4 Ways to Boost Your Candidate Pool
With 2018 well underway, your agency will be assessing strategies and budgets for the year ahead. And against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, skills shortages, new legislation and changing workforce demographics, the steps you take to prepare your agency for these challenges, have the potential to put you head and shoulders above your competition.
One area that you’ll need to pay particular attention to is your talent pool. Not only do you need to ensure you have access to the right skills today and in the future, but you must also be engaging with candidates in a compliant manner post-May 2018 when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. While many companies are viewing the legislation as burdensome, our 2018 UK Recruitment Trends Report reveals that 24% of respondent agencies are, quite rightly, seeing it as an opportunity – one which enables the review of legacy data and the chance to create a better, more targeted, database of talent.
So how can your agency develop a rich pool of quality talent?
Choose Wisely
With GDPR just a few months away, it’s vital you understand whether your current recruitment CRM is geared up to help you manage the consent needed from candidates. Speak to your current provider to establish what functionality the platform has to facilitate compliance so you can start the ball rolling. Some CRM systems may not have the functionality you need so explore other options and see what’s going to work best for your agency. Your candidate database is the lifeblood of your business—make sure your technology and business practices don’t hinder your ability to build talent pools in a compliant manner.
Develop Your Online Presence
While sourcing candidates yourself is crucial, you need to also think about what image your brand portrays when talent finds you. Does it encourage candidates to engage with you and share their details? Does it tell them that their career will be in safe hands? If the answer to any of these questions is “No,” you need to be reviewing and updating your website’s user experience. If your site looks like it was created years ago, isn’t mobile-friendly and doesn’t accurately describe why a candidate should use your services, then it’s likely it needs a makeover. Ensure it’s full of engaging content such as career advice and industry insights that adds value to the audience, and encourages candidates to share their information with you and seek you out when they’re looking for work.
Provide a Terrific Candidate Experience
We’ve spoken before about the importance of a good candidate experience, yet we still hear horror stories. But with technology allowing you to engage with talent in a far more efficient manner, there’s really no excuse not to provide each and every individual that comes into contact with your brand with a positive experience. Ensure processes are personalised, content is tailored to each individual, and that feedback is received at the end of each and every placement. If your agency wants to develop a pool of talent it can call upon today, tomorrow, and in the distant future, creating an incredible candidate experience must be part of your company’s DNA.
Avoid Silly Mistakes
If you’re investing time and money into developing rich talent pools, you need to ensure your recruiters are avoiding doing things that turn candidates away. A lack of communication is a surefire way to do just this. Nothing is more frustrating than a lack of response to a query or job application. And with recruitment CRM systems and automated processes meaning that candidates don’t fall through the net, there’s really no excuse—even if you’re delivering bad news to the individual. Similarly, a lack of feedback will only serve to alienate talent. Your recruiters are experts in their field and should be offering constructive feedback to each and every candidate—advice that will help them secure the next role they apply for.
If your agency wants to develop talent pools that ensure you can fill each and every client brief, forge closer relationships, and outperform your competition, candidates must be at the heart of your strategy for over the next 12 months. Failure to do so will almost certainly be detrimental to your staff, your clients and your bottom line.
For more information on the traits of a winning candidate engagement strategy, get the Candidate Engagement ebook.
