hiring super stars: best practices to attract and engage top talent.

Companies spend millions each year to create detailed sales and marketing strategies to show their customers why and how they are better than the competition. But what about potential employees? The truth is, in today’s candidate-driven market, engaging potential employees is similar to building customer relationships. It is not as simple as asking for resumes. Hiring managers need to think about engaging candidates across the end-to-end process - job search, application, interview, and on-boarding. According to a recent study, organisations that invest in a strong candidate experience improve their quality of hires by 70%.

Here are five hiring best practices that will help you create a more positive experience for candidates, improve offer acceptance rate, and build your organisation’s reputation as a great place to work:

1. create a good first impression

Today, job seekers apply for multiple jobs simultaneously and are willing to wait for the best-fit opportunity. The beginning of the application process is critical to building the right connection and offering a well-rounded view of the role as well as your company. Many working professionals spend significant time researching a company before applying and/or interviewing for a role.

Use the corporate website to convey your company’s culture, values, and personality through simple language. On the career pages of your website, make sure you clearly communicate why the candidate should choose you, and focus on career progression and how they can contribute to organisational goals. Streamline and shorten the actual application process and make it easy for people to apply.

Today, professionals use mobile devices to view a career site and use job apps for uploading resumes. Building mobile-optimised career sites and mobile-friendly job posts is therefore essential to a digital recruitment and candidate engagement strategy.

2. conduct efficient interviews

Interviews aren’t just about getting to know candidates but also offering them an opportunity to find out if your organisation is right for them. Train all interviewers to communicate the company’s mission and values accurately, and be open and honest about what it's going to be like to work for your company.

If you have a process of multiple interviews, try and club the rounds to shorten the process. In a candidate driven market, it makes sense to not prolong the interview process beyond one working day.

The interview is also a good opportunity to introduce top applicants to the team they will be joining, and help them get first-hand understanding of their role. You could also get creative with how you conduct interviews. For instance you could use Twitter to create buzz around specific roles or projects.

3. use social media to break communication barriers

Millennials are likely to make up a significant portion of the workforce in the future, and companies will have to find innovative ways to communicate and connect with this highly plugged-in generation. Facebook and LinkedIn are perfect platforms to differentiate yourself from competitors. Use targeted advertisements for specific demographics and enable candidates to connect with peers and current employees through ‘talent communities’ to promote your employer brand. Include short and engaging videos to communicate your work culture and the day-to-day life of an employee. Think about using your existing employees to talk about their experience and what they enjoy about their job. Motivate your employees to leverage their social media network to share job openings.

4. use on-boarding programs to reinforce your culture and brand

A strong on-boarding program reinforces the company’s brand and culture and directly influences employee morale and performance. It can improve new hire retention and productivity. Effective on-boarding allows new hires to better align themselves with their new role and contribute to business goals. To streamline on-boarding and save time, automate the form filling and policy education processes. Leverage gamification and contests to make training a more interactive experience. Design team-building and mentorship programs to support new hires and create a stronger sense of ownership and loyalty.

5. use hiring to build relationships with potential employees

While technology will make hiring a lot more seamless in the digital age, companies that forge a personal connection with their candidates are more likely to win the talent war. Hiring is clearly the first step in creating a strong talent pipeline. By building trust and transparency at every touch point, you can ensure that prospective employees add real value to your business.content-page-editor.