April 22, 2021
We’ve all heard that marketing prowess can help recruitment teams get their message in front of the right candidates, but how do these two functions best work together? Is the partnership all it’s cracked up to be? And can it be weaved into everyday activities as well as overarching strategies? Read on to find out what the participants of our latest roundtable had to say.
Same difference.
What we heard: Recruitment and marketing teams have different aptitudes, skills and knowledge based on their experience and backgrounds.
What we understood: Recruitment is more like marketing than not, from supply-and-demand forecasting to advertising and campaign design. But how do they leverage each other functionally?
What is required: Collaboration. Recruitment can learn from marketing’s functional knowledge, and marketing can gain insights from recruitment’s ability to capture data and narratives.
Out with the old, in with the new.
What we heard: Social channels and the emergence of influencers have exploded the need for raw, uncurated content to amplify the authenticity of a company’s purpose and values.
What we understood: With a huge proportion of the population working virtually, the veneer of infrastructure investments has vanished. So, what’s left?
What is required: Market a virtual work arrangement that provides a better work-life blend and is sensitive to social interaction (Zoom fatigue is a thing!), then trust employees to advocate and pass the message on.
Never get in the way of a good story.
What we heard: Training recruiters so they have marketing skills and an ability to share compelling narratives that underpin an organization’s purpose and values is pivotal to solving the engagement conundrum.
What we understood: While a job posting is an advert, the job description should frame not just aptitudes, skills and knowledge but the opportunity to contribute to business bounties. And, of course, a candidate should be able to see how their career will be enhanced by the existing people and processes.
What is required: Refine the new cultural norm in your business and master communicating it effectively to candidates. Let your employees speak for themselves and tell their story. It’ll speak volumes for your true values.
Like a cake, the ingredients need to be right.
What we heard: There is no one thing that makes your job opportunities magnetic.
What we understood: The pandemic has determined a new set of ingredients to attract and engage candidates. The employment brand has changed over the past 12 months.
What is required: Recruiters need to engage with candidates on an emotional level to distance them from the humdrum of company rhetoric and propel them into a new world of possibilities, where they can define and design their own work-life experience.
Measure like marketing.
What we heard: Metrics should determine dashboards and key performance indicators (KPIs), while service level agreements (SLAs) should predicate performance. It’s all about whether applicants end up as candidates and translate into good hires.
What we understood: The old mindset of collecting candidates doesn’t work. It’s about attracting the right candidates who are a culture-add. Your message should be “you’ll fit and succeed here if you have the following...” In essence, allow candidates to self-select.
What is required: Conduct an evaluation on your candidate application and hiring process. Dissect every stage (and talent segment), then optimize and improve it.
