As an employer, it can be a tough job to not only deliver this but to create an applicant experience that anticipates what your business is going to need in its recruitment pipeline and how you package this to attract the highest calibre of candidates.

As a job seeker, having this much information at your fingertips puts you in a unique position to be able to tailor your application to the organisation you’re applying to – whether for a live vacancy or speculatively.

At Human we pride ourselves on our long-term relationships with both clients and candidates, because we believe people are so much more than a title or a job description.

Starting the conversation

Both employers and job seekers have a role to play in proactive talent management. Organisations must find a way to establish a meaningful, ongoing relationships if they are to have access to those who are the perfect fit both in expertise and character but for whom a role isn’t immediately available.

Talent pipelining isn’t a new concept but it is misunderstood and under-utilised. It’s a shift from reactive to proactive recruitment; anticipating who your company will want and should hire in the future.

Good candidates who want to work for you will be happy to engage in two-way communication. If your department isn’t resourced itself to do this then it is worth reviewing how it can be managed for you – whether automated through software (although this doesn’t necessarily come with the human touch) or delivered by an external recruitment partner.

As a candidate, you should never be afraid to approach an organisation you’ve identified as being a good fit for your values and aspirations. Or a good recruitment agency can help by doing this for you.

Attitude complementing aptitude

It sounds obvious, but understanding your culture and the personal attributes that are most successful within your organisation will help you spot those who belong in your talent bank. Spend time in departments with the workforce and use this insight to create desired personas to aid your screening process. If you don’t have time to do this, we offer it as part of the Human service.

Prospective applicants should be clear about their own character and strengths and how to articulate this to a prospective employer. Some thorough research will ensure candidates are able to target companies who will support bringing out the very best in them.

People buy people

Being human matters, especially in this digital age where, let’s face it, you can be anything you want to be behind a screen and keyboard. Whether you’re the employer or the applicant, find ways to connect – at recruitment networking events or online over sites such as LinkedIn – and create a more human level of engagement and interaction. Then, most importantly, work hard to maintain those relationships.

A talent bank is of no use if the talent it contains have lost interest in you as an employer. Investing in specialist support to manage this workstream will reap its own long-term rewards with reductions in recruitment costs, time-to-hire and ultimately your employer brand.

Our human approach to recruitment means we focus on the whole person – skills, values and attitude – to help create the perfect fit for both candidate and employer. We invest time in getting to know both candidates and clients, which means we have a healthy talent bank and can easily recommend candidates who have not only the right skills, but are the right fit.

Give one of our friendly team members a call for an informal chat about your recruitment needs on 01709 717212.

The post Relationships before opportunities – a proactive approach to talent engagement appeared first on Human.

It’s looking up though; recruitment and retention is back on the board-level agenda with over a quarter of organisations looking to increase their recruitment budget and over a third increasing their talent management budgets in 2017/18 (CIPD survey in partnership with Hays).

So how can your recruitment strategy stay ahead of the game?

Bring in the experts

This isn’t the hard sell it may seem; if your HR department doesn’t have a dedicated resourcing team then you’re missing out on specialist expertise that is critical to achieving strategic success.

Working in partnership with an expert recruiter on a retained basis brings many benefits. You’ll have access to a wealth of insight, from market intelligence to support with attraction strategies and talent management as well as advice and guidance from a team that wants to help you succeed. The very best partners will not only deliver for you but anticipate your needs, saving you time, headcount and budget.

Make business plans your business

Even the most relaxed of department heads will know what they need to achieve in the next 6-12 months and whether they have the right people to achieve it. Tap into this to understand how it might translate to recruitment needs.

We all know recruitment is admin-heavy and time-intensive so having an ongoing relationship with a recruitment partner who can relieve some of the burden will maximise your ability to respond to your business’s needs whilst ensuring you can remain focused on more strategic issues.
Protect your employer brand

Applicants have access to far more information about a prospective employer than ever before thanks to the web and social media. Add to this a candidate’s ability to post online about their application and interview experience, and all of a sudden your reputation as an employer of choice is out of your hands.

Make sure you review your recruitment process from an applicant perspective and respond appropriately to feedback – are you communicating effectively, is your process timely, are you being consistent? The CIPD/Hays survey shows that 41% of HR professionals believe they have lost good candidates because of the length of their recruitment process – have you, and if so, what are you doing about it?

Use personal development plans to your advantage

Knowing the ambitions of your people can be a significant advantage when resource planning. A culture of sharing future plans and aspirations will allow you greater oversight of what may lie ahead. Whether an individual wishes to upskill, retrain or is simply happy where they are can tell you a lot about their future within your organisation. You can use this insight to help plan where attrition may occur or where support should be provided to make sure you develop your strongest talent.

Create a talent pipeline

We have all come across the ‘right person, wrong role’ scenario. Cultural fit is increasingly as important as ability to do the job so when you find good people during the interview process it can pay to think a little differently about how to manage them.

Whether you use a spreadsheet, software or recruitment partner, finding a way to create a relationship with those candidates who remain of interest to you should the right role come up means you already have a rich pipeline to look at when you need it.

Regardless of how good your plan is, as HR professionals we must accept that elements of recruitment will always be reactive. However, in our experience, finding the best people doesn’t happen by accident so being ahead of the game can only put you at an advantage in a very competitive space.

If you want a chat about accessing our proactive, human recruitment expertise, do give one of the friendly team a call on 01709 717212.

The post Planning for the unplannable – the strategy behind your recruitment strategy appeared first on Human.