Marketing’s role in talent acquisition & retention
Last week I had the privilege of being involved in the Penrith Valley Chamber’s inaugural Made Here Collective; a meeting of local manufacturers. One of the topics discussed was the recruitment and retention of skilled people.
It made me reflect on the role of marketing within growing businesses and the ways it needs to support its talent acquisition team - establishing the employer’s brand, attracting people who have both the skills needed and who will fit (or positively change) the company’s culture as well as ensuring the job seekers have a positive experience, even if they are unsuccessful in the recruitment process.
A few ideas on how to achieve this are below - it is by no means an exhaustive list; just a few proven methods for ensuring internal teams are working together to showcase their brand and the opportunities available to encourage people with needed skill sets apply:
Are you telling your story effectively? What’s your ‘why’ – in other words, is your purpose coming across? Are you sharing what you do and how it solves a need? Does it make readers stop and think, “I want to be part of that?”
Does your marketing accurately reflect your brand and the people who work within it? According to LinkedIn, the brand representation of a company is considered to be important by 86% of female candidates and 67% of male candidates *
· Do the images used on your website and socials accurately reflect the diversity of your team?
· Do you share how your company gives back to the local or global community (e.g. charity or volunteering events)?
· Do you highlight employee achievements both in and out of work?
How proud of your organisation is your existing team? Are they sharing your social posts or recommending their former colleagues to you? If not, how can you develop internal communications to change this?
Are you able to receive speculative applications? For example, does your website allow potential candidates to enquire about unadvertised roles or be added to communications that announce when new opportunities are available? I regularly hear of clients being approached by ideal candidates before jobs are advertised, with a surprisingly high rate of success.
What ideas do your marketing team have for attracting candidates? Allow them to think out of the box and collaborate with your recruitment team to find potential candidates from non-recruitment channels.
The result? When marketing collaborates with recruitment, people want to be part of your story. When they believe in what you are doing and feel they would be a good fit, they will apply even though they may be in the 70% of the global workforce** who aren’t actively searching. Having a workforce that believes in the company they work for encourages retention as well as creating you a team of brand ambassadors, recommending you to their connections and encouraging others to be part of your purpose.
#SkillsShortages #RecruitmentMarketing #PurposeForProfit
References:
* https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/looking-new-job-here-20-recruitment-statistics-2023-you-brown/
** https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-100-hiring-statistics-2022-rinku-thakkar/
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Hannah Welch is an experienced B2B marketing consultant, who works with companies to create business growth through strategic marketing. Ask her how she can help your marketing collaborate with recruitment to attract and retain the team you need for growth.