There is a war for talent in Asia…. What is your organization doing to attract and retain the best talent in this market?
The employment scenario of the corporate world is under a constant flux. There are always ups and downs with the changing situations and trends favoring either the job seekers or the job providers from time to time. There were times when overwhelming numbers of job seekers were waging a tough war to grab the fewer jobs cropping up, especially in Asia. The present day trend in the continent is certainly favorable to the job seekers with literally countless number of opportunities beckoning them for better prospects. With the recruiters racing forward with alluring strategies to seize the cream of the thinning jobseekers populace, employers and placement agencies in Asia are really having a highly challenging time to win the top talents for their organizations.
Your people are the company
None would deny the fact that employees are the biggest and the most important assets for any commercial establishment engaged in production, sales or service. As a recruiter (in-house or out-sourced), you are always aware that compromising with the quality of your workforce is a sure way to let disaster chop away the growth prospects of your firm. At a time when unemployment rates are very thin, have you ever stopped for a moment to assess how effective your talent search processes are? Are you sure you are able to access the top talents and source them skillfully for the positions with your organization? Have you ever compared your HR sourcing strategies with those employed by other successful recruiters? Have you ever stepped into the employees’ shoes to feel what they would really expect from their employers? Have you ever attempted to learn from those green patches that were able to attract large number of talents? If not, then it is high time you do them all. You need to enhance your awareness of the changing trends in the job market and overhaul the entirety of your HR sourcing procedure.
Competing with other hiring managers
HR managers face not only talent shortage but excess of competitor companies that are also prying on the same pool of prospective employees. This is where, as an HR manager, you have to think out-of-the-box to attract people to your company. You might have to adopt unconventional ways to reach out to them instead of simply posting the jobs on portals. You will be surprised to know that some of the most potential talents are silently hidden inside the portals of several well-doing organizations. Let us call them passive job seekers. Either their expectations are thoroughly met by the firms they work for or they are well settled with their positions, without even looking out for a change or betterment. Your task as a HR Manager or a Recruiter is to source such people and create enough channels to attract their talents to benefit your firm.
Pathway to Hiring success
The below shown figure gives some unconventional approaches that you can adopt in order to ensure keeping ahead of HR competition in the market. It starts with trying new ideas for reaching out to the candidates. It also includes reaching out to candidates who are already working in some companies. It also includes a completely unconventional approach of hiring candidates who might not have job skills for current positions but may learn in future.
Most passive job seekers will be willing to talk to their prospective employers only when they discover that the new opportunity is considerably better than their present one. It is not unusual to find people say this, “Sorry, I am happy with where I am working now”. Therefore, make the presentation of the job description come out very attractive and gratifying. Remember, remuneration is not the only aspect that all job seekers would look for. Some passive job seekers might readily quit their present organization and settle with a lesser pay if they feel they can be happier with the new role you offer. Attract top talents stating that this is where they can find the best outlet for their talents, skills and knowledge. The summary here is to make the highly satisfied workforce feel that they have really missed out some greener pastures of which they were not aware of earlier.
Most employees feel their career growth is better with firms enjoying reputed brand image. You need to challenge this by projecting enough evidences before them to reveal how happy and satisfied your workforce is. Like coins, there are two sides for every job role, either the brand image of the firm or the job role. If the former is weaker in alluring the employees, then invest on the latter and you will find the setback is compensated to a great extent.
Interestingly, most of such unconventional ways of sourcing have worked amazingly well for many recruiters. The way you handle the applicants is one indirect way of advertising the job role. This might really bring in more people through those who have already taken your interviews.
Preparing for the battle online
With the evolution of mass media and electronic communication tools, the modes of advertising have turned versatile and robust. Take advantage of the newer mediums of reaching out people and reach to them before other recruiters do. Increasing numbers of job seekers are now carrying Smartphones, iPads and tablet computers and you need to consider this fact. These gadgets tell you that videos, notifications and quick-follow up procedures, interactive content from employers can be highly useful. Instant feedback and immediate follow-up can ensure you are not losing out some top talents that might float away without being prepared to wait. The most effective strategy can be this. Let one of your employees state in a video why they are highly satisfied with your firm. Recent surveys reveal that the advent of latest electronic communication technology has nearly turned the talent search campaign upside down. Adapt to these newer methods, strategies and platforms to stay successful as a recruiter.
