Top 5 Tips for Recruiters to Set Themselves Up for 2024

It seems that all we’re hearing these days in the Australian recruitment industry is that candidates are increasingly difficult to come by. Finding new ways to find the right recruits and getting them onboarded into your staffing agency more swiftly than your competitors is a true exercise in survival of the fittest.

With 2023 rapidly coming to an end, here are the top 5 tips we have compiled to help recruiters set themselves up for a successful 2024.

1. Explore the use of AI tools:

As much as we may be tech-heads at Entire OnHire, we have never been and never will be interested in replacing humans with robots. We firmly believe that there are certain things that humans will always do best. Particularly when you’re in the business of people. However, at the core of Entire OnHire’s purpose is finding efficiency wherever it can be created. There are so many tasks that your team can reduce from hours to minutes simply by taking the time to use tools like ChatGPT or other staffing software solutions to help out. Perhaps you need to write compelling email templates or create social media posts and website content that is catered to your perfect candidate? By getting an AI tool to draft this content for you, your team can spend more time building meaningful connections or taking a step back to find larger scale ways to improve business operations. Using the right staffing agency software and workforce management system in your temp staffing agency can allow your staff to get out of the deep weeds of mundane repetitive tasks and focus on the big picture.

2. Embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:

You’re in the business of people and you’re placing the workforce of tomorrow. Consumers and candidates alike want to see concrete proof that companies are living out modern values and providing safe and equitable experiences. The shift toward putting diversity, equity and inclusion at the core of your brand may seem trivial to some, however many groups of people are making enormous decisions every day based on how they perceive a brand to be treating its workforce.  Consider how people from all walks of life would feel as they navigate your website or social media channels. Look then at the application and onboarding process that you’re providing. By making small changes to future-proof your candidate and client experience using workforce management software, you stand to make a substantial difference in your agency’s bottom line.

3. Rethink Social Media:

On the topic of first impressions, is your on-hire staffing agency making the most of social media platforms? Creating a strong brand presence online can make a big difference in enticing candidates. Try asking a friend or family member to look at your recruitment business’ social media channels and ask them for feedback on how they perceive your brand. It’s easy to get in a rhythm with posting similar content that worked the first few times, but social media trends change and a refresh is important every once in a while. Would a follower recognize your brand in your posts when they’re scrolling their feed? Does it provide a good sense of your company culture or the opportunities you provide? There is so much more that your business can do on social media to generate leads than sending inMails on LinkedIn. Make sure your socials are working for you!

4. Foster Candidate Experience:

If you think about the effort that your staffing agency puts in to fostering relationships with your top clients, can you honestly say that you’re providing the same VIP treatment to your incoming candidates? This idea is at the core of how we built Entire OnHire and is near and dear to our hearts. Even in the temp, on-hire placement space, recruiting a candidate should feel like the early stages of dating. They are considering lots of different options and any wrong step could lead them to rule you out. Make the process feel as effortless as possible. With Entire OnHire, your business can empower candidates by allowing them to control how quickly they get to work. They also only ever need to provide personal details and documentation once. No matter what tools you’re using, be sure that communication is clear and timely at that you’re making the best possible impression in this early stage. In the on-hire game, workers might be signed up with multiple agencies so you want them to pick you more times than not.

5. Build your Reputation:

This one ties up the above points but is worth addressing as a separate tip. It’s hardly revolutionary to say that creating a strong presence in your industry will help inbound leads. Word of mouth is a powerful tool among clients and candidates. But if people are talking about you and can’t find you when they look you up on their platform of choice, you’re missing out on crucial opportunities. You know what makes your business special and why candidates and clients are better off choosing you: make sure you let them know. Submit yourself or your business for industry awards so other industry players can learn about your strengths. Reach out to happy customers and workers and ask for reviews or testimonials. Even negative feedback can create an opportunity to address issues that might be silent reputation killers.

Conclusion

The Australian recruitment landscape is caught up in a lot of negativity and while there is always room for a healthy dose of caution in any business plan, your on-hire staffing agency has a choice to find opportunities while others are feeling sorry for themselves. There is a rule in the stock market that you should always be greedy when most people are cautious, and perhaps this is the best analogy for the recruitment space right now. Tune out the noise of doom and crisis and focus on what your business can do today to carve out its definition of success as we finish off the year.

Did we miss anything? Put any further suggestions into the comments below. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to share it with a friend or colleague!