Recruitment marketers, like all professionals, must adapt to changing economic conditions, but a strong formula and trusted partner always help to stand the test of time.
COVID-19 has changed so much, including how people work and how companies recruit and retain workers. As a result, it’s been said that it’s labor’s day, but three decades of experience connecting marketing/branding clients and their audiences to provide powerfully personalized recruitment marketing services still go a long way. We sat down with infinitee’s recruitment marketing guru Vince Vitti to discuss the current opportunities and challenges in recruitment.
Q: How would you describe the state of talent recruitment and retention?
Vitti: I have spent most of my advertising career in the recruitment marketing space and I have never seen a job market like I see today. We always have peaks and valleys when it comes to attracting and retaining talent, and those times were usually driven by strong or weak economic factors — expanding and contracting goods and services to meet the demand. And most of the time, employers had the upper hand or were in control of the expanding and contracting, but not today.
Q: What challenges are employers facing?
Vitti: They are fighting a multifront war for talent and trying to put the right pieces in place to become an employer of choice and sustain that. The fronts include the long-term consequences of a global pandemic — shot or no shot, work from home, work from anywhere and flexible scheduling. And how do you manage and measure the productivity of a remote workforce?
Q: What is today’s workforce demanding?
Vitti: Diversity, authenticity and transparency are hugely important. Employees want all of those things and want to know more about why you do what you do and less about what you do. Job benefits must go beyond health and medical (although they are very important). To be competitive, companies are offering unlimited vacation, work from anywhere options, college tuition, etc.
Q: How has the recruitment industry responded to these job market conditions?
Vitti: The labor crisis has spurred high demand for HR tech: companies large and small are investing millions of dollars in tech to try to reach more people and make it easier for candidates to engage and apply. That has led to career website software with AI, applicant tracking systems, virtual hiring platforms, onboarding systems, etc. It has also been the impetus for large amounts of money being poured into major job sites like Indeed, Zip Recruiter and LinkedIn, and their prices continue to rise because they can reach millions of people with one posting.
Q: COVID-19 obviously continues to exact a heavy toll on healthcare workers. What are you seeing in that sector?
Vitti: I am very concerned about our healthcare system, from the major medical centers to urgent care centers. These systems and networks are understaffed and burned out. They are not leaving for another job or another profession, they are just leaving. It has become a high risk and low-reward profession due to COVID-19. There is not a magic bullet or the perfect job board that will solve the problem. The crisis may slow down, but I don't think it is going away.
Q: With so many new hurdles, if not major adversity, what are you telling your recruitment marketing clients?
Vitti: There’s a formula I have used for years. To get out in front of the curve, clients need to focus on a couple of key areas. The first is People & Positioning (P2): your recruiters are the sales and marketing arm of HR. Don't weigh them down by requiring 100+ more requisitions to be filled out. Create a sourcing model similar to the way companies create lead generation programs. Identify a group of strategic recruiters who can focus on filling hard-to-fill positions and at the same time develop short-term and long-term marketing strategies to keep the pipeline full.
We have been talking about employer branding for decades and I have seen major improvements with companies telling their story, which is more important than ever, and using new channels to spread the good news. Don't limit the story to your career website or a job posting. Create high-quality content using video, graphics, etc., and market it the way your marketing department would sell products and services. Why is HR limited to job-related channels? There should be a priority in developing and distributing job-related content on all of your recruitment marketing channels.
The second area is Tools & Technology (T2): your sourcing group is also the leader in using the technology you invested in to help attract and retain people. This group takes advantage of your resume licenses, CRMs and virtual career event platforms.As discussed before in this space, strong recruitment marketing adoption correlates to positive candidate experience and brand reviews. COVID-19 has proved, however, that a traditional by-the-book approach can falter in the face of economic adversity. Look to infinitee to not only stay on top of the latest tools and trends, but also create a recruitment marketing plan tailored to your company needs.
To learn more, book 15 minutes with Vince Vitti, infinitee’s VP of Business Development, at 404-231-3481, x114.
