Humanize Your Hiring Brand to Recruit the Best in Business and at Work

I would suspect that, sometime during your career, you have either placed or responded to an employment ad like this:

Employee Wanted

Our firm is looking for an Entry-Level Employee.  Interested candidates should send their résumé to:  Employee@gmail.com.

I would not be surprised if you received a poor applicant response; or frankly, no applications at all.  (Spam does not count as an application, BTW.)

Despite all the debates, the economy and the job market are both heating up.  Good news all around; challenging news for employers who have not worked to humanize their hiring brands.

Initial steps to humanize your hiring brand are simple yet effective:

• Organize the good news about your business – media coverage, press releases, etc. – on the News / Events section of your website (and/or create that section if you don’t have one).
• Incorporate that good news into your employment advertising.  (If you don’t know how and/or don’t know how to write great employment ads, ask for help from someone who does.)
• Set up company and executive social media profiles, with professional, friendly head shots.  (One friendly hint:  lose the sunglasses and black knit hat – it makes you look like a burglar.)  At minimum, on such channels as:
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • You get the picture.
• Post links on these channels regarding your good news tidbits on your social media channels.
• Post links to your snappy and interesting job ads on these social media channels – ensure that you include in your job post the great story behind your organization; current good news; and why you need to add this great new position.
• Using LinkedIn, source great candidates like you would source great customers. Then have HR, hiring managers / executives, and even you, the CEO, send messages to talented folks on LinkedIn and other channels (LinkedIn is where the best candidate fishing is right now, hands-down), asking if they or their colleagues might be interested in working with you.  If they’re not interested, ask them to please help spread the word through their respective networks.
• Use your local business network and ask them to please help spread the word.  I love it when a trusted business partner recommends a great candidate they have managed: candidates who arrive with a great reference check already completed help everyone in the hiring process!

Keep prospecting until you find that great hire (lather, rinse, repeat), who wants to work for a great human (not a bland employment ad), in business and at work.