3 Vital Steps to Take as Recruiting Makes a Comeback

News that Ford is aggressively recruiting engineers across the country is encouraging for the entire American manufacturing sector.

But it also reminds us of a challenge many companies may have lost sight of during the recession: the shortage of skilled workers.

If you’re targeting the same top-tier engineers as the big guys, you’d better realize the competition you’re facing. An afterthought of a “careers” page on your website and a couple of job-board postings will no longer suffice.

It’s time to step up your recruiting efforts with a complete brand that emphasizes what’s special about your company in ways that appeal to today’s best job candidates.

Three key components:

n An interactive online portal that acts as your main recruiting communications hub (while supporting database development critical to connecting with individual recruits and their unique interests)

n A public relations program—including traditional college outreach and relationship-building, media relations, social media and mobile-specific communications—to drive interest and traffic to the portal and, ultimately, to create a candidate pipeline

n Internal communications that support recruiting through clear explanations of why it’s so important and how current employees benefit, along with continuous recognition of successful recruiting efforts

Of course, there’s so much more to an effective recruiting brand. In 2011, we’ll be talking a lot more about these issues, including the use of mobile platforms, the challenges of global recruiting and more. If there are aspects you’d like to see as part of that discussion, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments.

Jargon to Drive Me Crazy!

Soon after the annual Lake Superior State University list of banished words comes a Forbes article posted today busting on business jargon.

With the battle against cliché heating up, will 2011 spell the end of hackneyed phrases?

Ha—not hardly!

List posts ranting about “paradigm shifts” and the ilk are as commonplace as the tired language they strive to eliminate. Here’s one. Here’s another. And here we go again ...

These articles continue to proliferate because jargon never dies. New buzzwords slip into our language every day. At the end of the day, it’s just too tempting and too easy to use.

Nevertheless, in 2011, we can all at least try to avoid the cliché and think outside the box instead.