3 simple ways to transform your talent attraction strategy
Jaime Ramos
We brought our team of Talent Specialists together to create a checklist to help recruiters navigate through the number one hiring problem faced today across organizations of all sizes: attracting qualified talent.
🥇Defining your employer brand to transform your talent attraction strategy
The first task on your checklist is to define your employer brand. Make sure that it’s clear, visible and easily accessible, and understood by applicants. Why do we do this? Because this is what makes your organization stand out from the rest. And, of course, transform your talent attraction strategy.
In today’s candidate-centric market, applicants should clearly understand why your organization exists. And also what it offers, and where it’s headed. So that they can better envision themselves being a part of the team.
Vision, Mission, and Values
It’s not cliche – we promise. Firstly, every company was built around a set of visions, missions, and values for a good reason. It’s what keeps organizations grounded through the good and the bad, focusing primarily on why they exist. In other words, That’s a pretty important piece of information candidates should have in hand when searching for job opportunities.
So let’s break it down:
- Vision Statement: The company’s desired future position for the business.
- Mission Statement: The definition of a company’s current business state and objectives.
- Value Statements: Describe what your organization believes in and how it behaves.
The mission statement truly supports the company’s vision and together, they communicate the company’s purpose. As statistics have shown us, employees are making purpose-driven decisions about their career choices.
Values are statements that describe what your organization believes in and how it behaves. Above all, they should be deeply ingrained principles that guide all of the company’s actions. And these can never be compromised. Values help define your organizational culture and environment, setting the tone for newcomers and maintaining company order.
With all this in mind, your organization’s vision, mission, and values should be front in center in your hiring process.
Besides, being showcased on your company careers page, it can also be truly touched upon throughout your recruitment process, through videos, images, and more.
Culture and workplace
The company’s culture refers to the attitudes and behaviors that your organization and its employees have. Like work environment, leadership style, attitudes, expectations, and goals.
In other words, your company most likely has its own culture that was originally founded around organizational values, but transformed itself naturally into what it is today.
So,company culture may be hard to put in words. But can easily be seen when observing your workplace’s actions and behaviors.
A good way to give your applicants a first-hand look at your company is to add employee testimonials on your careers page. This can be done with images or videos, depending on how much marketing support you have internally.
How do you support your employees’ development and well-being?
Firstly, businesses that can communicate the support they give their employees on both a professional and personal level take the lead when it comes to attracting talent. Think about the actions your company takes to help its employees. And, of course, bring these efforts to life throughout your application process.
Here are examples of professional support that you may offer:
- Employee-specific development plan
- Learning and development offerings
- Mentorship opportunities
- Rotational Programs
Here are examples of personal support that you may offer:
- Well-being programs and incentives
- Flexible work program
- Work-life balance benefits
- Tuition / Student Loan assistant
Benefits
To remain competitive in today’s market you must offer smart benefits that are conducive to your future talent’s lifestyle. Many of these benefits are industry standard and expected by candidates, others not so much.
Having a mix of industry-standard benefits and ‘out-of-the-box ones is what will set your company apart from others. Don’t forget to display these benefits creatively, by listing the straightforward ones and highlighting the different ones!
Industry Standard Benefits may include:
- Health, Dental, vision insurance
- Paid Time Off
- Work from home options
- Paid Maternity/Paternity leave
“Out-of-the-box” benefits may include:
- Free gym membership / On-site gym
- Free day-case services
- Employee outings/team bonding events
- Unlimited Vacation
Development & Personal Benefits
Businesses that can communicate the support they give their employees on both a professional and personal level take the lead when it comes to attracting talent.
Think about the actions your company takes to help its employees. And also bring these efforts to life throughout your application process.
Here are examples of professional support that you may offer:
- Employee-specific development plan
- Learning and development offerings
- Mentorship opportunities
- Rotational Programs
Here are examples of personal support that you may offer:
- Well-being programs and incentives
- Flexible work program
- Work-life balance benefits
- Tuition / Student Loan assistant
🥈 Writing the perfect job description and improve your talent attraction strategy
After that, the next step to this framework is to learn about the elements that make a job description your applicants won’t forget.
The 5 main elements of an unforgettable job description 💡
1- Begin your description with a brief introduction:
By using 3-4 sentences, begin your job description by describing the position. And how it contributes to your company’s objective and mission.
2- When describing your job activities focus on purpose and impact:
Use 5-7 bullet points to describe your position’s responsibilities and requirements in a way that is engaging to your candidate. The goal in this section of your description is to help applicants understand why these activities are important. And, clearly, how the role impacts the overall company mission.
Here’s the magic formula to do this :
Position Activity + Purpose
Example:
Instead of: Execute the strategic design for Europe teams
Use: You’ll also build upon our company’s vision to conduct all of the strategic design efforts for our Europe teams. Expanding our mission to reach consumers worldwide.
3- When describing job requirements, focus on cultural fit and improve your talent attraction strategy!
Your job requirements should also be outlined in 5-7 bullet points. Be listed in a way that ties your candidate in with your company culture and workplace environment.
Here’s the magic formula to do this :
Position Requirement + Why your company needs this
Example:
Instead of: Leadership Experience
Use: You have significant leadership, training, and management experience. With a design team that focuses on consumer products to delegate tasks appropriately and organize a design roadmap.
4- List your benefits (yes, again!)
Then, even though you might have mentioned all the great benefits offered by your company on the careers page, on the other hand, many candidates may land on your job description without seeing anything beforehand.
That’s why it’s important to make a list of all the benefits your company offers after you’ve outlined position requirements.
5- End your description by convincing candidates that they’ll miss an amazing opportunity if they don’t apply!
Your job description should end with a BAM! and leave your candidates excited about the job opportunity. Highlight your company culture, environment, and your future. In this closing conclusion, remind candidates what your mission is all about.
Some companies use this moment to explain their recruitment process and align expectations with interested applicants. This is a great way to give candidates the transparency they deserve from the beginning of your process. And, of course, leave them engaged throughout the way.
Spotify does an excellent job in doing this at the end of their job description and on their careers page. It’s worth taking a look and getting inspired.
🥉 Using marketing tools to attract talent candidates
To finish, the last tip is to invest in marketing tools to bring more visitors to the great careers page you’ve created. Wink wink!
Recruitment Marketing isn’t just used as a buzzword anymore. It’s an essential strategy to add to your talent attraction toolbox.
So, here are some important tips to get started in Recruitment Marketing:
✔️Make sure your ATS / Recruitment platform is posting your jobs on major job boards. Including on your company’s LinkedIn profile!
✔️Create a referral program and other incentive programs with internal employees to fill positions.
✔️ Integrate your recruitment platform with sourcing tools to also target passive candidates
✔️ Create nurture email campaigns for your talent pipelines
✔️Finally, set a small budget aside for video creation, career page design/updates, job board sponsorships, and other action items. In fact, that will help you put this framework into action!
We’re here to support you every step of the way!
With so many blogs about talent attraction, we understand that it can be very overwhelming to decide which strategy is best for you.
Just remember that our team of specialists is here to help you by understanding your needs. In the same way, we can offer expert advice, tools or simply point you in the right direction. So you can reach your hiring goals.
Want learn more? Reach out to our team!