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More than two-thirds of HR professionals are struggling to recruit candidates for full-time positions, SHRM’s 2016 report “The New Talent Landscape” found. One clear takeaway: retaining employees is critical for meeting your talent needs.  

There are many employee retention strategies out there, but most come with significant drawbacks for employers and provide little or no extra rewards. Take increasing salaries. To impact retention rates at a significant level, you’d need to push up salaries significantly too. This would come at a tremendous financial cost, and the higher salaries wouldn’t do anything to help your employees do their jobs better.

Source: Randstad 2015 Employer Branding Survey

Talent development, however, is an exception. While there are associated costs such as training materials and staff, in addition to to providing a big retention boost (a lack of career opportunities is the No. 1 reason employees say they leave an organization), it gives employers several other rewards. A few include:

• Improved employee productivity—employees learn skills that help them with their jobs.
• Improved employee engagement—employees are less likely to feel they are in a rut, or in a dead-end job.
• Improved succession planning—employees are trained in skills that prepare them to succeed at managerial and executive roles (3.6 million baboomers are expected to retire this year alone.) 

It’s no wonder that many companies make talent development a high priority: it makes sense for them and their employees crave it. According to the SHRM survey, 69% of HR professionals said that their organizations had training budgets last year, and 89% reported that their training budgets stayed the same (50%) or increased (39%). 

All this said, like most valuable strategies, talent development isn’t easy. Training is a long, complicated process that can be difficult for HR to manage, and it requires significant organizational commitment. 

But many employers make talent development much more difficult than it needs to be. To learn a common-sense method that will help you succeed at talent development—benefiting your organization and your employees—read our new article, “3 Steps To Achieve Talent Development That Drives Organizational Success.”

Over the past several months we have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of partner opportunities coming from the Canadian market. This heightened level of activity has brought about a great deal of excitement and renewed interest, prompting us to intensify our focus and align dedicated resources to help our Canadian Sage partner community continue to grow. This really comes as no surprise, as we have seen a major upswing in the number of recruiting and training management deals across other regions in North America. These opportunities are being uncovered because of an increased need for recruiting (Cyber Recruiter) and training management (Cyber Train) technology solutions that simplify and eliminate the ongoing inefficiencies plaguing talent management processes across organizations of all industries and sizes.

Several of our partners in Canada have recognized and embraced this as a prime opportunity to deliver huge value to existing clients and prospects. They are approaching leaders and knowledge workers in Human Resources to discuss challenges they are facing related to managing the recruiting and training process. Our more proactive partners no longer see these processes as an afterthought or add-on sales opportunity. Due to the significant growth potential that exists, these partners are intensely focused on leading with Cyber Recruiter and Cyber Train as part of their solution portfolio, which are Sage HRMS Endorsed solutions.

Don’t worry if recruiting and training management has not been a primary focus, as there are an abundance of opportunities in the Canadian marketplace to go after! We need more proactive partners asking questions early in their conversations with customers and prospects to identify and uncover these needs. The good thing is you are not alone in this. We have dedicated resources here at Visibility Software and of course through Sage to help.

In fact, Deana Dearry of Sage North America and her team regularly champion Visibility Software, and has been a great asset to have on our side. 

“Knowing I can rely on the Visibility team to swoop in and empower us with their high-level of expertise and  “can do” spirit is such a great asset for our customers and partners – especially since so many of us just aren’t that familiar with all the intricacies of Recruiting/Applicant Tracking and Learning Management! It’s a relief to know when our customers ask the questions, we’ll seem like experts with all the answers thanks to Mary Sue and her colleagues”, said Deana.

Mary Sue McClintock plays a very active role in managing the Canadian territory here at Visibility Software, and prides herself in developing relationships and helping her business partners succeed. As a dedicated resource, Mary Sue helps partners build out an active strategy plan, and is available to help train on how to ask the proper questions that will uncover needs, assist in responding to RFPs, provide product demos, and help you leverage our many marketing resources (whitepapers, email content, product overview collateral, infographics, videos, blog articles).  One partner example, Amanda Scott from The Answer Company, involves Mary Sue on just about every step of a new deal from registering the opportunity and all the stages in-between right through close.

