Melodie Regan, CEO, i2i Workforce
Finding and hiring great talent can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. How is it that we have so many employers looking for talent and so much talent looking for jobs, yet too often our jobs go unfilled? Feels like one of those big questions for which the answer is elusive. Yet, there are things we know and starting your recruitment efforts with a strong recruitment process can have a big impact.
To increase your hiring success, it is best to start with a clearly defined recruitment and onboarding process. A clean and clear process gives you more and better candidates and hires, faster. So, what does a superior recruitment process look like?
Let’s explore the recruiting process, also called a recruitment funnel. Take a moment to review the recruitment funnel, and ask yourself if you have clearly defined processes for each step in the funnel. The recruitment funnel classically has two parts, The Top of the Funnel and the Bottom of the Funnel. Top of the Funnel is when you are defining the job and sourcing candidates, and Bottom of the Funnel is when you have candidates and are interviewing and hiring. Some organizations actually split the responsibilities between team members for the Top and Bottom of the Funnel.
In this blog we are going to dive into the Top of the Funnel, and next week we will drive into the Bottom of the Funnel. Here’s what the Top of the Funnel includes, and remember to consider your own processes as you are reading.
Top of the Funnel Recruiting Process
Employer Branding – why should someone work for you? You have to sell your organization. And you don’t want dull and boring job postings. Standout from your competition. Tell potential candidates why they want to work for you. Write compelling organizational descriptions. And remember that video is hot. Create short videos of existing team members sharing why they enjoy working for you, or perhaps messages from management about your mission, your vision, your values, and how you lead and care for your workforce. Plus, a good search starts with a good job description that clearly defines what is needed. We recommend you use a consistent job description template for all jobs and establish a clear approval process. You want to make sure you are recruiting for the right needs for the organization. It’s a bit like building a software system…if you have poor requirements you’ll end up with a poor-performing system.
Sourcing – where you find candidates. Where are you looking for your candidates, helping them find you and how? Posting to job boards? Job postings on your website? Employee referral program? Your database? Posting to social media and which channels? Using recruiters? Association job boards? School career centers? Government workforce centers? Are there groups or organizations you should be involved in to create brand awareness and post on their job boards? Or perhaps having team members present publicly or get yourself quoted or included in an article? Sourcing is about being found and should have a solid marketing foundation.
Social Recruiting – the how-to's of sharing jobs and finding candidates on social media networks. Which social networks will you select? Are you running ads, creating posts, telling candidates about you, inspiring them to apply? Making it easy to apply?
Applicant Tracking System (ATS) – this can be a software solution or manual, regardless, you need a process for tracking jobs, candidate submissions per job, source of candidate, interviews, and outcomes throughout the process. Most software ATSs include automatic posting to job boards.
Passive Candidate Nurturing – you can’t expect all candidates to come to you. You need to go hunting. How do you do this? Looking on job boards and social networks is a good start. Reaching out to your network, vendors, customers, target competitors, to name a few.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin
Truly top-performing recruiting starts with a clearly defined and clean running recruitment process. The process should also have measurements through-out so you know which sources provide the best candidates, what steps to ensure the best hires, what’s the time to hire, what’s the cost of hire, and more. Measuring your process allows you to know what is working and what is not, and then you can drive continual improvement in the process. Increase your hiring success with a strong process.
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Return next week to learn about bottom of the funnel recruiting strategies to improve your hiring and recruitment process.