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Hiring & Recruiting

Hiring and Recruiting Strategies for Employers 

As your business continues to grow, you might find that you need help around the shop, office, store, etc. You also may already have some helping hands, but need to fine-tune your hiring and recruiting strategies to find the best people for the job.

The words “hiring and recruiting” are often used interchangeably, though they refer to completely different processes. Hiring refers to the soliciting and reviewing of applications for an open position. During the hiring process, you’re alerting the public of an open position at your company or business and evaluating candidates to fill a specific role.

Recruiting, on the other hand, is the continuous search for the best employees for your company to live your values, not necessarily filling any specific roles. It is an ongoing, continuous process that a company should carry out regularly, not just when looking to fill specific roles.

 

Not all businesses are the same. This is intended to be a resource for you to refer to as you begin to navigate or further develop your hiring and recruitment strategies.

Evaluate Your Current Strategy 

Regardless of how developed your hiring and recruiting strategies are, it is good practice to evaluate your existing strategies by asking the following questions.

Writing an Effective Job Posting

Job postings are important - plain and simple. Oftentimes, job postings are what bring people in the door. You’ll need to make sure your job postings are appealing, direct, and written with the ideal candidate in mind.

 

Consider these best practices to write an effective job posting:

Remove graduation dates from the application

Job descriptions that require a graduation date may unconsciously discourage older applicants from applying. Do not include age requirements in your job descriptions.

Use inclusive language

Phrases like “ninja” and “rockstar” signal bias and attract a narrow applicant pool.

Describe your ideal candidate

Think about the experiences, qualifications, and skills your ideal candidate should have to perform the job.

List salary and benefits

Not all job descriptions require this, but it can be a draw for job seekers to have an idea of what salary and benefits might be available. If you’re uncomfortable listing the salary, include a salary range.

Promote the Job Posting 

Once you’ve written your job description, you’ll need to decide where to post and share it. There are many options when it comes to job recruitment websites or social media.

Posting Sites

Below is a list of common websites that many employers use for job postings.

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    AARP Job Board

    Working with others, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect, we want to help build a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives.

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    • Social Media

    Many businesses use social media to alert their networks or communities of job openings. A GlassDoor study found that 79% of job seekers use social media in their job hunts. A few popular platforms include LinkedIn, Facebook, and even Twitter. See below for a few quick statistics on social media and job hunting.

    48%

    of job candidates say they used social media during their search for their most recent job.

    Over half of job candidates (59%) said that they use social media to research companies of interest and to learn more about company culture.

    59%

    Social media can be a great, cost-effective way to net talent for your business. As long as you are intentional and authentic with your posts, you should be successful in recruiting talent. For more tips on how to use social media marketing to your advantage, visit the marketing section of this guide under the “Managing” tab.

    Recruiters

    Another great way to bring in talent is to consider hiring a recruiter. Recruiters can be helpful in reducing the stress in filling open positions by identifying candidates who suit your needs. If you decide to hire a recruiter, make sure they are a good fit for you, understand your industry, and have a proven record of success.

    Interview Potential Candidates

    Interviews and onboarding are the final stages of the hiring and recruiting process. Keep in mind that during these phases of the process, your company or business is being reviewed as well.   

    Once you’ve selected candidates that you feel may be a good fit for the company, you should invite them for an interview. The interview is just as important as the work you put into recruitment and marketing an open position.

    It’s important to keep in mind that you are also being interviewed. The interviewee is assessing the company’s culture, growth opportunities, and whether or not it is a good fit for them. You should treat any candidate that you interview as a customer or client. Interviews are unique opportunities for people to gain insight into the company culture and inner workings. For more tips on conducting interviews, visit The Hartford’s Business Owner’s Playbook or see this list of Do’s and Don’ts.

    Onboarding New Employees

    Onboarding new employees is an exciting process of bringing on a new employee and familiarizing them with their role in the company or business. This process helps employees adjust to both the professional and social expectations of the job quickly and smoothly.

     

    Employers can match their onboarding process to their business models and some businesses may choose formal or informal onboarding. Depending on your business atmosphere and culture, interviewing and onboarding could be formal or informal processes.

    Formal Onboarding

    Formal onboarding is a step-by-step process for employees to teach them their roles, company values, expectations, and workplace norms.

    Informal Onboarding

    Informal onboarding, on the other hand, takes a more spontaneous approach to onboarding. New hires are thrown into the mix with little guidance and there are no specific tasks set aside for them to complete on the first day.

    Including Diversity and Inclusion Strategies

    Diversity and inclusion are elements that all employers and workplaces should strive to include in their hiring and recruitment process. In fact, it is proven that companies with more ethnic and gender diversity outperform those lacking in diversity.

     

    In today’s workforce, there are five generations of workers, making it the most age-diverse workforce ever. Having such an age-diverse workforce boasts many benefits, such as an increased opportunity for learning, additional perspectives, and a chance for all age groups to bring something valuable to the table.

    Strategies for Success

    Certain job requirements can create barriers to entry for potential job candidates. In order to make your job postings more inclusive, consider reviewing your listed requirements, and evaluate whether they’re necessary for success in the role.

    • Years of experience is a common barrier to entry. For instance, women are less likely to apply for a job that asks for seven years of experience if they only have six years. Consider removing this requirement, providing a range of years, or decreasing the number of years needed, particularly if the job is considered “entry-level.”
    • Evaluate your job postings for other potential barriers to entry, such as home address, gender, age, or heavy business jargon.
    • Evaluate job descriptions and requirements and see areas that might cause barriers to entry for candidates. By eliminating restrictive elements of job descriptions or requirements, you can attract new talent you may not have tapped otherwise.

    Bias in Job Screening

    During the hiring process, unconscious bias kicks in when we make decisions about job candidates based on first impressions. This can be based on a name, gender, hometown, or ethnicity. In other words, we make decisions based on what we already know. By not addressing unconscious bias in the hiring process, you’re losing both money and talent. You risk having a less diverse workplace and in turn, missing out on important perspectives.

    Addressing unconscious bias in hiring and recruiting is no small task, and requires a holistic approach to your entire hiring and recruiting process. The steps below can be used to address unconscious bias in hiring and recruiting:

    • Reframe your approach to marketing jobs - ask yourself if you can be more inclusive, or if there are more ways to bring in talent.
    • Cast a wider net and pay close attention to company reviews on job websites such as Glassdoor.
    • Learn what potential candidates are saying about company culture and the interviewing process. 

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