As with every New Year the last week has seen the traditional predictions and comments on what 2011 will bring for the recruitment sector. As expected Social has been a big one.
What exactly will happen is open to discussion, but what is clear, is that as a direct employer, 2011 will provide HR and Recruitment Teams with one of the best opportunities to add significant value to their businesses.
The past two and half years has seen the recruitment market fundamentally change, with new tools and technology available to employers which will provide them with the platform and potential to attract talented individuals.
The greatest threat to any HR and Internal Recruitment Team is the lack of information, or conflicting information, within an environment which is evolving so fast that it can be difficult to identify where to start.
Over the past 17 years I have seen the recruitment sector and world of recruitment marketing change; from one in which the recruitment agency was seen as the gate keeper, to one where the candidate has been empowered, can access employers directly and be accessed by them. Advertising has moved from print, to websites, job boards, social networks and mobile continues to evolve faster than ever.
Through personal experience I have always been a great believer in making sure that you have the basics right. There is no point in your resourcing team spending hours researching and contacting talented individuals, through Social Media, if the career website is a poor reflection of your business brand, without clear navigation and easy to use functionality.
The lack of knowledge surrounding ATS integration is a classic example; where vacancies are effectively hidden from the search engines and exist on domains such as www. myATSprovider.com/mycompanyname/jobsearch.. OK, if you’re Vodafone or John Lewis you are going to receive applications from people who want to work for you, but with millions of candidates using the search engines to find specific job roles, making sure your vacancies are on your career website, so that they can be correctly indexed is a great place to start.
The best candidate may not instantly think of your business. ATS integration methods are still those employed back in the early noughties, not what you would expect in 2011. There are other options, which offer huge benefits.
For those of you working for companies using providers such as I-Grasp/Stepstone, Peopleclick, Mr Ted, Taleo, WCN etc carry out the simple tests in the document attached and see for yourself.
Get the basics right, find out what is important, and you’ll see an increase in direct resourcing and ultimately use your career website as the hub for all your talent attraction, whether it is print adverts, referrals, social media and mobile.
Download my Guide to Improving Talent Attraction in 2011
Savings in recruitment spend will go straight to the bottom line and increase your company’s profitability, as well as providing the talent required to increase the top line.
I hope this is useful to those who may be a little confused by the mass of information and where to start and if anyone needs any info, just drop me a line.
Here’s to a great 2011
DJ
David Johnston
Corporate Web Consultant
4MAT
http://www.4mat.com/corporate-recruitment
