Top 7 Efficient Ways of Engaging Candidates
Every company has different strategies of recruiting and engaging candidates for their business. Techniques have had to change in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote work. Even though many thought these changes would be temporary, it looks like they are here to stay.
For many businesses, virtuality has taken over, and new workflows have been implemented. Some have found new and improved ways to recruit and engage with customers, especially understanding that candidates can now be anywhere with remote work.
Top 7 Strategies of Engaging Candidates in 2021
Here are some of the best ways to engage with candidates and create fantastic work relationships since the get-go:
1. Constantly recruit the best people before you have the need.
Learning from experience allows us to move forward. 2020 showed us that thinking, and planning would enable your business to thrive and stay on top of things.
Recruiting and searching for the right talent before they are needed is essential to being ahead. Instead of waiting until your company asks for a position that needs to be filled, make a list of the most often required positions and constantly look for talented candidates to fill them.
Constantly recruiting candidates also allows companies to optimize their talent pool, increase employee satisfaction, enable backfilling of positions, and decrease turnover.
2. Strive to create optimized candidate experiences.
Candidates are searching for personalization, agility, inclusivity, and transparency. Once they find these four critical aspects within their overall experience, they'll be prone to work with the company. Here's where recruiters chime in and create experiences that involve new engagement tactics, with technology at its forefront.
Having a simple, clear, and fast hiring process creates a key differentiator for your business. It allows your candidates to reduce stress derived from uncertainty and manage all kinds of expectations from the beginning of the process.
The sense of urgency and the need for agile recruiting and hiring processes has increased significantly during the past few months. Since the economy is slowly recovering from the pandemic's effects, candidates are eager to get back on track and start working.
3. Make your brand attractive, and candidates will want to reach out.
Communicating your brand story constantly throughout your various social media platforms, website, and other available channels will allow your candidates to get to know your business.
It's not just about communicating what you do and how you do it. It's more about the why. Explaining your story to create empathy and understanding will allow you to seem more relatable, which will attract your candidates.
4. Encourage your recruiting team and employees to use social media.
Having other people talking about your business is incredibly valuable, especially when it comes from your employees since they know firsthand how things work in your company. They are subject matter experts in their fields.
Leveraging your employee's knowledge allows you to create engaging content regularly while communicating your company's expertise, attracting candidates, and building a recruiting pipeline.
Recruitment campaigns on social media are also a helpful tool that can attract candidates easily. These social media campaigns should include video content (hopefully including actual employee testimonials) or different trending content types.
5. Create user-friendly company websites with a helpful "Careers" page.
Websites are platforms where companies can showcase their entire product offering or services. It's the best space to talk about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Often these sections are difficult to navigate – simplify as much as possible!
It's also a place where candidates can search for helpful information about your company and apply to any of your vacancies. Having a tremendous career-focused FAQs section will help candidates understand your entire hiring process and precisely what they need to work with your company.
6. Use other methods of communication like phone calls instead of emails.
Candidates are searching for more personalized processes. Instead of sending them the same monotonous email that doesn't engage, make a phone call and talk to your candidates.
Creating dialogue and a conversation with candidates will help you get to know them and understand their expectations and communicate yours. These conversations must seem natural, not scripted.
7. Create a great employee referral program.
Creating a robust referral program is essential to obtain a more extensive candidate base. Your employees understand how your company works; therefore, their referrals will know how everything works and the skills they need to become part of the company, which means that the best candidates can come from your employees.
Recruitment and hiring processes have shifted in the past year. Companies must start incorporating new strategies that create greater engagement, allowing candidates to have all the information they need throughout a personalized and agile process.
Kathy Monroy is an experienced Communications Specialist and Journalist. Driven to go above and beyond, Kathy produces high-quality content specializing in transportation and logistics, marketing, sales, and technology. Her goals include becoming an expert and an authority in her line of work, always providing her audience with the most relevant and useful information.
