…ideas from Jeffery Giesener – SourceMob.com – CEO
I know that I am dating myself by using the following Kevin Costner Field Of Dreams analogy, but over the last couple of weeks my discussions with prospects and clients alike made me feel like it is time to remind my colleagues that offering a good candidate experience (website, social and mobile) is not a luxury or something you put off into 2014 or 2015.
It is necessary if your organization wants to:
- Attract and keep Generation Y: Generation Y will make up 75 percent of the workforce by the year 2025*. From a recent survey, we know that employers are struggling to retain Gen Y employees. In fact, 30 percent of companies lost 15 percent or more of their Gen Y employees in the last year. These quits cost companies anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000 per employee (according to Beyond.com).
- Address passive candidates: Do not treat passive candidates like any average applicant. In the early to mid 2000s, the Internet recruiting model used Job Boards and LinkedIn, forcing recruiters to do all of the heavy lifting. By using this model, they must source the leads (pretty much like throwing mud against the wall and hoping something sticks) from these portals. They are then forced to do the outbound phone and email marketing to find and close their desired candidates. From a resource perspective, this is an exhausting and inefficient marketing process. This is not “permission” marketing, it is “intrusion” marketing. With passive candidates making up 80 percent of the workforce, do you really want to alienate this level of your prospective candidates with intrusion marketing?
- Get social: If you are not using social media in your recruiting process, you are missing out on netting the majority of your Generation Y and Millennial talent pool. LinkedIn is not the only social channel that can attract candidates. Remember Facebook, Twitter and Google+? Did you know that 96 percent of Millennials discuss their job search with others both in-person and online and more than 30 million students and recent graduates use social media to find and share jobs (NexGov.org)? Social media recruiting improves your hiring processes and makes your recruiting transparent to job seekers. This is an attractive quality for Millennials and all job seekers. So isn’t it time to make a focused effort to cater to your candidates?
- Amplify their employer brand: Your career brand and career pages are your first touch points for candidates to decide whether they will proceed with a conversation and, better yet, an Apply. The key is that you have a cohesive content and communication strategy that drives your candidate involvement. Many companies and recruiters think that when they enter social recruiting, presence is all that is needed and that candidates will magically find their career pages. Take a step back. Do you really think that Amazon, Target or Ebay think that way too? WRONG. They market the heck out of their consumer experience so they land orders at a cost per order they can afford. It should not come as a surprise that you can’t leave your candidate experience marketing The Field Of Dreams approach. You must bring a proactive communication strategy to your recruiting process that speaks to Web, social and mobile candidates.
To help you develop, plan and execute your Social, Talent Community and Mobile strategies, just email me at jeff@sourcemob.com or call me at 612-349-2740. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Jeffery
Jeffery Giesener
CEO/Founder
SourceMob.com
612-349-2740