Employers have had to learn to brand their companies differently in the digital age. With the rise of social media — especially LinkedIn, which is almost exclusively set for business-to-business (B2B) relationships — companies have had to become hyper-aware of their digital presence as well as on all online channels, not just their own.
No longer is the focus placed on what a company says about itself — now, there is a real emphasis placed on what other people (current and former employees, current and former clients, suppliers) say about the company in question.
And while this may seem like a "no man's land" for companies, it can lead to your company actually using these testimonials to its advantage. In fact, many employers use technology to enable — and, ultimately improve — their brand and talent acquisition strategies. Of course, there are some best practices to keep in mind.
Let's take a look at a few of the many ways employers can use technology to enable their brand and talent acquisition strategy, and let's also take a look at some of the best practices in the industry.
how does technology improve the talent acquisition experience?
see our Randstad Employer Brand Research center
The talent acquisition experience is improved greatly by the presence of technology. Not only for recruiters, but for talent as well. So how, specifically, does technology help?
- It enables employers to look at things from the employee's experience. Gone are the days when employees were simply "cogs in the wheel" for big companies. Today's employers understand that to cultivate loyalty -- to keep good employees for a long time -- you have to keep them happy. And no, offering them a generous compensation package isn't enough. By deploying technology to understand the employee experience, using intuitive self-service interfaces, employers can understand exceptions that will always ultimately arise when dealing with complexity, change, and people.
- It enables employers to improve the cloud software commencement. With cloud software comes the responsibility of HR IT, and the fact that, according to Deloitte, "the relentless responsibility to apply and adopt new features and functions, all in the context of myriad other business changes and daily distractions." Put another way, this will help you, as an employer, to tap into your human potential.
- It allows you to improve your employee-employer relationship. Today's employees want a personalized experience with their bosses -- they don't want their boss to appear distant and removed from their everyday concerns as well as the concerns of the company. While we understand that, as a boss, you can't be involved with your employees every day, having technology that helps you communicate with your employees better will go a long way in improving the company culture, cultivating loyalty, and improving productivity.
These are just a few of the many ways that technology can work in tandem with companies to improve the overall employee experience. The good news is, this technology will also improve the employer experience as well.
talent acquisition vs. company culture
Improving talent acquisition, as a whole, will only improve the number of employees in your organization. So what are you doing within that process of talent acquisition to improve your company culture? What strategies are working best for you?
It's not enough to just hire someone who is talented and/or intelligent. You have to hire someone who is complementary to the company culture or — better yet — who improves the company culture.
By taking a holistic approach to the hiring process, you can ensure that you not only get the best of the best — talent wise — but that you also make your company one that great employees want to work for.
using today's technology to your advantage
There are countless ways you can use the technology already at your disposal to your company's advantage. For example:
- Use big data to your advantage. LinkedIn is one of the few companies that allows you to cull the data you receive to market yourself appropriately to a select group of people using the parameters that you wish.
- Encourage your employees to share their experiences. If you know, for example, that the vast majority of your employees are happy with their job experiences, encourage them to share them online. The more people see how happy your current employees are, the more likely they are to apply to work for you when you open up your recruitment process.
- Build your network. The old phrase "Your network is your net worth" is still relevant today. And, thanks to social media, it's become easier than ever to connect with other big companies to not only endorse you and your brand, but to also assist in the hiring process.
- Consider investing in talent management software. This type of software will help you build an incomparable database of talented, qualified applicants that you can immediately refer to whenever you need to hire someone new.
- By utilizing innovative thinking and new tools to deliver a great recruitment experience for talent that’s efficient and cost-effective for you, you can create a robust pool of talent that can deliver what you need, when you need it.