Adjusting Your Recruitment Marketing Strategies
The unemployment rate has hit a historical high as companies were forced to act quickly in the wake of COVID-19 pervading the U.S. workforce, resulting in large-scale layoffs and other cost-cutting measures. For many businesses hiring has come to a screeching halt. You may not even be thinking about your recruitment strategies as a result of COVID-19. But, with so much uncertainty surrounding us, companies should be thinking about what they should shift and for how long.
The one certainty we know is that “time marches on.” Companies must continue to look forward. Restructuring is at the forefront for businesses as they attempt to pinpoint and prioritize the necessities. The ability to adapt will be what makes or breaks your hiring strategy. But, the most crucial piece to your agility is timing. The decisions you make today will be critical in the ongoing race for talent.
When it comes to your adjusting your recruitment marketing as a result of COVID-19, follow these 5 tips for greater success:
1. Invest in Your Brand Management
Focus on social media and how you are connecting digitally. How is your brand being managed across the web and in digital outreach? In this sensitive state, promoting compassion, support and your core values will have a huge impact on your audience. Over the years, promoting culture online has continued to gain popularity. So, if you are currently advertising an open role, candidates will now solely get to experience your company’s culture through an online lens. Know that your company’s online presence is being assessed.
What brand-focused projects for internal hiring have been postponed? What should perhaps be moved to the top of the list? Now is the time to build that career page. It’s time to make your brand shine! This is a great opportunity to start showcasing what the experience of working at your company is like.
2. Continue Candidate Nurturing
Recruitment must be focused on relationships. Building, maintaining and nurturing the relationships within your talent pipeline during this time is essential. Even if you are not currently hiring, commit to constructing a strategy to engage with passive candidates to identify and source top talent.
Email campaigns, online resources and social media promotes a way to build community and helps your brand stay relevant. The benefit of building your talent pipeline now is that when you do have an open role, you can easily reach out to your talent pool and reduce time to hire.
3. Be on the Lookout for New Opportunities
It could be beneficial to spend some time researching and considering what new positions and needs may arise for your business. Take an inside look at how some role responsibilities have changed as a result of COVID-19. Try to anticipate what the next, immediate needs are when the crisis settles.
Dedicate time to where your restructuring leads your organization and the kind of roles you even wish you had in place before this epidemic. Perhaps project management should be a focus for the company’s future. This is the time to be opportunistic!
4. Make Metrics a Priority
In business today, analytics are… everything. You can’t argue the numbers, right? When adjusting your recruitment marketing strategies as a result of COVID-19, analytics should be top priority. This is a valuable and educational moment in time to deep dive into what is and what isn’t working for your team. Compare and contrast. Identify key areas for improvement. In the current market, job boards may be open to extending more opportunities for trials on specific tools and resources. This is something you must take advantage of. Data can help you determine next steps.
5. Optimize Online Tools
Consider using this time to build a strong digital interview plan that utilizes the right tools. Having a solid digital interview infrastructure for your company will allow you to meet more candidates in less time moving forward. When businesses can host interviews online, it removes the inconvenience of managing changing schedules and having everyone in the same place at the same time. Speeding up and improving the hiring process is a something companies should always strive to achieve in order to remain competitive. Additionally, interviewing digitally is starting to become the preferred method for most candidates.
Even if hiring is on a complete hold for now, making these small adjustments to your recruitment strategies today could be very beneficial for your business tomorrow.
