Despite hard times, many companies are still hiring because two things are certain:
- Top talent is always hard to find, no matter the situation.
- Right now, people are working from home – with a lot of time to look at new opportunities!
In order to stay on top of the market and keep your company thriving throughout these difficult market conditions, follow these steps to ensure that your candidate pipeline is profitable.
Run Business as Usual with Interviews
If you want to stay competitive when the market begins to strengthen, your pipeline has to be strong. While there’s no need to worry about onboarding, you should be keeping your open roles active, so that when the time comes to fill them you are not left struggling. Continuing to conduct interviews as normal is beneficial to your business because it shows you care. Showing concern and acknowledging your candidate’s priorities like family, health, and their overall schedule gives a good indication on how you would treat them as an employee as well.
“53% of employees say a role that allows them to have greater work-life balance and better personal well-being is “very important” to them,” says a Gallup survey. They believe, “it's critical for employees to know an organization "walks the talk" on greater work-life balance and well-being.”
Stay In-Touch with Candidates
Recruiters need to keep qualified candidates “warm” in order to maintain the relationship and line of communication. Make sure to contact them once every 7-10 days to see if their job status has changed. Become their career consultant and try offering them coaching on other roles, so they learn to contact you first before accepting another job. If possible, offer them tools to develop their skills through online courses, professional interview prep, resume building, and more.
Get Creative
HR professionals should meet with internal teams to see where the standing needs still are. Depending on the role, there may be opportunity for remote work, contracting for projects, and other small support positions that can keep the candidate engaged with the company and the prospective role. An added bonus with this strategy – you get to see some samples of their skills as it directly applies to your business.
Maintain the Human Connection
With phone calls and emails, it’s hard to feel connected to the culture of a company, let alone coworkers, management, and other team members. Try utilizing video chats rather than phone calls whenever possible – whether that be in an interview, in a follow up, or for a check-in. This way, the candidate will feel more personally connected to you, the company, and the role. Better yet – when you’re able to look them in the eye without meeting in person, you will have a better read on their interest through facial expressions and level of engagement.
Keep it Positive
Be honest with candidates throughout the process of interviewing and prospecting – but keep it positive! Regardless of whether or not the relationship ends in a hire, you can never take back your tone once communication begins. According to a survey by Digitate, “organizations with poorly-handled onboarding are twice as likely to cause new hires to seek new opportunities ‘in the near future’.” Of course, when in difficult times, there are aspects of any organization that are strained. Rather than share the negative flat out – display how your organization is combating the hardship with optimism and employee care.
If you or your business are struggling with giving candidates the proper attention they need during this pandemic, a recruiter can help. At Blue Signal, we specialize in candidate engagement. We market your business, keep in contact with prospects, can provide talent market insights, and are your key to keeping your pipeline robust. Give us a call today to explore how we can support your hiring needs.
Trying to find a good recruiter on a deadline during a crisis is not a good idea. Build a relationship with a recruiter ahead of time. A good recruiter will always be open to potential future job openings, and they will have the benefit of extra time to get to know the company before a job opening comes along. Choose a recruiter who knows the industry well and who has a strong pipeline of candidates that could fill the company’s tough positions.