Are you attracting the talent? - Recruitment

Business Asia, March, 2003 by Cliff Stoneman

The traditional means of recruitment advertising involved placing an advertisement in the print media, which outlined the vacant staff or executive opportunity. It was then a process of waiting for the numerous written applications and telephone calls.

Recruiting for a position basically became an elimination process, writing rejection letters and short-listing the high calibre candidates. There was always a substantial shortlist from where the recruitment professional could draw a high quality candidate and produce the solution the client expected.

In today's recruitment climate, this is no longer the case. Change has occurred and it is affecting the recruitment process on a global scale. This will ultimately have a negative impact on business.

Companies now have to review how they are communicating with potential employees. The reality is that the information you require from potential candidates hasn't changed significantly, but the methods of conducting an interview and the selection process have changed significantly.

Visual exercise

Recruitment is a very visual exercise for a company, it has become a form of marketing--HR marketing--and it is critical for the campaign to be cost-efficient and work effectively.

The moment a quality candidate is exposed to your company, the decision-making process has begun. What is it about the position or your company that segregates it from the other companies advertising? For example, does the quality of your recruitment marketing match the effort and thought process that goes into your product or service profile? Is it aligned with your vision and mission statement?

Your company is disadvantaged if it does not. If your recruitment profile is not of high quality, it will ultimately have a negative effect on your product or service brand.

Positive correlation

Many major multinationals have already identified the positive correlation between their product or service brand and their recruitment brand. A number of multinationals have adjusted their recruitment advertising strategies to be directly linked their products/services and recruitment profiles. Recruitment has become a marketing practice; it is another form of branding. If your integrated marketing objective is to successfully produce a positive outcome, then your recruitment marketing must achieve the same result.

Every company aims to attract high quality talent to their business, irrespective of the level of the position. The best people are in increasing demand, especially in more developed countries such as Australia, where the population is predicted to age and decline.

I recommend that you examine your current recruitment process. If it does not equal the energy and commitment that goes into your product or service brand your company may well be suffering.

Cliff Stoneman is the managing director of EOC Consulting Asia Pacific.