What does proactive recruitment mean?
Proactive recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting individuals who could one day become quality candidates for positions that open at your company. The idea is to already have an established relationship with people who possess skills that would be an asset to your business. That way you can reach out when the time is right and invite them to interview.
Some benefits of proactive hiring include:
- Accelerated hiring process: Effective proactive recruitment makes it possible to fill open positions more quickly and efficiently, potentially shortening your time to hire.
- Faster growth: When your company is ready to grow, you can expand more quickly if you’ve already identified potential quality candidates.
- Improved morale: Proactive recruitment can benefit your current employees by minimizing the amount of time they must work shorthanded when a coworker leaves the company, leading to better morale.
- Better fit: With proactive hiring, you’ve taken the time to get to know potential candidates already, so you can feel more confident that the individuals on your short list are a good fit for the position.
- More candidate acceptances: Proactive hiring gives candidates a chance to get to know you and your company so they’re more likely to accept a job offer when presented.
- Increased retention: Building a relationship before you even interview a candidate can foster loyalty and make a new hire more likely to stay with your company.
Related: 8 Ways to Get More Applicants for Job Openings
10 great proactive recruitment strategies to try
Proactive hiring requires a shift in the way you approach recruitment. To begin to focus more on finding the quality candidates of tomorrow, consider adopting these proactive recruitment strategies.
1. Deliver engaging content via social media
Social media can keep your company front of mind for future candidates. Make separate social media accounts for employment, and update them regularly with quality content. You can share tips for jobseekers, highlight benefits of working with your company and recognize current employees from a diverse range of backgrounds. Interact with commenters to spark conversations, and follow up with direct messages to invite promising individuals to connect.
2. Start conversations wherever you go
Proactive hiring means always being on the lookout for future candidates. The server who gave you an unforgettable experience during a Sunday brunch or the recent graduate you met in the elevator at the conference center could be your next hire. Whether you’re running personal errands or attending a business function, look for those people who stand out and strike up conversations about your company. Keep business cards with you, so you can invite them to connect.
3. Turn networking introductions into relationships
Networking is vital to proactive recruitment strategies, but it isn’t enough to simply attend events, introduce yourself and collect business cards. What really matters is what you do after the event ends. Shortly after, send emails to your new contacts and ask to keep in touch. Message periodically to touch base and see how they’re doing, and meet for coffee or lunch occasionally to continue to get to know them.
4. Prioritize candidate experience
At some point, contacts you make through proactive recruitment will hopefully become candidates, and the last thing you want is for them to encounter difficulties submitting an application or interviewing. As you begin to implement proactive recruitment strategies, assess the candidate experience you currently provide. What works well and what poses potential problems? Address any shortcomings you identify to ensure you’re making the right impression throughout the hiring process.
Related: What Is Candidate Experience (and How to Create a Positive One)
5. Ensure your website matches your company culture
Part of cultivating relationships with prospective candidates is allowing them to see who you are as an organization. Your corporate culture can help set you apart from your competitors and make your company a candidate’s first choice of places to work. As a recruiter or hiring manager, you’ll take the time to describe your culture and key values, and it’s important that your corporate website reinforces your messaging.
Look at your website through the eyes of a candidate and look for opportunities to demonstrate your culture. Remember that even small details can speak volumes about your company.
6. Develop a distinct career website
Funneling jobseekers to a website designed specifically for recruitment can strengthen your proactive hiring efforts. Use this website to describe who you are. Outline your strategic goals, and celebrate your successes to build excitement in candidates. Also, get descriptive about the benefits of working for your company. Point out benefits and perks of employment and consider including profiles of employees from different departments.
7. Get involved with the community
Many job seekers want to work for companies that give back to the community, so find ways you can get involved with the town or city. Consider sponsoring youth sports teams. Donate prizes for festivals and charitable events. Do volunteer work as a team. Building your reputation in your area can lead jobseekers to visit your website to learn more about you.
8. Use open applications
An open application is a general job application that a job seeker can submit at any time, even when there aren’t any positions open. Adding one to your hiring website will allow you to collect contact information from prospective candidates and begin prescreening ahead of time. Follow up on applications from quality candidates by sending an email explaining that while you don’t currently have any open positions, you’d love to stay in touch and learn more about them.
9. Take advantage of tools
One challenge companies face when adopting proactive recruitment strategies is balancing current hiring needs with future ones. If you’ve only been looking for candidates once positions open, you may have positions you need to fill right away, meaning you have less time and fewer resources to devote to launching proactive recruitment efforts.
Fortunately, technology can streamline and simplify the process to free up some time for proactive hiring. Using tools such as applicant tracking software and automated resume screening can take some of the busy work out of the hiring process, allowing you to generate a shortlist for interviews faster. You can also use Indeed Smart Sourcing to proactively search through candidates who meet your requirements and reach out to your favorites.
Related: What Is ATS (Applicant Tracking Software)?
10. Enlist the help of your employees
Your employees can be an excellent source for potential candidates. After all, they know about your company culture and can identify contacts who would be a good fit. If you don’t already have one, create an employee referral program that rewards employees for leads that result in hires. Make it clear that you’re always looking to build relationships so your team members don’t need to wait for word that there’s an open position to refer someone.
Proactive recruitment and hiring FAQs
How does reactive recruitment differ from proactive recruitment?
The difference between reactive and proactive recruitment is timing. With reactive hiring, a company waits until an employee gives notice or a position opens through growth or employee termination. Proactive hiring is planning ahead and beginning to source candidates before a position opens up.
What are the phases of proactive recruitment?
There are generally five phases to proactive recruitment: finding, engaging, nurturing, attracting and converting. Finding is the process of identifying individuals who could be a good fit for your company. One way to find candidates could be through Indeed Smart Sourcing, a resume search engine where you can find candidates for nearly any role. Once you find a candidate, you engage them to spark their interest in your company and then nurture a relationship with them. Next, you attract them to your company by highlighting benefits, opportunities and unique characteristics of your company. Finally, you convert contacts to candidates when a position opens.
