Businesses need to rethink their recruitment strategies. In order to attract top talent, there is more pressure than ever to beat the competition.
Remove unconscious bias from your entire recruitment process
From job listings to CV sifting to the final interview, the recruitment process can be full of unconscious bias. Unconscious bias is a person’s unconscious beliefs and assumptions about people, they can include bias against age, gender, race, etc. Combating unconscious bias is important as it can hinder the creation of diverse and inclusive cultures and teams. Research has shown that on average, diverse teams outperform non-diverse teams by 35%.
- Examine job descriptions: research has shown that women are less likely to apply for jobs that use ‘masculine coded’ language or gendered connotations. For example, words such as ‘competitive’, ‘driven’ and ‘confident’ have all been shown to put off women. In contrast, feminine-coded words like ‘interpersonal’, ‘honest’, and ‘support’ have been shown to have a positive effect.
- Remove names, dates and dates of birth from CVs so that no details are given other than previous experience. In the case of our client Platypus, the company has removed CVs altogether and instead asks applicants to complete an online form. All personal information is removed and the anonymous list is shared with the business.
- Make sure your recruitment process is inclusive, which means catering to any additional needs candidates may have.
Re-think your advert placement
It’s no longer effective to post your job advert and wait for candidates to come to you. You need to get creative. Think about the role, your ideal candidate, and where they might be. Post in relevant online or community groups, for example, think about sites like Tech Returners which reaches individuals returning to work after a period of absence.
Share salary details
A major frustration for job seekers is job postings without any salary details. This wastes so much time for candidates and employers as salary details give a benchmark to seniority. Without this, you will face sifting through numerous applications which are not relevant.
Include staff incentives in job listings
Highlighting your incentive packages can help you stand out from competitors. Whilst including salary is important, try to include other benefits as well such as flexible working arrangements you may offer, or in-office perks.
Make your job description attractive
Another way to revamp your recruitment strategy is by nailing the job description. Having a job posting over 300 words has been found to be too long, especially if someone is looking at the posting on their phone. Make it stand out by being short and specific.
Guide your recruitment process with analytics
Before starting a new recruitment cycle, look back at your previous campaigns. Consider which recruitment platforms worked best and which didn’t, what stages of the recruitment process worked well, and which ones should be reworked or eliminated completely.
There are so many recruitment platforms out there and depending on your business and industry, some work better than others. For example, for some roles, big broad platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn are suitable, whereas for other more specific roles a more niche platform is required.
A key point is to examine the length of your recruitment process. Many clients are discovering that candidates are being snapped up because their recruitment process simply took too long. Likewise hiring too quickly could mean you hire someone who wasn’t the right ‘fit’. Having a trial day or a second interview could help you determine how the candidate works and gets on with the team.
Take note of your online presence
Regardless of what industry you are in, location or size, a business will more than likely have an online presence. Whether it is controlled by them (eg their website or social media channels), or not (eg Google reviews or Glassdoor reviews), it’s essential that it accurately reflects your company culture.
A recent survey by Zety revealed that 64% of candidates research a company online before they apply. As a result, 37% of candidates would move on to another application if they couldn’t find information on the company they were applying to.
Tailoring the online presence you can control (eg social media) to fit your culture is a lot easier than tailoring the online presence you cannot control, however, that’s not to say it is impossible. For example, on Google reviews or Glassdoor you can encourage existing clients or employees to leave an honest review that reflects you accurately. If you do get a negative review the best approach is to answer it and be transparent, and not ignore it. Take accountability for your mistakes and look to avoid the same mistake in the future, or set the record straight in a polite way if the review doesn’t accurately represent the truth.
Improve internal communication within your business
If multiple teams are involved in the recruitment process, make sure there is communication between them. This means keeping them all kept up to date with recent developments, eg what stages you are at and how many candidates you have. Increasing internal communication can help speed up the recruitment process which in turn can help improve the candidate’s experience.
For support with revamping your recruitment strategy from our team of HR consultants, you can find out about how to work with Bespoke HR here.