Today, the candidate experience is increasingly a pivotal touchpoint between talent and employer. Once an afterthought, this journey is now regarded as a holistic element of the employer branding strategy. Unfortunately, while most organizations know what type of people they need, they often don't know how to talk to them, meaning they won't be able to reach them and reel in the talent they need.
Unless companies find a way to bypass this problem, it can grow to limit their talent pool and harm their company overall. Fortunately, it's possible to figure out what your target audience needs, what they're talking about and how you can use this information to communicate with them the right way. In addition to letting you snag the best talent in the talent pool, this also helps you stay ahead of your competition and strengthen your brand identity across the board.
how you attract the best talent
Sourcing talent is one of the most difficult aspects of running a business. Today, getting the right applicants for a position involves much more than just posting a job opening and sitting back. Instead, you need to work on creating a strong employer brand and communicate in the right way to become a buzzed-about company that talent actively seeks out.
Fortunately, it's possible to streamline that process by communicating with talent in such a way that they want to apply to your company. For instance you should use your job postings as a way to help would-be applicants interpret the culture of your company, and decide it's a place they'd like to be part of. This requires compelling job descriptions that not only speak to applicants in their language but are also seen on the channels your target audience frequents. With this in mind, companies that want to find the best talent pool for their ranks can benefit by starting with the following approaches:
- Make connections as soon as possible. If you're in the market for skilled young grads, it will benefit your business to make contact with them as soon as possible. Seventy-two percent of 2015 college grads had internships or apprenticeships while in college, and these are likely to morph into full-time positions after graduation unless you contact this in-demand talent early.
- Audit your hiring process. Again, while it's all well and good to know who you want to work with, it won't count for much unless you know how to communicate with those people effectively. One of the most critical places for you to communicate with your talent is during the hiring process. With this in mind, audit your hiring approaches regularly. Connect applicant feedback and make adjustments where needed. In addition to helping you improve your onboarding methods, this will also make it easier to retain more quality talent.
- Hone your company culture, and be public about it. Today, employees often want to work in a company with a distinct own culture, and broadcasting your culture in an authentic fashion is an excellent way to speak directly to your target audience. Companies like Zappos and Google are great examples of businesses with fun and highly publicized culture.