by strategic HR, inc.
Remember the days of posting a job in the newspaper or a magazine and then waiting for responses via fax? How about when you picked up the phone and called a competitor and asked the Receptionist to speak to…an Engineer? Do you remember tracking all your candidates in a large filing cabinet by name…or was it job title, "I can't remember where I filed it?" It is amazing how times have changed and continue to change nearly daily, especially with the advent of social media and rapid improvements to technology.
Like everything else, recruiting has and will continue to evolve over time.
Recruiting was so simple not too many years ago that "even a fifth grader" could do it. All we had to do was write a small classified ad and run it in the newspaper or the trade journal that came out next month. Applicants would flock to your mailbox and even fax machine to get you to look at them (remember the film-like paper that curled up when you tried to read it?). Recruiting agencies would send you volumes of candidates just to be sure their candidate was first in line. Early recruitment "strategies" consisted of asking "what do I need to post to get 'a butt in the seat'?"
Evolution kicked in somewhere in the 1990's and we quickly realized that we weren't reaching ALL the possible candidates looking for a job AND to assist our efforts technology began to provide us with new recruitment options. Newspaper ads began to be paired with online job boards (BOGO deals for print and online). Company websites were popular places to post a static job opening. Software solutions became available to track candidates once they were manually entered into the system. We even began to source for people by looking at the candidates received from past searches using the "new" software solution or even online resume banks. Still, we were looking for the active candidates looking for a job.
Evolution continued…"Butts in a seat" didn't work anymore nor did waiting for the candidates to respond to you. Email and Internet solutions became more and more popular as a way to reach candidates "just in time." Job boards erupted requiring you to post your ad online to have ANY chance of attracting the best and most eager candidates. Niche job boards evolved that required that you place your opening with a specific job board to attract the right candidate – simply picking one of the "top three" job boards wasn't enough. If you received a resume in the mail, you might email the candidate and ask them to send you an electronic copy. You might even pick up the phone, call a competitor and ask the receptionist to connect you with…the engineer. The question soon became, how do we attract the passive candidate – signing bonuses? Employee referrals? Meet and greets? Cold calls?
Recruiting 2011 and Beyond
As candidates with the right skills become scarce and workers get more sophisticated, the recruiting process is again evolving, and recruiters and hiring managers must evolve with it. Active candidates now include the unemployed (some skilled and some not) AND the employed. In a 2010 survey conducted by JCSI Corporate Staffing, survey results had already predicted an increase in the use of LinkedIn, Social Media (Facebook/Twitter), Employee Referrals, and Company Websites. At the same time survey respondents indicate that they will decrease their usage of agencies, job boards, and open houses as a means to find candidates; and gone are the days of broadcast ads or print ads. Just last week, Facebook announced that it is adding a job board solution in the near future that will be free. What impact will this have on our search strategies?
Connecting with the passive candidate is where recruiting success is found, but how is that accomplished? Picking up the phone and calling a competitor might still be an option, but it's not always effective or the best use of a recruiter's time. The most productive recruiters present the least number of candidates, but have a more qualified pool to choose from. In order to be more successful and find the most qualified candidates, we have to get creative and put technology to work. While our goal may still be to land our competitor's superstar, waiting for him or her to be at their desk to take our call is a longshot at best. Today we must use technology to "warm up" the candidate and find other ways to connect.
The Internet has become the information resource for everything, including finding your next superstar. Boolean logic and search engines have become the recruiter's best friend when trying to find an "Engineer AND {competitor name} AND {City, State} ,". The right combination will provide you with someone that spoke at an event, wrote a paper, received accolades from their employer, or at least has other contacts in the field you are pursuing and might refer possible candidates to you. Not only will a search find a name, you can even use the Internet to find their contact information (email or phone number - cell, home or even work).
Social media was born overnight and is still evolving into a multi-faceted and largely untapped resource. Where even a couple of years ago it was cutting edge to get on LinkedIn or Facebook and search for candidates, today this is supplemented with Tweeting at industry events to networking via Facebook for contacts and candidates. Creating social media sites, joining social media groups, and blogging has become the new norm. One thing to realize when utilizing these current networking methods, it takes time to engage with passive candidates. While active candidates are screaming at you to "look at them", passive candidates aren't really looking to be found. First you have to figure out where they are. Once you find them, it may mean reaching out to many, to connect with few. But that few you connect with will be of a much higher quality candidate than what you will find relying on traditional methods.
Even the way we use Job Boards is continually evolving. It has become ineffective and sometimes costly to simply post every job opening on one of the major job boards. After posting online you may find yourself sifting through a thousand resumes, often only finding a few that hit the mark, or not receiving enough. In today's recruiting climate before using a job board you have to ask yourself: are you getting quality candidates for your dollar and what is it costing you to screen through all the resumes you receive. For now, job boards still may play a role in recruiting depending on the job opening and if used strategically. However, look for them to take a lesser role over the next 5 years. Many employers post their jobs on their own well executed websites. While this requires some work to ensure the postings are successful in attracting today's quality, web-savvy candidates, it also provides a way to promote the employment brand of the organization and to create a connection between the company, the job and potential employees.
Employee referrals are still an excellent and often underutilized resource for finding quality candidates. An employee has inside knowledge of the organization, and can be your best advocate in recommending your company as a great place to work to a friend or contact. The quality of referral candidates tends to be higher as well - what employee wants to refer someone who might be a poor performer and would be a poor reflection on them? Candidates hired from employee referrals also have a much higher retention rate. Companies misstep, however, by not adequately promoting this resource to fill current openings. An employee referral program has to be backed by a plan of action as well as be supported by the organization as a legitimate initiative for finding candidates.
As company branding is to marketing, employment branding has become to recruiting. It is a critical consideration when creating a recruitment strategy that involves finding passive candidates. You need to be able to define your employment value proposition - what makes your company exceptional, so much so that candidates will want to leave their current employer for your opening? It has become essential to be able to communicate this EVP to everyone, especially potential employees. Who doesn't know that Zappos and Google are fantastic places to work? We know this because these companies have worked hard, and creatively, to spread their EVP. A savvy candidate is going to do his or her homework on your company, before engaging with you. What do you want to let them know about your company even before the conversation starts?
With such rapid changes in the world of recruiting, often the biggest obstacle to success is a change in mindset. You will often hear "But this is the way I have always done it, and it worked before" as you work to implement changes to the recruitment process. However, times have changed, and recruiting has changed as well. With such high stakes, and a new paradigm in networking with candidates, no one is exempt from playing a role in recruiting. Whether it means your employees are at events and meeting others in your industry, perhaps your next potential superstars…or they are making changes to your website, to attract potential candidates researching your company by sharing an enticing EVP, almost every activity needed for good business also has a tie to recruitment. It's identifying those ties and taking action in a way to help promote the brand and recruiting.
It is time we start realizing that everyone is a possible candidate, not just the ones actively in the job market. Our strategies now and in the future will have to wrap around this concept to find ways to attract everyone with the right skill set, not just the ones "looking for a job." Matthew Jeffries states in both of his articles "Recruitment 3.0" and "Recruitment 4.0" that only 10% of the qualified workforce is actively looking for a job. We need to find ways to effectively attract the other 90%.
If you have any questions or would like to share your comments with strategic HR, inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com), just email info@strategicHRinc.com.
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