Just like any other industry, recruitment has seen some great changes over the years.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to recognize and adapt to change. With hiring processes slowing down during the summer, now is the best time to leave behind obsolete recruitment practices and switch to the latest strategies.
Here Are 5 Recruitment Practices You Need to Drop
1. Prioritizing New Talent over Retaining Existing Talent
There has been a record wave of voluntary employee resignations over the past year—better known as the Great Resignation.
Employees worldwide are quitting their jobs, leaving employers struggling to find new talent.
While candidates gain control in the labor market, employers offer higher compensation and benefits to remain competitive and attract quality talent.
But with so much emphasis on hiring new talent, you’ll risk losing your existing talent without a proper plan for employee retention.
If you focus on building a solid retention plan from the beginning of the hiring process, you won’t have to worry about constantly searching for new talent. Your attrition rate will automatically reduce, and quality candidates will eventually fill your recruitment database.
2. Relying Completely on Traditional Recruiting Methods
Traditional recruiting practices may have been reliable over the years, but they have their pitfalls—especially with modern and innovative strategies proving to be more effective.
With the emergence of technology and digitized recruitment, modern recruitment methods are opening new arenas of hiring. As recruiters, you need to be more flexible (and open!) about adopting the latest tech and using it to your advantage when you need it.
Old habits die hard, and letting go of something that you have practiced for a long could be painful, but it’s time to blend the old and the new for the best results.
For example, sourcing a software developer will require modern solutions like specialized job aggregator sites, including GitHub or StackOverflow. On the other hand, if you’re filling a clerical or administrative role, conventional tactics like cold calling might just work perfectly.
3. Failing to Nurture Past Candidates
Candidates who have shown interest in the past are nothing but gold in your pipeline! Keeping those lines of communication open is a massive benefit.
Not every candidate will be readily available for a position when they are approached. But not getting any details or even a referral means you have lost a potential hire.
Effectively nurturing your candidates involve reaching out to them with the right message at the right time and keeping them engaged and interested in you and your client.
The candidates that arrive at your doorstep today may not be hired now, but you can always reconsider them for future roles allowing you to build a vast network of candidates.
4. Sticking to Impersonal Messaging
A generic, automated message might be the easy way out, but candidates are likely to ignore it, especially if they aren’t actively searching for a new role.
If you want to grab their attention, ditch the generic one-size-fits-all approach and try hyper-personalizing your outreach.
LinkedIn reports that personalized InMails perform 15% better than generalized bulk messages.
So if there’s a prospect who appeals to you, take the time to add a personal touch when reaching out.
Personalized communication shows that the candidate is valued and is not just another potential lead on your list—leading to a higher probability of that candidate responding to you.
Show them that you’ve done your research by addressing their career changes or latest achievements.
5. Only Sourcing Local Talent
Gone are the 9-5 in-office days!
The emergence of flexibility and remote work models has left several employees unwilling to return to the traditional work model.
As many as 59% of workers would choose an employer offering remote work over those who don’t.
Now just imagine the amount of talent you’re missing out on by neglecting remote workers!
With job seekers expecting remote work to be a standard norm, it’s high time employers embrace a global workforce to combat local talent shortages and remain competitive in the war for talent.
Fortunately, we live in the age of advanced technology, where countless tools are available to help you glide smoothly in the competitive job market.
Using tools like Applicant Tracking Systems and CRMs effectively can help you stay ahead of the competition and streamline remote hiring processes.
You’re all set if you let go of these five recruitment practices and ensure regular review of your existing plan to understand what’s working and which processes need improvement.
Happy recruiting!
