What every Recruiting Manager needs to know about Online Recruiting
What is online recruitment? Any recruitment activity that uses the Internet as the primary medium of communication is covered by the term "online recruitment". This may include : Company Websites Recruitment Websites Job Search Engines Niche Job Boards Business Networks Social Networks Online Employee Referral System
Need for Proactive Recruitment A survey by the Aberdeen Group in 2005 found that 80% of HR executives were more concerned about finding and retaining talented employees than any other strategic HR challenge. The same challenge was reiterated in Aberdeen s January 2013 Human Capital Management Trends report. It found that 57% of organizations felt that talent acquisition was the most important HCM process to the organization s ability to execute business strategy. Given the importance of recruiting, organizations today must ensure they do everything possible to get the best candidates on board.
Why Online Recruitment? The ever increasing popularity of the use of the internet to seek information is not restricted to the school and college going kid looking for answers, or the researcher working on his research. It spans generations and geographical regions worldwide.
Why Online Recruitment? Using the internet helps in attracting top performing candidates, who may be actively employed in other jobs. It improves market reach taking it to a bigger audience, since it covers a wide geographical area and does not remain limited to the local readers or viewership unlike other methods of recruitment. It helps even small and mid-size organizations remain competitive in today s economy, often providing an alternative to outsourcing and use of Employment agencies. Talent Acquisition is at the heart of talent management for most organizations It saves time by speeding up each step in the recruitment process. Questions are answered in seconds and information is delivered instantly, making the whole recruitment process quick and direct
Why Online Recruitment? It is cost effective, reducing the cost per hire and proves beneficial to aid stretched budgets. It helps integrate internet resources. CVs are emailed, interviews are scheduled and sometimes even conducted online. It thus makes it possible to handle higher volumes...new solutions that combine the idea of an online 360-degree assessment with traditional reference checking have become a new weapon in the war for great talent Money, manpower and paper are a few of the resources saved in this process adding value to it in the environmentally conscious modern times. The additional flexibility provided by the online transactions improves the quality of candidate experience and gives the recruiting manager greater control during the process.
Why Online Recruitment? Online recruitment options often give employers branding opportunities. It also allows for building of a robust data base for future use. Every Recruitment Manager needs to understand the value of online recruitment and consider how best he\she can use this trend which offers a financially viable alternative to traditional methods of recruitment.
Exploring some Options A. Company Website A company s website could be the first point of information about an opening. It should act like a virtual walk-in where a direct link is provided to the company s career page. The number of clicks\steps to reach the job description should be minimal. The specific openings for A candidates, women, minorities and interns should be clearly stated. It needs to give complete information about the job the benefits offered, employee testimonials and career progression. It should also provide information regarding the corporate culture and any community involvement projects to prospective employees.
It must take into account prospective employees from other regions and provide information specific to the local area or any pertinent diversity issues. A step up would be if the organization would confirm receipt of applications, thank candidates for their interest and inform them of the next steps. This could also be followed up by an update on the status of their applications. B. Job Boards Research data showed that 84% of organizations post jobs to one or more online job boards as part of their recruiting efforts.organizations that do use online job boards report significantly greater improvement across key recruitment measures than those that do not. Source: Aberdeen benchmark report, Talent Acquisition Strategies 2009
C. URLs Uniform Resource Locators or URLs are easily available to any company to create a website and use the world wide web to promote job openings. They provide an economical and easily available means for global coverage to small and medium scale organizations. D. Business and Social Networks Networks like LinkedIn formed through business and social connections, use a chain of mutual acquaintances to provide a large pool of skilled potential candidates who may or may not be actively looking for new opportunities. These provide an opportunity for recruiting managers to act as headhunters or even draw out passive job seekers who might possess skill sets suited to specific jobs.
E. Blogs This is a low cost user friendly way to spread information to potential employees. It can improve market reach as it is linked with other blogs and tends to get passed on through acquaintances.. It adds a human touch to the electronic medium. F. Recruiting Software These are complete application tracking systems which are designed to help staffing recruiters fill jobs quickly and efficiently thereby boosting recruiting productivity.
G. Employee Referral Tools Wikipedia defines Employee Referral Program as an internal recruitment method employed by organizations to identify potential candidates from the existing employees' social networks. It attracts quality candidates who may not apply through traditional channels. Referred employees have higher retention rates and increase employee engagement in the company. A good referral program starts with creating a work culture that has a positive employer brand.
Advantages of Employee Referral Program One of the most productive hiring techniques using company s current employees to refer prospective candidates High Success Rate of Employee Referrals with improved Interview to Hiring Ratio Improved candidate quality & fitment Stability and loyalty towards organization Highly cost effective compared to other hiring methodologies
Factors enabling success of Employee Referral Solutions Employee Awareness Keeping Employees Involved Simplicity of understanding the program Effective use of the social network Relevant Reward Schemes Making it fun & competitive Timely feedback Employee referral tracking software goes a long way in streamlining the process as also providing the necessary checks & balances
Proactive Recruiting A Recruiting Manager needs to work within his/her budget constraints and usually with a timer always ticking away in the background. In todays competitive market he/she needs to be proactive. He/she has to be aware of and willing to use all the tools available to him to both seek out and retain skilled talent.
Sources Aberdeen Group, The HR Executive s Agenda, September 2005 Aberdeen Group, The Human Capital Management Trends, January 2013 Online Reference Checking: Assessing the Full Picture of Candidate Performance Research Brief, July 30, 2013 Mollie Lombardi Aberdeen benchmark report, Talent Acquisition Strategies 2009: http://blog.openviewpartners.com/benefits-of-employee-referral-programs/ http://www.joeapfelbaum.com/2013/05/how-to-create-a-positive-corporateculture/
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Why Zalp 7 easy and convenient ways to refer The success of any employee referral program depends on one primary factor: Employee Participation ZALP gives employees not one but seven easy and convenient ways to make referrals. This ensures increased employee participation like never before. ZALP s social media integrated features make the referral process for employees not only easy but also fun.
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