By: Bill Vogel, PHR VirtualHRPros.com With the labor market in the US reaching historic unemployment lows, managers need ongoing recruiting strategies to fill the jobs needed to keep up with customer demand. One approach towards creating a successful strategic recruiting plan is starting with the four Ps of marketing. This marketing strategy uses a mix of product, price, place, and promotion for successfully attracting customers. In recruiting terms this translates into developing a strategy that uses a mix of jobs, wages, location, and technology. Considering this mix helps hiring mangers easily attract candidates and develop a pool of applicants to choose from.
Jobs - Typically, managers have three types of job openings, which are vacancies created by voluntary or involuntary terminations, newly created positions, and promotional opportunities. Knowing the type of jobs opening provides a manager with a time frame in which to fill the position. For example, a manager that has five job openings a month due to involuntary terminations, knows that there is little or no notice of these job openings and therefor needs to maintain a pool of at least five applicants each month. Wages – In a labor market with low unemployment, hiring managers need to offer pay that competes with companies that have the same talent needs, or risk losing qualified applicants. Smaller companies may not have the revenue to offer competitive starting salaries, which means they must consider less experienced candidates and offer training or tuition reimbursement. Always treat recruiting strategies as a way of competing for talent, just as companies compete for customers. Location: Depending on the type of job and budget, managers can attract qualified applicants from external and local or global job market resources. Hiring managers may also discover a pool of qualified applicants internally, which is cost effective and quickly fills job openings. A simultaneous search for applicants externally and internally can greatly improve recruiting strategies. Technology – After a hiring manager decides on which jobs to fill, the pay, and location search for qualified applicants, the next step is selecting the method of publicly promoting job openings. The best communication methods include the use of technology such as internet job boards, social media, resumé database searches, colleges, and government resources. Whichever communication method is used, keep your audience in mind. For example, a resumé database search may not be a great way to attract hourly paid jobs such as in retail or manufacturing but using popular job boards and social media may provide better results. Here’s an example of a recruiting strategy for a large chain department store: Jobs: 15 new full-time cashier positions added for the upcoming holidays that need to be filled by October-15 Wages: starting pay is $1 above minimum wage plus a sign on bonus of $100 after 60 days. Employees will be eligible for dental, medical, and vision benefits the first of the month following 30-days of employment. Location: Target applicants from local job markets from surrounding cities within a 20 miles radius. Attend job fairs and conduct onsite same day application and interview events. Technology: Run classified advertisements using the most popular social media and job board internet sites, run classified advertisement at movie theaters, place “now hiring” banners above store entry. Install working computers within the store for walk in applicants to complete a job application on the company’s website. The example above mentions a sign on bonus, here’s a list of some other recruiting tools and benefits helpful for attracting applicants below the upper management and executive level.
Using what works in the past can save a lot f time and money. Collect data such as reasons for voluntary resignations, referral source listed on previous applications, and quality of hire to identify successful recruiting resources. This data will assist managers with identifying which recruiting strategies to keep, and which to discontinue. always, get help from a qualified HR Professional if you think your business is at risk, or help is needed developing policies, procedures, and training courses to assist with workplace compliance requirements.
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