We are excited to about the intensive renewed activity in the Canadian market, and are very excited for the many opportunities to come.  If you need additional information on how Cyber Recruiter and Cyber Train are solving recruiting and training management challenges, don’t hesitate to connect with Mary Sue (click here to send her a message). She is ready to support you and your team with everything you need to provide solutions for your customers, close more deals and generate more revenue. We can’t wait to hear from you!

The Real Value of an Employee Development and Training Solution

Many organizations that we speak with tell us that while they understand the value of employee training and development, they aren’t certain they need a formal learning management program to deliver, track and manage that training. Many of these organizations track the training they do provide in spreadsheets or even with paper files. While we can agree that any approach is better than no approach, learning management programs are ideal candidates for automation. There are big benefits to be realized from standardizing processes and automating the workflow surrounding employee training, and here we take a look at just a few of those benefits. 

Aids retention

Studies tell us that 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year, citing the lack of skills training and development as the principal reason for moving on. Employee development and training programs help employees feel invested in their jobs and in their organizations. A well-established program ensures that employees continue to feel motivated to advance their own careers within the company, as well as to advance the company’s mission, rather than turning elsewhere for new opportunities. 

Attracts job seekers

An organization that has a standardized employee development plan reassures job seekers that the company is invested in their long-term success and advancement within the organization. Applicants are less likely to invest themselves in a company that doesn’t show the same commitment in return. A recent Bersin study noted, “Companies with career management programs are better able to attract and retain top talent, leading to higher employee engagement and, in turn, a positive impact on the bottom line.” 

Automates manual processes

If your training requirements are modest, it may be tempting to continue to use the collection of spreadsheets to track course offerings, registrations and certification renewals, but deploying a smart learning management solution, you can dramatically reduce the overhead involved, saving money and driving efficiency. From automatic reminders to employees and their supervisors, to enrollment tracking and training reimbursement request handling, through an automated approval workflow, a dedicated learning management solution can generate a rapid and significant return on investment.   

Promotes consistency

With formalized training, you can be certain that vital functions and tasks are taught in a consistent, precise manner, ensuring that all employees receive the same information. You can of course develop your own training in house, but most organizations rely at least in part, on professionally-produced training courses. Depending upon the specific training provided, the value of such consistency may vary from improved productivity to reduced liability for the company. 

Streamlines compliance

From sexual harassment awareness training, OSHA-mandated safety training, through business ethics – it’s not just that proper training is the right thing to do, training protects your company from potentially devastating law suits and fines. A learning management solution helps ensure employees (and you as the employer) are in compliance with job requirements and the law. The software can track certification expirations, courses due, and notifications and accreditation requirements, helping maintain strict compliance and protecting both you and your employees. 

It makes financial sense

Increased revenue is a common goal across many organizations, and investing in employee training to support that goal makes financial sense. For example: 

• The Cheesecake Factory invests an average of $2000 annually per employee on training. The chain enjoys sales of $1000 per square foot, almost double the restaurant industry average. 

• Payroll provider ADP coaches some sales associates on managing virtual teams and time management. Those that participate had an average of seven percent growth in sales. 

• Motorola has found that every dollar invested on training can yield as much as a 30 percent gain in productivity within three years, which has helped them cut costs $3 billion and increase profits 47 percent. 

For more in-depth tips on taking employee learning and development to the next level, check out our Best Practices Guide – 3 Steps to Achieve Talent Development that Drives Organizational Success. 

