Technology will do more harm than good if it is not deployed correctly
AS the UK’S exit from lockdown starts to accelerate, it is becoming clear that the predictions of talent shortages have become a reality. This is particularly true in the hospitality sector, where businesses are finding it increasingly challenging to hire the staff they need to reopen fully.
There is a fair amount of speculation as to the issues behind these shortages. However, whatever the root cause, businesses need to look very carefully at their recruitment strategies to give themselves the best chance in a market where skills are in short supply.
Effective marketing and a fast, frictionless recruitment process are essential here. Communicating what is great about your workplace culture and employee experience sits at the heart of effective marketing.
It is vital to understand why people want to work for your organisation and the needs, priorities and concerns of professionals in the industry. These are most likely to be focused on safety and stability, at least in the short to medium-term.
How you get the message out to the market is also critical. Conventional channels such as job boards do still work, but the level of competition in certain sectors means employers really need to focus on what makes them stand out, while also homing in on how they get their message across.
The important thing here is harnessing the voices of employees and helping them tell their stories. Job seekers are becoming immune to spin as very often promises made in recruitment marketing do not live up to the job’s day-to-day reality.
Utilising the authentic voices of your employees helps to make your recruitment marketing cut through by being genuine. Encouraging your teams to talk about their job and workplace on social media is a significant first step.
Great recruitment marketing is useless if potential hires have to navigate a flawed recruitment process. In a competitive market, speed and efficiency are critical.
Employers need to think very carefully about their application and selection processes and make them as efficient and frictionless as possible. It is essential to hire the right people, so balance is important here, but employers need to examine and question the effectiveness of every hoop they are asking candidates to jump through.
Fast and effective communication is a critical part of an excellent candidate experience and should be a priority. There is a lot of recruitment technology on the market that can help here, but technology can’t fix a broken process and will do more harm than good if it is not deployed correctly.