"Companies invest millions of dollars each year in marketing their consumer brands, but employer branding investments are lagging behind." This is the opening statement in a recent article by Melissa Bailey on ERE.net, which focuses on anticipated trends in recruitment for 2014. So what can we expect?
1. Recruiting to become more like marketing
2014 will be the year when recruitment begins to focus more on attracting talent rather than on just filling vacancies. This will mean a completely new communication strategy to attract the attention of potential candidates from different target groups. Such a strategy will require accurate data.
2. Hard data
Recruitment will begin to focus more on a clear definition of talent markets for their companies and target audience. Marketing research methods will be needed here too. The more information about the behaviour of specific talent groups they obtain, the better. Decision-making on means of communication with potential candidates should no longer be based only on the experience of HR departments.
3. Personal approach
On the one hand, modern communication technologies make the recruiters' work easier. On the other hand, however, they cause increasing frustration to job seekers. Applicants are forced to complete long online questionnaires; they are overwhelmed with e-mails and often do not even come into contact with live recruiters. Thus companies able to communicate with candidates face-to-face will be most desired. Such communication may be, for example, at job fairs - both traditional and virtual.
4. Mobile technologies
Corporate career websites will no longer be successful without optimisation for mobile devices. Talented professionals expect to gain information about you and to be able to apply for your vacancies easily, using their cell phones or tablets. They also expect your job offers to be linked with social networks such as LinkedIn.
-kk-