“Humans are underrated”. Once uttered by Elon Musk, this now well-known phrase was also a fitting opener to Cornerstone’s latest #FreshThinking event held in the super stylish venue of Hush, Mayfair.
You may have all the fancy bells and whistles but are you bettering or breaking your recruitment strategy? In a candidate-led market, you need to be maximising your technology to make it work better for you and also making the most of your other key asset, your employees.
But how exactly can you do that? During three insightful roundtable sessions led by specialists from Alexander Mann Solutions, HR professionals and experts from across different industries discussed this very question. Here’s what they came up with.
It’s not a one-man race
First things first, how do you attract that great talent? Employer branding is key, building up brand loyalty and the employee experience.
Having a values-based EVP will help but is not the solution to all your recruitment woes. It’s your culture that will really help you to stand out from your competitors. This is where using your employees as brand ambassadors is crucial – only they can really shine a light on your company culture, whether through their own social media channels, for example, or that ultimate promotion tool ‒ word of mouth.
To do this effectively, you need your employees to be on board with the cultural journey and engaged with the brand. Don’t impose values, but let your employees have their say and share what they actually like about working there - they may come up with things you never thought of. Most important of all, be authentic.
Passing on the baton
But employer branding doesn’t just lie with HR, it goes across the whole company and HR needs to start thinking like a marketer. It should be a three-legged race with marketing and HR tied together.
Now that you’ve decided on your message and values, it’s time to tell your story… effectively. Why not switch up your employer branding marketing with your corporate marketing? What’s the outcome? In the same way that you want to deliver relevant content and the right message to the right customers, even through the likes of programmatic advertising, the same principle should be applied to your potential employees. Not to mention, boasting your employer brand can also have a positive effect on your corporate brand.
Quickening the pace with technology
When it comes to the actual recruitment procees, automate where you can, particularly for high-volume jobs where there are just a few simple criteria, such as, availability, capability and desire. Technology at this stage streamlines the process and also helps to drive diversity through eliminating possible unconscious bias.
However, for more specialised roles in particular, there comes a point where you need the human touch – AI tools can’t assess attitude and cultural fit – so make sure your hiring managers are also appropriately trained to keep it inclusive.
Make recruitment a marathon not a sprint
Don’t get off to a false start. Before you go ahead and automate, think of the impact first. Don’t focus on a one-point solution but take a holistic view, with your users placed at the centre. Otherwise, like an athlete setting off with no trainers, you may not even make it to the end of the 100m sprint.
Technology can also boast the endurance and longevity of your recruitment. Did you have a strong candidate that was just pipped to the post for that role? Don’t let them fall through the cracks but ensure they filter through onto others’ radar.
Similarly, don’t put up a barrier between recruitment and Learning & Development. Instead, these should work together as part of the same employee lifecycle. Data gathered from initial assessments should be fed into onboarding and further development, helping you to improve and personalise your new employees’ workplace journeys and careers. It will also aid internal mobility further down the line.
Hopefully, with these tips, you’ll be fit enough to reach that recruitment start line and be on your way to a winning strategy. Ready, set, go!
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