Many companies approach recruitment like a one-time task – every time. And this is why they have a hard time attracting qualified candidates and hiring the best fit for the role. The Olinio specialists know what these companies lack: a recruitment strategy plan.
Truthfully, creating a recruitment strategy should be one of the core business decisions, just like identifying the ideal clients and marketing channels. Even if you decide to work with a recruitment agency, you still need the basic elements of a hiring strategy and share them with the Olinio team.
This helps us develop the right job ads and tailor the interviewing process to your needs.
So, how do you build a recruitment strategy? Here are the four essential steps:
1. Identify Talent Needs on the Short and Medium Term
Your company needs a recruitment plan from day one. You may be a fledgling startup now, but in one year, you should reach the level of a thriving small business with a core team. What roles will you need to fill?
What about in three years and five years? You should map the growth of your organisational chart just as you are mapping your sales forecast. As you do that, identify core hard and soft skills the ideal candidate must have. Detail daily tasks and responsibilities. Determine hierarchy and collaboration lines.
When you get to the point of hiring a recruitment agency, you have all the relevant information we need to start a successful hiring project.
2. Create and Promote Your Employer Brand
Offering candidates a stable job and a paycheck is no longer enough to attract candidates. Millennials and Gen Z have watched their parents come home from the daily grind full of frustrations and do not want this for themselves.
They want to work for a company that shares their values and outlook on the future. They want to find meaning and fulfilment in their work. Thus, a huge part of creating an effective recruitment strategy plan is building your employer brand.
This means:
- Defining your mission and values
- Defining your office culture
- Infusing all your actions and marketing with these values
- Reaching out to potential candidates in your authentic brand voice
- Taking clear actions that demonstrate your commitment to a healthy office culture.
Effective brand personality examples include Dove – the personal care company that promotes the celebration of diversity in women’s beauty, and McDonald’s – the fast-food brand that offers flexible part-time jobs to teenagers and young people who need to find time for school and work.
3. Create a Fresh Approach to Talent Seeking
Until recently, employers would look at a candidate’s diploma and previous job titles. However, in the Olinio team’s experience, these criteria tend to become irrelevant.
Many young people take an untraditional approach to skill building, through apprenticeships and trying various jobs. In other words, they do not have the diploma, but they can demonstrate the skills you are looking for.
Thus, a smart employee recruitment plan focuses more on what candidates can do than on academics and job titles, which can sometimes be misleading.
4. Include Technology in Your Recruitment Strategy Plan
Let us be realistic: AI is here to stay and will become increasingly more involved in every aspect of work. Candidates already use it to improve their CVs – and even to generate completely fabricated resumes.
Thus, employers must start using modern technology, as well, to weed out these dishonest CVs and to reduce the workload of the HR department when it comes to making the first selection among all applicants.
Also, applicant tracking systems (ATR) are extremely popular among candidates with a proactive approach, who want to go through the pre-screening phase at their own pace.
Olinio can help you create and implement an effective recruitment strategy plan and handle any hiring projects you have. Contact us today and start getting noticed by the best candidates!