Recruiters as brand ambassadors – as opposed to salespeople – for your organization

Let’s face it. It’s a candidate-driven marketplace out there. It is more difficult than ever to attract and retain qualified employees. As a recruiter, you’re charged with filling open positions with the most qualified candidates. But there’s more to it than attracting top talent; you need to find the right match for your organization so every hire becomes a productive, engaged, long-term employee. Competing for talent in a buyers’ market requires the recruiter’s role to evolve from a transactional salesperson to a brand ambassador – responsible for establishing the organization’s reputation as a desirable place to work, and keeping the attention of both today’s and tomorrow’s job seekers. Just what makes a brand ambassador and how can you get there?

Convey Your Brand

As an ambassador, your job is not to sell applicants on your company. Instead, you want to serve as a matchmaker, accurately communicating the organization’s brand and identifying applicants’ individual brands to find an ideal match.

What do we mean when we speak of a brand? In this context, it’s not a marketing term. Your brand is your organization’s essence – it’s core values. It helps to think of the organization as a person and assign personality traits to it. Is your organization resourceful, adaptable, creative, independent, serious, spontaneous, responsible? And you’ll need to think beyond the organization’s brand to consider both the department and hiring manager’s brands as well.

You, as a recruiter, are the initial human point of contact for your company’s brand and are in the unique position of using both your experience and your discretion to make vital hiring decisions. You’re searching for a brand match – the perfect relationship where both parties share parallel goals and approach professional life in similar way. 

Salesperson Versus Ambassador

What is ambassador-style recruiting? Essentially, it boils down to respect for the candidate. A respect for their time, their goals, their skills and their potential contribution to your organization. Here’s a look at some of the pronounced differences between salesperson- and ambassador-style recruiting. 

Applicant Experience and Onboarding

An ambassador-style recruiter should understand what’s it like to be an applicant, and hone the recruiting and onboarding process to be an overall positive experience. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that new employees decide within the first 30 days whether they feel welcome in the organization, and that one in 25 leave their jobs because of a poor (or nonexistent) onboarding program. There are areas in the applicant experience to focus on: 

1. First impressions: Are your job listings up-to-date and does the language accurately reflect the position and the ideal applicant? Do the listings help convey your brand? Do applicants receive confirmation of the submittal of their resume or application?
2. Process: Does the process move smoothly with organized, timely interviews? Do you process resumes efficiently? Are non-selected applicants politely notified?
3. Finalization: Is the onboarding process geared to the applicant? Do they have the tools they need to succeed? Are early expectations communicated?

As part of the applicant experience, we can’t stress enough the importance of treating each applicant with the respect they deserve. You should be looking to attract not just today’s applicants, but tomorrow’s as well. Today’s runner up may be tomorrow’s perfect candidate.

The ambassador-style recruiter is focused on building relationships, not closing deals. By putting the applicants’ first, respecting their time and individuality, and meshing their brand with yours, your organization has the best chance to win top talent – today and beyond.

For more on ambassador-style recruiting, check out our on-demand webinar: 

What Every Company Ought to Know about Ambassador Style Recruiting

After spending a great deal of time and resources to bring in quality new hires, many employers are making a major mistake not prioritizing onboarding. 

Despite the fact that effective onboarding improves employee performance and increases employee engagement and retention, according to a report the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, a study of 500 U.S. companies of varying sizes shows that the average amount spent on onboarding per new hire is just $67—and a third of these companies spend no money at all. 

Effective onboarding doesn’t have to be expensive, but the figures above are still alarming. 

No matter what the final tally is on your own company’s onboarding efforts, there are certain things you want to get right to make the process effective. Of course, all necessary paperwork must be completed quickly and efficiently. But you also want to get new hires established in their jobs and connected with your culture, so that you can get them up to speed as quickly as possible. This should begin on day one with the right tools, for example like a Fact Sheet for New Hires. You can create an informative infographic fact sheet template for new hires from Venngage that outlines important info about your organization. This will go along way towards helping new hires will feel more familiar with the company. After all, it typically takes about eight months to get new employees fully productive, but getting them comfortable as quickly as possible helps minimize that time period. On the other hand, failing to provide a reasonable orientation can leave new employees “confused and disoriented,” which is far from conducive for high performance and engagement. 

