The result for hiring and recruiting professionals: It’s tough out there. If you’re leading a company and want to grow, now is the time to tweak your talent acquisition strategy. In competitive environments like today’s, cookie-cutter approaches may no longer succeed. To get an edge, leaders should shift gears — and these three outside-the-box ideas can help you do just that.
1. Bring Hypotheses to Your Hiring
Experiments are how scientists learn, but you can run one without having a hypothesis to test. Take this approach in your hiring and apply an experiments mindset.
Why should the members of your marketing team be the only ones in your company to take this smart approach to learning and growth? When was the last time you A/B tested the content of your job postings? Have you tested including hybrid office options that might appeal to job seeker demand?
It takes creativity and dedication, but you can and should explore ways to leave the trodden recruitment path. One key to doing this successfully is taking a scientific approach. Try new acquisition channels and techniques, but also know what hypothesis you’re testing — and what problem you’re solving for. Just remember that while not every experiment will succeed, failures also contain important lessons that can improve your talent acquisition strategy over the long haul. As an added bonus, experimenting is fun! Take one step at a time and be ready to learn as you go.
2. Want to Stand Out? Get Your Employer Brand Out
There’s no way around it: To win in today’s talent market, you should have effective employer branding. But there’s so much more to this than the reviews your company gets on career websites. I believe the truly effective employer brands are the ones that grow organically through word of mouth and voluntary ambassadorship from employees who truly love the culture you’ve created. So find ways to invest in and grow that culture. You may not see an uptick in highly qualified applications overnight, but your reputation can begin to grow slowly and sustainably and give you a major long-term advantage.
An additional piece of advice: Remember that people look to other people—not companies—for leadership. Gain an edge over your competitors for talent by developing personal brands. When was the last time you brought your personality to life as a leader on LinkedIn or another social media network? Do you have a thought leadership strategy for your senior executives? Posts that talk about your brand’s employment experience? Let your passion for people play a pivotal role. Invest in building and maintaining something unique in your content that shows you go the extra mile.
3. Dive Into the Startup Talent Pool
Let me be clear: I’m not advising you to poach startup talent. You won’t need to, because startups often have a turnover rate that you can count on to send great candidates your way. Is this something to celebrate? For you, it can be — and for startups, it can be a helpful wake-up call.
The uncertain post-pandemic economy means startups have more headwinds to face than ever. Many would already have been destined to fail, but now the need for flexibility brings additional volatility. In this context, investors’ reluctance and funding bottlenecks are eating into salary growth at startups.
The result? Higher employee turnover and also layoffs. You can take advantage of this available talent! Open your doors to them and let them come to you instead of a competitor. Many will be looking to abandon a sinking ship and will arrive with fresh ideas and energy for your company. It’s a win for you and for them.
Make sure your company doesn’t end up a pawn in someone else’s game — invest not just in hiring great people, but also keeping them. To do that, build a strong company culture and a rock-solid onboarding strategy. Provide an outlook — preferably one that is unmatched by your competitors. Your hiring results? They’ll speak for themselves.
