A baking mishap reminded me of a common mistake in recruiting. The baker, my cousin, decided to take some liberties with a bread recipe. Instead of measuring the ingredients, she eyeballed it, adding generous portions of her favourites. Then she decided to knead the dough for half the amount of time called for in the recipe.

The result—a chewy gritty lump that tasted nothing like bread.

Baking is a science. Follow the recipe and you’ll get a positive result. The same is true in recruiting. There’s a science to getting a good result. Skip a step or fail to follow a proven process and you end up with lacklustre candidates and unfilled jobs.

Yes, there’s an art to being good at recruiting, especially when it comes to the day-to-day aspects of the job, but that never outweighs the importance of the strategic ingredients required for success.

Here are seven frequent recruiting mistakes, and how you can avoid them.

Mistake #1

Drawing in too little or too much talent

This first mistake is the most common. Many companies aren’t drawing in enough quality candidates, blaming the skills shortage as the problem. Some organisations draw in too many people who are underqualified, typically as a result of an unhealthy reliance on automation. Both of these extremes make recruiting labour intensive and filling open jobs a challenge.

Generating a continuous supply of top talent requires leveraging all eight talent streams. Organisations that maximise all eight recruit faster, fill positions more efficiently, and effortlessly create pipelines of top talent for future openings.

Mistake #2

Having unrealistic hiring criteria

It’s common to throw everything but the kitchen sink into your hiring criteria. Making a quality hire is vital and starts with deciding who you’ll select. Unfortunately, the extreme importance of hiring right the first time has led leaders to be overly restrictive about who they’ll consider for a job. This limits the talent pool and keeps positions open for a long time.

There’s a simple way to create accurate hiring criteria—seek proof. Review all of the people who’ve succeeded in the role. Look for the patterns among their skills, experiences, and personality traits. Make those your hiring criteria and leave the kitchen sink where it belongs.

Mistake #3

Getting overly attached to one candidate

Falling in love isn’t just the plot line in romantic movies, it’s why the recruiting process in many companies becomes a drama. It often plays out like this… A superb candidate is found for the job, someone you fall in love with. “She’s the one,” you say.  As a result, the recruiting effort comes to a screeching halt. When it turns out she isn’t the one, a mad dash ensues as you scramble to find more candidates.

Instead of falling in love with people, it’s better to become enamoured with a process that keeps talent flowing. Some organisations refer to that as practicing their ABC’s, as in Always Be Cultivating talented people even after you think you’ve found “the one.”

Mistake #4

Becoming too reliant upon one resource

Most recruiters have a preferred stream of talent. For many, it’s referrals. They see referrals as the gold standard of recruiting, believing that this is the best way to find high-quality people.

While it’s true that referrals are gold, it’s just one of the eight streams of talent. Some of the streams provide overlapping access to the same candidates. However, no single stream can draw in all of the available quality people. That’s why it’s important to keep tapping into all eight.

Mistake #5

Waiting until a job opens to recruit

It’s not if there’s going to be a job opening, but when. That’s why the most successful organisations plan for the when.

How are these companies planning for the inevitable? They’re shifting from the old way of hiring (keeping a job open until the right person shows up) into the new way of hiring (lining up talented people and waiting for the right job to open). They start with one core role, filling currently open positions and cultivating talent for when that job opens again. Then they move on to the next role. And then the next. And then the next.

Mistake #6

Creating ads and posts that are boring

The majority of job listings read like typical ad copy. That’s why these posts fail to hold the interest of top talent. The mundane content creates a negative first impression, repelling quality candidates.

What kind of content captures and keeps attention? Details about how working in your organisation has improved lives and careers is a great place to start. Combine that with eye-catching delivery methods, such as video, gifs, or infographics, and you’ll attract and keep the interest of top talent.

Mistake #7

Engaging in hiring insanity

Einstein has been quoted as saying that insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result. By that definition, there’s quite a bit of insanity going on in recruiting. For instance, ask someone why they persist at an approach that isn’t drawing in enough quality talent, and you’re likely to hear, “because that’s how we’ve always done it.”

You can stop the insanity by regularly questioning each step of the recruiting process. Consider why it’s done that way. What results are being achieved? How can you improve that result? In what ways you could streamline each step of the process?

My cousin threw out that gritty lump of so-called bread. The next batch was superb because she followed the recipe, avoiding her past mistakes. Eliminating common recruiting errors will allow you to source top people who will go on to become superb new hires.

