Raise your hand if you have pitched a ‘pilot program’ lately. Maybe even one this week?
As Recruitment Marketing professionals, we are usually the first to introduce new concepts, tools and ideas into our Talent Acquisition organizations. Finding new technologies and innovating is fun, but can also be hard when you want something to go from pilot to practice.
The team I work on is encouraged to find what’s new, test it and see where it may fit into our organization. In the last few years, we’ve been focused on building marketing skills in our recruiting teams.
Like most Talent Acquisition organizations, we run pilots and try to engage as many people as possible in these initial stages. But, not everything takes off right away. Below are three ways we’ve been able to get recruiters working alongside us to use new marketing tools and help share our story in the marketplace.
1. Show don’t tell
New tools can be scary. After a few attempts of rolling things out with just okay results, we are changing the way we share new tools by showing how they work instead of just telling how they work. It’s been a game changer in the adoption of Recruitment Marketing tools and excitement around them. Below are two examples.
Text them first before you ask them to text candidates
To engage our team in using a text messaging platform to connect with candidates, we started using the platform to text our team. We used it during larger team meetings and as opt-in communications for new marketing announcements. After they experienced it as an end-user and saw its potential, the requests for licenses and usage rates skyrocketed.
Give them opportunities to practice
Instead of just talking about how important video is to connecting with candidates, we facilitated sessions to let recruiters practice being on video. We brought in tripods, microphones and question prompts, and asked pairs of recruiters to practice asking and answering questions on their own smartphones. It was a way for them to practice and boosted confidence that they were capable of being on both sides of the camera. We’ve had a few successful video projects already come out of these sessions.
2. Speaking of confidence, give them some!
Recruiters have a lot on their plates and are expected to be knowledgeable on more and more tactics and tools. When we ask recruiters to use new Recruitment Marketing tools or programs, we’ve found that taking the time to help build their confidence is one of the first steps in a successful program launch.
New technology can need hands-on help
We built an app and asked recruiters to use it on campus. We started small with a few teams, but to get everyone using it, we took the extra step to have hands-on, in-person demos of how to use the technology. Not only did it get them actively using the app, it gave them the know-how they needed to explain it to other people. It also sparked more interest in using the technology and built confidence in the recruiter’s ability to share the experience with candidates.
It may seem odd to need in-person training for online technology tools, but our experience shows that live conversation and tactile demos produce more of the ‘aha’ moments you hope for with tech.
3. Talk about it – and then talk about it in a new way
We use traditional communication channels like email and conference calls to introduce new tools to our dispersed Talent Acquisition team, but there is a lot competing for attention in these systems. We’ve started complementing emails and calls with additional methods of communication that are more out of the ordinary. Some things we use include:
- A podcast: We host an internal podcast where we talk about the latest Recruitment Marketing and Employer Branding trends by interviewing internal and external thought leaders. This gives team members a chance to listen and learn whenever they want and to hear something explained in a more engaging way.
- Text messages: We send text messages when we want to make sure they participate in an activity or review a recent communication. We use it sparingly and make sure to schedule texts so they don’t interrupt personal time. We’re getting quick responses from texting that are completely different from the responses we get via email.
- Collaboration tools: We make sure to post updates on projects in our team’s collaboration tool. There are many advantages to using collaboration tools like Yammer or Slack including transparency in the conversation and tagging individuals you want to be sure to engage. (Bonus – it helps everyone learn when they can see the conversation!).
Recruiters are our front lines to candidates and, in many cases, our internal clients. When they understand all of the marketing tools and programs available and see their benefit, recruiters have the advantage of using the tools to directly enhance the candidate experience and their own recruiting efforts. Don’t let your Recruitment Marketing budgets go to waste on tools that aren’t used. Spend the time up front on a strategy to engage recruiters as your marketing partners.
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