5 Resolutions to Help Take Your Recruiting Game to the Next Level

Get in shape. Lose weight. Start meditating. Yes, it’s that time of year again, when we make resolutions to live healthier, happier lives. But resolutions don’t have to be all about doing extra sit-ups or forgoing that second bowlful of Ben & Jerry’s or Carte D’Or. There are plenty of resolutions that can make your life as a recruiter better too. 

With the pandemic, remote work, and the Great Reshuffle, these last two years haven’t been the easiest time to be a recruiter. As 2022 begins, however, there are new opportunities and new ways to love your job. This includes everything from taking the time to care for yourself to finding new ways to source from underrepresented groups.  

To help you get started, we’ve curated a number of LinkedIn Learning courses that specifically provide the tools you need. We’ve chosen these courses from a select group of instructors. Each of them was recently chosen as one of 2021 Thinkers50, which means they’re among the best-of-the-best management thinkers worldwide. 

To make 2022 a great year (without having to do extra sit-ups), check out their wisdom and try our five resolutions below. 

1. ‘I’ll speak up for myself and my role more often’ 

There’s rarely been a more exciting, or difficult, time to be a recruiter. Recruiters are busier than ever filling roles, and there aren’t enough recruiters to meet the demand.

But because recruiters are in such great demand, it also means that you now have more leverage than ever to speak up for yourself and command respect for the skills you bring to the job. You can use your experience and knowledge to step into the role of trusted talent advisor.

Jeremy Eskenazi, managing principal at Riviera Advisors, spoke about making this shift in a recent article on the SHRM blog. If recruiters want to evolve into talent advisors, he said, they need to switch from thinking that they serve the business to understanding that they are the business. “You are part of the organization and have skin in the game,” Jeremy added. “Instead of just filling orders, your job is to consult and advise on the best ways to bring in the right talent.”

That means real-time coaching of hiring managers during each stage of the recruiting process, sharing your considerable knowledge of internal and external markets, and leveraging metrics to make recommendations. It also means being able to push back and say “no” when hiring managers have unrealistic expectations. 

Remember: You are the critical link between your company and great talent.

Continue your learning in Simon Sinek’s course Succeeding in a New Role by Managing Up.

This course is geared toward people early in their career, and Simon explains how to develop a fearless mindset and build the productivity and networking skills you need to succeed in a new role. 

2. ‘I’ll polish my skills in selling my company’s nonmonetary benefits to candidates’ 

In this tight market, competition for talent is intense. Job seekers can afford to be choosy and many of them are looking for benefits beyond a good salary. That means that you need to be persuasive when you explain all the distinctive benefits your company has to offer. 

Let’s not kid ourselves: salaries matter. As do healthcare and mental healthcare benefits and generous retirement packages. But workers also want flexibility. It’s the fastest-growing priority for candidates considering new jobs. Employees who are satisfied with their flexibility are 2.6x more likely to be happy working for their employer. So, if your company offers flexible work options, emphasize these policies and share stories with candidates about how flex work has worked for specific employees. 

In this time of great uncertainty, candidates want reassurance that you’re going to help them develop their careers. So, be sure to explain in detail the exact learning and advancement opportunities you envision for the candidate. This helps them determine how working for you would impact their future. 

The better you can sell a candidate on your company by talking about these nonmonetary benefits, the more likely you are to get to a “yes.” 

Continue your learning in Dorie Clark’s course Persuading Others.

In this course, Dorie, a communications and personal branding expert, shows you how to cultivate your persuasion skills to establish credibility when meeting new people, make it easier to get to “yes,” and communicate with authority. 

3. ‘I’ll become a true DEI champion’ 

If you commit to only one resolution, consider making it this one. According to LinkedIn research, 77% of talent professionals say diversity will be very important to the future of recruiting. And 70% of job seekers say that a company’s commitment to diversity is important when they’re evaluating a potential employer. 

First, think about reworking your job descriptions to be more inclusive, using tools such as Textio and Textmetrics, and using listings to signal your commitment to diversity. The best job postings include genuine, from-the-heart descriptions of what companies are doing to be more inclusive, rather than relying on boilerplate descriptions.  

To broaden your network of candidates, leverage your company’s employee resource groups to source candidates. Tap into the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. 

You can also work with hiring managers to look beyond “ideal candidate profiles” — prospective employees with perfectly pedigreed educational and professional backgrounds — to the amazing talent they might be missing out on. Refocus the conversation on the work that has to be done and the skills needed. Talk to hiring managers about how opening up your candidate profile substantially improves time to hire and expands the mix of talent, increasing culture-add and building a team more reflective of your customers. 

Finally, don’t forget to look internally. You may have great candidates in-house that would be perfect for the role. The more you promote and support your current employees from underrepresented groups, the more candidates will want to join your company. 

Continue your learning in Nilofer Merchant’s course Diversity: The Best Resource for Achieving Business Goals.

In this course, Nilofer, an author, management guru, and former tech executive, will guide you in how to support a diverse workforce through wise management, carefully structured conversations, and a culture that celebrates the unique value of each team member. 

4. ‘I’ll take time to care for the people on my team, including myself’ 

More than ever, employees want to feel cared for at work, according to Glint’s latest Employee Well-Being Report. Employees who feel cared for are 3.2 times more likely to report being happy working for their current company. The reason is simple: Employees want to know that companies value them as people, not just as workers. 

Managers can play a crucial role in helping workers feel cared for. When managers show empathy and compassion and listen to their employees, workers feel like they’ve been heard and valued and that they belong. 

But you don’t have to be a manager to show that you care. If a coworker is having a tough time, reach out and ask how they’re doing. If another recruiter has to leave work early so they can care for a sick child, try to be understanding.  

And don’t forget to care for yourself! Burnout continues to be a problem in the workplace, so it’s important you practice self-care in ways that work best for you. That could include taking time for exercise, scheduling days off, or setting boundaries (and sticking to them). 

Continue your learning in Frances Frei and Anne Morriss’s course Creating the Conditions for Others to Thrive. 

This course will provide practical changes you can make to create conditions in which others can thrive.

5. ‘I’ll brush up on my digital body language’

Because of COVID-19, we’re still doing a lot of our recruiting digitally. That’s why it’s important to flex your communication muscles and pump up your digital body language skills.  

IRL (In Real Life), we signal a lot of what we feel and mean through gestures like nods, sighs, and smiles. But on email, text, Slack, or Zoom, those cues often go missing, leaving room for misunderstanding. A recent survey of 2,000 people, conducted by digital literacy expert Erica Dhawan, found that 70% reported “poor digital communications” as a frequent barrier to their work. 

On Zoom calls, Erica strongly advises against multitasking, such as checking other devices. When you stay as focused and mindful as possible, it signals that you’re engaged and enthusiastic about communicating with the people on the screen. In written communications, take your time to respond thoughtfully to an email or message, rather than rushing out an easy-to-misinterpret “K.”

“Brief messages can cause confusion,” Erica says in her LinkedIn Learning course Digital Body Language. “Never confuse a brief message with a clear message.” Be sure to proofread your written messages before sending to make sure they convey your correct meaning and emotional subtext. 

Most of all, she urges everyone to recognize that they’re communicating with other human beings. “Learning to remember the human first before focusing on the task,” she says in her course, “is at the crux of digital grace.”

Continue your learning in Erica’s course Digital Body Language.

In this course, Erica explains how to use digital body language to close the empathy gap between you and your team and how to take charge of communications online and off. 

Final thoughts

Here’s to a great 2022, everyone. We hope these instructors and their courses help make it a fun, productive, and fulfilling year. 

*Photo by Daniel Enamorado from Pexels

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