Scott Wintrip is the author of High Velocity Hiring: How to Hire Top Talent in an Instant, named a must-read book by SHRM’s HR Magazine. Over the past 19 years, Scott has led the Wintrip Consulting Group, a global consultancy that has helped more than 22,000 organisations build talent-rich companies that have eliminated their hiring delays forever. For five consecutive years, Staffing Industry Analysts, a Crain Communications company, awarded Scott a place on the “Staffing 100,” a list of the world’s 100 most influential leaders. He’s also a member of the Million Dollar Consultant Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Staffing 100 Hall of Fame.

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Even if you don’t have a dedicated employer branding team like EY, you can still benefit from learning about their winning strategies. EY, named one of 2018’s World’s Most Attractive Employers by Universum, shares how their purpose of “building a better working world” shapes their forward-thinking talent attraction strategy.

We asked Jacqui McKeown, Oceania Employer Brand for EY, about the employer branding strategies they are using to attract the best people.

“I began at EY ten years ago and moved into attraction and selection,” said Jacqui. “After moving into employer branding two years ago, I now look after the Australia and New Zealand markets, and also focus on student recruitment in universities and schools in New Zealand.”

So, how is EY attracting students, and what other employer branding strategies are they using?

Recruiting students

“The war for talent is so competitive in this space. We’ve always been doing campus events to attract youth to join us and showcase the career they can have with us. We have campaigns that we work on throughout the year to recruit graduates, vacationers, and cadets, and we also run competitions to raise brand awareness on campus with different student groups.”

The employer branding team is responsible for their overall campaign messaging for recruitment efforts, creating marketing collateral such as flyers and banners, as well as content for digital, print, and their two careers websites for students and experienced professionals.

Employee profile stories

“It’s great to have content around our different service lines and areas of the business. One way that we provide insights and showcase what our people do is through people profile stories. We’re really looking to attract people from STEM backgrounds and provide insights for students about how their degree can fit with the work we do by showing what kind of work is available, what they can gain by working here, and what the teams and people are like.”

Separating social channels: clients and candidates

Interestingly, EY uses LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, but distinguishes their social channels, with channels for their corporate brand and channels for their candidates (which the employer branding team manages).

“We have two different audiences: clients and candidates. Different audiences are looking for different content. We have a strong relationship with our Brand, Marketing and Communications team and work together to ensure that we leverage and showcase the best of our global and local content for our audience.”

Data tracking

EY prioritises data tracking to ensure their content is hitting the mark. Part of this is analysing which images are working, the best times to post, how much engagement and reach they are getting through all their social channels, how many visits they are getting to their careers pages, from which sources, and more. This, in turn, drives their strategy.

Learning and development

EY offers leadership programs, and learning and development opportunities for their people, supporting them in their career development.

This year, they started offering their people “digital badges” when they learn “future” skills such as design thinking, AI, data science, data visualisation, inclusive leadership and more. This is just one way EY sets their people up to succeed. People who earn badges can add these to their LinkedIn profile (another great form of sharing and engagement!).

Creating brand ambassadors

The best employer brands create and empower brand advocates. EY has brand ambassadors throughout campuses and internal programs for people to opt-in as talent ambassadors. EY has an internal brand advocacy tool to empower their people to share content that resonates with them.

“EY people can propose content they find interesting, (such as thought leadership pieces, or on topics such as the future of work, diversity, inclusion, or industry news). Then, we distribute a range of suggested content to our people, they choose their favourite pieces, and share within their networks!”

Showcasing values

Employer branding is never one-dimensional. Part of it encompasses showcasing your organisational values.  EY’s Employer Branding team works with their Diversity & Inclusion team to find opportunities and to promote their values to candidates and clients alike. It was their Diversity & Inclusion Team that entered EY’s submissions into the 2018 LGBTI Inclusion Award, which led to them taking out this year’s award! Check out their incredible video about winning the award.

EY also has a Foundation Team that manages their social responsibility and charitable involvement. Four of their Australian offices competed in Tour de Office week, a charity that creatively combines corporate wellness with philanthropy. Tour de Office is an in-office cycling relay event where employees ride on stationary bikes over the course of a week, competing, engaging, and raising money for their chosen charity.

Through Tour de Office, EY was able to build their employer brand and showcase their values of corporate health and philanthropy. The event created a lot of excitement and engagement, with plenty of photos to share on social media.

“Because of the size of EY, it’s important for us, the Employer Branding Team, to maintain good relationships with the Social Media, Branding, Foundation, and Diversity & Inclusion teams so we can showcase the great variety of initiatives and events that take place within our organisation.”

Jacqui’s challenge is activating EY’s global message locally. It’s important for EY’s messaging to resonate with their candidate market, thus the Employer Branding Team has to produce content that is relevant to the local market.

