Hire Like a Boss With 4 Simple Steps

Implementing these four approaches can provide a competitive edge in the recruitment market

The latest figures from Stats NZ revealed that unemployment has risen in the last quarter across New Zealand, but it is only a very slight uplift since reaching its lowest in 11 years earlier this year. These record lows are a great reflection of the strength of the kiwi economy and the employability of its people.

But with low unemployment comes high competition for great talent. Couple that with multiple other changing market factors, such as an increasingly transient workforce, a growing gig economy and widening skills gaps, and it’s clear why recruitment is becoming a challenge.

Now’s the time to find new, more engaging and more efficient ways of identifying and attracting the best talent.

Here we dig into four recommended approaches to creating a competitive recruitment process.

1. Use recruitment marketing

Arguably the most talked-about, and successful, recruitment marketing examples seen in New Zealand have been the NZ Police recruitment videos. These videos gave the organisation a personality and enabled it to speak to a vast audience in a relatable and memorable way. And they worked. While around $1.1 million is reported to have been spent by NZ Police on their recruitment marketing efforts, the latest video, Breaking News, encouraged more than 2,000 kiwis to take the first step to become a police officer.

While budget constraints might mean we can’t all develop such a high-profile campaign, there are cost-effective steps that you can take to begin your recruitment marketing efforts and build your employer brand. Most important, is understanding exactly where the talent you want to attract is. Don’t assume the best candidates for your role will see your job ad; you need to show up where they are and treat them like sales leads, nurturing them early to build trust rather than waiting until there is an urgent need to fill a role.

2. Manage your online reputation

A big part of successful recruitment in today’s market involves leveraging social media and online platforms. And we don’t just mean pushing out posts about your vacancies via your company’s profiles, but also how you build and manage your employer brand online.

Using social accounts and search engines such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, candidates can now quickly and easily do their own research into a company, its culture, and what people are saying about it online.

According to a study by global online employment website, CareerBuilder, 64% of candidates will research a company online after finding a job vacancy, and 34% will move on to another opportunity if they can’t find enough information about the company. So, it’s critical to know that you have enough of the right information available in the right places online.

3. Personalise your hiring

The experience you offer a candidate can have a significant impact on:

• the likelihood that they’ll maintain an interest in the role they’ve applied for;
• whether they would recommend your company as an employer to their network;
• their overall impression of the brand and, therefore, their feelings towards it as a potential customer.

Offering the best candidate experience requires personalisation. A one-size-fits-all approach is outdated and will also do little to support your diversity and inclusion efforts.

Personalisation doesn’t just mean addressing all communication to the individual candidate, but also ensuring that all steps in the recruitment process are specific and relevant to the role they’ve applied for. As is so rightly pointed out in this recent Forbes article, “One person might be a millennial. But she is also an introvert, a morning person, a trained economist, a city-dweller, a high potential employee.”

So, it’s also not just about what you communicate with your candidates about the role and your business, but also the questions you ask them to better understand their unique skills and expertise.

4. Embrace automation and data-driven insights

Technology offers a wealth of opportunity to add efficiency and insights to your hiring. Recent research from Gartner found that the average time taken to make a new hire was 33 days, which is a massive 84% increase since 2010. Turning old admin-heavy processes into recruitment tools that can be initiated at the click of a button, will not only improve this time-to-hire, but also create a database of knowledge about every candidate you meet.

Lisa Collins, the Head of Partnerships at SnapHire, is passionate about the power of recruitment data and told us: “At SnapHire we believe a recruitment process involving tech-driven data reduces administrative effort, speeding up the flow of information and making recruitment easy for all parties involved. The world of work has changed and recruitment teams who focus on the candidate experience can set themselves apart as employers of choice. Productivity gains that come from using quality HR tech and automating time-consuming activities allow recruiters to focus on adding value and behaving more strategically. It's a win-win."