Smart companies are recognizing the importance of onboarding, with the most successful companies connecting it with employee performance. And more and more are recognizing that it’s a good idea to begin the onboarding process even before a new hire’s first day. According to Aberdeen’s “An Employee-Centric Digital Workplace” report, best-in-class companies are 53% more likely than others to begin the onboarding process before day one (this is also known as pre-boarding). Additionally, best-in-class companies are 39% more likely than others to measure employee engagement with onboarding to ensure new hires understand what’s expected of them. 

So if you’re looking to get better performance from your new hires, consider seeing if you can improve the onboarding you provide. 

How Modern Talent Acquisition Software Can Help

Software allows you to automate crucial aspects of the onboarding process. For example, you ensure that all necessary documents have been filled out correctly, saving time and preventing problems. You also can manage and track the other tasks that need to be completed after someone is hired (email setup, ID photo, parking pass, etc.) As a result, you can put your focus on higher-value onboarding priorities—such as making sure the new employees you just hired have the proper attention to get off on the right foot, which improves performance, engagement and retention levels.

To learn other important steps for improving your hiring results, read our new article –  “4 Key Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition.”

A Bersin report found that “developing strong relationships with hiring managers is the top driver of talent acquisition performance.” In fact, it was found to be four times more influential than any other factor studied. 

Yet many employers are clearly failing at managing the recruiter/hiring manager relationship. From the same report: 80% of recruiters believe they have a good understanding of the jobs they’re recruiting for, but 61% of hiring managers disagree. 

Given the tremendous gap in their opinions, it’s no wonder managing the relationships between these two groups is one of our “4 Keys Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition.”

The recruiter/hiring manager relationship is critically important for two reasons: 

1. The recruiter needs to understand the skills and qualifications the hiring manager is seeking for given job roles or the wrong candidates can be delivered, which results in bad hires or delays in hiring.

2. The recruiter and hiring manager need to work together to avoid time-costing bottlenecks that slow the hiring process. Bottlenecks frustrate candidates and increase time to hire. 

So, how can you promote quality relationships between your recruiters and hiring managers? 

1. Encourage frequent, effective communication at every step of the process. At many organizations, this isn’t happening—which isn’t surprising, considering the statistics above from the Bersin report. “The lack of communication between recruiters and hiring managers is the biggest challenge we have in the industry—period,” Steve Lowisz, CEO of recruiting and recruitment research firm Qualigence International, told SHRM.  

2. Take steps to build trust and agreement. Have recruiters and hiring managers meet face to face in an effort to establish themselves as partners working together toward a singular goal: making quality hires in an efficient manner. As part of this, recruiters and hiring managers should agree upon written expectations for the relationship and how they’re going to work together. Doing so will help them stay on the same page, especially since both will have documentation to refer to.             

3. Have them hold process improvement meetings. Recruiters and hiring managers should hold occasional meetings to evaluate how they can work together more efficiently and more effectively. For example, they can examine if the recruiters have been sending along the right quantities and types of candidates to the hiring manager for interviews.                                                                                                               

4. Use modern talent acquisition software. Software will help recruiters and hiring managers stay organized consolidating candidate and job information, and will prevent communication breakdowns using notifications and auto-alerts throughout the process. In fact, recruiters and hiring managers won’t even have to log in to the software to be alerted of an update—smart emails will keep everyone on the same page. So, for example, both recruiters and hiring managers will be aware if changes are made to a job description. Plus, there will be no more giant piles of paper to sift through, which will save time, eliminate frustration and reduce cost. 

Your talent acquisition efforts have a tremendous impact on the future of your company. Don’t let poor or mediocre recruiter/hiring manager relationships spoil that future. 

For more on managing the recruiter/hiring manager relationship, and to learn other important steps for improving your hiring, read our new article –

Are you considering implementing a formalized employee development program? It is an investment that’s likely to pay off. Organizations with a career development program in place enjoy up to 250 percent higher productivity. And the benefits don’t stop there. Reduced turnover, higher employee engagement levels, increased innovation and improved risk management are some of the additional benefits companies realize when they implement a formal training and career development program. Training also serves as a recruiting tool – you’re more likely to attract and keep good employees if you offer them development opportunities. 

