3 meaningful ways to use recruitment strategically, especially in turbulent times

Departments such as Operations, Finance and Sales all contribute to making the wheels of business turn on a daily basis.

But focus in the early ‘20s has shifted over to Recruitment. The reason for this is because so many issues affecting businesses are people related.

It might feel like you’re having to bend and flex on a weekly basis to steer a twisting path through factors that are way beyond your control; factors like Brexit (in the UK), hybrid working and WFH, the so-called Great Resignation, skills shortages, war in Ukraine, plus inflation looming large in many leading economies.

But no matter what happens next, you need people in place to help you traverse the rough and the smooth. And you’re better placed to ensure that’s case if you can identify and plug existing and future skills gaps and staff shortages. In short, you need to be confident in your own ability to recruit: –

  • Enough talent
  • Suitable talent

more effectively.

Now, in the absence of a crystal ball, it’s harder to predict what these challenges will be and what measures you’ll need to take to offset them. That’s why it’s all the more important to step your recruitment processes and procedures up a notch.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at how supercharged recruitment helps your business stay future fit for whatever challenges lie ahead.

In addition, we reference a few examples of how digitized recruitment helps you excel. It puts next level features at your fingertips. It elevates your performance. And it enables you to produce superior results that support and underpin your overriding business strategy.

Here’s just a handful of ways that well thought out recruitment keeps you competitive when the chips are veering off in ever-changing directions.

Far Flung or Laser Targeted? Your Role, Your Choice

Why keep wasting your time and money on the same old job boards that aren’t coming up with the goods for you right now? Is it because you’re unsure about what else to do instead?

A great ATS not only tells you exactly which job boards are working for which job types. In addition, it auto-posts your open roles to –

  • Your careers site
  • Your internal site (if you have one or more)
  • The job boards of your choice
  • Your preferred social media platforms

Having the ability to do this – with speed, but without stress or labor-intensity – empowers you to get more strategic. You can take a more tailored to niche vacancies. And, you can get more expansive for roles where you need to attract a higher volume of potential cultural fits to compensate for a shortage of skills-based interest.

A More ‘On Trend’ Application Experience

In a buyer’s market – or a jobseeker’s market, as it currently is in the world of recruitment – your shop window and your customer service need to sparkle. If they don’t, you’re making it too easy for casual and proactive browsers to walk out of your door and through the next one.

So, imagine them getting to the next store, where they’re greeted at the door and welcomed inside. They’re quickly helped to effortlessly find what they’re looking for. They don’t have to stand in line for ages. And, when they reach the checkout, it’s user-friendly for completing a hassle-free purchase.

It’s worth having a walk through your candidate journey, or paying an external consultant to do it for you and provide professional feedback. There might be obstacles that you aren’t aware or, or that have been there for so long that you’ve never given them a second thought. For example –

  • Do candidates have to create an account before they can apply?
  • Are candidates expected to persist through a long and laborious application form?
  • Do sessions expire, meaning they have to start again from scratch?
  • Is duplicate information requested? Are they asked to upload a CV in addition to filling in an application form?
  • Does your application include rafts of similar questions, all demanding that candidates describe their past triumphs, the difference they’ve made in their current role, and the qualities they can bring to their next employer? (It’s all great stuff. But THEY’RE calling the shots here. And you’re throwing your all in to broadening your net to attract ANY remotely suitable candidates at all! Perhaps it’s best to pop the fifth degree back in its box for now?
  • Is it apparent where they can seek help if they’re unsure about completing their application correctly?

If any of the above is making you squirm, fear not. You can get sorted out in no time with an impeccable ATS that enables you to dial your application process up and down to suit the climate and the role.

Cordial and Prompt Automated Communications

There’s only one thing that’s strategically achieved by ghosting candidates during the recruitment process. And that’s disgruntlement about your less than gold standard manners, which is often vented on LinkedIn and other platforms.

Sadly, that’s been the reality for thousands of recruitment teams during the rollercoaster ride of the past couple of years. And its even more disappointing if it’s happened to you when you weren’t even being intentionally dismissive. You were genuinely too over-faced with a million and one other tasks, resulting in a loss of control of your comms.

Well, controlled comms is a no-brainer with a top-notch ATS. You’re in the driving seat to get super strategic, from receiving an application form, to requesting new starter paperwork after your successful candidate has accepted your job offer.

So, have a think about every touchpoint across the candidate journey where you can deploy automated yet sincere comms that will skyrocket your employer branding. For example –

  • Letting them down gently – Just because candidates don’t cut it for one vacancy doesn’t mean they’re complete non-starters for your business per se. On the contrary, they might be your idea of perfection for future vacancies. So, keep them on side by inviting them in to your talent pool, (where you can continue to intermittently delight and entice them with titbits for as long as they wish to remain subscribed).
  • Keeping them out of the dark – There’s nothing worse than being kept in the dark during the recruitment process for a role you’re really keen on. And, from the recruiter’s perspective, you really don’t want to give keen beans any chance to lose interest. A first-rate ATS enables you to keep candidates permanently posted by email, SMS text messages or both, so that they know what to expect next, and when the next steps are due.

At HireRoad, our unmatched ATS – Recruit by HireRoad – loves a challenge. In fact, it comes in to its own during times of economic uncertainties and market turbulence, by marrying your overall business objectives with your people needs. And its impressive digitized features ensure that you aren’t left lagging behind and bogged down in mountains of admin that hold you back from getting strategic, no matter how well-intentioned you are.

Get in touch today if the few examples we’ve shared have piqued your interest. They’re just the tip of the iceberg. We’d love to offer to a demo to show you much, much more.