If you’re an HR professional, you’ve likely heard the term “strategic” thrown around about a thousand times throughout your career. HRCI says it. SHRM says it. And your bosses definitely say it. So why is adopting a more strategic approach so dang hard? I think the primary reason being more strategic is difficult is that it’s not simply a goal to strive for and achieve once, it’s a mindset. Having a strategic mindset means that you’re aligned to the goals of the vision of the company as a whole and you’re committed to it for the long haul. Strategic means that you understand on even the most minute levels how your decisions impact the company as a whole and you design goals around the strategic vision your C-suite has for the company. This includes every facet of your position, including hiring. So how do you create a hiring plan that aligns with your company’s strategic vision? Here are a few tips to help you get started:
Strategic hiring means cutting costs by increasing hiring speed.
Many of our clients didn’t believe that it was possible to increase their hiring speed without spending more money until they realized that their recruiting approach could be greatly improved with a little strategic tweaking. One of the easiest ways to cut down your time to hire is to dedicate more time to writing a strategic job ad. If you write a job ad that appeals to the type of person you think would be a good fit with the culture of your company, you’ve already eliminated a significant portion of the work involved in screening out applicants that wouldn’t be a good fit. And speaking of screening, developing a list of strategic screening questions and using those to filter your applicants will help you to move only those job seekers who are most qualified to land an interview.
Create a deliberate and strategic employer brand.
Understanding who you’re up against when it comes to recruiting is fundamental to your strategic growth as an HR professional.
We live in the age of technology and reviews. Anytime you’re looking for something online, the likelihood of you also locating reviews regarding the product or service you’re researching is pretty much guaranteed. Employers are no different. Platforms like Glassdoor are making it easier than ever for active applicants to access an employer’s brand and get a feel for what it’s like to work at your company from the perspective of your employees. If you’ve been strategic about your approach to your company’s hiring brand, then your reviews will be favorable and your employer reputation will help you recruit quality candidates to apply for your open positions. Investing in your employees can reap immeasurable strategic rewards for you because your employees end up doing the recruiting work for you. Additionally, having a well-developed employee referral system helps you gain some strategic speed because you’re going to be bringing on awesome future employees that mirror your current high performing employees.
Being strategic means knowing your hiring competition inside and out.
Understanding who you’re up against when it comes to recruiting is fundamental to your strategic growth as an HR professional. The reason for this is that understanding how companies draw applicants to them and how they promote themselves will help you determine how to best advertise your strengths as an employer as well. After all, employment should be a win/win scenario – both for you and your job seekers, so you want to highlight these options in your job postings. Another strategic consideration to make is that your hiring competition isn’t limited to your direct competitors, but rather, any employer who is looking to hire individuals that possess similar skillsets to those whom you’re trying to recruit.
Are your strategic hiring efforts failing to draw to you superstar employees for your openings? Our hiring experts can help! And we can do it free for thirty days! Give us a call to get started today.
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