NEW RECRUITMENT MANTRAS

Pallavi Pinakin presents innovative methods to recruit and retain talent

In an era of fast changing digital, social and professional trends, it’s vital for companies to be flexible and adopt new methods of recruitment. The market is increasingly driven by candidates along with the growing presence of AI and innovative interview techniques.

A traditional hiring approach, which ignores the shifting expectations of jobseekers or doesn’t utilise technologies, can cause you to lose out on the best available talent. These ideal candidates could easily go over to your more up-to-date rivals. On the other hand, early adopters of innovative recruitment methods can reap rich rewards and gain a competitive edge.

Here are seven smart recruitment strategies to keep in mind for 2021.

EMPLOYERS Research shows that more and more jobseekers prioritise their potential employer’s brand and work culture these days, and actively seek this information even before applying. So companies wanting to attract and retain high quality talent must bolster their reputation and create an attractive value proposition for employees.

Organisations should post verifiable information on their official website, LinkedIn page and social media sites. According to a recent LinkedIn study, candidates trust a company up to three times as much when provided with credible information on what it’s like to work there.

RECRUITMENT How do jobseekers perceive your recruitment process? How are they treated at each step – from screening and interviewing, to hiring and coming on board? These are the factors that determine ‘candidate experience.’

People with a positive candidate experience tend to accept the job offer or reapply at a later date, as well as refer others to the company. Meanwhile, a negative experience can cause candidates to reject the offer and criticise the organisation on their networks, and put off other potential hires. Accordingly, recruiters must work towards building a strong recruitment process.

MARKETING This is a longer term strategy to nurture and convert passive talent. Instead of reaching out to the market only when you have a vacancy, modern recruiters should work towards constantly attracting and engaging candidates.

A LinkedIn survey revealed that while only 36 percent of potential candidates were actively looking for a job, a whopping 90 percent were interested in hearing about new opportunities. Inbound recruiting enables you to connect with those passive candidates and inspire them to choose you as their next employer.

PREJUDICE AI is one of the biggest game changers of our time; it offers benefits along the recruitment ladder. For instance, advertisements can reflect the writer’s unconscious biases and this can dissuade entire groups of the candidate population.

AI powered writing tools can perform sentiment analyses to help you craft more inclusive job descriptions and diversify your pool of candidates. New technology can track and manage the hiring process too, making it more streamlined and efficient.

TALENT POOL  AI powers a far more sophisticated Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and provides recruiters easy access to a rich talent pool, as well as simplifies the process of identifying suitable candidates. A modern talent pool should ideally be a comprehensive database that includes not only previous applicants but referred candidates and those sourced by inbound marketing efforts too.


Once you have a robust talent pool in place, the ATS can scan it whenever you have a job opening in order to identify the most promising candidates.

INTERVIEWS With the world undergoing such seismic shifts, why should your interview techniques remain stuck in the past? Gone are the days of asking where someone sees him or herself in 10 years’ time. With a gig economy marked by multiple job changes and an increasingly millennial workforce, many of the old standby questions have become outdated.

It’s time to dig into new research to revise your interview process. Create a format that focusses on high value skills such as adaptability and test how candidates respond to unforeseen problems. Feel free to include unconventional tasks and bring in people from other divisions for a more collaborative interview panel.

JOB AUDITIONS If you’re unsure about a potential hire, either in terms of their technical skills or professionalism, then job auditioning is an option. It isn’t always ideal and may put off the candidate, so use it sparingly and with sensitivity.

A job audition means that the person comes into the office and works for a day so you can see him or her in action. To ensure a positive candidate experience, provide the person with meals and transport. Some companies also pay auditioning candidates for the day regardless of the final decision.