Could these ideas help you track down new talent?
As 2017 winds down, some organizations may face a troubling staffing scenario.
One in three employees, according to research from Mercer, say they’re satisfied in their current role — yet they plan to leave in the next 10 months.
Given that more than half (67 percent) of organizations’ time-to-hire average is between one to four months, according to a 2017 LinkedIn global report, a number of companies may be coping with unfilled vacancies for a business quarter or more in 2018 — which could negatively effect employee morale, productivity and other operational elements in the coming year.
Utilizing retention-focused techniques may help employers hold on to some of the workers who are thinking of jumping ship. To replace the employees who will inevitably leave and to avoid the risks associated with a potentially four-month time-to-hire period, companies will need to find a way to locate jobseekers quickly.
Taking a cue from organizations that have crafted creative, decidedly original recruiting campaigns to locate top talent may help.
From luring highly qualified candidates with a prize to posting a tongue-in-cheek job listing, the following four examples provide a brief look at some of the inspiring methods companies have used in recent years to recruit candidates:
Incentivizing candidates to make contact
Contests like the one app search engine maker Quixey sponsored can be a good way to introduce your company to jobseekers — and learn about the skills they possess. In Quixey’s challenge, programmers who found and fixed a bug in an algorithm in 60 seconds or less received $100; Quixey, in turn, was able to connect with more than 700 potential candidates, which helped it find 10 hires, according to TechRepublic.
Providing opportunities for qualified candidates to engage with the company
San Francisco-based ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners challenged jobseekers interested in becoming co-chairman and partner Rich Silverstein’s assistant to complete a series of online challenges, which included transcribing a difficult-to-understand voicemail message and placing various contacts, ranging from Kim Jong Un to Silverstein’s cat, in order of importance. The recruiting campaign yielded 4,500 applications from potential candidates.
Tying branding into passive recruiting efforts
Three years ago, online craft marketplace Etsy launched a recruiting campaign that featured large art installations of coding and engineering terminology that was visually represented using images of products sold on the site. Showcased in San Francisco’s Caltrain Station, the campaign’s effect was twofold — helping to recruit candidates by letting engineers know the company was hiring, and also informing consumers that Etsy provides an innovative online shopping experience, according to Dave Schiff, chief creative officer at Made, the advertising agency responsible for the recruiting campaign.
Tapping in to nontraditional referral sources
Employee referrals provide the biggest amount of hires, compared to other methods, according to recently released research; however, staff members aren’t the only ones you can turn to for hiring recommendations.
Some companies have also had success finding qualified candidates through external parties. Both employees and nonemployees can fill out the referral submission form on corporate staffing service Collabera’s website, for example. National security and language services provider Torden LLC accepts linguistic candidate referrals from individuals who aren’t employed by the company online; video cloud service provider Brightcove’s non-employee referral program potentially awards customers, partners and others a $1,500 reward for suggesting a qualified candidate who ends up working for the organization for at least 30 days.
For additional thoughts on ways to successfully recruit candidates, check out our blog posts on creative techniques to find new talent, how to enhance your current time-to-hire average, methods to successfully reach out to potential candidates who may not be looking for a new position, setting up an alumni network to encourage employee referrals and three ways to improve your tech recruitment practices to help you connect with more jobseekers.