Targeted Recruiting

What is Targeted Recruiting?

Targeted recruiting is an approach where organizations are more selective about whom they advertise their job openings to. This recruitment method focuses on finding candidates with specific skills in a certain region or part of an underrepresented group. 

By using this tailored strategy, employers can ensure that their available positions are only presented to people who meet the criteria they're looking for.

The primary objectives of targeted recruitment are to

• Increase the organization's expertise in a specific field.
• Boost the number and quality of applicants, particularly for hard-to-fill roles.
• Ensure that the organization is representative of various groups in society.
• Lower the cost-per-hire.

What are the Steps Involved in Implementing a Targeted Recruitment Strategy?

A targeted recruitment strategy is a well-planned approach to advertising job opportunities in places and ways that draw the best candidates with certain skills and qualities. 

This strategy should be highly specific, data-backed, trackable, and focus on marketing to the desired candidate. Additionally, it should be implemented based on the desired candidates' location, work, and average time spent online.

For maximum success, the targeted recruitment plan should include regularly posting and promoting available jobs and engaging potential candidates immediately. Some organizations use recruitment agencies or software that helps them target their marketing to save time and money.

Why is Targeted Recruitment Better than Open Recruitment?

Targeted recruitment is more effective and efficient than open recruitment as it allows employers to better allocate their recruitment budget, increase the quality of applicants, enhance the employer brand image, ease the filling of difficult job openings, and facilitate workplace diversity. 

It reduces time-to-hire and cost-per-hire and helps employers achieve affirmative action objectives through outreach to underutilized groups. On the other hand, open recruitment tends to have a greater cost and time investment with fewer applicants.

It allows organizations to establish a brand presence within a specific industry or geographical segment. Moreover, it can increase employee morale and engagement and reduce turnover by developing a more skilled and diverse workforce.

In addition, it can help diversify and bolster the skills of a workforce, resulting in

• Boosting employee morale.
• Enhancing employee engagement.
• Reducing the turnover rate.
• Demonstrating commitment to local communities.
• Demonstrating the importance of representation in an organization.

Hiring individuals without considering their backgrounds, abilities, or demographics is called open recruiting or open hiring. This recruitment method is used to consider often-overlooked individuals for positions that don't require specific skills.

Open recruitment aims to provide job opportunities to individuals who may not have the necessary skills or experience for a particular role.

The advantages of open recruitment extend beyond just enlarging the applicant pool. Other benefits include 

• Greater diversity.
• Higher employee retention rates.
• A quicker recruitment process due to fewer screening steps. 
• Support for local communities.

However, an open hiring strategy may require organizations to prioritize work history and skills less and instead invest more time and resources into training and development.

Does Pay-For-Performance Qualify as Targeted Recruitment?

A pay-for-performance recruitment strategy is targeted recruitment in which businesses pay only when the ideal candidate applies. This approach enables recruiters to construct a focused recruitment strategy and allocate funding to meet set objectives, assess outcomes, make necessary changes, and calculate the return on investment. This eliminates spending money on duration-based postings that may not bring the desired results.

What are the Benefits of Targeted Recruiting?

Targeted recruiting lowers cost-per-hire by helping employers better allocate their recruitment budget, increase the quality of applicants, and reduce time-to-hire. 

These are typical hiring expenses:

• Recruitment costs: Hiring an $8-per-hour employee can cost approximately $3,500 for the hiring process alone.
• Training costs: Average training costs were $1,400 per employee in 2022, and each employee spent an average of 71 hours in training.
• Turnover costs: It takes more than six months on the job before a company recoups its investment in hiring a new mid-level manager. If a new hire leaves before the six-month mark, all hiring expenses are lost, and the employer needs to reinvest in another hire.

Additionally, it allows employers to attract high-quality candidates who are a good fit for the organization, thus reducing turnover costs and the need to hire temporary replacements. 

Finally, it helps employers reach their affirmative action objectives and thus reduces the need to invest in expensive recruiting tactics, such as job advertisements or career fairs.

Conclusion

By using targeted recruiting, employers can find qualified candidates that traditional methods may have overlooked. Through this process, businesses can benefit from a broader talent pool of potential hires and take greater control over the hiring process. 

As such, targeted recruiting is an effective way to quickly fill positions with the best candidate, making it an invaluable tool in any employer’s recruitment strategy.