The advent of digitization has sprung forth a paradigm shift in recruitment methodologies.
Today, the emphasis is not only upon inducting the right talent, but also upon sustaining company’s brand on a daily basis. Human Resources, has transformed itself from a back-office advisory body to a key participant at the ‘High Table’. Today’s Human Resources stands fully integrated with their company’s business functions. With a steep decline in the average time spent by an employee with an organization, the key challenge facing companies is to keep their workforce loyal while recruiting quality talent. Thus, ‘Employee’ has become the focus of all new initiatives. Better work environment, employee benefits etc. are some measures engaged by organizations to influence employee retention. Let us discuss the various avenues within this Digital Age:
Look Within: Employees are the best advocates for any organization. Having worked with the company, they are aware of the company culture and more importantly, the kind of skills their prospective colleagues must possess. While we broadcast positive feedback from our clients; Employee testimonials and achievements should be utilized to drum-up the company’s perception in the eyes of prospects. Nothing makes a company attractive than the sheer Employee Satisfaction within its workforce. Employees will also be able to answer the fundamental question – What’s in it for the fresh recruits? Creating one-touch feedback system, making top performers ‘the face of the organization’ through videos testimonials and advertisements are a few ways to impress interest within the organization. One could also consider influencing the frequency of Employee Referrals. The underlying thought being, if an employee is comfortable within their respective profiles, s/he would voluntarily refer their circle to future job openings. As these prospects are aware about the company; the time to hire gets greatly reduced.
Leverage Social Media & Behavioral Analysis: Most of the current & potential workforce is present on at least one Social Media(SM) platform. Investing in analytics has becomes a natural choice for an organization. One could term it as a ‘passive interaction’. As information is shared both ways, each party is expected to research before moving forward in the recruitment process. Do note that Social Media Recruitment will never replace the HRMS, instead supplement it. By analyzing the interests of people, the content they post etc. organizations can generate a Digital Personality of the individuals and shortlist those in line with their expectations. The implementation of HRMS tools enables data collection. The degree of data-collection and its interpretation differs from organization to organization. For example: today we have tools that map and analyze the facial expressions and the behavioral changes during an online interview. Thus, technology can estimate employee behavior like – when or why would an employee likely leave an organization. Companies however, should clearly define and strictly enforce rules against misuse of information or overstepping of one’s brief.
Keep it Simple: With recruitment is becoming more candidate-driven, it behooves of an HRMS to be simple. A complex system will ask irrelevant or seek too much information, be time-consuming and shall turn away candidates. Subsequently, this will have an impact on the company costs in terms of misplaced investment, time wastage and ensures that great talents give a miss to their job applications. Most HRMS are now equipped with AI-tools that read the trickiest of CVs with automated filling of parameters. Interview processes should be precise and self-explanatory. With candidates applying to multiple organizations, it is but natural for them to compare processes across organizations.
Brand promotion: The most visible addition to today’s HR functions is the absorption of ‘marketing’ methodologies. Organizations engage with candidates on a daily basis. In the digital world, portraying a positive image of organization is the key challenge. As the content consumed by an average job-seeker increases, organizations should be agile to generate promotions, competitions and other ways to converse with candidates. A well-thought out digital strategy ensures candidates are at ease with the ‘culture’ of the organization. Emphasizing on Search Engine Optimization(SEO), Targeted Recruitment Advertising are the most basic of digital approaches. Companies could start by asking basic questions like – Who is the target audience. How to ensure they are the top choice for job applicants within this audience? How quickly is this organization notifying updates to their target audience? How do they manage negative comments?
