What is a Recruitment Strategy? And why do you need one?

First of all, let’s define what is and what is not a Recruitment Strategy?

When we talk about a Recruitment Strategy, we are not describing a Recruitment Campaign. A recruitment campaign is something you do for a specific job. Yes, you need a plan and a “strategy” to market, but this is a campaign plan and not your organisation's “Recruitment Strategy”. Also, you may have a strategy for bulk recruitment – like your Graduate Recruitment Strategy – but again that’s not what we're talking about here. That again is just a plan for a specific vacancy.

It’s what you want to do with Recruitment as a function.

Your Recruitment Strategy is your bigger bolder statement and view of the Recruitment function. It should fit on one page, but with plenty of detail behind it. It’s what you want to do with Recruitment as a function. The capability of the staff in the function and your channels to market. For example - Is TA centralised or decentralise? Do you have a TA team and function or is it run by HRBP’s in the divisions, or do you even outsource to an RPO? It involves questions such as what’s your EVP Messages and Employer Branding? Your target costs, time to hire, TA headcount? Map out your candidate touch points, process steps and your Candidate Care ethos (high touch or low touch)? Do you have a budget? What HR Tech stack do you have, or do you need? What are your volumes to hire e.g. Blue-collar roles v white collar vacancies etc. etc.

A Recruitment Strategy can be a lot of things.

It’s your bigger plan and should always link back to your business strategy, growth plans and profitability and cultural and values drivers of the organisation. Fundamentally does it support your bottom line? Or solve problems such as high turnover or previous poor hiring decisions.

Your Three Main Problems:

What are your three biggest challenges for your current recruitment function? We often see these with our clients as:

1. Attraction
2. Process Flow / Systems
3. Capability Uplift (TA Function and Hiring Managers).

A tip for your strategy development is that it should include the following five elements (or pillars as we call them), plus we can also deep dive and look at 16 different facets of your Recruitment model….

First the Strategy Five Pillars:

1. Attraction - Employer Branding & Marketing
2. Process mapping / Steps and Candidate Experience
3. Technology enablement – TA tech stack and gaps
4. Operational Model – Transformation required
5. Data and Analytics – reporting capabilities / KPI’s

Within these five pillars we also recommend sub reviews, so we can Red, Amber, Green key functionality and experiences (or RAG them). We have 16 key Recruitment Performance Drivers that you can traffic light with your HR team.

Then, we also Recommend a “Recruitment Audit”

What’s that?
This is where you look at all these pillars and performance drivers and do a deep dive into data. This might include extracts from payroll on turnover, or Finance on supplier spend, or data on aging workforce etc. This might also include some staff and management surveys. Or what we call VOC – Voice of Customers. Try asking your Hiring Managers, HR team, Candidates and Senior Executives what they think of the recruitment function. They will tell you. This qualitative and quantitively rich date is excellent for building the business case for change.

This is what Hill Consulting HRS do for our clients. We come in and audit, build out a strategy plan / paper (what’s needed) and then help write the business case for change (with financials and costings) for the Executive team or Board.

Why have an External Partner Come in and Help?

We feel lots of people are scared of us coming in and having a look under the covers. However, we are not there to criticise but to help partner HR with change. Ideally getting the business case up for funding of more heads in TA, a centralised function or new HR tech platforms implemented. We can see many benefits to getting in an external “audit” partner in, who understands TA (no not an accounting firm!)

1. HRD, HR and TA teams often don’t have the time to undertake a review
2. It’s good to get an independent view of your practices
3. We help create the business case for change including the $$
4. We are not a vendor (but neutral independent advisors) so not trying ti sell you on one particular system or process.
5. It’s good to get an external view and a comparison on what others are doing in the marketplace
6. It’s good to get specialist skills in who can run the surveys and do the number crunching as well. Or offer ROI calculators or write up three options / scenarios and costings for change.
7. A partner that helps get the work done and delivered usually with a 6-to-8-week period.
8. Helps sell the need for change internally with Stakeholders – who feel a “proper review” has been undertaken.
9. It allows for full costing on what your Recruitment function working (or not working) can be costing the organisation in terms of empty seats or staff turnover.
10. Finally, and ironically often the powers that be (e.g. a Board) listen to an external provider more than their internal folk. Seeing it as an independent, neutral view.

It’s amazing when costed out it often runs into the millions of dollars of unseen costs from poor recruitment practices, opportunity costs, and poor hires. Which can also be used as the argument for change.

In Summary - How to do a Recruitment Strategy in your Organisation?

So, in summary your Recruitment strategy is your business case for change. Your strategy that will tell you if you have enough people in TA and the right systems in place, the right team and capabilities and the right KPI measures to track performance etc. It’s your two-year road map for change and enables HR to get the right budget and or tech buy in to implement significant improvements. It also allows HR shine and to be seen as strategic partner with the business in adding value to the bigger business operations, strategy and bottom line (costings).

Get in touch today.