Modern Recruiting: DEI, Perks, HR Technology, and Untapped Talent Pools

Any HR department can confirm that it’s a hard time to find new talent. The ‘Great Resignation’ showed that a lot of workers re-evaluated their priorities during the pandemic. Many experienced workers decided to pursue a different work-life balance, either changing industries or scaling back the hours they were willing to work.

Combined with a looming recession, companies need to minimize expenses through better recruiting practices and preventable turnover. While many potential workers are looking for new jobs,the people applying at your company may not have the same qualifications you expected a few years ago.

In the increasingly competitive job market, candidates have more power than employers for the time being. So, what can HR do to be more effective during recruitment?

• First, let’s talk about recruiting goals and requirements
• Second, we need to discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion
• Next, improving your recruiting strategies and technology
• Then, elevating your recruiting package, including added benefits, culture, and purpose
• Finally, we’ll reveal several untapped talent pools for you to explore 

A new way to look at recruiting goals and standards

Some basic job requirements are non-negotiable, but it’s easy to overlook talented people in your search for ideal candidates. Meet with managers to reevaluate your list of ‘must-have’ skills.

If you are equipped to offer more than just basic training, then you can accept a wider range of applicants. New hires with a blank slate won’t bring their ingrained bad habits from another company, and your training can emphasize your company’s preferred methods. When you offer more training and development to workers, you open up a much wider candidate pool for recruiting.

Some recruiting goals are subtly counterproductive, like when you’re too focused on company culture or narrowly defined searches. You remember where and how your company had the best luck with recruiting in the past, but it’s probably time to cast a broader net.

Additionally, it’s natural to prefer applicants who seem to fit your current company culture, but this vague preference can end up limiting diversity. Your company culture may not be very well defined beyond a few buzzwords like teamwork and quality service, and those ideals are hard to judge based on a person’s resume. 

The importance of diversity and inclusion in recruiting

Diversity is necessary for a healthy workplace, and additional diversity can bring further benefits. As you open up hiring to a wider range of recruits, you’ll find candidates who bring new skills and a variety of new perspectives.

Someone with an unconventional career path may still have a promising track record in a different industry, and there’s no substitute for fundamentals like people skills and work ethic. Instead of looking at black-and-whilte technical abilities, try to look at undeveloped potential, with adjustments for training more technical and specialized skills on the job. 

Think about how you’re advertising your openings. Make DEI part of the pitch at different phases of the recruiting process and public branding for your company. Show examples of teamwork between people with different personal and professional backgrounds.

Look at the current demographics and makeup of your workforce, and actively target underrepresented communities in your area. Consider using “blind recruitment” to compare qualifications without the details that might suggest a candidate’s gender, race, age, religion, and other demographic details. 

Improving recruitment with better strategies and technology

It’s easy to talk about vetting applications with an open mind, but how do you get people from a broader range of backgrounds to submit applications? In difficult economic times, it pays to utilize recruitment marketing strategies like branding and digital advertising. Ten years ago, you may have gotten plenty of applicants by just posting on one to two job boards, but now you’ll need to be more proactive.

A lot of employers complain about job applicants “ghosting” or disappearing, but people who are eager to work may get tired of waiting for weeks without a paycheck. Look for ways to elevate your recruiting experience by making job listings straightforward and accelerating your response time. From the initial call or online application, you need to move forward to interviews and onboarding in a reasonable timeframe.

HR technology has great potential to help you reach new audiences in recruiting, but a shortsighted approach can end up hindering diversity instead of improving it. A virtual recruiting and hiring experience can help you reach more applicants, including ones from demographics you have previously overlooked.

While better data and analytics can help monitor and improve your recruiting efforts. Your process should be efficient and cost-effective. Track your ‘Cost Per Hire’ and ‘Time To Hire’ to better understand your hiring success.

Better benefits and perks = better recruiting

Go ahead and brag about unique perks and benefits that make a big difference for workers with complicated life circumstances. Childcare, tuition reimbursement, and employee wellness programs go beyond the traditional benefits like health insurance.

A more modern workplace and emphasis on accessibility and work-life-balance can pay big dividends when it comes to landing recruits. Explain the systems you’ve developed to remote work, hybrid work, or flex schedules.

Your overhaul to recruiting may require bigger cultural changes at the workplace. More than just a productivity culture, consider how company values motivate employees. A workplace giving program encourages a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Cast a wider net with untapped talent pools

Every company and recruiting department has different blind spots. As you look to expand and overhaul your approach to recruiting, consider whether small accommodations might allow you to hire from groups that you hadn’t previously considered.

Older workers and retirees re-entering the workforce

Some retirees find that they need a little more income (or something worthwhile to do). Older workers bring a wealth of experience, and many require fewer accommodations than you might expect.

Boomerang employees

Some employees leave for reasons they regret, or need to quit because of life circumstances and special opportunities. If they end up returning to your company, they’ll need a lot less onboarding and training than a raw recruit.

Disabled persons

A wide range of physical and mental handicaps and disabilities have no impact on a person’s ability to perform certain types of work. What reasonable accommodations can your company make to improve accessibility in your workforce? 

Military veterans

Can you be flexible for veterans whose work experience isn’t an exact match for your official job requirements? Military training and roles don’t always correspond with civilian career paths, but the professional experience is still applicable.

Formerly incarcerated

A criminal history makes it a lot harder to find a good job. Ideally, many types of convictions should have no bearing on whether a candidate is qualified for certain jobs. 

Stay-at-home parents

Daycare is expensive, but many stay-at-home parents are eager for additional income. Can you support remote workers with flexible hours or help employees find affordable childcare?

Previous candidates

Don’t get rid of contact information for candidates you’ve considered in the past. You may find them better suited for a different position later, or they may become more qualified working elsewhere.

Discover how Netchex can help you implement a more modern and inclusive recruiting process: