3 Tips for Recruiting Top Talent

One company no longer accepts resumes, but rather uses gamification to find the right candidate for the job. Another company uses a video interviewing platform that has shortened its recruiting cycle from weeks to a matter of days. And yet another organization helps those candidate who didn’t get the job by sending them to an online portal that gives them feedback, as well as resume and interview tips.

These examples, all from Deloitte Insights’ “2017 Global Human Capital Trends  (opens in a new tab)” report, show just how complex talent acquisition has become—and how for-profits are managing the complexities.

And while it might be tempting to reach out for one of these new, shiny talent-acquisition tools, Robin Erickson, vice president and talent acquisition research leader at Bersin by Deloitte, has some advice for associations: “Don’t try to run before you can walk.”

So, where should an association start if they want to compete for quality talent in this increasingly digital age. Erickson has a few tips:

Look at your employment brand. An association’s employment brand is “everything an organization does in the digital and socially networked world [that] affects candidates’ decisions to work there,” according to the study, and it’s critical that associations monitor and align the messaging across all of its platforms.

“Employment brand is how you’re going to attract people to your business, but it’s also how you’re going to keep them once they’re there …,” Erickson said. “It’s really, really important for companies to be asking, ‘What do we need to do to make sure our employment brand resonates with who we are and is something attractive to the people out there that we are looking for?’”

Amp up your social networking. “If you’re not using social networking—if you’re not using all the different sites—the harder it is for your organization to have any sort of pull,” Erickson said. She added that using social networking alleviates the pressure on the “post and pray” method, in which organizations post a position on a job board and hope that somebody with the right skills, salary expectations, and vision will apply.

On the flip side, if the organization’s HR team and hiring managers start forming relationships with people on social networking sites, the idea is that people will come to you and think of your organization as a potential employer.

Consider the job candidate’s experience. “Put yourself into the candidates’ shoes: What is unique about your organization that can add richness to the candidate experience?” said the study. “What qualities both set your company apart and make it more attractive to candidates?”

Associations should also think about what they could be doing poorly. “If you order something online, chances are you can actually track that purchase,” Erickson said. “If you apply for a job at an organization, sometimes you feel like your resume goes into a black hole.” Job candidates want that same transparency in the recruitment process, so associations might consider letting them know where their application stands or even provide contact information so candidates can follow-up with recruiters.

There’s no doubt that recruiting is a complex business. What are ways your association has been able to manage recruiting in an increasingly digital age? Please leave your comments below.

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