5 Ways to Boost Your Recruitment Efforts in the New Year

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FireworksHiring might have taken a backseat during the recent holiday season, but the new year has officially begun, and the search for top talent is back on. Get the year off to a great start by streamlining your recruiting process, and position yourself to beat the competition in the constant war for talent. Is your recruitment process in need of an upgrade? Here are five ways to boost your recruitment efforts in the new year:

1. Have an Efficient Mobile Career Site

Having a strong company mobile presence is important to job seekers. In fact, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey, two in five candidates say their perception of a company is negatively impacted if a company’s career site is not optimized for mobile. A dedicated, responsive mobile career site can greatly improve user experience.

You only have so long to pique a candidate’s interest before they abandon your site altogether. A career site that has been developed with the mobile experience in mind is attractive and will load quickly; as a result, it will likely increase the amount of time candidates spend on the site. Creating a fast, organized way for job seekers to learn about your company while on the go will ensure you’re reaching and attracting more candidates.

2. Put Current Performance Review Data to Use

What better way to discover what you’re looking for in a candidate than to look at current employee performance review data? Performance reviews don’t just help you develop current employees; they can also help you find new employees based on the company’s needs. Performance review data shines a light on what’s being done successfully and what areas are lacking. Using this data to its full extent can help employers hire candidates who possess the skills and qualifications necessary to better achieve company goals.

3. Stay Active on Social Networks

Social networks allow companies to instantly promote their employment brands and opportunities to job seekers, making social media an essential recruitment tool. How essential? According to the Adecco Global Study 2014, recruiters largely use social media to assess a candidate’s reputation, with LinkedIn remaining predominant (68 percent).

Social profiles can offer insights into candidates that might otherwise remain unknown to recruiters, such as mutual connections or cultural fit. When used correctly, social sites can help you find great candidates and assist in narrowing down the candidate pool. Most importantly, social media can paint a positive picture of the employment brand and thus attract more applicants.

4. Create a Positive Application Experience

A lengthy, complicated application process can cost you great talent. In an effort to attract and encourage job seekers to apply for an open position with your company, make the application experience as seamless as possible.

First and foremost, make a good first impression with clear and specific job descriptions. Accurate job descriptions reflect well on the company, while vague job descriptions discourage applicants. Second, make it easy for candidates to apply. One way companies can do this is by enabling candidates to apply to jobs via their social networks, like LinkedIn and mobile devices. Finally, keep candidates informed throughout the process. The aforementioned CareerBuilder survey found that only 15 percent of candidates say companies are responsive throughout the hiring process.

5. Implement Employee Referral Rewards

Employee referrals are a great way to find qualified candidates — after all, current employees understand the company culture and can accurately decide whether someone they know will be a good fit for the company. They can expand the candidate pool as well as potentially reduce recruiting costs.

A recent report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 47 percent of organizations surveyed offered employee referral bonuses to encourage current employees to refer others to the organization. Consider offering incentives for referrals to motivate employees, such as monetary rewards for referring a candidate who ends up being hired.

What ways have you streamlined the recruitment process to best serve your hiring needs? Please share your tips in the comment section below!

By Andre Lavoie