Welcome to my new blog series! In the first deep dive into the stages of the Employee Life Cycle, I cover how to attract potential employees. If you want to hire people, first they need to know about your organization. When you already have a well-recognized brand, this part of hiring is much simpler. But if your company is smaller and relatively unknown, you’ll have to work a bit harder to lure people to work for you. Learn some common tactics, and some more creative ways to attract potential new employees:
Common (Sense) Attraction Tactics
The following list covers things that most companies do when hiring someone for an open position. These are what I call “no-brainers” – they’re traditional approaches, and pretty much every company uses them. For that reason, I’m not going to elaborate on them. Just know that these are baseline ways to attract new people:
- Advertise on all the major job search sites
- Publish advertisements in local newspapers or trade magazines
- Advertise using side-of-the road banners in strategic high-traffic locations
- Use targeted television and radio advertisements
- Post current openings on your corporate website
- Publish new positions on company social media sites
- Put signs up around your office locations
More Creative Attraction Tactics
If you want to stand out among the crowd of hiring companies, you need to think differently. Based on my experience as a consultant, here are ten more creative ways you can attract people to consider your organization:
Be realistic in your job descriptions
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard people rant about totally unrealistic expectations spelled out in some job descriptions – especially those with lower salaries. There’s no way you’re going to find a “unicorn” who has every single skill on your wish list, so get real! If you are paying entry-level wages, expect to get commensurate skills. If you want it all but don’t want to pay for it, you won’t get it, especially in today’s job market. I suggest whittling your job requirements down to the minimal skills needed. List anything else a candidate may possess as a bonus qualifier, but don’t expect most candidates to have them. If you genuinely need someone with more advanced skills, offer a salary range that meets or exceeds market value.
Become an “Employment Destination of Choice”
If you want to attract people (especially if your brand is not well-known), strive to be an employment destination of choice. If a job candidate looks up an employer review website, you better be rocking a 4-star rating or above. Intelligent people usually research unknown companies before considering working there, so the comments should rave about how awesome it is to work for your company.
Beef up your company’s social media profiles
In case you haven’t heard, social media is kind of important. Companies that only do the bare minimum with their various channels are unlikely to attract potential candidates. Every site with your name on it should be like flowers to a bee – beautiful, appealing, and irresistible. You must invest in this – it doesn’t just happen organically. Either dedicate a portion of your budget to someone internally or hire a third-party expert to come in and improve your online portrait, so people find your organization appealing.
Offer (more substantial) signing bonuses
Want to stand out from the crowd? Offer a monetary incentive! Cash offerings are becoming more and more mainstream, but as the talent pool shrinks and open jobs increase, you will struggle to get people interested in your company. Make sure you’re keeping up with your competitors, too, and offer amounts that are meaningful, not trivial. It will take a significant chunk of change to entice most people. They know they have options and will look around for the best deal.
Guarantee no forced overtime
In some industries (particularly manufacturing, healthcare, and law enforcement), forced overtime is precisely that – forced. Not everyone who wants a job also likes to spend every waking hour of their life doing it. Many heavy-handed companies used to hold this over their employees as a condition of employment. In today’s job market – that won’t fly anymore. Companies need to stop forcing overtime and instead seek volunteers. The extra money drives some people, or maybe they’re saving for a goal, so they don’t mind overtime. But for many people, this is a burden they can’t (and shouldn’t have to) bear.
Use testimonials from existing employees
Who is better to sell your company to potential employees than existing ones? I have been a part of something like this before, and my current employer also uses it. It’s highly effective to publish a testimonial quote, or better yet, a professionally-produced video, to sell your organization’s story. Again, request volunteers who willingly want to share their employment experiences (assuming they’re positive) to help attract future employees.
Offer unique perks
Is there something special that only your organization can offer potential employees? Perhaps it’s free or reduced-cost company products, weekly massages, a subsidized cafeteria, company-paid parking (if you work in a city), on-site fitness classes, or whatever else you can use to win a candidate over. Finding your unique offering isn’t always easy, but capitalize on it to attract more people when you find one that works.
Advertise or partner with local educational institutions
Partnering with local educational institutions could be on the list of common-sense tactics, but it’s surprisingly underused, in my experience. One of my clients took advantage of this opportunity, and almost all their new hires come straight out of college. They don’t even care what degree the person has earned – if you graduated, they’ll hire you – then they’ll figure out where you fit. So, if you’re looking to find fresh minds that aren’t jaded by past bad employment experiences (and who will probably take lower pay to start with), this might be an excellent way to attract them.
Offer internship or apprenticeship opportunities
Not every job requires a fancy college degree or technical certificate. You can learn many jobs by observing or practicing side-by-side with a practitioner. Internships could be paid or unpaid, and in many cases, the person might be a good fit to hire permanently after their training is complete. Apprenticeships are another way to see how people operate and determine when they can practice their craft to a minimum quality standard.
Be open to non-traditional applicants
People can take many different paths to success. Once upon a time, you had to have a college degree for any relatively high-salary profession; this is no longer the case. Skilled trades are increasingly in demand, and candidates are in short supply. Many women had children and have gaps in their employment history. None of these factors should disqualify someone from being considered. If your job descriptions indicate that a combination of education and experience, or even just experience, are the minimal requirements, a lot more people will be interested in applying.
Final Thoughts
Attracting potential employees is the first step in getting them into the door of your company. Start by using traditional techniques, then consider more creative ways to attract people to your organization; you’ll have more success.
Are there other creative tactics you have seen used to allure potential employees? If so, what are they? Can you think of any other ideas or tricks that might be effective? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
If you missed the first blog in this series, check out the overview of the stages of the Employee Life Cycle. Up next in the series: How to Recruit Potential New Employees. Come back soon to see the latest!