Unless your organisation is an Instagram or a Snapchat and you’ve developed some as yet unidentified method of apparently creating huge amounts of revenue, it’s pretty clear that people are the key to any business.
Your employees and what they know are generally what differentiates you from the competition and as much as you might think your fancy CRM, or the PlayStation you have in the kitchen make your company what it is, it’s actually your employees.
This makes winning the war for talent – your own talent – absolutely critical and, as we all know, the race is fast and intense in the recruitment industry. Every firm is battling for the best and brightest in the market with the vast majority using little else but salary and bonus options to attract their next critically important employee. That’s clearly not enough and at a time when many of your rivals are likely promising the world and everything in it to their potential employees, you need to go that extra mile to recruit the talent you want.
However, fear not, we’re here to help – PR can make all the difference when it comes to recruiting for your own firm.
How?
How to win the war for talent: target your media
Think about your messaging, where your ideal employee will be and what they might be reading and watching. If you’re looking for an experienced recruiter then target the hiring press but if you want someone with specific vertical experience, it’s advisable to promote yourself as an employer in the sector press. And if it’s junior or younger candidates, then university and employment media should be your target.
How to win the war for talent: first impressions count
And it’s not just traditional media activity that can help you to become a more attractive employer. In the digitally led era we now live in, your website or social media channels are likely to be a potential employee’s first port of call, and first impressions count. If that candidate was to look at your Facebook or Instagram and see sporadic updates on dry, droll subjects that they don’t yet understand – and aren’t relevant to them – it’s not going to get them particularly excited about you as an employer. If, on the other hand, they visit your page and it’s filled with photos and case studies of current employees having fun and being able to express themselves at work, it’s likely to do a lot more.
There are thousands of firms, that are probably fantastic employers, stuffed with people happy in their role and confident about their prospects for the future. But if those firms don’t shout about it, how is anyone meant to know, particularly the people that could help them grow even further?
Author: Bruce Callander
