Make sure you look at hiring from a marketing perspective.
If you’re in manufacturing, chances are your company has experienced a talent shortage. As service industries continue to boom, there are fewer and fewer workers to fill manufacturing positions. With limited supply and high competition, manufacturers who do not prioritize and optimize hiring initiatives will find themselves falling behind both in talent and production, costly losses in an industry that rewards quality and efficiency.
Hiring efforts can often take the backseat to product marketing, making it difficult for HR departments to gain the interest of qualified candidates. Time, energy, and resources are put toward the design and branding of products while the branding of jobs and culture is a second thought. Nobody wants to work for a company that doesn’t look put together. If your job postings, website, and hiring materials look outdated and mediocre, talented candidates will pass you by for the company that is modern, showing growth, and speaking directly to their goals and objectives as a potential employee. That’s why it’s essential to approach hiring from a marketing perspective, placing the same value on promoting open positions to candidates as the company does on promoting products to customers. Marketing for HR.
But most HR professionals did not go to design school. That’s why companies often turn to agencies like Sourdough for help with marketing strategies for hiring, including social media campaigns, career webpages, job fair materials, and more. Here’s more ways marketing strategies make all the difference in hiring:
Design: The visual image of your company represented in HR initiatives can make or break your hiring success. Good design should show your company personality and add credibility to who you are and what you do. Instill confidence in potential candidates by updating your website and hiring materials.
Target audience is not just for your products. If you want to attract the right talent, you need to identify and understand who is your ideal candidate and then market to them. What are their goals and objectives? What do they want from their employer? How does your company best serve their needs as an employee? Answer these questions and gear your messaging to speak to them.
Market research: Most manufacturers wouldn’t think of developing a new product without using market research to determine how the product aligns with customers’ wants and needs. But this step is often overlooked in hiring initiatives. Asking current employees for feedback and truly listening to understand their goals and desires results in invaluable information about what’s working and aspects of the employee experience that need improved. Small adjustments can make the company a much more attractive workplace for future employees.
Engagement: Companies constantly focus on increasing engagement with customers. It’s one way they build long-term relationships and loyalty. But it is equally as important to increase and maintain engagement with potential and current employees. There are more avenues than ever before to nurture this engagement, allowing employers to reach employees where they are. Social media and videos are highly-effective tools for engaging with current and future employees, helping to build positive, long-lasting employer-employee relationships.
If you’re struggling to find talent, it’s time to change your approach. Start marketing to candidates like you would to customers, and spend the time, energy, and resources to gain an edge in the highly-competitive hiring environment.