In the current hiring climate, candidates are in short supply. Always critical, your recruitment strategy has become even more important. Not only do you need to create a proposition that stands out in a crowded market, but you must make sure your hire is the right one.
Historically, the recruitment process is a standard one. Despite the best efforts of the pandemic to change it, recruitment has always followed quite a standardised process.
No matter how compelling your job ad is, how competitive the salary is, or how flexibly you work, today’s candidates need more than the tried and tested formula. In 2023, employers need to make sure they put in the time and effort to reach and secure the best candidates.
It’s time to get creative with your recruitment strategy!
Creative Recruitment Ideas.
Here are some imaginative recruitment ideas that will help you reach and engage with top candidates.
Reaching out.
Employee testimonials.
This recruitment strategy works to help elevate your employer brand. Employee testimonials give first-hand accounts of why your organisation is a great place to work. Short interviews or monologues with employees from a range of backgrounds, departments, and salary grades can be filmed and hosted on the company website and your social platforms.
Employees could talk about
- Their role and responsibilities
- The company culture
- The company, its ethos, and its mission
- Why they like working for you.
Host “Happy Hiring” events
These semi-informal events give potential candidates a feel for your organisation before they apply. They are designed to inform job seekers and ensure that those who decide to apply share the vision of your business.
For you, it’s a chance to sell your business to a wider audience. For applicants it allows them an opportunity to chat with potential colleagues and get an idea of what working for you may be like.
These in-person events can be advertised across social media or via a direct invite from your recruitment partner.
If you’re open to remote candidates, you may like to host a virtual event. This may include a presentation from the C Suite along with smaller breakout rooms for more personal interactions.
Chatbots.
Does your career page have a chatbot? Chatbots are engaging and can help to answer questions that may dissuade unsuitable candidates and encourage others. Chatbots will be able to answer questions about a role, and the hiring timeline or help candidates to identify the jobs they may be most suited for.
Use messaging.
Text messaging or WhatsApp is the preferred method of communication for some candidates, especially millennials and Gen Z.
If you choose this route, it’s important that you remain professional. Use full sentences, real words – not abbreviations, and proper punctuation. Remember too that this is still a professional interaction, so be sure to work inside conventional business hours.
For top candidates.
Once you have your top two or three, these creative recruitment strategies may be of interest.
Buddy up top candidates with a peer.
Once you have identified your A-grade candidates, a good way of ensuring candidate buy-in is to introduce them to either someone in the role or one that has done the job before.
The candidates may be able to talk more candidly with their peers and ask them the questions they don’t feel they can ask you. Company fit is crucial, and it’s often the case that new hires leave quickly over issues that they have misunderstood or have been miscommunicated. Conversations with peers may help to set expectations before offers are extended.
Shadow interviews.
Shadow interviews give top candidates access to the role, the day-to-day responsibilities of the job, and an insight into the company culture. Whether this is for a few hours or a full day, these are invaluable experiences that expose the applicant to what it is really like to sit at a desk in your organisation, doing the job they’ve applied to do.
These are fact-finding missions for both the candidate and the employer. Applicants get the 360 learning experience, while the employer can evaluate the candidate’s social skills and assess how they would fit in as part of the team.
This would typically be the final part of the hiring process and the deal-breaker. It’s likely at this stage, the technical ability of the remaining candidates is on a par. It’ll be the cultural fit that reveals the ideal hire.
Organisational strategy.
Showcase your organisational priorities.
Candidates want to work at companies that are ethically principled. This includes things like an organisational commitment to DEI or sustainability, for example.
You should use your website and social platforms to address these commitments and provide statistical evidence that you are meeting your targets in these areas. Remember to be authentic, and include all the information, not just the areas where you are succeeding.
The takeaways.
Engaging top candidates amid a tight jobs market is difficult. No matter how compelling your job description, how well it’s written for Google jobs, or how brilliant the SEO, today’s candidates require you to work harder for their attention.
Once you have it, your hiring process needs to be imaginative; one that secures real buy-in and gives candidates a true insight into the organisation, its values, and its bigger mission.
For you, an interactive hiring process allows you to be sure about your decision. Hiring is expensive, costing a significant amount of money, time, and resources. These creative recruitment ideas will ensure you get a better return on your investment.
