Liz Ryan, former Fortune 500 HVP and founder of Human Workplace, recently published a phenomenal article about how the recruiting system utilizes technology to automate an already broken form of fielding for new talent.  It’s crippling the recruitment process.

She points out that asking for resumes and a list of tasks performed, where they worked, and how long they were at their jobs says nothing about the candidates at hand.  Reading about tasks doesn’t reveal what a person is like, what they care about, if they come to work on time, or if they’ll add value to your organization.  

One of the biggest crimes committed by many recruiters is that they don’t align their values. After hours of weeding through various potential candidates — their process doesn’t highlight those whose values harmonize with the company’s.

What you really want to know is what projects each person has completed, what initiatives they took, and what they’re like. 

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Liz also makes the point that you shouldn’t be talking down to your recruits — you should become more human, market to them, and show how their lives will be better when they join your team.  Just like your customers, they too drive your success and should be treated accordingly.  

At Happy Grasshopper, we wholeheartedly agree — and YES, there is a way to automate recruiting in a human, effective manner.

The organizations that ask us to help them recruit valuable personnel tend to rely on pre-compiled lists of professionals who meet the basic requirements of the job that needs to be filled, as opposed to job postings.  However, if you utilize job postings as a means to collect information of interested parties, this approach can work for you too.

We use the power of the human touch to drive results: carefully-crafted, personalized email messages, automated to your chosen parties of interest.  Each short message markets the reasons that an ideal candidate for the role would want to join the company, and, most importantly, drives engagement.

As you think about this approach, determine what differentiates your company and why a person with the abilities you seek should want to work with you.  Is it the ability to make an impact?  The freedom to take the lead on projects?  What about working virtually or with extensive team collaboration?  

Growth opportunities.  Professional development.  A family atmosphere.  Amazing culture.  You know why people like to work at your company.  THIS should be the focus for your recruitment strategy — highlighting these factors as you market to your recruits.  

And here’s one of the most important keys to success: even though they’re automated, our clients’ messages look like a human being sat down and wrote them that day, and they honestly reflect the people who are sending them.

Should you employ this approach? The personal connection that’s crucial to your company culture will begin to form the moment your recipients open their email.

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EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

A logic gate comes into play by not revealing everything about the role at once.  Engaging messages garner responses because the recipients want more information — and by those responses, you can tell who to remove from the process and who to keep.

Recruits who inquire about projects, expectations, and culture are offering strong indicators that they will feed into your team — they’re already seeking to add value.  Initial inquiries about pay, expense accounts, or other things that are the recruit’s concerns, not yours, serve as a red flag.  

This approach to recruiting leads to personal conversations and ongoing engagement, where you learn a lot about the person, what he or she cares about, and their best qualities before they come in for an interview.  You see how they interact and what stands at the top of their priority lists.

Honestly, it works, and it’s a system you can automate.

Like any process — even the old recruiting system — you will have to spend time engaging with those who respond.  However, each engagement provides value and reveals much more about the candidate than an impersonal, one-size-fits-all recruitment process.  Not only does this save you time, it also makes for more meaningful, productive meetings — a true win-win.

About the Author Happy Grasshopper

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