I’d like to introduce you to someone today. Peter Weddle is a recruiting expert who has published many books, runs a bi-weekly recruiting email, and has recently started a blog site called WorkStrong. He is a very smart guy, but I think you’ll enjoy his sincerity the most.
Many of you are not hard-core recruiters, so Peter’s insight would not be something that would interest you on an on-going basis. However, today I’m going to share something from his most recent newsletter that relates to our current topic.
Many recruiting organizations are sitting around twiddling their thumbs, unsure of which direction to go right now. They previously spent their work days acquiring candidates and placing them into positions. (In smaller companies, the Hiring Manager may be responsible for this.)
When recruitment activity slows, or even comes to a stop, what pro-active steps can Hiring Managers take to make the most of their down time?
Mr. Weddle suggests that we use this time to work on solidifying and building upon the network of candidates we already have.
“Implement a communications campaign that is designed to leverage every applicant’s initial interest in your organization. They made the effort to apply for one or more of your openings, so tell them that you intend to make the effort to get to know them better.”
The question then becomes: How do you manage such a dialog? Peter gives this advice:
“To be successful…this campaign must be positioned as a two-way street, a dialogue rather than a soliloquy. It shouldn’t be only you talking to them about how great your employer is or only them sending you an unending stream of updates on their employment qualifications.
The best approach is to create an interaction that provides value to both parties. You want to pre-sell them on your employer as a great place to work and acquire additional data about them to help you achieve your goal of putting the right talent in the right opening…
These communications should be regular – no less than once a month – but not intrusive – no more than twice a month. They are not corporate memos or marketing collateral, so they should be written in a friendly, conversational style and be free of promotional hype and hoopla.
Over time, this two-way exchange will enhance familiarity and trust between your recruiting team and the applicants whose resumes are stored in your database. Those two factors are the pillars of genuine recruiting relationships. They enable you to transform your resume database from a static stack of useless documents into a reservoir of talent that is pre-screened, pre-sold and prepared to be considered for your employment opportunities. That’s an asset any organization would be pleased to have and, therefore, equally as loath to lose those who created it.”
There is a lot of wisdom in Peter’s advice. The bottom line… We still have a lot of work to do! But, it’s probably not the same work you’re used to doing. To be relevant, it is important to adjust your actions to the current conditions. For sure, inactivity is not a path to relevance.
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