“For example, we recently held EY Care Day where our people in Australia could choose a local school and volunteer there for a day, doing gardening, painting, and other work to benefit the school. We received photos from people on the ground, then published them through our social channels to give people an insight about how our people give back to the community.”

Video content

It’s hard to miss EY’s beautiful video content. Some of their videos feature their global messaging, and others are targeted more locally. They showcase their people stories and careers, as well as specific areas of the business, such as auditing, transactions, and advisory.

They also share videos about living with purpose, how EY is shaping the world, and what they are doing to build the future.

“Other organisations focus a lot on print and words. Nowadays, it’s all about how to bring your story to life through video. We think about whether candidates are interested in professional or raw style videos (we do both!), and what works with our messaging. We’re working hard to move towards more video content.”

What’s next?

The EY Employer Branding team’s next big piece of work will be around their March campaign to attract graduates. Jacqui will be working behind the scenes on ways to market the theme of their campaign, updating their content, and developing and designing marketing materials to support their campus recruiters throughout Australia.

“We give them the tools and resources they need to speak to candidates about the type of experience they can gain at EY. For example, ‘the future of work’ is a big theme for us. It’s about the world and technology changing, and things being disrupted rapidly. So we have to find a way to talk about the types of careers candidates can have in this changing environment.

Being a global organisation, EY’s people can benefit from alliances, gaining skills and experiences in different locations, industries and technologies.

“Our purpose is, ‘building a better working world’, so we are upskillling our people so they can thrive in the future of work. We encourage them to develop an analytical, global, and innovative mindset. Because the world is changing, we are embracing change and the future of work.”

The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and interviewee,
not Ernst & Young. This article provides general information, does not constituteadvice and should not be relied on as such. Professional advice should be sought
prior to any action being taken in reliance on any of the information. Liability
limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Is your organisation using any of the above employer branding strategies? Let us know in the comments.

Want to share your organisation’s recruitment marketing strategies in an article with us? Get in touch with us.

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The success of your organisation rests on your ability to attract, identify, and onboard top talent. Is your hiring and onboarding process running as smoothly as it could be?

Dean Kaplan reporting for TLNT states, “You don’t want to waste time with long, drawn-out negotiations when you needed someone to start yesterday.” He provides the following tips to convert “maybes” to “yes!”.

Be prepared
When engaging with candidates, it’s important to be prepared, and this means doing your research. Don’t lose great talent by offering salaries that are too low!

“While some candidates may propose a counter-offer, others will simply walk away. Worse yet, some may walk away and tell others about how low the offer was, making it hard for you to continue recruiting.”

Research the remuneration and offering for similar positions in your area.

“This is especially important if this is a new position in your company, or you are replacing a long-time employee. Many employees consider perks such as flexible hours or professional development to be part of their offer package. Make sure to research perks and benefits as well as salaries.”

Have a strong employer brand

Candidates use on average up to 18 sources to research a potential organisation before making the decision to join. What does your employer brand look like in the market?

“By the time you make an offer, the candidate should already know the company’s story. Not just your history, but the story that makes the candidate want to work for you. Let’s say you describe your company as a place that manufactures parts for cars. That’s a description, but your company’s story is that you make essential components of the safest automobiles on the market today. You provide a safe work environment dedicated to the well-being and professional growth of your employees.”

A strong employer brand involves storytelling, which helps candidates understand why they want to work for you.

Think win/win

You should not only assess what your candidate can bring to your organisation, but what you can offer them. Every point of engagement, including negotiations, are part of your ongoing relationship and employer brand.

“This makes it important that you think of your negotiations not as a situation where one of you will win and one will lose, but as a situation where both people get what they need to start a productive relationship.”

Listen actively

Demonstrate to your candidates that you genuinely care about them through active listening. Understand any concerns they might have and address them with positive, mutually beneficial solutions.

“For example, if your candidate tells you that he or she needs more money to offset the travel costs of taking a position farther from his or her house you could respond with, “I understand our location is a concern for you. Would working a different schedule so you can avoid rush hour, or having one day a week to work at home help with those concerns?” By listening to what the candidate is actually concerned about, you may be able to find a solution that doesn’t involve more money.”

Know exactly what you can offer

Don’t delay onboarding a great new hire by wasting time needed sign-off and approval for salary and benefits.

