We’re starting the new year with some predictions about what will be crucial for organisations to prioritise when it comes to their recruitment marketing plans. Whether you’re in active recruitment or focusing on building your brand to attract and retain great talent, here are a few things to think about. 

1. Employer Value Proposition trumps all

Forget the idea of prioritising your EVP as optional. Investing in your Employer Value Proposition should be front and centre of all your communications and planning strategies. Essentially your EVP tells talent (current and prospective) who you are. What are your corporate values, what is it like to work in your business, what is it exactly that makes you different from your competitors? All of the important considerations that you can bet, any potential candidate will be interested in. Anyone looking at applying for a new role will undoubtedly make reference to a corporate website, social media presence, or look for some word of mouth. At every one of these cross points, your EVP is key. 

Ensure that your mission and your ethos are clear and consistent at every communications crossroads. Authentically tell the story of your organisation whether you want to showcase your company culture or shine a light on the growth opportunities that exist. Make sure that your initiatives, benefits and mission are properly communicated across every touch point. Nothing could be more important this year, whatever your recruitment and retention goals.

“Refocus your attentions to each moment of the candidate experience and how it can be improved.”

– Emma Murray

2. Embracing the pros (and the cons) of AI

No 2024 business prediction would be complete without mention of AI. Its potential impact to recruitment marketing is no different. Whether we like it or not, we have to consider the role AI can and will play and find ways to lean into the advantages it can offer. 

At core, it’s likely that AI will provide us with huge efficiencies on the day-to-day operational side of recruitment marketing. Whether creating content for social media, or managing initial communications via chat bots, the opportunities will free up professionals to focus on strategy and decision making further down the recruitment line.  For candidates, AI can represent a more personalised and responsive experience through the application and recruitment process, and when in a role, AI enabled tools should offer efficiencies when it comes to productivity. 

Enhancing the candidate experience is crucial for any organisation and we know that gaining even small efficiencies when it comes to process can make all the difference in the life cycle of recruitment and retention. With that in mind, we’d advise approaching AI with a very open mind. 

3. The employee experience is where it’s at 

A shift in prospective candidate behaviour and expectations means that organisations have to situate the candidate experience at the very heart of all they do. It’s no longer a question of what a candidate can offer an organisation. Instead all eyes are on what an organisation has to offer a potential candidate.

Refocus your attentions to each moment of the candidate experience and how it can be improved. Is your application process intuitive? Are there are any common pain points that could be removed or improved? How good are your candidate communications and how could you make them more authentic, more personal, more responsive? Even small changes can make an impact when it comes to how a prospective employee experiences their interactions with your organisation so it’s worth digging deep into the minutia of the candidate pathway to remove friction where possible. 

An effective recruitment marketing strategy does not stop at recruitment, and now given how competitive the market is, it should of course extend to the retention of good talent. It’s well established that recruiting talent costs more than retaining it so it’s a no brainer to shift the spotlight onto what you can do to cultivate a happy and loyal workforce. Invest in the well-being of your current employees. Ask for their feedback, take it on board and use it to create a positive work environment that will offer growth opportunities, support, training and a positive work life balance. We can no longer expect a generation of ‘always on’ employees, so normalise switching off. Normalise life outside of work and normalise boundaries that exist in order to properly maximise efficiency when we are in work. A positive and considered shift into retention of talent and the cultivation of a happy, safe and engaged workforce will only reap positive rewards for any organisation. 

4. Get comfortable with the evolution of hybrid working 

The explosion of hybrid working conditions as necessitated by the Covid pandemic may have been seen by some as temporary but it is without a doubt here to stay. More than half of companies now function using some sort of hybrid working solutions and the benefits for employees include improvement in mental health, positive financial well-being and an improved work/life balance. While many companies are suggesting Return to Office (RTO) policies, it’s unlikely that employees, potential and present, will be easily convinced. We predict a significant amount of tension between what organisations are offering and what candidates are willing to accept. 

Getting comfortable with the permanence of some degree of hybrid working – whatever that looks like for your organisation – and building it into your recruitment and retention strategies will be increasingly important. Understand that trust between employees and employers is key, that the cost of living crisis will bring the ‘benefit’ of offering hybrid working solutions even more into focus and that requests for more nomadic working conditions will be on the rise. Put in place a culture that supports these things to ensure your organisation is in the best and most competitive position on the market. 

Offering and supporting hybrid solutions will have long term DEI benefits to any organisation. Flexible working solutions means you’ll broaden your applicant pool and open up opportunities for prospective candidates who may not have considered applying if in-office work was a mandate.  It’s also a reality that the existence of hybrid working may also sow the seeds for more ‘side hustles’. Whether individuals need to create a side income for financial reasons or they do so to pull back some level of social connection remains to be seen. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the nature of employment and how the candidate views its parameters is changing and organisations need to stay on board with the shift.