Always Be Recruiting: A Company’s New Edge to Find Great Talent

There’s an old acronym in sales: ABC, or “always be closing.” We have a new acronym for you: ABR. It stands for “always be recruiting” and is the new, best way to find top talent for your company. Experts say that it costs up to 50% of an employee’s annual salary to recruit and fill a vacancy. It probably costs more if you factor in the time of screening potential new hires, training time, and more. Costs can also rise if you are recruiting for senior-level positions versus entry-level ones.

The old method of finding employees doesn’t work well anymore. You can’t rely on help wanted ads, resumes, reference letters, and a slew of interviews to find your next superstar. Sure, you may use all of these techniques and more, but you need to do more to reach into your networks to find the right people to fill talent vacancies.

Companies need the best and brightest employees to innovate in their industries. People are the engine that runs your business. To find the right people, constant recruiting and enacting techniques to keep in front of people who may be interested in working for your company are great ways to always be recruiting.

Build Brand Awareness Among Potential Workers

Corporate brand awareness isn’t just about ensuring your logo is on all your trucks or letterhead. It’s about consistent messaging across all platforms and sharing the values and vision of your company. It extends beyond ads, marketing materials, and logos to the world of social media, where you can build brand awareness and make your company appealing to possible employees.

Why do some employees stay at your firm for many years? Ask them. This can provide a glimpse into some of the brand attributes or the implicit promise our company makes to employees when they come on board. You may have a brand as a great place to work, thanks to flexible hours, friendly teammates, or constant creative challenges. Each of these brand attributes appeals to different people but, over time, maintaining a company culture that fulfills these brand attributes builds a reputation in the marketplace.

Build a Great Reputation

Like attracts like. You’ll attract superstars when your company is known as a superstar employer. Focus on improving and enhancing your company’s “brand” as a great place to work. When you do this, talent will flock to you. Who doesn’t want to work for a winner?

HR Software Helps Boost Retention

Human resources management software (HRMS or HRIS) can help you boost retention, too. This software adds a complementary self-service portal to your existing human resources department so that employees can update their information, select benefit options, and more on their own. Your human resources department then has the time to network and court the A-list players to your company.

Another area in which human resources software can help with retention is through the data it gathers. Data collected in the HRMS can help you identify patterns that lead either to higher turnover or retention. For example, when studying turnover reports, you may notice that one department has exceptionally low turnover while another has high turnover. Further investigation may reveal the cause: perhaps one area has a great manager and another area has high stress. Comparing turnover rates to industry averages can also help you decide whether an area of your company is experiencing higher than normal turnover or if it is at an average level.

Finding great employees takes more than luck and a help wanted ad. It takes a strategy, supported by great HRMS software, to build your team.

Sage People can help you with this and more. It packs HR benefits, training, recruiting and compliance management into one system. Sage People is built on the Salesforce App Cloud and can be scaled as your company grows. It can help you with recruiting and more.

For more information about HRMS software such as Sage People, contact IWI Consulting Group or call 1-866-916-3851.