Recruiting Strategy: From Concept to Appropriate Measures

Attracting new employees is crucial to the success of companies. And yet many HR managers drive "on sight". However, without a clear recruitment strategy, it is impossible to satisfy the needs of the business units. Find out here how to define a recruiting strategy and implement it effectively.

"It's better to do the right job than to do a job just right." This saying by Peter F. Drucker can be applied to recruiting, in addition to many other areas of life. But how do we know what "the right job" is to attract new employees? This is where the recruiting strategy comes into play. Only with their help can we define and check which measures will bring us closer to our goals in personnel recruitment.

Definition of the recruiting strategy as a project

First of all, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for a successful recruiting strategy. This is never created in a vacuum, but is based on the very individual requirements of the business. It is therefore advisable to set up the definition of a recruiting strategy as a project. A suitable guiding principle for this can be:

"Where do we stand today and what needs to change in order to make recruiting effective and thus create added value for the business side?"

The strategy project must not be too granular. Above all, a clearly defined end of the project should be agreed. However, when it comes to scheduling, don't underestimate how time-consuming it can be to involve the business.

The project can be divided into four stages:

1. Analysis together with the business units

Every strategy is based on analysis. With a pain analysis together with stakeholders from different business areas, you bring to light the concrete need for action. The sore spots can be very different, for example

• Departments do not feel sufficiently empowered (e.g. for team recruiting or conducting job interviews)
• Internal talent mobility is not pronounced
• The location is unattractive
• It takes too long to fill vacancies because preventive sourcing is not possible
• As an employer brand, the company does not offer a USP
• Etc.

2. Identify potential for improvement

In the next step, the current and the desired target state will be further examined. By comparing, you define potential for improvement. When it comes to recruiting, the focus is on people. After all, suitable talents should not only be recruited, but also developed in the company in the long term. The question "Which talents should be reached?" is therefore essential for any recruiting strategy. The answer can be in the form of a candidate persona:

People: Define Candidate Persona

Potential candidates can only be properly reached, wooed and inspired by a position if – at least to some extent – it is known what makes them tick. What do they expect from a job? What values and motivation do they bring with them? And finally: How and in what ways do they communicate?

Process: Analyze Candidate Experience

The next step to the finished recruiting strategy is the analysis of the candidate experience. How do candidates currently perceive the application process? Can potential applicants find all the information they need to decide on an application? Does the company have a unique selling point as an employer? What could currently speak against an application and where is there too much friction in the application process? Look at the sore points from the pain analysis and put them in context to the desired target image.

3. Design of the talent acquisition strategy with appropriate measures

Once the target group is known and the desired candidate experience is defined, things get a little more practical. In the next step, you derive suitable measures from the now known potentials. The candidate persona and the corresponding touchpoints always remain in mind. Because even the most beautiful strategy is of no use if you miss the target group with its "help". You can find a brief summary of some of the recruiting channels that are suitable for different recruiting strategies in my article "Recruiting Channels".

4. What tools can support the process?

It is only at the very end of the strategy definition that the recruiting tools come into play. These serve to support the implementation of the strategy – and not the strategy to justify the use of specific software solutions. Here, too, similar to the candidate experience, a target-actual analysis can provide information about any gaps or optimization potential. Very few HR managers are likely to work with candidate lists in Excel today. But the market for talent acquisition solutions is evolving rapidly, and it's worth staying on the ball.

Goals of the recruiting strategy

The goals to be achieved with a recruiting strategy can vary greatly from company to company. In the end, however, it usually comes down to two things:

1. make the recruiting process more efficient and transparent, and
2. shorten time-to-hire.

In order to be able to make valid statements about the success of the recruiting strategy, measurable results are needed. At this point, the use of suitable recruiting software can be a great help. By standardizing the process with such a solution, an accurate analysis of the most important HR metrics becomes possible. 

Recruiting measures and instruments

Once the recruiting strategy has been defined, it serves as a roadmap for implementation. It specifies the measures and methods with which you can reach the right candidates via the right recruiting channels. Depending on the candidate persona, the appropriate procedures and recruiting measures vary greatly. It is crucial that there is an awareness of the

• where and how suitable candidates can be reached
• and how the candidate journey must be structured in order to convince.

The company must be where the candidate persona is already active – and not wait for them to stumble across the career page by chance. Depending on the strategy, different recruiting channels and platforms are suitable.

Conclusion: Actively attract and retain talent with the right strategy

A clearly defined recruiting strategy gives structure to recruitment. The candidate experience – both offline and digital in the sense of Recruiting 4.0 – is no longer left to chance thanks to a well-thought-out strategy. Instead, the right talents are reached at the right touchpoints and experience the company as an attractive employer. In this way, recruiters attract the right talent for the company and lay the foundation for their long-term development and loyalty to the company.