If your company doesn’t have a training and development program in place, it may seem daunting to get started. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are five basics to keep in mind as you work to implement an effective and efficient employee training and development solution in your organization. 

1. Consider it an investment

There is a tendency among business owners and executives to view employee training as an optional expense — and that mindset can prove very costly to your organization in the long run. The moment you think of employee development and training as just another expenditure, you’ll neglect it. Instead, think of it as an investment that can prove extremely valuable for the long-term success and growth of your organization.  

2. Remember you’re planning a program, not an event

A training program is more than just a series of unrelated courses or workshops. It should reflect your organization’s goals, as well as the needs of your staff. What’s important is that your staff training program has some reason behind its structure. An unrelated series of presentations or activities might have some value, but it will benefit neither the staff nor the organization as much as a training program that forms a coherent whole. Spend the time to outline and flesh-out your course offering, aligning it with your business needs and goals. Document the desired outcomes of each course and determine how you will measure and track those outcomes. 

3. Involve your staff

Make a point to involve staff members in the planning and implementation of your training program. The people who actually do the work are usually in the best position to figure out what their needs are. Ask questions, gather input, and structure training opportunities that meet employees where they are and take them where they want or need to go. Training breeds commitment, and committed employees are happier and more productive. 

4. Incorporate the basics – but don’t stop there

Companies often decide to implement a training program to address compliance matters (think OSHA or Department of Labor), manage risk ((think sexual harassment and diversity training), and/or professional certification or credential tracking (think nurses, teachers or commercial truck drivers) – and these are certainly areas that benefit from a formalized approach to training. Job function training is another common (and worthy) goal of an employee training program.  

As you plan your training program, consider broadening it into a full-fledged employee development program. Think of training as a retention tool, helping to instill loyalty and commitment from employees. One idea would be to offer career development courses, enabling employees to prepare themselves for promotion. Staff will be more likely to stay if you offer them ways to learn and grow while at your company. Don’t give them a reason to move on letting them stagnate once they’ve mastered initial tasks.  

5. Leverage technology

A training and development initiative won’t succeed if it isn’t easy to maintain. Companies often rely on spreadsheets, Word documents and calendar reminders to track employee training. Usually these programs were initiated when the company was much smaller, or was training fewer individuals. A disjointed system like this requires administrators to enter data in multiple locations, making reporting, analytics and data sharing virtually impossible. While this may work when your training needs are minimal, as you grow this system becomes overly labor intensive. 

Employee training, with the myriad of details to be tracked, is an ideal candidate for automation. Not long ago, learning management software was only within financial reach of the largest companies. But now, there are affordable learning management solutions accessible to small and mid-sized companies. Give your initiative the best chance of succeeding establishing an easy to manage infrastructure that’s both scalable and accessible. 

Interested in more suggestions for launching an effective employee training and development program?

Employers who want to improve their talent acquisition should take note of these statistics from two recent Aberdeen Group reports: 

1. 47% of respondents in the “An Employee-Centric Digital Workplace” report said they have trouble sourcing enough qualified candidates.
2. According to the “Best Practice: Use Modern Recruiting to Stay Cutting Edge” report, best-in-class organizations are 55% more likely to proactively build and expand their candidate pipelines, regardless of current hiring needs. 

These figures show you need to focus on quality sourcing and building a strong talent pipeline. In fact, doing so is the first of our “4 Key Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition.” Let’s take a closer look. 

Sourcing

Quality sourcing may not win the war for talent for your company but poor sourcing sure can lose it. In the talent acquisition process, if you source the wrong candidates, your efforts are doomed from the start. If you don’t source enough of the right candidates, you’ll struggle to consistently fill your talent needs. 

