5 Quick Wins to Boost Recruiting Strategy in a Hot Talent Market

Along with the weather, the talent market is heating up and the competition for applicants is only getting hotter. It’s a candidate’s market: Job posts are up 28.6% since February 2020 and with people quitting their jobs at the highest rate since 2000, candidates have more options than ever. The complex, unfamiliar labor market calls for a quick shift in recruiting strategy that both maintains applicant volume and centers employee engagement and retention.

Try these five quick wins to give your recruitment strategy a boost so you can find the best people for every position. Then, consider ways to shift to a long-term comprehensive recruiting strategy.

1. Tap into existing talent pools.

Did you know there’s already a world of engaged candidates at your fingertips? Not everyone who submits an application to your company gets hired for that specific requisition — but their skills could be the perfect fit for another position.

Quick win: When new positions open up, review previous related applications and noteworthy candidates who just missed the cut.

Long-term strategy: Match applicants’ skills to new job openings for an even more targeted recruiting tactic. An Applicant Tracking System can parse resumes fast and recruiters can build and leverage Talent Communities.

2. Centralize candidate data to help teams communicate and hire faster.

With candidates fielding more job offers than they’re used to, reducing time-to-hire should be a top focus for recruiters in 2021. But if communication about candidates is lacking and hiring teams aren’t on the same page, your company will miss out on top candidates. An essential component of a faster hiring process is keeping everyone in the loop on relevant candidate information, including their applicable skills and hiring stage. Reduce miscommunication internally to get offers letters in the hands of top talent fast.

Quick win: If you’re not using an ATS, decide on a single source of truth for candidate data that all recruiters and hiring teams agree to honor. This could be as simple as a Google Sheet, or something a bit more advanced like a Trello board or Monday.com project.

Long-term: Implement ATS software to do more than just consolidate candidate data: engage with candidates faster, maintain a competitive time-to-hire, and create an overall excellent candidate experience.

3. Onboard and train new hires quickly and consolidate training with hiring classes.

Once you’ve hired the perfect candidate, you need to keep them to avoid repeating the hiring process all over again. A strong onboarding process can make all the difference, improving retention by 82%, but the administrative time required to onboard new hires individually can be daunting. Implement hiring classes to streamline onboarding for HR teams and hiring managers while enabling new employees to start building relationships from day one. Start new hires on the same day to consolidate time-consuming tasks for HR and training sessions for managers. Even starting just two people at the same time, rather than one, can make a world of difference.

Quick win: Divide new hires into hiring classes by starting employees together as much as you can. HR can complete onboarding and managers can combine training sessions for improved time management.

Long-term: Digital onboarding processes are much faster than traditional processes and help new hires start strong. Create a branded new hire portal where employees can fill out standard paperwork electronically and get ready for their new role prior to their first day. Online forms and bulk onboarding tools enable HR teams to hire more candidates, offer an excellent onboarding experience, and improve employee retention.

4. Retain talent and get new hires involved with employee engagement strategies.

We’re talking about retention again since it’s such a large part of a successful recruiting strategy when there’s a shortage of best-fit candidates. Engaged employees are five times less likely to quit their jobs, so it’s important to understand current engagement levels and try new ways to keep employees motivated, interested, and appreciated at work.

Quick win: Implement a simple recognition program to begin giving employees visible public appreciation of their accomplishments. Start a dedicated Slack channel, send celebratory emails periodically, or take time during all-staff meetings to acknowledge exceptional employees and career milestones.

Long-term: Successful employee engagement strategies are more than just a few quarterly surveys. Engagement includes providing constructive feedback, offering growth opportunities, and recognizing achievements and milestones throughout every employee’s career. A well-rounded engagement plan helps employees feel valued so they stay with your company long-term.

5. Mobile tools are a necessity to reach more candidates.

While this isn’t the fastest strategy to put in place, incorporating mobile and texting tools into your recruiting processes can help build valuable relationships with your candidates, reduce time-to-hire, and increase candidate flow. ClearCompany clients have a 400% faster time-to-hire and see up to 3.5x more candidates when they use our Text-to-Apply, ClearText, and Mobile Apply tools to engage with candidates where they’re searching on their phones.

Quick win: Mobile job applications are surpassing desktop, so it’s important that candidates can see your requisitions and navigate your career site on their phones. Avoid missing out on those opportunities by ensuring your career site is responsive, meaning job seekers can access your site, explore open positions, and submit their applications on any device without an issue.

Long-term: Add a mobile tool to your recruitment process, like Text-to-Apply, to reach applicants who are not at their computers and allow candidates to submit an application with just a few texts. Employers using texting tools see their response rate increase by up to 50%. From there, you can add more mobile tools, like ClearText, to enable faster, more streamlined communication between recruiters and candidates.

In an unusually competitive job market where candidates call the shots, taking a new approach to your recruiting strategy can net better results both right away and in the long run. Quick recruiting wins like reaching out to your existing talent pool and consolidating new hire start dates are the catalyst for adopting long-term strategies for recruiting success.

ClearCompany’s Applicant Tracking System and Onboarding tools enable you to create an improved recruiting strategy and employee experience to keep your workforce engaged and growing for years to come. Sign up for a free demo to see how our tools can help you create a successful retention and engagement-based recruiting strategy.