Not only do talent acquisition leaders need to find great talent, they must communicate with candidates in a more transparent and responsive way, attract and engage with leads earlier in their candidate journey, and nurture the candidates they have in their pipeline, all while being more personal and more authentic. Yet every talent acquisition leader is facing too many reqs and not enough resources to meet the aggressive hiring plan.
The big question is: How can automation enable high-touch, personalized recruiting while giving you back more time and resources to get the job done?
The answer is based on four simple truths (don't debate yet!):
Automation makes touchpoints personal
In the essence of making recruiting more personalized, it's logical that people in talent acquisition balk at the idea of using automation for everything. But automation doesn't mean you have to sound like a robot! In fact, it can actually allow you to customize and personalize messages and ensure they get to the right candidate at the right time.
Consider the old-school out-of-office message:
"Thank you for your email. I will be out of the office from July 1 to July 7. Please contactjanedoe@janedoecorp.comfor any issues."
And then there is this one (which is actually a real out-of-office message!):
"Hi Mike! Buon Giorno! So, it's true, this is an autoresponder. I'm out of the office on summer vacation with the family, and I won't be around to work with you for a week and change. I'll be back, fear not, but I may be speaking a little more broken Italian on accident when we do talk again on June 8."
Sending the message was automated, but themessage itselfdiffers greatly. One sounds like a computer; the other sounds like a person. Recruiters &talent acquisition leaders always have the option to make their messages sound fresh, unique, real (or even fun!) ‒ from auto replies to application submissions to reminders to finish an application to thank you messages for joining a talent network.
Automation saves recruiters time
Automation helps recruiters work smarter and faster. There are some tasks that you need to automate to give yourself the flexibility to focus on things that technology can't do, like build relationships with hiring managers, or plan your next recruitment marketing campaign.
Think about the time your team could save if you used automation to:
- Distribute and post jobs to hundreds of job board destinations, both free sites and boards you have contracts with, and ensure the jobs post live without any double-checking
- Reformat job descriptions with your employer brand template (reformatting is the worst!)
- Email leads to welcome them to the talent network and ask for additional information to qualify their skills and interests (remember, don't be a robot)
- Import applicants not hired from the ATS back into the CRM of your Recruitment Marketing Platform to re-market to those candidates
This last action is exceptionally important. Recruitment marketing platformtechnology can automatically take your database of candidates (including silver medalists!) in the ATS and funnel them back into the CRM where you can remarket new opportunities and information to them. Without that automation feature, you're losing hundreds, if not thousands, of candidates that you already paid to attract and who were interested enough to apply, but you can't communicate to them in the ATS! Automation should be working for you to save you time so you can do more without needing more resources.
Automation helps recruiters respond to more candidates
Candidates today expect employers and recruiters to be transparent, open, and communicative. But it's impossible for recruiters, many of whom are under water in requisitions and under stress from hiring managers for more and more resumes, to keep track and personally respond to every single candidate they find. Their time is valuable, and the most valuable asset that can come from their time is producing better relationships with stronger candidates. Which is why responses to unqualified candidates often fall to the wayside.
The latest CandE report says only 40% of recruiters are required to respond to candidates at all. Um, what!? Think about how one automated message, written by a recruiter in his or her own voice, saying the candidate's application had been received, when the candidate should hear back, and what to expect next, would reflect on your organization. Your organization has to ensure it can follow through on those promises, but automation initiates the message, saving recruiters' time and leaving fewer candidates in a black hole of frustration. It's a win win, and an automated workflow that your team doesn't have to think twice about.
Automation consistently works for you
Automation is like a personal assistant that is working for youwhile you and your team are working on something else. One of the best examples of automation constantly working (especially toward conversion!) is from a restaurant chain that hires a large volume of hourly workers, most of which apply through mobile. The Cheesecake Factory revealed this amazing little story: In 2014, the organization used its recruitment marketing platform to automatically send an email within 72 hours to remind candidates that started their applications but didn't finish applying to finish their applications. A send of 1,000 emails resulted in 182 hires.
Without one recruiter lifting a finger, a simple automated email reminder drove a significant number of hires to the organization.
Automation is also imperative to the health of your talent network. When building a talent network, it's important to consistently feed that network with what they're looking for: answers, content, tips, and relevant jobs. Derina Adamczak of Meijer and Marvin Smith of Lockheed Martin both leverage automated but relevant and targeted job alerts to drive passive candidates in the talent network to convert on the right job opportunity.
Automation is like a recruiter's personal assistant that's consistently remarketing your brand and your jobs to the candidates you've already paid to attract, so your recruiters can focus on building relationships with new leads and finding the best fit for the role.
Modern candidates expect transparency, responsiveness, and personalized communication. Automation is a new way that can help make recruiters' jobs easier and processes faster, and lead to a more personalized candidate experience end to end.
So how can automation enable high-touch, personalized recruiting?
It 100% needs to be a part of the equation if you want to build a successful and modern recruitment marketing machine. Automation enables more personalized and consistent touchpoints with candidates and helps recruiters to work faster and smarter by making processes more efficient and targeted.It's investing in an assistant that will consistently work alongside your recruiters and recruitment marketing efforts to nurture and convert more top talent.
