Trends in Talent Acquisition & Executive
Recruitment
Improving the employee/executive experience and effective uses of data and analytics continues. The effective executive knows that data often "lags" the market. Thus, the use of the right questions, the need for demonstrated leadership and a track record of increased productivities continues.
Employers will need to increase their talent acquisition and executive recruitment "branding" to insure their new employee proposition effectively appeals to job candidates…it must market, sell and differentiate your company
Further, recruitment marketing is not about automating everything in HR and reducing the workforce. But it is about increasing the effectiveness of your standard talent acquisition and recruitment approach using tailored consumer-marketing strategies, tactics, and approaches to more effectively “market” organizations and "sell" employment opportunities to potential candidates. Your HR department during talent acquisition and executive recruiting initiatives should be considered as your "sales arm" to help your department executives "close" and "on board" prospective job candidates,
Innovative employers are exploring the recruitment of experienced professionals who, in essence, lead a small team or "work group" whose role is act as an innovative, experienced and results oriented driver--that behaves like "a lean startup team" or "individual project manager"--to help drive and launch an initiative through your internal organization and external business. Traditionally, jobs were organized by role – HR people worked with HR people; IT people with IT. But in a “new workplace” these "work groups" or "individual project managers" have more-defined jobs and they move from project to project, instead of always working on a specific team.
Best Interviewing & Talent Acquisition Practices:
Improve Your Team’s Candidate Selling Capabilities...
Start by selecting an Executive Recruiter & Talent Acquisition consultant
with demonstrated selling skills and/or select one who has managed direct
sales teams. Consultatively and selectively selling qualified candidates
will accelerate and improve your recruiting timeframes.
Job Descriptions should accurately describe the work traits, demonstrated achievements and capabilities of the open position. It should also "sell" without being misleading. Why is being aware of this trend becoming increasingly critical? There are many job candidates currently available. The "key" is to source and qualify those candidates into short list of those who can exceed the requirements of the job. Many candidates who were initially interested will lose interest if the Description is dull or poorly written. Top candidates require a well written, upbeat, succinct and exciting Job Description. Whatever is written will be assumed to be current and an accurate description of the current opening. Inaccurate Job Descriptions can also lead to increased new hire turnover if what they find early on the actual job is different than what was written or described during the front end of the recruiting process.
If you’re having difficulty finding diverse, specialized market or demographic specific job candidates to fill a specialized job or vertical market need, consider using one of your own diverse or market specific employees to rewrite the Job Description so that it is friendlier and appealing to your targeted diversity group, market, etc.
Candidate “On Boarding” Experiences
Hiring executives and executive recruiters have become more conscious of their job candidate’s “pre and post” interviewing experiences. What is trending? We are seeing companies adding new candidate "hiring services" in order to attract and close their top job candidates with additional candidates “touches” and interactions with your company, your hiring executive, etc. A suggestion to improve your interviewing process: consider designing it to make a better lasting impression on those who will become employees. Candidate services and courtesies should become more tailored and personalized. Direct involvement by hiring executives and your HR staff with their top one or two job candidates should be structured or improved to “humanize” your top candidate’s interviewing experience.
It is more than simply using technology to send a confirmation text about an upcoming interview. It could include “relevant” company news, investor relation news, specific departmental news, relevant “wins” or “deals”, information about and directions to the interviewing location and parking, notification to a receptionist or assigned greeter of a candidate’s name and who they will be meeting with during the corporate visit, interviewing participants should be reminded of their need to eliminate interviewing distractions before the candidate is in your office, giving a special tour of various departments, including a breakfast or lunch session to create a relaxed environment to further access a candidate, communicating your company’s “value” proposition”, focusing more on the “post interview” process or “touches” that are designed to facilitate their hiring, providing a verbal description of their specific offer process, company benefits, relocation services if applicable--are all possible experiences that will help “close” your top candidates. And, to eliminate duplication, coordinate in advance what you and your team will do and what your Executive Recruiter will do.
Executive Search Tools: Smartphone & Handheld Devices Uses
Since their launch, potential employers have reported that their uses of Smartphones, Tablets and other mobile handheld devices have resulted in improved access to potential job candidates and timely replies. Further, employers and potential job candidates have reported that these devices add convenience and acceleration to the entire hiring and executive recruitment administrative process—from the initial contact through the "offer acceptance" stages. The majority of job candidates (90%) report that they still create a resume or professional summary using their personal computer.
Job candidates (67%) have also reported that after using their PC to create or update a resume, they use their mobile devices often exclusively from that point on, including facilitating online video (face to face) conference call interviews, viewing company job description videos and other company posted materials. Most job candidates report using their handheld devices created a higher sense of connection and involvement to the hiring process.
These same job candidates (55%) often report a not so surprising negative: Smartphone's and other mobile handheld devices are not very useful when a company requires a company specific online employment application to be completed.
Internet TMD: Too Much Data
Today, there is a great deal of job candidate information available through the internet. For many recruiters, there is too much data out there and they bog down in a data loop. As your search Advisor…we are more than just a big data analyst firm. We blend our thirty plus years of senior industry executive "on the job" experiences, with a "smart sourcing" methodology…meaning we employ an industry specific and targeted recruiting approach utilizing all relevant resources--from professional associations, comprehensive databases, social media networking & marketing and we utilize professional sites like LinkedIn—to locate and qualify "passive" (job candidates who are currently not looking for a new role) and "active" job candidates resulting in a vetted pool of talented and qualified job candidates to fit our client's talent needs.
Improve Your Team’s Candidate Selling Capabilities...
Start by selecting an Executive Recruiter & Talent Acquisition consultant
with demonstrated selling skills and/or select one who has managed direct
sales teams. Consultatively and selectively selling qualified candidates
will accelerate and improve your recruiting timeframes.
Job Descriptions should accurately describe the work traits, demonstrated achievements and capabilities of the open position. It should also "sell" without being misleading. Why is being aware of this trend becoming increasingly critical? There are many job candidates currently available. The "key" is to source and qualify those candidates into short list of those who can exceed the requirements of the job. Many candidates who were initially interested will lose interest if the Description is dull or poorly written. Top candidates require a well written, upbeat, succinct and exciting Job Description. Whatever is written will be assumed to be current and an accurate description of the current opening. Inaccurate Job Descriptions can also lead to increased new hire turnover if what they find early on the actual job is different than what was written or described during the front end of the recruiting process.
If you’re having difficulty finding diverse, specialized market or demographic specific job candidates to fill a specialized job or vertical market need, consider using one of your own diverse or market specific employees to rewrite the Job Description so that it is friendlier and appealing to your targeted diversity group, market, etc.