Why your employees are just as important as your customers

A new generation has made its impact on the workforce and this, along with the effect that new technologies have had on the modern HR department, has resulted in a new approach to talent acquisition. According to Deloitte’s latest study on Global Human Capital Trends, “talent acquisition is now the third-most-important challenge companies face, with 81% of respondents calling it important or very important.” Talent Acquisition is not about filling a space through short-term, traditional recruitment methods, it’s a strategy that aligns with the organisation’s long term goals.

Why is talent acquisition so important?

Talent is an organisation’s most important asset. The right talent means a competitive edge as well as a more engaging and human-centred corporate culture. If you don’t have the right people working in your company, both in terms of skill and cultural fit, everything from productivity to workplace sentiment will be affected.

Whatever you might think, talent acquisition also has a pretty direct impact on customer satisfaction levels and according to SmashFly, a strong recruitment marketing strategy helps Talent managers to identify quality candidates in a way that is both cheaper and more efficient, which in turn helps boost the organisation’s bottom line.

The 2018 Recruitment Marketing Benchmarks Report, SmashFly

An evolution in recruitment

The modern HR department can no longer expect quality candidates to come to them; it’s their job to track down the best of the best and convince them that joining their organisation would be the best move for their career.

This is where employer branding comes in. Creating a more engaging atmosphere within the organisation itself is vital, as is establishing a strong employee ambassador programme.

At Good Rebels we’ve created a strategy for the promotion and encouragement of employee ambassadorship. Our aim has been to put the co-worker at the centre of internal decision making processes. First, we established our commitment to creating a more exciting workplace culture, building co-worker loyalty, better understanding the motivations and values of those who work for us, and streamlining internal structures and workflows. Second, we defined the three things we felt were most important to consider when developing an employee ambassadorship strategy:

• Network development: optimising points of contact between company and co-workers through a more intelligent combination of social technologies, data and creativity
• Digital leadership: identifying leaders, or ‘intrapreneurs’ within the organisation, and helping them develop their skills. This, in turn, results in a more innovative organisational culture, better positioned to tackle the challenges of digital transformation
• Agile organisation: a focus on agile methodologies, open knowledge management and internal collaboration

Any organisation that wants to attract new, more talented employees may be forced to rethink their value proposition (EVP). We need to advertise our organisation as an attractive place to work, with ample opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Where does technology come in?

Technology is another means of capturing the best talent, and making sure they stick around. New technologies have allowed us to offer our co-workers a workplace more personalised to their needs and preferences. Social media helps us to attract better candidates and advertise to them on a platform fit for purpose; optimising the talent acquisition process. Artificial Intelligence systems like Hire Mya utilise Machine Learning and NLP to help recruiters identify quality candidates.

Another example of how technology can support businesses to attract and retain the best talent is a project we completed in collaboration with European fashion retailer in order to optimise their digital recruitment process. Making use of digital tools including social networks, paid media and an online chatbot, we were able to transform the experience for job candidates. We also supported the business to improve their employer branding by using social listening to demonstrate how they were portrayed as an employer in online conversations and provided regular reporting and training to enhance performance.

What next?

If your organisation is constantly striving to meet the needs of consumers, why shouldn’t you do the same for your talent acquisition strategy? Just as the needs of your consumers are ever-changing, so are the needs of your workforce, not to mention the skills your business needs to deliver on its objectives.

If you work in HR, attracting and retaining the talent best suited to the needs of your organisation is your main call of duty. And it is a duty that is never quite complete, reacting to shifts in organisational culture, industry developments and expectations of the modern workplace.