Winning the “War for Talents” with new social media strategies

Convincing new employees to join the company is currently one of the major challenges for companies and HR managers. To be successful here, new approaches are required. Recruiting campaigns via social media are an innovative way to achieve your goals in the “War for Talents”.

Digitization and demographic change among the population are the driving forces behind the changes that recruiting and HR as a whole are undergoing. With the baby boomers, the cohorts with the highest birth rates will soon be retiring, leaving unfilled positions that the next generations will hardly be able to fill. Competition for the best applicants is therefore fierce, and employers have long been in a weaker position vis-à-vis potential new employees. In addition, the effects of digitization mean that new recruiting processes are needed to attract the attention of the right target group. Passive job ads as the sole strategy have long since become obsolete. In the following, we present how you can profitably use social media as recruiting channels to win the “war for talents”!

Define and live values

To be successful with social media recruiting, you need to act from a strong and clearly defined position, i.e. be clear about the values you stand for as a company. After all, it is no longer just hard facts such as salary, working hours or corporate benefits that determine the success of recruiting measures, but also soft factors: What does my company stand for? What values do we all live by together? What is our position on sustainability or corporate social responsibility? The important thing here is: Stand for something, not everything! Only represent the values that are really important to you and that you can and want to communicate authentically to the outside world. To this end, it is advantageous to actively involve your own employees in shaping the values.

Choosing the right channel

Once you have defined your values, it is important to choose the right channel for your recruiting campaign. Pay attention to where your target group is located and how many resources you have available. To get started, we recommend the two platforms LinkedIn and Instagram.

LinkedIn: The established professional network is, from the experience of Evernine’s customer projects, the first choice for recruiting via social media. The platform offers several tools for employer branding and performance recruiting. In addition, you can also be active here yourself and write to potential candidates for open positions that match the profile in demand. LinkedIn is particularly suitable for the search for already experienced, well-trained personnel.

Instagram: Recruiting via Instagram is promising if you can present your company well via image and video content. In addition, the network offers the perfect opportunity to provide personal insights into everyday life with the Story function. Via Instagram, you can target young candidates in particular, identify them in advance using data analysis, and actively write to them via direct messages here as well.

TikTok: Gen Z and millennials in particular – and thus primarily the group of young professionals – are active on the TikTok video platform. More and more companies are therefore venturing onto TikTok, not only to present products, but also for employer branding purposes. The platform is mainly suitable for entertaining elements of employer branding – however, due to the very questionable data security of the Chinese provider, we advise to enjoy TikTok with caution.

Involving employees is the key

In all your measures, use the most valuable asset your company has at its disposal: its own employees. Involve them when it comes to formulating the values of the company and of each individual and incorporate them into the corporate ethics. Only when employees help shape the values and the employer branding is right can they credibly communicate the company values to the outside world. At the same time, you strengthen your company from the inside and the loyalty of the team to the company.

Also actively integrate your employees into HR marketing. They can be excellent corporate influencers on social media who live out the company’s values to the outside world, convince applicants:inside of your company, expand your network on social media and thus ensure more reach, and provide new, authentic content themselves. You can also provide targeted support for selected and particularly authentic employees. It is important to give employees the freedom to live these values outside the office – whether on social media or by participating in charity programs and training courses.

Be responsive and throw traditional expectations overboard

Applicants today demand easy ways to communicate, and speed is an important factor here. Respond to comments and direct messages as promptly as possible and continue to pursue your strategy of a personal approach here as well. A voice message or a short video, for example, will set you apart from the crowd and can be decisive for a positive candidate journey. Accordingly, the application process should also be as clear as possible.

New ways are needed to survive in the “war for talents”. Social media recruiting is a promising approach here, if the planning and execution, the choice of the right channel and the corresponding strategy are optimal. We would be happy to support you in this regard through the HR Marketing department of the Evernine Group. Visit our website.

If you want to know more about the corporate culture at Evernine, feel free to take a look at our video.

Image source: Adobe Stock / venimo