4 Extraordinary Ways to Compete for the Best Talent in the Digital Age
The changing dynamics of the modern workforce make it necessary for a business to use digital tools to grab candidates’ attention.
Millennials form the most significant generation in the US workforce, with millennials and post-millennials making uparound 40% of the labor force in 2017. Given their preference for technology, they will choose a company that incorporates digital transformation.
The rapid transformation means businesses should divert their attention toward technology talent. Having the right people by your side can accurately help your business incorporate the new digital changes. It is why companies are coming up with innovative ways to compete for talent.
Importance of Hiring the Best Talent in the Digital Age
With the rapid changes, business operations will move towards further automation and require employees to deal with these changes. They will need people with digital skills who have the capabilities to implement and make proper use of the new changes to reap all the other benefits.
People with digital skills are in high demand due to various reasons. Most importantly, these individuals can help you leverage the new chances of investments beforehand. It is why companies are competing to hire the best talent to help them in the future.
Therefore, recruitment teams and heads should step away from the traditional hiring practice to fulfill the vacancies. Instead, they are finding out the new and best ways to help them attract the best talent who can deal with the new skills emerging in the job market and strengthen their company culture.
4 Innovative Ways to Compete for the Best Talent in the Digital Age
As shown in the graph, CEOs and top management have been increasingly worried about finding talent with the appropriate skills. Therefore, recruitment teams should make changes in conventional hiring practices.
Keep reading to learn four innovative ways to find the best talent for your business.
1. Clear Out Any Misperceptions About the Organization
Brand image is important not only to lure new clients but also for getting the best talent. Usually, companies have the same message consisting of career development or other benefits candidates don’t care about. People with digital skills are sharp, and they don’t buy these messages quickly.
Instead, they will turn to other sources, such as different social media platforms like LinkedIn, to better understand your organization. With so many choices and easy accessibility to the information, recruiters and hiring managers cannot attract the best talent using the old ways.
Digital skills are in high demand throughout various industries that traditionally did not need them. So, without having a clear conception of your company in people’s minds, you won’t have the individuals with the right skills by your side.
As social media has now become increasingly popular, you need to leverage it in the right way to create the correct perception of your business. People with digital skills will only come in your direction if you offer them something different than a traditional workplace.
And that is something you need to show through your actions. Recruitment managers can invite college graduates to show how your company is adapting to the new technological advancements and how you plan to utilize their skills for the latest changes coming in the industry.
The case study of AT&T is excellent to understand how changing conceptions can help find the best talent. They redesigned their complete culture to help their business find the best talent and retain them.
2. Use the Pool of Talent in the Right Way
The talent shortage with the best skills and the overall changing dynamics due to the business transformations make employees key stakeholders. Companies are reshaping the hiring process to foster feedback and open up a two-way dialogue. However, there is a problem with it.
Since talent is scarce, finding the right talent for recruitment managers from a small pool can be challenging and costly. Therefore, it makes the firms go towards a larger pool of talent. The best way to deal with this problem is to utilize the talent in the larger pool accurately and cost-effectively.
The best approach is to separate the capabilities, skills, and characteristics to do a job. An example of this can be: Atech firm looking to hire people for technical and financial skills can divide it into separate jobs.
They can look for two members for the job – one can focus on the technical aspects and the other one to advise about the financial elements.It will save the company time and cost the same way as when they choose to hire someone with the technical and financial skills
3. Build an Agile Hiring Strategy
When we talk about recruitment, many businesses have a plan regarding hiring talents to fill particular positions. The recruitment goes with a top-down employment strategy yearly. As a result, they cannot suggest what talent will be necessary to fulfill their changing needs and requirements.
Therefore, a much better approach is a bottom-up employment strategy. This strategy gives the recruitment teams and managers a better understanding of the skills required for different roles and skills that the talent needs to have.
Understanding the changing youth trends is also imperative to have an insight into the changing demands of the labor force. By doing so, recruitment managers can find the right talent with the right skills for the job and present them with opportunities per the new trends, leading to a win-win situation.
It would be best if you also thought about ways to boost employee engagement and give new hires a higher sense of purpose and belongingness. This can considerably reduce the attrition rates at your company and improve the quality of your referrals in the long run.
4. Guide the Talent in their Career Decisions
One of the things about attracting top talent is that they don’t want to get tied up in jobs that don’t have the charm they present. The in-demand talent in the labor market with the right skills is smart enough to know about the wide range of opportunities available.
So, they are turning away from networking platforms, such as LinkedIn, to avoid the recruiters coming toward them. You should not present yourself as a recruitment manager but more like a career coach or mentor—one of the most innovative ways to boost your talent acquisition efforts and get competent people on board.
Per CNBC, 9 in 10 people are happy to have a mentor, while more than 40% of people without any mentors have considered quitting their jobs. It shows how important mentoring is to retain employees. Mentoring also plays a pivotal role in guiding the best talent to join your team when it comes to hiring.
As career coaches, the hiring managers should not solely focus on advertising their job to the potential candidate. Instead, they should use strategies to help candidates think about their career objectives. They can work on assisting them in identifying their areas of strengths and weaknesses.
As a result, they are more likely to follow up with you on different recruitment initiatives. Moreover, it will open up the door to a two-way discussion. You can find out if the candidate will not be a mismatch for the job, which will ultimately negatively impact the organization hiring them.
An optimal approach you can go for is developing a candidate persona. If you have a clear persona, you can have clear criteria regarding the skills and character traits the candidate should have to be an ideal person for the job.
Other Ways to Hire the Right Talent for Your Company
In the digital age, everything is happening online. And with the COVID-19 pandemic increasing our reliance on technology, we can expect businesses to incorporate new systems. As a result, it will increase the demand for talent with the right skills to give customers the best services.
The above innovative ways can be helpful for recruitment managers to redesign and rethink their hiring practices and strategies. In addition to these ways, below are some practices that your company can use to attract the best talent in no time.
Take the Help of Current Employees
Potential candidates go online to find out more about a company that approaches them regarding a job. They will read reviews regarding your company and connect with the people working here. So, you can request your current employees to give testimonials or create case studies for a good image.
Companies that can use their workforce as brand advocates are reaping significant benefits. They are more likely to find the best talents in no time due to their good word of mouth. Moreover, it can help you establish a strong reputation as a good employer.
State the Benefits That the Employees Can Get
Hiring the best talent is like attracting new customers. You won’t interest them if you keep telling them how great you are and your company is. The job description should state the benefits the person joining your company will get.
The benefits should not comprise the standard jargon but should be in line with the market. For instance, instead of simply offering remote work, you can tell candidates about how your company cares about mental health. Therefore they are offering the option of working from home to their employees.
As companies move towards digitalization, they need the best talent with the right skills to yield the maximum benefits. And with the scarcity of talent, individuals have to develop innovative ways to compete for talent.
As a result, it increases the responsibility and duties of the recruitment managers. In the fast-paced world, recruitment teams need to show efforts should be at the highest speed instead of a slow and steady approach. It is the only way to attract the best talent for your company.
Start Recruiting Great Talent Today
To know more about how you can attract good hires, proactively engage prospective and existing employees, and retain them in the long run, contact us at Recruiter.com.
Our network of qualified recruiters and hiring managers is spread across the US and will be happy to guide you through the hiring process.
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