Effective Recruitment Strategies for Attracting the Best Candidates

On average, the recruitment process takes three to six weeks, and may take shorter or longer depending on a variety of factors like the number of applicants and company size. For employers, filling in a job is often a stressful experience, where they spend much time and money to find the top candidates who’ll most fit the position they need to fill.

In this article, we list down tips on developing effective recruitment strategies to help streamline your recruitment process and attract the best candidates, saving you time and money in the long run. We also provide reasons why you should consider hiring a fresh graduate.

What is a Recruitment Plan?

A recruitment plan is a formal plan defining how the company recruits, hires, and onboards talents. It’s a strategic program that helps ensure that the hiring process aligns with the company’s goals and can be replicated for a better chance of successfully hiring the best fit for the role.

Steps in Developing a Good Recruitment Plan

Drafting an effective recruitment plan is a meticulous process that requires involvement and input from different stakeholders of your company. Annually reviewing the effectiveness of the recruitment plan being implemented should also be conducted to ensure that it still aligns with your company’s business objective. Here are the steps in coming up with a good recruitment plan:

1) Define What Your Hiring Goals Are and Identify Your Needs

Defining your hiring goals is the first step in drafting a good recruitment plan. Make sure to coordinate and work with the leaders in each department to know where the business is going. For example, if the company wants to diversify or cut down costs, the company might try exploring remote work options.

Forecasting methods like skill gap analysis where you determine the specific skill sets needed for your next hire or predicting how many people you should hire due to possible job promotions, should also be used as tools to further define your goals.

2) Determine the Positions to be Filled

The next step in creating a recruitment plan is listing down the manpower you may need in the company, defining their roles, and setting a deadline by which you plan to have these positions filled. Listen to the hiring team regarding these positions and work with them toward drafting a job description.

3) Implement Strategic Sourcing

Strategic sourcing entails doing effective activities that can help you reach out to prospective candidates whose qualifications and skillset fit your job description. These activities include establishing a good employer branding, posting on job boards and social media about career opportunities, and going into virtual hiring events.

4) Determine How You’ll Be Screening for Candidates

The screening process comes next, and it may be done through different activities like phone screening or shortlisting candidates. Keep in mind that it should be a balance with proper evaluation methods of the candidates and the candidate experience (i.e., candidates might lose interest if the hiring steps are too tedious).

5) Invest in the Onboarding Process

A good onboarding process helps a new hire become successful in their newly filled position and thus helps improve employee retention. Allocating enough resources to make the onboarding process for the new hire is thus important, which entails investing in tools like an onboarding software or an employee handbook.

6) Identify Tools for a More Efficient Hiring Process

Some steps in the hiring process that take up much time can be streamlined by using AI tools to automate the process. Many employers nowadays are turning to AI to shorten the time it takes for the crucial steps in the recruitment process, commonly in the following steps: sourcing, screening, and interviewing.

7) Prepare a Recruitment Budget

Finally, a recruitment budget must also be planned out, which covers the costs incurred in every step of the recruitment process, onboarding costs, and any other overhead costs.

Great Examples of Recruitment Strategies You Can Implement

Aside from implementing an effective recruitment plan, being proactive in your recruitment strategies can also help you make the right hiring decision. Here are some examples of concrete recruitment strategies to attract and hire top talent:

1) Increase the Company’s Online Presence

Increasing the company’s online presence involves making your brand well-known not just for its product and services but for its employment as well. It thus entails optimizing your career page and job posts by employing SEO best practices and posting to your social media. Establishing yourself as a responsive employer who answers a potential candidate’s questions also helps.

2) Involve and Reward Employees in Finding the Right Candidates

Involving existing employees in the recruitment process helps you become connected to a more specific talent pool. These employees are the best ones to promote the company to prospective candidates as they know the company’s values and the work environment, allowing them to look for better candidates who they think fit the job description. Rewarding them for their hard work in helping you find the right candidates, such as through an employee referral program, will also motivate them to continue doing that in future job openings.

3) Organize or Participate in Industry-Related Events

Organizing and participating in industry-related events helps establish your company as a thought leader in the industry and one that’s committed to furthering your industry’s progress. Top talents also often attend these enriching events, thus giving you the opportunity to connect with them and offer them possible job opportunities in the future.

4) Maximize the Features of Niche Job Boards

While it won’t hurt to still post on the most popular job boards out there, it’s a better idea to branch out and look for candidates at more focused niche job boards. Niche job boards can more easily connect you to their network that’s solely devoted to the industry that your company is in.

For healthcare job recruiters, for instance, Caring Support is an ideal niche job board that helps connect them with the top talents in the industry, brought by our connections in post-secondary institutions and leaders in the healthcare industry. Our comprehensive platform has useful features relevant to finding, connecting, and hiring top candidates.

5) Promote an Ideal Company Culture and Workplace Environment

Top talents no longer just look at the salary that a company offers. They also now look at the company’s culture and workplace environment. They also look at opportunities for growth and career progression while working with the company. Establishing yourself as a company that has a good reputation and whose values align with theirs is also a good way to attract top candidates and improve employee retention.

Should We Hire a Fresh Graduate?

Employers often tend to hesitate in hiring new graduates, as they’re candidates without experience and would need intensive training and supervision. However, considering hiring new graduates may be a good idea, as they provide the following advantages:

• New graduates are updated on the industry’s best practices and evidence-based interventions. Since fresh graduates have just recently left the academe, they have used and studied the most recent and updated materials in their degree program. They’re also well-versed in using the latest and highly advanced tools in their research.
• New graduates have better availability. Most new graduates have no spouses or children yet, so they’ll be more open to working longer or odd shifts and schedules.
• Hiring new graduates is cost-effective. Entry-level salary is lower compared to the salary of their more experienced counterparts, enabling the healthcare employer to find good talents while saving money.

Connect with Top Talents at Caring Support

An effective recruitment strategy is paramount in ensuring that you’ll attract the best candidates for your job opening. Such strategies include optimizing your job post, improving your online presence, and meeting expectations in providing a good company culture. Hiring a fresh graduate also has its advantages, as they may be one of the best candidates available.

At Caring Support, we’re committed to helping employers connect with top healthcare talents. Our innovative healthcare platform, combined with the services we offer in our Essential Package, allows you to experience a more cost-effective and efficient recruitment process. Create an account here today and streamline your recruitment process with us.

Originally published at https://www.caringsupport.com on September 14, 2023.