Two important elements of quality sourcing are:

1. Tracking and measuring your talent sources
2. Effective recruitment marketing

Tracking and measuring the performance of your talent sources (internal referrals, external recruiting partners, social sites, job boards, corporate career sites) is critical because it’s the only way to optimally focus and adjust your sourcing efforts and budget. 

As for effective recruitment marketing, communicating intriguing messages about your organization and your culture to candidates and potential candidates helps attract more candidates while also making candidates eager to join your organization. In fact, employers worldwide are recognizing the importance of recruitment marketing. According to LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting Trends 2016 report, 59% of respondents are “investing more in their employer brand compared to last year.” 

Talent Pipeline

Another essential part of finding and hiring the right people (those with the specific skills, qualities and capabilities your organization needs) is knowing exactly who’s in your talent pipeline. This includes both internal talent and external candidates.  

Internal talent—Your organization may have a surplus of some skills, qualities and capabilities, and a shortage of others. By understanding your internal talent pipeline, you’ll know which positions you have the bench strength to fill internally, and you’ll identify skills shortages that you need to fortify before they become major problems.  

External Candidates—By maintaining a strong candidate pipeline, you’ll always have a pool of qualified talent that you can use to fill positions when they open, reducing time to hire and increasing your quality of hire.  

Modern Talent Acquisition Software Can Help!

Modern talent acquisition software is a great tool for improving your sourcing and talent pipeline. 

Sourcing: It enables you to efficiently and effectively track and measure your talent sources. You can see the quantity and types of candidates you’re receiving, the talent sources they came from and identify trends. You can also evaluate the effectiveness of individual job postings—as software can show you the candidates being attracted and how far those candidates made it through the hiring process.  

Talent pipeline: Modern talent acquisition software empowers you to track your current employees’ skills and abilities, helping you identify both quality internal candidates and skills needs in your organization.  

The result is you can access and evaluate data that will help you make more informed decisions and identify high-quality candidates. 

For more sourcing and talent pipeline tips, and to learn other important steps for improving your hiring, read our new article “4 Key Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition.”

You may have heard about the recent change made the Labor Department affecting how financial professionals handle the dollars they invest on their customers’ behalf. Those professionals must now act in the best interest of their clients. Really? You mean they weren’t?

Shouldn’t all business professionals act in their clients’ best interests – without it being the law? And, just what does acting in a client’s best interest mean? Here are five simple – but often overlooked – ways you can put your clients first. 

1. Stay connected

We all like knowing that someone is thinking of us – it makes us feel important and valued. While flowers or a foot massage might be a good way to demonstrate that attention for a loved one, for our clients, it might be a regular phone call to see how the business is running, what has changed and what new challenges have emerged. In addition to regular phone calls or email check-ins, it’s smart to implement a solid marketing plan that keeps your firm top of mind and relevant. That marketing plan could include collateral such as a newsletter, user group meetings or webcasts. Communication like this enables you to better able to anticipate an upcoming need and offer your firm’s assistance – before someone else does.

2. Brainstorm solutions

We’re talking collaboration here. You may be the software expert, but your client is the expert on their business. Work through problems and solutions together – making sure you take the time to thoroughly understand both their pain points and their ideal outcome. As a software vendor, you have access to a large number of solution offerings. If you’re asking the right questions, and listening to your client’s pain points carefully, you’re more likely to be able to recommend the right solution at the right time. By becoming a strategic partner to your clients, you’ll raise the value of your firm’s services, and build long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships.

3. Speak frankly

You aren’t doing your clients any favors telling them what they want to hear or making promises you cannot keep. Respect their time, money and technology investment setting realistic expectations for the solutions you’re proposing and the return on investment they can anticipate. You won’t have all the answers to every question, but if you are honest and candid throughout every interaction, you will gain your clients’ respect. And remember that it’s ok to say no. You can’t resolve every issue they bring to you, and your honesty in that regard will go a long way.

