When it comes to staffing and recruiting, having in-depth knowledge of the industry changes the game. People make a great difference when it comes to a business’ sustainability, reputation and return on investment. Business leaders look for the best talent, but not all business leaders adequately invest in the right direction. But recruiting is much more than just picking up the phone and screening candidates.

The collective efforts and time put into developing a product, crafting a marketing strategy, looking for potential technology partners and establishing financial resources is tremendous compared to what is designated for recruiting. But why?

We have seen a combination of factors at play, from lack of determination, sluggishness with no sense of urgency and lack of competency in complex situations involved in recruiting. Some methods are not systematic and can be unreliable. Therefore, a robust process is necessary to recruit great talent every time.

Focus on Recruiting Strategy

Knowing what is critical to the success of an organization and having plans to deliver reputable results on all aspects is the foundation of a successful recruiting strategy. Focusing and investing the bulk of resources and time into the critical aspects of each business results in a profitable return of investment.

Focus areas for success:

• Money
• Employees
• Know Hows
• Process

Do you have a clear understanding of what defines great talent? This is the first step to having a robust recruiting strategy. Once you define the skills and personality traits needed for the ideal candidate, establish the processes you need to attract the desired talent and retain them. This sounds a lot simpler than it is. Many businesses trust their senior leaders and managers to lead the pack in recruiting but one piece is left unattended to; the success of this hierarchy usually only works for small businesses when the leader at the top also takes part in the recruiting process.

As any organization aspires to grow, its imperative that the leader invests time into the recruiting strategy defining talent characteristics, employer brand propositions, recruiting process and diversity policies.

Executing a Successful Recruiting Strategy

Any staffing professional knows that the levels of talent demand doesn’t remain the same all year. Some roles need to be outsourced and others require internal talent that is already on payroll. The market is fickle and so much is determined on one’s ability to attract great talent based on the behaviors of the market force.

Recruiting teams must have a well-designed employer value position (EVP), an abundant talent pool for various types of talent, methods to attract the pool including back up talent pools to use, process assessments, and benchmarks. These tools are priceless to execution in recruiting.

There’s Value in the Small Stuff

Organizations advertise client positions and receive tons of applications. Upon receiving applications and resumes, some organizations send out an automatic reply email, but what happens to those applications? How does this effect the applicants experience? Instead of candidates waiting days at a time in the queue, creating the opportunity to engage with candidates during the “waiting period” will provide a better experience, improve organization, and reduce the wait time.

Usually, candidates are happy to hear about your interest in them, but their patience can decline with multiple interviews scheduled days at a time. Implementing a process that allows candidates to get through the entire interview and hiring processquickly can change the candidate experience and employer value position (EVP) leading to a larger talent pool. This is where adequately leveraging analytics comes into play. There is a lot of value in knowing the cycle time, acceptance rate and other strategic clues within each business and function in your recruiting strategy.

Focusing on critical factors in your recruiting strategy will keep the business going even during low seasons. Misunderstandings between managers and recruiters can be eliminated with consistent evaluation methods and benchmarks. Taking the time to meet in person with managers and candidates to discuss any gaps is imperative. When it comes to a robust recruiting strategy, work smarter not harder!