The New Recruiting Playbook: Evergreen. Strategic. AI-Driven.
Co-Authored By: Jeremy Clarke
The competition for talent continues, and in many ways, it feels like we have hit a plateau. Those who are searching for talent are using very similar strategies and techniques, reducing the competitive edge we may have had in the past. We are at a critical moment where we have to think beyond current strategies and find ways to sustain a competitive advantage with a shrinking talent pool.
Strategic Thinking: Required
What does it mean to be strategic? It is the ability to absorb and analyze information that informs better decisions. Strategic thinking can stretch a team’s thinking for the future and inspire ideas that lead to high performance (Strategic Thinking Domain of CliftonStrengths | EN – Gallup). If you are not a natural strategic thinker, then find someone with whom you can collaborate. It is the best way to analyze your current processes and identify innovative ways to stay ahead of your competitors. Maybe it’s telling your company’s story in a way that speaks to all generations and is not a blanket message used for all. Or exploring new technologies so you can connect with people faster. Perhaps your strategic thinking approach could mean networking with new and different groups within the industry.
The Strategy of Recruiting
One of the best recruiting strategies is ALWAYS looking for talent, even if you are not hiring. This is commonly referred to as “Evergreen Recruiting.” You intentionally build relationships with prospective employees, creating a talent pipeline that you can pull from when you are ready to make your next hire. Sometimes you may find a highly talented person that you know has to join the team, and you find a way to support the hiring decision. Using this technique can be a game-changer, especially when working with shortened lead times for adding talent to your team.
Additionally, technology, as a whole, has helped with recruitment by automating and streamlining manual processes and helping to get more timely information. Technology helps facilitate communication in new and different ways, allowing us to reach far more people. The use of AI is growing, and many organizations have started to leverage it as part of their recruiting strategy. There are many advantages to using AI, including the way it helps analyze data, identify patterns, and form predictions. AI creates valuable insights for decision-makers and definitely should be considered by every organization.
As with anything new or different, particularly AI, proceed with caution. You certainly do not want to cause any unintended consequences. Gathering insights is helpful, but using those insights to prematurely exclude people from consideration for a position could, in some circumstances, be viewed as discriminatory. Using trends that AI has uncovered can be informative, but should not be used to stereotype people or circumstances. Recruiting will always require a human touch, so it would not be a good move to try to eliminate positions with the use of AI and technology for recruiting.
Lastly, an effective recruiting program has to be built on more than professional networking, technology, and AI savvy. The most potent recruiting programs incorporate structured selection processes and a metrics infrastructure for tracking and analyzing them. Bottom line: Recruiting without metrics is recruiting in the dark. No matter how evergreen, techy, or AI-driven your recruiting program is, it isn’t truly a “strategy” if it isn’t intentionally measured. You have to prove that your investments into methods, processes, platforms, and AI are actually paying off.
Next Steps
Join us for our webinar, AEC Hire Power: Build a Recruiting Engine that Delivers, on May 28. We will discuss these topics and more to help you attract the best talent before your competition does!
