expand Your Search Net To Find Talent
LinkedIn is one of the best places to look for talented and well-accomplished candidates looking for jobs on job boards. However, most innovative talent acquisition teams will often stop there and not expand their search when looking for talent. Although the 25 – 34 age group makes up almost 60% of the entire user base, there are better ways that you can source talent.
Social media remains one of the best ways for companies to recruit talent, with almost 49% of HR recruiters using it as their primary way of finding candidates. YouTube and Instagram can be better-engaging alternatives, with Facebook offering groups dedicated to specific professions.
You can also try to find top talent through various live programs and seminars where passive candidates could be to learn more about the industry. Despite the digital age, you will be spending a lot of time on the ground networking and making meaningful connections that could prove fruitful for your company.
5. Consider Working with Contractors
Despite how good you make your innovative talent acquisition strategy, it will take time to bring in new leads. And if there is a position that needs filling urgently, you could consider working with contractors on a temporary contract. These contractors tend to be much cheaper to hire since they do not get dedicated benefits or any other incentives for their work. They will only receive a salary for the time that they are working.
These contractors also tend to be very self-sufficient and generally work well enough independently. Contractors will also view a contract 2.1x more often than most regular members. If talent acquisition is slower than usual, why not consider working with a dedicated contractor instead.
6. Meet or Exceed Market Value as an Innovative Talent Acquisition Strategy
With more jobs in the market and fewer people willing to take them, employees often have the advantage on the negotiating table. With that consideration in mind, your innovative talent acquisition strategy will also have to consider market value for the price you offer them. Your proposal should either match the market offer or provide more than what competitors offer.
“Create a competitive compensation package that reflects your culture, then put the dollars in front of candidates at the start, and you’ll likely have to negotiate less.” – Steve Browne, LaRosa Inc.
Of course, money doesn’t have to be everything in an employment package, as you can even offer incentives or other perks. Incentives can increase employee performance by between 25% and 44%. These include health insurance, traveling fees, longer lunch breaks, or extra days off work. These incentives can be especially effective if you cannot offer candidates more money to meet the difference with incentive packages.
7. Pay More Attention to Corporate Social Responsibility
A company’s values are often the most significant reason individuals join in the first place. 70% of employees are not willing to work with a company unless they serve a specific purpose. A company that does not focus on its CSR voluntarily puts itself in a disadvantageous situation. It means that the company will not attract potential prospects, but it also means that they could actively avoid the company for its lack of motive.
Therefore, your talent acquisition strategy should also focus on CSR and how they can improve it. A good example is Ben & Jerry’s, which has focused on its CSR since 1985. They have donated their pretax earnings to various social causes and have even come to support the LGBTQIA+ movement and racial injustice.
8. Be More Flexible With Your Working Options
Following the pandemic, employees have better understood the importance of their work-life balance. During the peak of the lockdown, a wave of voluntary resignations ensued, which led to a massive market deficit of 2.8 million more jobs than employees in the market.
The pandemic made employees understand their position, with many working from home permanently. Up to 58% of employees will quit their current job if they cannot work from home, with some even willing to take a pay cut of up to 20%. Therefore, if you want to bring more talent into your company, your innovative talent acquisition strategy should focus on giving employees more diverse working conditions.
If you cannot offer the whole work from the environment, you can try giving them a hybrid model where they have to come to the office on certain days and work from home on others. that can often be a good compromise for the employees.
9. Promote Racial and Gender Diversity
Companies have historically been very dismissive of women, with its effects still being felt today. Women remain underrepresented in various corporate fields and often do not take certain job offers because of gender disparity. Furthermore, other gender-neutral individuals also feel shunned from the workplace, as many dismiss their identity. Finally, corporate America also underrepresents various racial minorities, often making the few who work there feel isolated.
Candidates will be more willing to join a company where they feel they will have an equal chance. Therefore, your innovative talent acquisition strategy will include social media efforts to make the company look more inclusive. Give ethnically and sexually diverse employees a platform to share their message and tell other people how safe they feel in the workplace. Again, you will need the help of the employees in the company.
10. Send Applicants Follow Up Emails
Similar to how shoppers get follow-up emails about the items in their cart, it is worth sending an email to an applicant during the recruitment process to keep them from applying somewhere else. As we mentioned earlier, there are more jobs than employees, which gives employees more leverage. By sending them follow-up emails, you can show them that you are interested in hiring them, giving them more incentive to wait.
By reducing the number of candidates that slip through the system, you are not limiting your talent pool. It even avoids settling for less than ideal applicants who do not fit your specific criteria.
11. Build Stronger Relationships with Colleges
One of the simplest yet most innovative talent acquisition strategies includes developing long-lasting relationships with colleges. Colleges are the perfect place to find talented applicants who have sometimes not even entered the job market yet. You can attend college career fairs to get a better chance to talk to applicants and get an opportunity to network with student clubs to get better acquainted with them.
Furthermore, creating these better relationships with colleges and schools can allow you to meet more talented students before anyone else.
12. Look For Candidates from Within the Company
Employees who have been working with the company are often the best source to find talented candidates to fill out an opening in the company. Not only do they have experience working with the company, but they might already be prepared to take on the responsibilities of that role. Looking for potential candidates from the inside is especially useful if you have exhausted all of your other talent acquisition strategies.
A company is only as good as the people who work in it. And with the help of an innovative talent acquisition process, you can bring in more talented individuals.
To learn more about how your hiring managers can optimize your talent acquisition processes, build an impeccable company culture, and hire great talent in the long run, contact us today at Recruiter.com.
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