As 2023 came to a close, the U.S. had avoided a recession and inflation fell globally. Yet at the same time, interest rates stayed high, the job market shifted, and political and other instabilities continued to loom around the world. Many analysts are not too sure what is to come in 2024, so our best advice is to be prepared for the worst of it!
What’s an employer to do?
The answer lies in having a robust brand with solid relationships with current and prospective talent. Continue to show desired candidates that your company is the best next career move for them while showing clients that your company can fill open positions regardless of how competitive the labor market is.
Go get ‘em!
- The best talent is usually on the market for a short window of time. Build your brand by building your relationships. Rather than wait for them to come to you, seek them out. This applies to both active and passive job seekers. Once you identify someone who would be the right fit for your company, reach out and let them know you’re interested – even if you don’t have a specific opening in mind. If they’re not ready to leave their current job, ask if it’s okay to stay in touch. While each scenario will be different, the goal is the same: let your relationship grow, with the ultimate goal being a winning hire.
- Match talent with your brand based on shared values. Start by evaluating your current brand, and identifying common core characteristics that your current best performers share with you. These could include anything from hard and/or soft skills to interests and experience. Keep your focus on these values as you broaden your talent search.
- Make sure every communication you issue fits your brand. This goes for everything from customized job postings and ads to your website, social content, and print collateral. This helps candidates build a body of knowledge about your organization that will keep them interested and engaged.
Put testimonials and reviews to work for you.
Take control of the narrative with everything you post or publicize. Two impactful tactics can be employee testimonials and reviews.
- Testimonials are an excellent way to leverage the trust applicants have in your current employees. Their input holds tends to hold more weight and credibility than messages from your CEO or other “suits.”
- Online reviews also provide valuable insights – into your culture, management style, and overall levels of employee and client satisfaction. Whether it is a candidate figuring out if you can help them, or a company deciding if your business is able to fill the open positions they currently have, reviews and testimonials help them see how you have helped others in a similar situation.
Helping employers build winning brands that outshine the competition is what Haley Marketing does best – along with developing websites to optimize applications and ROI, increasing responses to job advertising, and improving social recruitment impact. Contact us today to learn more about positioning your organization for success, regardless of the current economic picture.
