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April 21, 2014
Forget relationships, build allegiance.
By Peter Weddle for BioSpace.com
The received wisdom these days is that relationships are the key to recruiting top talent. However, as anyone who’s been in a relationship knows that establishing such a connection with someone is both time consuming and hard work. What’s the alternative? Build candidate allegiance—It’s just as powerful a recruiting strategy.
Recruiters have long focused on building relationships with top talent for one very important reason: these prospects listened to their mother. What was the first thing your mother taught you? That’s right, “Don’t speak to strangers.” So, establishing relationships enables recruiters to move from being unknown to being recognized and listened to by top talent.
The downside to this strategy, of course, is that it’s hard work—relationships don’t come easy and they require constant attention. And in today’s economy, the last thing recruiters need is another big requirement on their plate. So, what happens? In an awful lot of cases, the effort to build relationships starts out with banners flying and lots of enthusiasm and then slowly but surely gets overtaken by events.
That’s why building candidate allegiance is such a powerful tool. The Google dictionary defines allegiance as the “loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause.” A relationship is an emotional bond that is based on the regard two parties have for one another. Allegiance is also an emotional bond, but it is based on the care and support one party provides to the other.
Allegiance in recruiting occurs when an organization serves the individual, rather than friending, following, or connecting with them. As a result, the individual perceives that the employer cares about their success and will do what it can to support their advancement. That perception, in turn, generates the familiarity and trust that are essential to recruiting top talent.
The best biotech prospects are almost always employed, so to recruit them, we have to convince them to do the one thing we humans most hate to do: change. We have to persuade them to move from their current employer to ours. By building familiarity and trust with these prospects, they in turn will be more inclined to make the move to change jobs.
Making the case to change devils
Relationships are interactive experiences. They require continuous communications and lots of at least virtual handholding. Allegiance, in contrast, can benefit from ongoing communications, but is primarily developed with the right resources tailored in the right way.
Allegiance cannot be effectively built in someone else’s backyard. Therefore, the strategy should be implemented not on a social media site, but on your organization’s own career page or website. It involves taking just three steps:
Building allegiance, on the other hand, involves a re-imagination of the organization and content of your corporate career site, but once that’s done, requires very little investment of time or work. Equally as important, by building familiarity and trust among the best biotech prospects, allegiance predisposes them to change devils, and that’s an outcome made in heaven.
Thanks for reading,
Peter
Visit me at Weddles.com
Peter Weddle is the author of over two dozen employment-related books, including A Multitude of Hope: A Novel About Rediscovering the American Dream, The Success Matrix: Wisdom from the Web on How to Get Hired & Not Be Fired, WEDDLE’s 2011/12 Guide to Employment Sites on the Internet, The Career Activist Republic, and The Career Fitness Workbook: How to Find, Win & Hold Onto the Job of Your Dreams Get them at Amazon.com and www.Weddles.com today.
Attract the best candidates with Biospace Job Postings. Post a Job in minutes and find top life science candidates.
Related Biotech Employer/Recruitment Articles
* Hiring In The Age Of Digital Resumes: 3 Principles To Follow
* How Recruiters Survive The Competitive Recruitment Game
* 5 Keys to Capturing Top Talent
April 21, 2014
Forget relationships, build allegiance.
By Peter Weddle for BioSpace.com
The received wisdom these days is that relationships are the key to recruiting top talent. However, as anyone who’s been in a relationship knows that establishing such a connection with someone is both time consuming and hard work. What’s the alternative? Build candidate allegiance—It’s just as powerful a recruiting strategy.
Recruiters have long focused on building relationships with top talent for one very important reason: these prospects listened to their mother. What was the first thing your mother taught you? That’s right, “Don’t speak to strangers.” So, establishing relationships enables recruiters to move from being unknown to being recognized and listened to by top talent.
The downside to this strategy, of course, is that it’s hard work—relationships don’t come easy and they require constant attention. And in today’s economy, the last thing recruiters need is another big requirement on their plate. So, what happens? In an awful lot of cases, the effort to build relationships starts out with banners flying and lots of enthusiasm and then slowly but surely gets overtaken by events.
That’s why building candidate allegiance is such a powerful tool. The Google dictionary defines allegiance as the “loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause.” A relationship is an emotional bond that is based on the regard two parties have for one another. Allegiance is also an emotional bond, but it is based on the care and support one party provides to the other.
Allegiance in recruiting occurs when an organization serves the individual, rather than friending, following, or connecting with them. As a result, the individual perceives that the employer cares about their success and will do what it can to support their advancement. That perception, in turn, generates the familiarity and trust that are essential to recruiting top talent.
The best biotech prospects are almost always employed, so to recruit them, we have to convince them to do the one thing we humans most hate to do: change. We have to persuade them to move from their current employer to ours. By building familiarity and trust with these prospects, they in turn will be more inclined to make the move to change jobs.
Making the case to change devils
Relationships are interactive experiences. They require continuous communications and lots of at least virtual handholding. Allegiance, in contrast, can benefit from ongoing communications, but is primarily developed with the right resources tailored in the right way.
Allegiance cannot be effectively built in someone else’s backyard. Therefore, the strategy should be implemented not on a social media site, but on your organization’s own career page or website. It involves taking just three steps:
-
• Organize the site’s content into channels. Top talent hate to be treated as “generic biotech candidates,” so present your employer’s value proposition in channels devoted to and written in the language of the specific career fields for which you’re recruiting.
• Provide a fulsome array of career self-management resources. Top talent are the “career homeless” of the workforce. They know the corporate career ladder and gold watch have disappeared, so they’re looking for a place that will help to nurture their continued success regardless of where they are employed at any given moment.
• Help top talent get to know your employer’s top talent. Avoid the “unilogue” feel of most corporate career sites by giving top prospects a way to have a dialogue with those who would be their new colleagues and coworkers.
Building allegiance, on the other hand, involves a re-imagination of the organization and content of your corporate career site, but once that’s done, requires very little investment of time or work. Equally as important, by building familiarity and trust among the best biotech prospects, allegiance predisposes them to change devils, and that’s an outcome made in heaven.
Thanks for reading,
Peter
Visit me at Weddles.com
Peter Weddle is the author of over two dozen employment-related books, including A Multitude of Hope: A Novel About Rediscovering the American Dream, The Success Matrix: Wisdom from the Web on How to Get Hired & Not Be Fired, WEDDLE’s 2011/12 Guide to Employment Sites on the Internet, The Career Activist Republic, and The Career Fitness Workbook: How to Find, Win & Hold Onto the Job of Your Dreams Get them at Amazon.com and www.Weddles.com today.
Attract the best candidates with Biospace Job Postings. Post a Job in minutes and find top life science candidates.
Related Biotech Employer/Recruitment Articles
* Hiring In The Age Of Digital Resumes: 3 Principles To Follow
* How Recruiters Survive The Competitive Recruitment Game
* 5 Keys to Capturing Top Talent