The beginning of a New Year is a time for new endeavors and new starts. For businesses, it’s also often a time for welcoming new employees to an organization. This year in addition to new customers, new employees and renewed business goals comes the prediction for increased relationship building internally and externally. While strong relationship have long been a cornerstone of good business, the importance of internal relationships have taken a lesser role. The 2016 Global Recruiting Trends from LinkedIn predicts internal relationships as one of the most important themes for recruitment in the coming year, particularly as it relates to employee retention.
LinkedIn’s Top Recruiting Considerations for 2016
- 59% plan to invest more in building the employer brand
- 39% agree the quality of hires is the most important KPI
- 32% prioritize employee retention
- 26% see employee referral programs as a long-term trend
Recognizing the Importance of Internal Resources
The rise of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, SnapChat and Twitter further catalyze why relationship building continues to grow in importance. Through the use of social media, relationship building happens multiple times throughout the day through sharing a post, responding to comments, sharing a link or meme, or adding a new friend or connection. Considering how frequently these interactions organically play out, it’s crazy to think these same connection elements aren’t also happening within the workplace.
Building Positive Word of Mouth
As a result, internal employees are one of the best ways to spread the word about a business, its brand, and the work environment. When someone is looking for a new position, there’s a good chance they will directly ask someone who worked there or currently worked there. The internal satisfaction of a current employee can directly affect if a potential employee decides to apply or interview with a company. Cultivating a positive internal environment is an insider way to overcome obstacles in finding candidates for high-demand areas and compete on compensation.
Jobs Evolve with Individual Change and Growth
Internal recruiting will also strengthen an organization by retaining quality employees. Long-term retention involves consistent investment in training and professional development, allowing job roles to evolve with an individual rather than pigeonholing someone into a job description. Because of the growing importance of internal investment, it will be important to develop formal processes for training, professional development and recruitment that can change as the needs of the business and work force evolve.
Creating a Brand Stamp
Much like consumer processed goods, in 2016 companies must take a closer look at brand messaging. Does company messaging match what’s on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook? Does the messaging and tone match what’s currently on the company website and all internal and external communication? Current and potential employees pick up on these nuances. To help unify messaging it can be helpful to recruit the joint efforts of marketing, human resources and the communications department.
As a top Kansas City recruiting firm since 1988, Austin Nichols Technical Search has served clients in the engineering, construction and manufacturing fields. Austin Nichols specializes in direct hire and contract recruiting for manufacturing, construction, engineering, and technical positions.