4. Become indispensable

You become indispensable to your client not simply successfully completing each engagement you win. You become indispensable staying out in front of their business – continually seeking and recommending ways they can leverage software to meet new business challenges.

5. Remain informed and in touch with current trends, solutions and strategies

The wisest people don’t pretend to know everything, the wisest people are the ones that seek input from others – experts in their respective fields of knowledge, and then distill that information into new ideas, directions and innovation. As a software provider, you generate value for your clients when you bring them new ideas and solutions based on your research of their organization and the available business solutions that overlap with their marketplace. The more problem-solutions you can offer your clients, the higher the value they will place on your relationship, and will always look to you first as their expert go-to provider. Keep in mind that your clients are constantly being bombarded with marketing messages from competing providers offering complementary products and services. If you haven’t been the one to introduce your clients to their options, they may respond to those messages – leaving you behind.

Visibility Software has a flexible and friendly partner program designed to support you in introducing our Cyber Recruiter and Cyber Train solutions to your clients. You can find more information about that program here.

Employee engagement is a workplace concept that refers to how committed employees are to their organization’s goals and values, and how motivated they are to contribute to the organization’s success. Research has shown that highly engaged employees: 

• Are more customer focused, more creative at work, and take less sick leave
• Care about the future of their organization and put in greater effort to help it meet its goals and objectives
• Feel proud of the organization they work for, are inspired to do their best, and motivated to deliver
• Are much less likely to leave the organization.

Perhaps it’s not surprising then, that companies whose employees express a high level of engagement are more profitable, have greater revenue figures, and have higher levels of customer satisfaction. A company that values its employees and invests in them right from the beginning is laying the foundation for high levels of engagement. Here are some ways your organization can begin building employee engagement during the recruiting cycle.

Meet Them Where They’re At

Social media has quickly become a powerful recruiting tool. In fact, a recent Aberdeen Group survey reported that 68 percent of “best in class” recruiters think social media is “crucial” to their recruitment strategies. Your company’s LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter accounts can help you spread the word about new job opportunities. They also help put a human touch on your organization, providing a way to introduce and showcase elements of your corporate culture and mission.

Respect Their Time

Strive to be an employer that respects candidates’ time and efforts streamlining the application process. Post open positions to your company’s website and/or an online job board like Monster.com® and Careerbuilder.com®. Make it simple for them to apply to more than one position at a time. And, send an acknowledgement email letting them know that their resume was received. An applicant tracking and recruiting solution, like Cyber Recruiter, can automate and streamline these tasks, integrating them fully into your workflow.

Conduct Effective Interviews

An interview is the first impression for both employer and candidate. It’s not only a chance for you to assess the candidate; it’s also the candidate’s chance to observe your corporate culture. As many as 42 percent of companies now employee video conferencing (solutions like Spark Hire) in the interview process. This is a great way to give both parties that vital first impression without either of you incurring the expense of an in-person interview.

Make Your Proposal  

Once you’ve identified your next hire, make the proposal a good one. Prepare and send an offer letter along with onboarding forms. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) help speed and automate this part of the process, letting your candidate know you value them and respect their decision-making process. And of course, the applicants that were not selected deserve the same level of respect, so be certain you send them an email or letter as notification.

Prevent Information Overload

On your new employees’ first day on the job, don’t inundate them with paperwork. Much of the necessary information was gathered during the recruiting cycle, and if you’re using an ATS, that data can transfer seamlessly to your payroll and HRMS applications, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry. 

Use that first day instead to make the new employee feel welcome with an office tour, introductions to key personnel, and a welcome gift bag filled with product samples and company swag. 

Striving for high levels of employee engagement simply makes smart business sense. Think of employee engagement as a long-term, evolving relationship between your organization and your employees – one that begins long before the employee starts to work. By building employee engagement strategies into your recruiting methods, you are demonstrating that yours is a company that invests in its most valuable assets.

For more valuable information about employee engagement and improving the talent acquisition process, check out our best practices guide – 

Best Practices Guide – 4 Key Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition

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