Need some ideas on how to land more A-players for your organization? Step one is creating a recruitment process that focuses on high TOUCH not high tech.
We know that technology has made it easier than ever to source candidates, compare skill sets, do background checks, match personality profiles to your company’s culture, interview candidates via SKYPE and quickly push dozens or hundreds of recruits through the hiring funnel. As just one indicator, the number of companies offering applicant tracking software packages has doubled in the past few years as organizati
ons continue to streamline their recruiting and on-boarding process…all making for a very high tech world.
But, what EA has learned after 35 years of helping organizations to land top talent bucks the high tech trend. The organizations that consistently land the A-players are the ones who focus on high TOUCH. Here are a few ideas and examples for recruiters and their companies:
- Skip the online questionnaire and do an old school 20 minute phone call. If your goal is to find out as much as possible about a candidate and whether they are a good fit for the job, you won’t get a fraction of the desired insights from an online formatted questionnaire when compared to picking up the phone. And, the candidate can learn so much more about your company, including the fact that actual human beings work there and they take the time to get to know someone! When EA works with a candidate to introduce them to the quality of life in the Cleveland or Akron/Canton areas during the recruitment process, we never email a list of questions to uncover their interests and background. If we did, we would miss hearing the tone in their voice, the pauses before answers and the way they elaborate when asked open ended questions. In other words, all the important stuff! In today’s world, most people feel more comfortable sharing off-the-cuff info over the phone versus filling in blanks to be placed in your personnel file’s “permanent records”.
- Rather than mailing the recruit information on your company/city and links to the internet, put them on a plane for an actual visit. Once you’ve determined a candidate is a finalist on your short list, make sure there is room in the recruiting timeline and budget for a trip to visit your company in person. Encourage them to bring a significant other. The sooner you can get them to visit your company/city in person, the better. Chances are that they are surfing the web for information which can be overwhelming and misleading, so cut to the chase and give them the opportunity to discover in person with first hand knowledge in 1-2 days whether this job and relocation could work.
- When your recruit is in town, make sure you line up one of their potential co-workers or the hiring manager to have an evening meal with them. Seeing how a candidate treats the waitstaff, relates to co-workers and understands the nuances of corporate entertaining can add depth and dimension to your research. And more importantly, your recruit won’t be stuck eating a room service dinner in their hotel room on their one evening in your city. Why waste this opportunity? If the recruit is in meetings for a good part of the day do not let the significant other hang out in the hotel room either. Arrange for them to meet with a local, see the city and its amenities, let them know that you recognize that they are part of the decision and that your company cares. Nothing breeds negativity more than being holed up in a room in an unfamiliar city.
- Write a handwritten follow up note – let’s face it – when you get an actual note in the mail that was hand addressed and stamped doesn’t it go to the top of the pile for reading material? They stand out because they are so rare nowadays. It takes 5 minutes. Write a note to your recruit telling them how eager you are to have them join our team. Notes win over emails by about 100% and over texts by about 1,000%.
Want Executive Arrangements to partner with your organization next time you have an out-of-town recruit? Call us at 216.231.9311 and we’ll make sure that the candidate and their family gets the best possible first impression of the quality of life in NE Ohio.