A lot of businesses are hiring right now. That means it’s more important than ever for your business to stand out from the crowd when recruiting employees or you risk getting lost in the noise.
Fortunately, there are plenty of things that you can do to show job seekers why they should apply to work at your company over a competitor. Let’s take a look at how you can set yourself apart from other employers and start recruiting people today!
YOUR MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT
Every good recruitment campaign is going to start with the right messaging. You need to share what makes your business special, and why someone should want to come and work for you.
Identify the perks of working for your business, and focus on them for your recruitment messaging. The benefits and perks that set you apart can be just about anything, but here are a few suggestions to get you thinking:
- Flexible schedules
- Being family-owned
- Health initiatives
- Volunteer initiatives
- Paid volunteer time
- A policy of promoting from within
- Retention bonuses
- High employee retention rates
- An air-conditioned factory
- Paid holidays
- High dollar sign-on bonuses
If your company offers a perk or benefit that’s different from other nearby businesses in your industry, highlight that first. For example, if your company offers an unlimited time off policy instead of the standard paid vacation, you definitely want to focus on that!
Make sure to include a clear call-to-action with your messaging too. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to apply!
USE NEW CHANNELS
If you’re just relying on the old ways of posting job listings in newspapers and job sites, chances are that you’re getting frustrated with the lack of quality applicants.
Job seekers today are using a lot of different mediums to look for new employment, so it’s important to meet them where they’re spending their time. Let’s take a look at some alternative media channels you can use to reach potential employees.
TEXT MESSAGING: Open rates for marketing text messages sit at an average of 99%. That makes it a clear choice for getting your recruitment message read!
By creating a text short code and including it in your messaging, you can create instantaneous (and automated) communication with job seekers. Your automated reply message can take all the guesswork out of what’s needed to apply and remove the barrier of entry for potential employees.
Using technology like text messaging for the application process shows job seekers that you embrace new technology and are open to new ideas.
When you work with a media partner like Federated Media, you can easily leverage the ability to use a text message short code in your recruitment advertising to get connected to applicants easily!
EMAIL: It’s a tried and true method, but there’s no better way to target your audience of potential job seekers than with an email list.
Email is a low-cost method of communicating with potential employees. Because it’s controlled by you and your business, you can personalize the messaging directly to job seekers. This is a great way to begin building your talent pool and making sure you’re following up with potential employees.
Don’t be shy about sending a few different types of recruitment emails. Focus on different aspects of what sets you apart in each email. For example, one email could focus on an employee's experience utilizing your paid volunteer time, while another could shine a spotlight on a long-time employee.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Social media is great for connecting with your customers, sure. But it’s also a great way to recruit new employees.
When you use social media to build your brand, it allows you to give your audience a look into your company culture and show that you’re a great place to work. If you build a solid foundation of brand awareness, your audience will be more likely to apply to your job listings or share them.
To get started with your social media strategy from a recruitment perspective, consider posting behind the scenes photos and videos of your employees working as well as posts highlighting staff accomplishments. Don’t tell job seekers why they should work for you — show them (and do it consistently)!
HIRING EVENTS
Hiring doesn’t have to be a mundane activity, you can turn it into an actual event that people won’t want to miss out on.
We recently partnered with Southwire to build a high-frequency schedule of radio ads, which culminated in an on-site hiring event with remotes from our stations.
Southwire was able to tap into the listener base of WRBR and WBYT to build hype around the hiring event. It ultimately shattered their recruitment expectations, and they extended twice as many job offers as they had initially hoped.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
You can’t just tell people about your culture through your messaging, you have to show them that you’re authentic. Partnerships you have with organizations are an excellent way to set yourself apart from the competition when recruiting potential employees.
Whether it’s a local sports team or a nonprofit, your partnership says a lot about your business. Job seekers are likely to feel more connected to your business and understand your core values based on who you partner with.
Don’t be afraid to talk about your partnership, either. Create and share posts on social media, write blogs about it for your website, and use it in your recruitment email marketing.
If you don’t already partner with any organizations, that’s okay! If you decide to begin doing so, make sure that it’s an authentic partnership and not one of convenience.
BUILD A TALENT POOL
Don’t stop once you fill your open positions. Inevitably, new hires won’t work out (or never show up!) or other employees will leave. That makes it vitally important to build and maintain a talent pool to pull from in the future.
NEED HELP GETTING STARTED?
At Federated Media, we have the tools necessary to get you started filling your open positions. We can even advertise your openings on our job site: Michiana Job Finder.
Contact us today and let us know how we can start helping you with your recruitment efforts.
