How to improve your candidate attraction.

Martin

Candidate attraction is rarely easy (no Google, we’re not asking you).

Famous brands notwithstanding, posting a job vacancy isn’t going to inundate you with pools of talented and relevant applications. And even if it does, it might not be enough to engage them through the entire recruitment process, and not lose them to another company with a stronger EVP (employer value proposition) and smoother process.

Whether you’re a hiring manager, business owner, or an in-house recruitment team, everyone wants to hire the best. That’s a given. “Best” means something different for each hire (could be the most qualified, the most experienced, or maybe just the most enthusiastic). Regardless, there are a few proven ways to encourage people to want to work for your company.

Build an employer brand that you’d want to join.

Creating a positive employer brand isn’t an overnight win, but there are small steps you can take, starting now.

From defining your message, to understanding expectations of those who might look to join your company, to the way you position yourselves in the market, and who your story speaks to. All of this is key to attracting the type of people you think will fit your culture the best.

Now let’s cover the basics.

Get your internal team on board.

Referrals and recommendations are gold.

Your staff is one of your best assets when it comes to candidate attraction. They’ll become a trusted voice for introducing new people to your business - that’s customers and potential hires. 

Once you have your team’s buy-in, they’ll become walking, talking advertisements for you - telling their friends and families about where they work, mentioning you on their socials, ultimately becoming genuine brand reps for the company they vouch for.

Get social on social media.

You’ve just read a job advert that resonates with you. What do you do next? Chances are, you head straight to Google, open up the company website and try to find out more.

A company with active socials, engaging posts, and a human persona are much more inviting. You can envision yourself within the company, you can see who works there already, read how they speak, and get quite a good idea about whether or not you’d fit in.

So, that being said, polish up your socials. Take pride in your online presence and encourage your team to engage with what you do.

Write better job adverts.

Would you apply to one of your job ads?

To get potential candidates over to your website or socials, you need to compel them enough to want to find out more in the first place.

A good job advert is a hugely undervalued weapon when it comes to candidate attraction. As it’s often the first base a potential candidate will touch when it comes to engaging with you, why are so few companies putting real effort into their job adverts?

An advert’s job is to attract candidates, so you need to be thinking about what the reader is looking for, and what they’re hoping to learn from your advert. Which opening do you think is going to generate more interest? 

  1. Two paragraphs about what you want and the brief history of your company's incorporation.
  2. Or, a relatable problem that your company would fix if someone came to work for you. 

Exactly.

Brush up on your benefits and staff wellbeing packages.

This one might not be in your hands, but as far as candidate attraction goes, having a generous offering for your employees is always going to be a good pull.

20 days leave isn’t a benefit, it’s a legal obligation. Dress down Friday isn’t going to win any awards. And a communal fruit basket doesn’t deserve listing on your advert.

With so many businesses now putting a huge focus on their benefits and wellbeing packages, it can be tough to feel as though you’re offering enough. Especially if you’re a small business, competing with some of the giants with budgets twice the size of your turnover can seem feeble. But, if you offer clear, structured benefits which are easy to utilise and simple to understand, you’re on the right track.

The main thing is to be accommodating and understanding that everyone you employ is an individual and will probably have needs that differ to one another. There’s no one-size-fits-all, but if you tackle it with that outlook, you’ll probably find something that attracts many.

Simple ways to start that won’t break the bank:

Employee recognition programmes.

Everyone wants to feel valued, and when we can do that fairly easily, why don’t we?

Keeping your flexible working policy.

Working from home has become a perk that’s no longer a perk. Some people love It, some hate it. Let the choice be theirs. Plus, if you’re able to keep remote work as a permanent offering, you open yourselves up to a whole new region of potential candidates.

A clear sickness policy.

Remember that sickness extends further than the odd flu day. It’s been a pretty rocky time recently, and many people are feeling the effects of it. If you haven’t already got a mental health policy, then you’re going to be left behind and potentially exposed. Being able to offer no-questions-asked mental health days is a good place to start, and if your budget allows, enhanced medical insurance that covers professional help might be an option.

Health and wellbeing programmes.

Creating voluntary wellbeing options for your team is a great way to show you genuinely care about their wellness. Depending on the nature of your business, you can offer various inclusive opportunities for your employees to stay happy and healthy.

If you have a bigger budget, enhanced maternity and paternity leave might be a consideration. Childcare benefits. A strong training and development package. Relocation and travel assistance. Health and disability insurance.

The list is endless, so get creative. See what your competition is offering and borrow the best ideas. 

Invest in recruitment technology.

Building a trusty tech stack will take you a step ahead by smoothing out your internal processes. 68% of people in the recruitment space say that the best way to improve recruiting performance over the next few years is by investing in new recruiting technology (LinkedIn).

So have a think about how well yours works for your business.

  • How simple is it to give feedback on someone’s application, regardless of whether it was successful or not?
  • Can you track through the journey easily enough to ensure nobody gets left waiting for feedback, or thinks you’ve disappeared into the abyss for weeks and no longer feels confident in their decision to want to work for you as a business?
  • Does your team understand your recruitment software?
  • Are you using all the tools and functions within your ATS system?

Posting your vacancies across many job boards and social channels should be a simple process, giving you more time to focus on the softer side of recruitment and engaging your target candidates.   

idibu (that’s us) links to CRM and ATS systems, and lets recruiters, HR teams, and hiring managers post jobs in different places from a single client. That means your job posts will be seen in more places, with less hassle. That way, you can keep on top of your candidate journey once you’ve got them into that recruitment funnel you’ve just worked hard to perfect.

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