Leveraging Company Culture for Recruitment
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA successful company culture can be defined as having shared values, goals, attitudes and practices that characterize the organization. In other words, think of your brand’s personality, values and work environment – is it inclusive, positive and supportive? All of these elements matter, especially when recruiting new talent.
LinkedIn’s 2016 Global Talent Trends survey reported that 66% of job seekers consider a company’s culture and values the most important factor when assessing career opportunities. With a strong company culture, employees turn into advocates for the company and attract additional talent. Together, an engaged team ultimately holds the power to grow the company.
In today’s competitive market, a strong and inclusive company culture is often the difference between hiring top talent and falling short. When seeking new talent, whether it’s for a sales position or a senior level executive, it’s important for companies to show what makes them different than their competitors. Aside from the standard perks, employees want to work in a happy, productive and respectful environment.
Below are four ways to leverage your company culture when recruiting top-notch talent:
Make your own path
It can be overwhelming for a business to launch multiple recruiting campaigns at once, and to be frank, there are hundreds of ideas that work. It’s important for the human resources (HR) team to meet with leaders in each department to determine the best approach for recruiting efforts. Does your company offer secondary education opportunities on the job? Are you flexible on scheduling? Determine what stands out in your company and build from there. A one-size-fits-all solution is never going to work, so find what makes each team unique and go from there!
Find the right fit
Each company has their own unique programs to tout in the recruiting process, but don’t forget to highlight your internal company culture. As much as the right skillset and qualifications matter, it’s also equally important to hire those that believe in your mission and further support the internal culture. In fact, nine out of 10 U.S. managers said a candidate’s fit with the organizational culture is equal to or more important than their skills and experience.
Sell your company’s total package, including advancement opportunities, inclusivity, benefits and philanthropic initiatives. With the right tools and recruitment messaging, companies can equate the “what” to the “why” of an organization.
Make opportunities apparent
Once you’ve launched your search for best possible employees, make sure your job postings are seen. When posting jobs on Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster, LinkedIn, Facebook and more, you’re sure to run into a majority of job candidates on one or more platforms. Take it a step further by boosting hiring announcements on your company’s social media channels and sharing the call out in local networking by producing video content or branded graphics, which is a great way to tout success stories of current employees and attract future achievers.
Invite your current employees to share the posts on their personal pages and explain why the company’s mission matters to them. When prospects come across a first-person account, reinforcing your messaging and company culture reviews, it will give them a better idea of what the company stands for, even before their first-round interview. LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions survey reports 66% of candidates believe interactions with employees is the best way to get insight about a company.
Constantly improve your strategy
After you implement your initial recruiting strategy, it’s important to evaluate and analyze what’s working and what’s not. It’s okay if something doesn’t work the way you’d hoped, as long as you apply the lesson to your strategies moving forward. Tap into your newly hired employees, as they will have the most accurate feedback and knowledge of the current recruiting process, for additional ideas on how to enhance the process further.
But once you’ve met your recruitment goals, don’t stop there! Continue to solicit feedback from all levels of staff and really listen to what they have to say. According to a recent study, more than 40% of junior-level workers state that they are afraid to bring ideas or concerns to upper management. By soliciting feedback from your employees, you’re building more trust. This, in turn, will lead to a stronger overall culture that you can continue to promote for recruitment.
When businesses accurately leverage their company culture throughout the recruiting and hiring process, the right candidates are more likely to appear and stick around!
Kim Miller is the Director of Human Resources at TCC, a Verizon Authorized Retailer located in Carmel, Indiana.