Talent Acquisition Housekeeping: A Year-End Checklist
Dec 17th, 2019
The end of the year is coming soon, and now is a good time to do a bit of HR housekeeping. As you wrap up 2019, make sure all of these elements of talent acquisition strategy are on your radar for 2020.
Staying Connected
Take some time to reconnect with all of the talent you placed this year. How are they doing? Do they feel satisfied with their position?
As they move into decision-making roles within the company, continue to stay connected and maintain smooth transitions. Make sure you’re closing the gaps that existed and are nurturing the relationships involved.
Plus, if you stay connected with candidates you have hired previously, as they grow into management roles you have the ability to form a new relationship and work with them to help with their upcoming hiring strategy. Likewise, by keeping in touch with them, if they aren’t happy in their new role, you can help find their next step.
Talent Acquisition Tools
Review your tech tools. Are they getting you where you need to go in 2020? Technology is becoming more important than ever before, especially AI. Ensure your technology can drive your goals for next year.
Workforce Planning and Strategy
Is your organization tall? Is it flat? Are you changing that? Taking a look at what’s coming up so you have a plan in place and the timelines to match.
In particular, look at job enlargement and organizational effectiveness. Observe how your current team looks and what’s missing for growth.
Everybody looks to HR for the next step. Is there a timeline you’ll be following as you grow? Ensure you have a growth plan that will allow you to retain employees.
Candidate Experiences
Remember to fill jobs not based on skills, but based on candidate fit and making employees feel valued. The candidate experience should be part of your planning. How they feel in the interview should also feel the same on day 1 of the job and beyond.
Recruiting top talent for your team is more than filling a needed skill. It is all about finding talent that fits in with the culture of the organization. Here are some questions to consider.
- Do the interview questions you’re using provide a true understanding of the cultural fit of the candidate?
- Does the interview process allow the candidate to experience what the culture of the organization looks like?
- Can the candidate differentiate this experience from their previous interview at another company?
- What is the strongest cultural value you offer?
Culture is such an important part of the process, and with an all-time low unemployment rate, matching the candidate both in their skill set and in the company culture is a recipe to attract and keep talent.
Culture woos new employees, and it also makes them want to stay - or leave. As you approach 2020, take a fresh and honest look at your culture.
HR Branding
Perception is reality. Does your brand go hand in hand with HR and the actual employee experience? A mismatch will be immediately obvious when someone is hired, and it will affect your retention.
For example, some companies brand themselves as a “fun place to work” and share pictures on social media of ice cream days and casual Fridays. But when an employee starts, they find this isn’t the actual day-to-day culture at all. That’s a branding mismatch.
Social Media for Sourcing
Make sure you’re getting the most out of your social media channels in terms of hiring. Grow referrals organically and place social ads to attract precisely the right kinds of people.
Show your social media followers that you give back to the community, and maybe you’ll touch on something that’s close to their hearts. Social media is a terrific way to connect with people who aren’t actively looking for a new job but would consider your company because you stand out as a special place.
Employee Happiness
On the most basic level, are your current employees happy? This is a critical piece in the puzzle of employee retention. Employee happiness is related to their engagement.
When employees are deeply engaged with the company, they can weather a few storms here and there. If the company has a rocky quarter or encounters a PR challenge, your most engaged employees will remain faithfully by your side.
Career Pathing
Now is also a good time to look at job enlargement and career pathing for your new and existing employees. Your top talent is probably always keeping an eye on the market, wondering if they should make a switch.
Career pathing is critical to keeping your staff interested in their future at your company and uninterested in jumping ship. It’s not just about a paycheck; it’s about their future. Make sure you’re continuing to make a solid offer for them to stay.
Retention Limiters
What’s limiting your retention? One of the biggest challenges to retention is a lack of opportunity to grow internally. Another is too much growth, which can leave your employees scrambling.
Maybe you grew a bit too fast in 2019. Or maybe you don’t have enough clients and need a sales push in 2020. Maybe you have too many bosses and not enough on-the-ground employees providing customer service.
Whatever the situation, ensure you have a growth pace that makes sense, and understand the limiters that are affecting your employee retention in the meantime.
Value Proposition
For people who are considering applying, does your company seem “worth it”? Are there benefits that make it tempting to try your company out for size?
Flexibility and a good work-life balance are some of the top priorities for today’s job-seekers. If these benefits aren’t front-and-center in your hiring materials, you won’t attract top talent.
Growth Objectives
In terms of growth ask questions like these: How much did you grow this year, in terms of hiring? How much do you predict you’ll grow next year? How much growth is essential? Too much?
Here’s a good motto to keep in mind: slow and steady wins the race. Growing organically with your client base is a way to do the delicate dance of manageable growth.
Talent Sources
Take a look at your main talent sources and decide whether you’re happy with them. It’s critical to ensure the sources you’re using are truly meeting your needs, or if you need to make a fresh plan to find better recruitment sources.
Word-of-Mouth Power
Are you recruiting due to your excellent customer service? Your customers can be one of your primary resources for hiring.
And if you help a candidate land their dream job and they enjoyed the process, they will tell their friends who are seeking employment. Likewise, if the client is happy with the customer experience, they will refer new business to the organization.
Employee Referrals
Do you have a thriving employee referral program? People like to work with people they trust and can rely on. Hiring the right people is more important than filling a gap in your team. It’s about culture and camaraderie.
Do you look good on online referral channels like Glassdoor and Linkedin? Check in with these channels and ensure your reviews are positive enough to drive strong talent acquisition.
Investing in the Future
It’s important to invest in recruitment, training, and retention to ensure you’re prepared for the future. Some companies do this through training seminars and some offer benefits like education reimbursement.
Whichever form it takes, you’ll see the benefits of making long-term investments in your employees. Having world-class talent is one of the best ways to future-proof your company.
Plan for 2020 Now
At The O’Connor Group, top talent acquisition is our business. We’ll help guide you in the right direction for 2020 and beyond!