New Year’s (Re)solution

2018 is here and we are all at our most idealistic and best intentioned. Growth is on the agenda for many businesses and that means bringing on board high quality people who can add real value. Abacus Director, Justin has been lucky enough to have seen which tactics work with top performing businesses, so here are some best practices that he can share.

Make your website mobile friendly

Your website is your front door but it is being viewed on a mobile device 60% or more of the time, if you want to gain more applications for jobs directly mark the interface easy for mobile users. It is worthwhile noting that most website visitor traffic peaks during commuting time. The cost is minimal.

Review Staff Regularly

This may seem like a chore, but research shows that staff who are regularly reviewed (at least once per quarter) are more satisfied, have higher levels of engagement and are ultimately more productive. The biggest reason staff leave is under-appreciation, reviews address this and will directly improve retention.

Conduct detailed exit interviews

January is the month when job applications soar, like it or not you will lose employees this month, if you can’t retain a staff member find out why, be open to the comments and accept the opinion. If the feedback is relevant make a change or improvement. Ignore this feedback at your peril.

Benchmark your offering

Don’t run to the market with your requirement and not consider what others are offering. You will need to be more attractive than your peers in a range of ways not just financially. For example, what are you doing in your community that makes your team proud?

Align marketing and recruitment activates

This may seem strange but if you are investing in launching a new product or service why not make sure you maximise your potential returns. Ensure that plans to grow and invest are highlighted as the reason for new appointments. After all everyone wants to join a successful business.

Be attractive to millennials

Appointing graduates in 2018 will be even more difficult, have your recent joiner’s blog about their experiences and let them use social media to magnify PR reach. By allowing some of your engaged employees to comment upon company developments and plans, it illustrates the openness and collaboration that exists in your culture.

Senior leadership attract more applicants

Nothing adds weight to a recruitment exercise like a senior leader participating. It may be a simple note to say they are open to answering queries, an appearance on a webinar or an address at an information evening. Their presence shows how important future appointments are. Make 2018 a bigger success, these are simple tactics to apply and will give high return.

Justin Rush is a career recruiter and Director at Abacus Professional Recruitment. Justin can be contacted on justin@abacus.jobs for further advice.