The labor market today is not the same as before the pandemic. With the current labor complexities, job seekers often have the ability to be more selective. Many future candidates expect more from their potential employers, choosing companies that truly meet their personal and professional needs. Here is when the people-first hiring approach becomes a top strategy for organizations trying to attract and retain top talent. Employers should prioritize the people at their organizations above all else to remain competitive in a tight job market. In this article, we’ll define a people-first hiring strategy and provide some actionable tips for successfully implementing it in your company.
What is People-First Hiring Strategy
While a big salary attracted talent in the past, now job-seekers are concerned more about the job itself and the ability to maintain a work-life balance. Flexibility, growth opportunities, and a meaningful job in which they can feel effective and valued are the three main criteria for people deciding on a place to work. The key for every organization is to recognize today’s workers’ needs and create a company culture that focuses on its employees. The leaders of people-centric companies understand that it’s people who lead their companies to success. So the goal of a people-first hiring strategy is to demonstrate that the well-being of your employees is your top priority. People First Productivity Solutions summarizes this approach with five E’s:
- Enablement: providing employees with all the resources needed for their jobs.
- Engagement: engaging with employees in all parts of your business.
- Ennoblement: making your employees feel worthy and important.
- Entelechy: supporting and encouraging the personal and professional development of your employees.
- Empathy: listening and understanding your employees.
Map a Candidate Journey
Mapping a candidate's journey is an efficient way to improve your candidate experience and enhance your company's hiring strategy. A candidate journey map is a visual representation of all the touchpoints candidates have with a company's employer brand at different stages of the hiring process. Creating a visual representation of your candidate's journey will help you put yourself in your candidate's shoes and learn where you should improve on the candidate's experience. This way, you can better understand their needs and wants in different stages of their journey.
Use Technology to Improve Your Hiring Strategy
Efficient HR technology brings talent and companies together more efficiently than ever. Optimized recruiting with candidate sourcing and selecting tools can significantly reduce time-to-hire. While candidate management software can track, evaluate, and deliver a better candidate experience from start to finish.
Another way that technology is helping employers put people first is in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. AI-powered hiring tools can help free up HR teams by identifying suitable candidates, ranking talent based on their qualifications, scheduling interviews, and handling basic candidate interactions. For example, Employa's candidate sourcing tool automatically gathers important information missed in candidates' resumes and notifies recruiters of red flags.
Set the Right Tone with Great Onboarding
Onboarding is instrumental in setting a solid foundation for new employees and educating them on company values and culture. An employee’s first month on the job will set the tone for the whole employee journey. If new hires feel not welcomed or disconnected from the team, they will soon consider leaving your company for a better job. Ensure you create a structured onboarding process that includes training new employees, introducing them to their new colleagues, and ensuring they receive a warm welcome from across the organization.