Article: What should In-House Recruiters do during a recruitment freeze?
It is not uncommon for a recruitment freeze to be the boards first port of call when it comes to bolstering the numbers.
This is different. This is survival mode.
Targets and forecasts, on the most part, were waived and plans to survive into 2021 and beyond were put into motion. For In-House recruiters, this is more than just a recruitment freeze for most. It is about making themselves indispensable and to keep adding value - even when the hiring is slowed right down.
So for those In-House recruitment teams who are still in their role but are under recruitment freeze conditions, what should you be doing to showcase your value? Here at TIRO we want to help offer some inspiration to those who may feel a little lost and fearful for their roles right now.
Take the recruitment process to the next level.
There is the classic saying of “you can’t fix an engine while it’s running”. The same applies here. Your recruitment process will have slowed right down. This means that all those tweaks & changes needed to enhance the recruitment process that day to day BAU was hindering, you now have time and bandwidth to execute. Show your hiring managers & your board/exco your change road-map, why you are doing it, what it means to them and how this will take your talent acquisition to the next level. Come to us if you need putting on the right path. Most of the smaller pointers we give out for free because we want to see recruitment done right.
Focus on the Employer Brand.
Now is a great time to add value to the creation, design and delivery of your employer brand. Get independently sourced employee/candidate data and use it to justify your focus on this area. Map out your plan to design and deliver thoroughly because although the hiring may be slowed/frozen, the clouds will clear and when they do, you will have a shiny, accurate, Employer Brand ready to attract the higher calibre of candidates.
We can’t stress enough, the data gathering is key and studies show that independently sourced & anonymous data from your candidates & employees is far more accurate than the data gathered by your HR team. You also have to consider the fact this is especially true in the current climate when everyone is in self-preservation mode. Your staff may not say how they truly feel so your questionnaire & survey data might be inaccurate.
If you can’t use independent third parties, ensure that this data gathering is in an environment where no one will be penalised for telling you how they really feel about your culture & working environment.
Get the data sorted.
Now is the time for a cleanse. No, we are not taking about a face mask and a herbal tea next to your house plant. We are referring to your recruitment data. You may be in the same boat as a number of companies who do not have a tech stack that supports auto-generated data reports and you are reliant on google sheets or excel (*Shivers). This means now is the time to get on top of it. Be ready with your pivot tables and your formulae to ensure that your reporting of the data is as easy as possible.
One caveat to this section is the avoidance of fear of reporting negative numbers. No one likes to report bad numbers. Of course they don’t. In-House recruitment forums constantly talk about it and everyone nods and moves on pretty quickly because we all have experience of sugar-coating. This is a chance for you to press reset, get the true data positioning and formulate a plan for how you are going to achieve positive numbers in 2021 and beyond. Your line manager will not mind negative numbers provided there is a solution presented with it.
Get writing.
Use your social media channels and your access to a careers site to write interesting articles or blogs or experiences to add value to a market increasingly filled with our peers. Show your line managers, in the public space, that you know your stuff and that you want to help through sharing. You never know, it might just land you a spot speaking at RecFest! Whilst you’re on there, open yourselves up to help your peers or your candidates in terms of your knowledge. Even just a simple post around CV structuring might help someone get that job they applied for…
Hopefully that helps some of our peers in the in-house recruitment world that may be looking around at things to do to demonstrate their value in such unprecedented times. If you need to just have a chat to find some more inspiration, clarify any of the above points or simply find out what your peers are up to, email hello@tiro.uk.com and we will be more than happy to try and help.
Be safe & good luck.
