By Matt Lozar
When all is said and done, the best talent acquisition strategies come down to prioritizing your hiring goals. And as with any such planning, this requires balancing them with available resources. This leads, inevitably, to the Big B:
Budget.
Yup. It’s nobody’s favorite word or concept, but you can’t avoid it. Nor should you because no company in the world could survive without operating within its financial parameters. You need to make it work for you, get your goals aligned with those of your overall business, and color within budget lines – at least reasonably so – as you move forward. There will always be exceptions, but that’s exactly what they are.
Your Ultimate Goal: More Quality Applications
If you’re unsure what your planning and budget goals should be, start with this: Garnering more clicks on “Apply Here” or otherwise converting more potential hires into actual, viable applicants. This doesn’t mean every Tom, Harry, Suzie or Sally applying for your open positions: just those whose skills, experience and personality traits fit the bill. In other words, quality trumps quantity.
There may be a lot of pressure from job boards out there for you to invest more in their corner but think first.
Tools You Can Use
As you develop your job advertising budget and prepare to pitch it to key decision makers, be clear about where you want to invest company efforts and dollars. View the whole process as a negotiation because that’s what it is. Always be prepared for some give and take – but come ready to play.
Here are some tactics to include in your budget plan:
- Programmatic job advertising: Programmatic advertising automates and optimizes the placement of job postings across a network of job boards. It charges on a pay-per-click basis, and an algorithm does the bulk of the work for you. So, in addition to effectively tailoring ad placement, it’s a real time saver.
- Technology: Every minute you spend completing manual, inefficient hiring tasks is one taken away from more business-critical functions. Tech platforms and software as a service (SaaS) options can provide valuable streamlining for a range of talent acquisition processes, including job ads.
- Events: Plan for in-person and virtual recruiting events you’ll be attending or hosting. Budget for registration fees, displays, travel, food, and branded swag.
- Employee referral incentives: Set aside budget resources to create or build an employee referral program. In addition to incentive awards, this should include the infrastructure to support your program: websites, job-sharing mechanisms and tracking tools, and the marketing resources to raise awareness and drive participation.
- Social media: While much of your social media investment is technically free, your time is not. You may want to consider investing money instead of a huge amount of time. Paying to sponsor posts may be a viable option.
Get Free, Expert Advice on Your Job Advertising
Do you need additional guidance as you develop the most cost-effective job advertising budget and strategy for your staffing agency? Haley Marketing’s recruitment experts can help with these tactics, your overall plan, and other key aspects of your current and ongoing needs. Contact us today to meet one of our specialists and schedule a free focus call.
