Much has been said about recruitment (or Talent Acquisition if you prefer a sexier label). It’s crucial to any growing businesses, it’s incredibly time-consuming and worse of all there would always be a percentage of your recruits that just doesn’t work out. It is widely accepted that if you hire ten, maybe three will not make it. In the agency recruitment industry, that figure can be up to six.
Makes it sound like some Special Forces recruitment drive unfortunately it’s not. Imagine applying the same acceptable metrics to other spectrum of human resources. That four of out of ten payrolls would be incorrect…and that’s acceptable.
“But these are people we are dealing with and there are so many external factors beyond our control”, screamed the recruiters.
I get it.
I have been dealing with recruitment since the market started to recover from the devastation caused by SARS (read: 2004). I know the pain that comes with recruitment – the outreach, the persistent but unsuitable candidate, the foreign talent that fits the bill but there isn’t a quota for him or her and don’t get me started on those counter offers!
However I still think there are new things recruiters can do to make a difference. Like Einstein famously said, “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity”.
Doubling down isn’t going to solve your problem permanently. A strategic overhaul would be required. Until that is sorted out, here are 5 recruitment hacks that you could implement almost immediately:
I can’t help cringing when I see ads that only state the responsibilities and requirements. Sometimes it is so generic that you can switch the job title and it still make sense!
In the ocean of job advertisements, you need a good copy to stand out. Yes time and efforts would be required but better than no outcome right.
SEEK Australia has a good write-up on this with before and after visuals to show you what should and shouldn’t be done.
Link – https://advertiser.seek.com.au/Advertisers/resources/e0812_seek_writing_jobads.pdf
Any businesses would have that small percentage of super performers. Their performance is equivalent to three to five average performers. Could you imagine how different the business would be if that 5% of super performers could grow to 50%? How about 80%?
That is the premise of TopGrading.
I must admit this is tougher than a hack. I couldn’t go beyond half the book as the writing is so dry. But one takeaway is that a consistent structured behavioural interview (or interrogation given how extensive it is) works as it eliminates all biasness and focus on the personality.
If you have nothing in this area, the framework will start you with something and build upon from there. A piece of advise – don’t use it wholesale. Localize to what you believe make sense.
Link – http://careerladder.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Abbreviated_Topgrading_Interview_Guide-libre.pdf
Do you know the leads acquisition cost for a Facebook ad is about 2 cents? An online job portal ad will set you back about $100 and let’s not even go into print. Which is why it fascinates me that no one is using this channel in a big way. Moreover we are talking about Pay-Per-Click.
The best part about Facebook marketing is that you can choose your target audience. So I can target male Singaporean from 25 to 30 year old, has an interest in cars and is engineering trained (because I need an outdoor sales engineer)
The time people spent on Facebook (at least for the Gen X and above) are significantly higher than time spent on job portals or web browsing. Shouldn’t your ad be there so you can get it in their face?
Link – https://www.facebook.com/business/overview
I always find it ironic that business owners complain about the lack of candidates applying for their job when they spend zero efforts in employer branding. Heck, some of them are still on websites that are ‘compatible with Netscape Communicator and IE6.’
In the information age, applicants need to know who they are dealing with before even putting in any thought about pushing their application over.
Culture drives everything. You could hire the most kick-ass sales person but if the cultural fit isn’t there, you can’t keep him.
So showcase your companies with pictures and write-ups. And do it easily by opening an employer account with Glassdoor. They have step-by-step guide on how to populate your account and reach out to your target audience.
Link – http://www.glassdoor.com/
No amount of sports gear will make one a better sports person if the techniques isn’t correct. Getting your recruiters trained and skilled in the mastery of interviewing, spotting resume embellishment and salary negotiation is paramount.
There are plenty of recruitment videos on Youtube if you have the time to search and sieve through all the different content.
But that isn’t going to set you apart from your competition if they also have internet and can access Youtube.
Going to a dedicated training provider would be a better pick.
Link – http://www.nlinstitute.com/en/
Read also: 5 Employee Referrals Trends Companies Would Need to Know