“Before making an offer to a promising candidate make sure to have any necessary internal discussions about how high the salary can go or other benefits such as working remotely, additional vacation days, or flexible hours. There may be some requests or situations that the hiring manager does not feel comfortable agreeing to without more discussion, but try to keep the back and forth to a minimum. You want to avoid any situation where the candidate feels the hiring manager is at odds with someone else in the company.”

While there may be some situations you won’t be able to overcome, such as differing timelines, these strategies to keep your hiring process efficient and help you win candidates over when they have competing offers.   

Source

Here’s How to Get to Yes Faster When You Make an Offer
By Dean Kaplan

TLNT

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Teachers have a secret weapon for keeping students engaged—homework. As students do their homework, the subject matter stays top of mind even though the teacher isn’t present.

That’s the benefit of giving candidates homework during the hiring process. You and your company remain top of mind even though you’re not physically present.

Why is this important? You rarely make a hire in the very first interaction with someone. There will be some downtime between your initial connection and each step of the hiring process. These gaps in interaction are when doubts arise, concerns develop, or people simply forget to think about your organisation and the opportunity.

Candidates jump on the internet to research other jobs, recall conversations they’ve had with other companies, and get feedback from friends and colleagues about what you’ve put on the table thus far.

It’s important to shape that downtime, as much as you can, into something that benefits the candidate, the hiring process, and your developing relationship. That’s where assigning homework comes in.

You may be thinking, “How in the world am I supposed to get candidates to do homework? Especially in this competitive job market.” That’s a common reaction. Which is why any homework you give has to be in the best interest of the candidate.

When you design candidate homework, each question, task, or thought assignment is geared toward benefiting the candidate. People are much more likely to engage in a process when they can see the obvious benefit for themselves in completing the task.

How does this work? My interactions with Melissa are a good example. We were introduced at a social event by a mutual friend who thought Melissa would fit in well at my company.

My first conversation with Melissa was brief, but it was clear there was mutual interest. We set up a time the next day for a phone interview. In preparation for that, I asked Melissa to do two things. First, send me her resume. Second, think about her objectives if we had the chance to work together and be ready to discuss those in our call.

This particular homework assignment was mutually beneficial in four ways:

1.     If Melissa were considering other jobs, she’d still be thinking about the possibility of working with me.
2.     The homework assignment was about visualising a positive, successful working relationship together.
3.     Melissa would come to our call with specific needs and goals, allowing me to share specific details of how a job on my team could address those.
4.     I’d get a real experience of Melissa’s ability to take direction and follow through, both important traits among people who’d succeeded in my team.

Our phone interview, including our discussion of how her wants and needs matched up with our company, went well. We scheduled a face-to-face interview for the next day. In preparation for that, I gave her another homework assignment: think about what she’d learned so far about our company and come prepared to discuss how we fit her professional and personal goals.

This second homework assignment kept our company top of mind. Plus, it gave me another opportunity to experience her ability to take direction and follow-through.

The face-to-face interview also went well and, you guessed it, included more homework…with a twist. She appeared to be a good fit, so I wasn’t going to delay taking action. While expediting her background check that afternoon, I gave her two questions to ponder and asked her to call me a few hours later with the answers. Those questions were

1. If we work together, how can we make it mutually beneficial?
2. If we both agree to proceed, when could you start and what will you need to do to make that happen?

Like the previous homework, these questions kept up the mindfulness and momentum. This assignment also let the better closer close “the deal.” That was her, not me. I knew she’d believe everything she said but may or may not believe me. Rather than trying to talk her into accepting an offer, I let her do it instead. All the while keeping me, the opportunity, and the company top of mind until we spoke again in that final conversation.

I did make Melissa an offer in that final call, which she accepted on the spot. Shortly after she started the job, she told me, “It wouldn’t have made sense to say no. I was considering other opportunities, two of which paid more money, but I couldn’t get the job on your team out of my head. I’m so glad I said yes.”

Giving homework to candidates allows them to continue to experience the benefit of remembering you, your company, and the potential value of working together. Instead of being out of sight and out of mind, which could push you out of contention of landing a talented person, meaningful homework improves your chances of celebrating your latest, greatest hire.

Scott Wintrip is the author of High Velocity Hiring: How to Hire Top Talent in an Instant, named a must-read book by SHRM’s HR Magazine. Over the past 19 years, Scott has led the Wintrip Consulting Group, a global consultancy that has helped more than 22,000 organisations build talent-rich companies that have eliminated their hiring delays forever. For five consecutive years, Staffing Industry Analysts, a Crain Communications company, awarded Scott a place on the “Staffing 100,” a list of the world’s 100 most influential leaders. He’s also a member of the Million Dollar Consultant Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Staffing 100 Hall of Fame.

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