3 Tips To Transform Your Candidate Engagement Strategy

Surely by now, you’ve heard all about how challenging and competitive the hiring market is. And while that statement might be true, it surely isn’t an excuse for sticking by lackluster recruitment strategies.

Sure, the market is competitive, but qualified talent is out there, just waiting for companies to engage with them.

The trick is to create a modernized approach to recruitment that focuses on three pillars:

1. Promoting a strong, positive employer reputation
2. Creating an efficient and enjoyable candidate pipeline
3. Offering candidates the kinds of benefits and work opportunities they crave

By refining your strategy to the above three factors, you can find and engage with top talent even in the midst of a particularly challenging hiring market.

Work On Your Reputation

One of the best things you can do to increase the likelihood of attracting and engaging with candidates is to refine and enhance your employer reputation. Nowadays, candidates have unprecedented access to information about you and your organization. You can be sure that before they ever interact with your job posting or step into your candidate pipeline, applicants are doing their diligent research and asking around about the kind of work environment and employer you are.

That being said, you should do whatever you can to broadcast the benefits and positives of working with you and your team.

How can you do that? Start by looking internally.

• Does your existing team enjoy working at your organization?
• How would they describe the workplace culture?
• Do your employees feel supported in their role and future growth?

Once you’ve found the answers to questions like these, you’ll have a better idea of the areas you need to focus on when it comes to sprucing up your employer brand. Then, the next step is to build out social media profiles and a content strategy that broadcasts this brand and culture to the rest of the world.

This can be done in a variety of ways, ranging from blog posts to interactive social media geared to provide insight into the workplace culture at your company. The key is to reinforce the values your organization stands for, provide a glimpse into the daily life at your workplace, and display the initiatives you take as an employer to create a supportive and positive work environment.

Speed Up The Candidate Pipeline

As a candidate, nothing is more aggravating than filling out a lengthy application, only to sit and wait weeks for a reply. A slow candidate pipeline is so irritating, in fact, that 23% of candidates will lose interest in an application if it isn’t replied to in under a week’s time.

What does that mean for a recruiting stance? It means that you’ll lose out on nearly a quarter of the talent that applies to your organization simply because of a lack of communication.

Building out a pipeline that is efficient and enjoyable is crucial for attracting and recruiting top talent in a competitive market. Start by taking a look at your current application process:

• Are you asking for redundant or unnecessary information?
• Is a cover letter required for submission?
• How long does it actually take a candidate to fill out? (Hint — the answer is typically much longer than you’d expect.)
• What prompt is sent out to applicants after they submit their application?

While it’s great to have an application process that helps weed out candidates so that you’re only dealing with people who are truly interested in the job, you need to be cautious that you’re not creating such high barriers to apply that candidates are dissuaded from applying in the first place.

Focus your efforts on creating a simplified application process that delivers clear and concise directions on what to expect next. Then, be sure that you follow up with candidates quickly once their application has been submitted.

Focus On Delivering What Candidates Want

Finally, to truly attract and engage with the best talent on the market, you need to make sure that you’re offering what candidates want from an employer. Over the last two years, there has been a shift in how we approach work, and the kinds of benefits candidates want from their job. With the move towards flexible or remote work, candidates have realized how important it is to have control over their schedule that promotes a strong work-life balance.

Some emerging trends we’ve noticed include candidates wanting:

• To work for employers that weave diversity, equity, and inclusion into their workplace
• More flexibility in scheduling, whether it be remote or flex work
• Ample professional development and personal development opportunities
• To be a part of a team that promotes genuine corporate social responsibility

As an employer, there is much benefit from tweaking your job postings to highlight the kinds of initiatives that candidates want from a workplace. Take care to discuss your DEI initiatives, and talk about how your company gives back both to your employees and the community.

Want to know more about how candidate preferences have shifted since the onset of COVID-19? Check out this resource!

It would also be highly beneficial to take a look at the current offerings regarding professional development. Do you have a program in place that supports your team as they work on strengthening their skills? If not, now is the time to create and implement one. If there’s anything you can be certain of, it’s that today’s applicant wants to know that the organization they apply to and work for is invested in their current and future success.

Sure, the hiring market is competitive, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find and recruit top talent. With the right approach to recruitment, you can beat out the competition and fill the talent gaps you currently have.

Don’t have time to do the candidate sourcing and recruiting yourself? That’s what we’re here for! IQTalent Partners is a leading expert for on-demand recruitment across a wide range of industries. Our team of experts works as an extension of your internal hiring team, working to source you a shortlist of talented and qualified candidates, so you can spend your time engaging and interviewing the best candidates available.

Are you ready to get started? Reach out to us and see how IQTP can help you fill the talent gaps in your organization.