How to Get Top Talent without a Recruiting Service
How to Get Top Talent without a Recruiting Service
Making your marketing channels superconductors to attract the right talent
For small/medium B2B and serviced-based businesses, your people can make or break your success. Which means recruiting and retaining the right people is paramount but finding the right people can be very difficult. Many businesses have come to rely on recruiting services but with mixed results and at great expense. This can be debilitating for small and medium-sized businesses who then find themselves in a “no-win” situation…either you settle or the seats remain empty. Either way, your business isn’t realizing its full potential. The key to breaking this cycle is to build an internally driven “Recruiting Engine” that is powered by your business’ culture.
Tactically, we focus on infusing your culture into highly compelling paid Facebook and Instagram ads, a revised interview process with the right questions to get the right talent, and a recommendation for refining the rest of your marketing channels to provide the social proof needed for talent to validate. When done right, our clients have enjoyed double-digit increases in securing the right talent as well as in retaining that talent. But there is a linchpin to reaping those benefits…building an authentic, consistent and visible Internal Brand. Here is the secret sauce:
Create an Internal Brand that talent covets. Culture is an expression of your Internal Brand, not the other way around. So, being intentional in creating your Internal Brand (or more specifically your Mission, Vision, Values), is essential in creating a vibe that attracts and retains talent. A company’s Internal Brand is a key decision criteria for Millennials and GenZ’ers who are looking for environments that are inclusive, supportive, and purpose-driven. But even for the general population, the key to getting talent to stay (especially in a dog-fight of escalating wages) is to make your business a place that promotes personal purpose through community versus just being a job.
Live your Internal Brand. This is more than creating a pretty space for people to work (although that can help), it is about the way people behave and act in accordance with the Internal Brand. Consistency creates traction which leads to a culture, vibe, and ethos. Inconsistency creates chaos, dysfunctionality, and distrust. So, it is critical that the Internal Brand is infused into all elements of business decision making, including and most importantly in the hiring of talent. This means talent profiles, job descriptions, recruiting materials and promotion, as well as the interview and decision process. But it doesn’t stop once you have them. You need to keep them by recognizing, rewarding, incentivizing and celebrating in accordance with your Internal Brand. This is the only way of winning against others who are willing to pay more.
Activate your Internal Brand Externally. This may sound like an oxymoron, but it is really the key for creating marketing that works. At the root of your Internal Brand and your External Brand is your Brandy Story. So, when the two are activated against a talent profile, they feel like they are coming from the same place which compounds your efforts. The result is your marketing, and more specifically your recruitment promotion and outreach, gets all of this organic fuel that propels it through the noise. Your marketing channels (i.e. (paid) social, ads, live events, etc.) act like superconductors propelling your vibe with little resistance and a lot of efficiency to the talent you want. And when it reaches them, the laws of attraction take over because it emotionally connects with what your dream talent is looking for. This is super important when you are competing for talent. It is also why businesses’ hit rates are so low with recruiting services as they sanitize the criteria to suit their highly-automated, process driven algorithms, which is why they often miss the mark, costing you precious time and money.
Validate your Internal Brand. When prospects come looking, your marketing channels better reinforce your Internal Brand. They are looking for confirmation you are who you say you are. Which means your social, website, landing pages, etc. must also reflect the Internal Brand both visually and verbally. For those who really want the edge, optimize for search (SEO) as well to make it easier for candidates to find you. And create content (i.e blogs, white papers, PR, etc.) reflective of your Internal Brand that is searchable, which further works to validate your authenticity and popularity.
Are you ready to build your Recruiting Engine? Check out this offer and contact us today!
Anne + April
PS: For a successful case study, check out this episode from our Marketing Smarts podcast.
Contact us:
Anne Candido and April Martini are the Co-Founders of ForthRight People, an On-Demand Marketing Agency focused on building savvier marketers…whether for you, for your team or for your business. Backed by our forthright approach, our flexible “coach-train-do” framework ensures you get everything you need and nothing you don’t. For more, check out their website and their podcast, Marketing Smarts. And, if you’re an ambitious woman on a quest to rise to your ultimate fulfillment, check out their community ForthRight Women.