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Nowadays, companies can’t afford to be reactive in their hiring efforts. Instead, there’s a lot more pressure to focus on being proactive; actively seeking candidates that are a great fit for your company, regardless of whether they’re looking for a new job or not.
After all, the national employment rate is at a record high. This means there are fewer people looking for a new jobs and there’s more pressure on hiring professionals to consider how they can entice people out of their roles.
Aside from the obvious factors (benefits, pay, etc), there are steps you can take to ensure your company stands out against other organizations looking to hire. So, here are our insights on how proactive hiring can set you apart.
Target Passive Candidates
The main benefit of taking a proactive approach to your hiring efforts is the fact that you’ll target more passive candidates. Whether you’re using a specific platform to search for resumes, or are sourcing top talent via social media, it’s important to understand how to approach these individuals.
Remember, you’ll want to get them interested in your brand. Rather than just sending them the job description, try to nurture the relationship and conversation. Attend events and conferences to help further your reach and remember that these are people that aren’t actively looking for work. So, you’ll need to really sell your company.
Ask them about their career goals and keep them up to date with opportunities in your company. Align their aspirations with what your company can offer. Alongside this, consider sharing information on your company’s culture and the job itself. This is what today’s job hunters are passionate about.
Build Stronger Relationships
Standard hiring practices are often seen as a transaction. You advertise a job, a candidate applies, you invite them in for an interview, make your decision and it’s a done deal. However, when you’re forced to be proactive in your hiring efforts, you can actually benefit from building stronger relationships with potential recruits.
After all, you’ll want to get to the bottom of what they look for in a job and shape your offering around this. In order to be proactive in your hiring efforts, you’ll also need to focus on how you engage with candidates. That includes keeping them up to date throughout the hiring process and always delivering constructive feedback.
Remember that good candidates have a choice. They’ll probably be approached by a number of other companies. So, the more focus you place on building great relationships, the better chance you’ll have of hiring them.
Reduce Time to Hire
We know that reducing the time to hire is a key goal for many organizations across the globe. And the good news is that another key benefit of proactive hiring is the fact that you can potentially reduce your time to hire.
After all, if you’re focusing on building a pipeline of talent, then you’ll be ready to tap into these individuals when it’s eventually time to recruit. It’s a win-win!
At the same time, because you’ve nurtured these relationships the individuals will already know your company and understand the benefits of working for you. So hopefully, they’ll snap up the chance to join your organization over a competitor.
Understand the Market
Another key benefit of proactive hiring is the fact that you’ll gain a better understanding of the marketing you’re recruiting in. This is because you’ll need to identify where great candidates work already and the compensation packages your competitors are offering.
Research is key in any line of work. And your hiring process is no different. By taking the time to be proactive and truly understand what the hiring landscape looks like in your industry, you’ll stand a much better chance of attracting, recruiting, and retaining the very best workers.
Less Stress for Hiring Teams
Of course, it goes without saying that taking a more proactive approach to hiring can help to alleviate just some of the stresses hiring teams face. Recruitment professionals are under a lot of pressure right now and it’s important to think of ways to prevent this.
Alongside this, many companies that use proactive hiring methods also get their hiring managers involved with the process. This makes it easier to get their buy-in from the early stages of the process and manager expectations.
Considering Proactive Hiring?
Overall, it’s clear that there are a number of benefits of using proactive hiring in your sourcing efforts. Whether it’s building positive relationships with potential candidates, reducing time to hire, or really understanding how your market operates; these can all make a real difference to your recruitment process.
So, if you want to stand out from the crowd and attract the very best workers to your jobs, it’s definitely something to consider. Good luck!
