7 Stupid-Simply Things You Can Do Today to Boost HR Culture

How do you boost HR culture in one day?

I recently got back from the Midwest Recruiter Bootcamp. It was a great couple of days put on by Paul Debettignies and an awesome mix of Employer Branding, Sourcing, Recruitment Tools, Retention and Local Marketing. From retargeting to hacking, er using LinkedIn to its fullest potential, from candidate personas and HR culture development to how to work with H1-B candidates, it was packed with real, practical advice recruiters could use.

But one of the things that struck me was in all our software and funding and big sweeping changes, sometimes we forget about the little things that ANYONE can do. Whether it’s playing golf with candidates you haven’t placed quite yet or sending a special email to your company Facebook fans to ask if they know the perfect person, here are things you can literally do in a day to improve your entire recruiting process, and they cost next to nothing.

1. Boost your referral program by offering to follow up promptly. Shannon Pritchett (@SourcingShannon) voiced this bright idea as a contrast to complicated employee referral programs. She simply told all her employees, if they gave her a name and phone number or email, she’d take care of everything and give them a piece of candy. Yup, not $100, $1000 or $10,000 — just a piece of candy. Shannon did this in anticipation of a large hiring surge later in the quarter and ended up not only following up, getting background checks completed and credentialing the qualified candidates completed in the interim. She also kept this referral pipeline nurtured enough so she had a large pool to work with when the surge came.
2. Get your hiring managers to give you feedback faster. Christina Llamas (@cllamasrecruit) gave us this tip to incentivize busy hiring managers on the cheap. Tired of hearing from her recruiters that HMs weren’t giving feedback quickly enough for them to capitalize on great hires, she simply bought donuts and sent out an email letting them know she had them in her office. “I told my recruiters be here at this time and get your feedback!” They were and they did. Llamas figured her hiring managers would eventually catch on, but if they did, they never stopped coming. Jim Durbin also suggested leaving a soda or cup of coffee on their desk with a note, noting that when people feel you’ve given them something (even something small) they’ll feel a little odd until they respond.
3. Have your state help with your search for credentialed candidates. Tim Sackett (@TimSackett) mentioned when he was recruiting for pharmacists, he simply called the state and asked for the list. Since the state often licenses positions like dentists, insurance agents, pharmacists, they will often be happy to send a list for little to no cost. Once he and his fellow recruiters got the list, they simply began calling and reaching out, filling the positions fast!
4. Use databases with your library card. Jim Durbin accesses public information databases via his local library. InfoUSA, Dun and Bradstreet and more are usually licensed by the library. Simply use these massive lists to find who and what you need.
5. Use lesser known messaging platforms. Eventrbrite and Meetup are often suggested to recruiters to find events to attend, but did you know you can also message fellow attendees through these platforms? Asher Mintzer (@SwatRecruiterMN) revealed when he was searching these platforms for events to attend, he decided to simply reach out to people also attending. According to him, nearly everyone he reached out to via the platforms would respond. Hypothesis? There’s just less noise on these platforms.
6. Stop working and start partying. Is recruiting and sourcing just PART of your job? If so, you might feel overwhelmed with everything you need to do to have a great recruiting process AND build out candidate experience. One way to get some free help is to buy pizza and some drinks and get as many people from your department or hiring managers in a room and start asking who they know. Sourcing parties or team sourcing is a hot topic, according to Pritchett and Llamas agrees they work! Paul Debettignies (@MNHeadhunter) rounded out the suggestion: “I’d have a VP or a Lead look at someone’s profile and then follow up with the person and say, ‘Hey my VP wanted me to reach out to you and set up a conversation.’ Inevitably they’d be flattered and more open than a cold invite from a recruiter.”
7. Do you have a written diversity and inclusion statement? Caroline Karanja gives a simple formula to get it done. Aside from EEOC getting slapped on your career site, you need something to drive your diversity and inclusion program. Karanjan, CEO of 26Letters showed us how to create one simply and in alignment with company values. Her formula is to mission and vision, plus service or product, and values, add your thoughts on diversity and inclusion toward the end.

About Maren Hogan:

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer, writer and business builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Founder and CEO of Red Branch Media, an agency offering marketing strategy and outsourcing and thought leadership to HR and Recruiting Technology and Services organizations internationally, Hogan is a consistent advocate of next generation marketing techniques. She has built successful online communities, deployed brand strategies and been a thought leader in the global recruitment and talent space. You can read more of her work on Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and her blog Marenated.