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How Inbound Recruiting Improves Company Culture

Jan 17, '20 / by Beth Carter

How Inbound Recruiting Improves Company Culture

Company culture is a big deal.

A 2018 Jobvite study revealed that the vast majority of job seekers cite culture as at least of relative importance in applying to a company — and 46% claim it’s very important. In fact, 15% of people have turned down a job because of the company culture.

When an employee isn’t the right fit, it’s harder for both the employee and the company to thrive. This is particularly true for smaller teams, where major differences in communication styles or values can make it tough to work effectively, potentially leading to disengagement.

On the other hand, when an employee fits in well, magic happens: A majority of U.S. workers believe culture influences much of their job performance — doing their best work (77%), their productivity and efficiency (76%) and their ability to best serve customers (74%). Plus, when corporate culture is strong and unified, employees tend to get along better, which is amazing for productivity.

And yet, despite all this, most organizations still use the same old spray-and-pray recruiting tactics, posting job ads online and hoping they’ll find someone who will mesh well with their organizational goals, culture, and values.

There has to be a better way.

Fortunately, the same approach that helps your organization attract right-fit leads and customers can be used to attract right-fit job candidates. It’s called inbound recruiting.

What Is Inbound Recruiting?

Inbound recruiting is a lot like inbound marketing: It’s built around the idea that if you put out good content, people will come to you instead of you having to go to them. But whereas inbound marketing helps you attract qualified leads, inbound recruiting helps you attract qualified talent.

The idea is to use content to showcase your company culture — to put out your vibe and pull in people who dig that vibe.

How Does Inbound Recruiting Work?

Just as with inbound marketing, inbound recruiting works best when you know who you want to attract. Think carefully about the type of people you want to work with.

A good way to do this is to identify current employees who are absolutely thriving in your workplace — those folks who not only dig your vibe, they personify it.

Talk to these people and find out what they love about your workplace and why they love it. Look for things they have in common. For example, do they have a warped sense of humor and love your company’s freewheeling attitude? Are they driven and ambitious, relishing your workplace’s continuing education and rich opportunities for advancement? Or maybe they’re die-hard extroverts and adore how team-focused your organization is?

Use these traits to develop a buyer persona — or perhaps more accurately, a “hiring” persona.

Your next step is to create content that speaks to this persona. The content you create can range from blog posts to videos that highlight company culture. All of this content will become a keystone in the inbound recruiting process that you’ll use to attract people who would be a great fit with your organization.

Here’s an example of what this can look like. HubSpot created a “HubSpot Life” account on Instagram, sharing videos, images, and stories about what it’s like to work at HubSpot. Look at their feed and it’s pretty obvious what kind of individual would be a good cultural fit at this organization: Young, diverse, energetic, interested in remote work and in a consciously equitable workplace. Even their choice of social media platform is no accident. The average user on Instagram is between 25 and 34 years old. The average HubSpot employee? 26 years old.

"HubSpot Life" Instagram Post

Another powerful driver for inbound recruiting? Your happy employees.

With inbound marketing, happy customers are a powerful source of energy to your flywheel, as they spread the word about how amazing you are, helping draw new leads to your door. In inbound recruiting, happy employees are no less powerful. After all, what is more convincing: A company that says they’re a great place to work, or dozens of five-star Glassdoor reviews of employees gushing over how much they love working at your company?

The great thing about inbound recruiting is that it keeps you visible as a great employer. LinkedIn statistics suggest that up to 70% of people are not actively looking for work, but are open to new opportunities. If enough of your ideal job candidates keep seeing what a fantastic place your company is to work, that might be enough to get them to dust off their resumes.

Cultivate a Sense of Community

When you work with a team that meshes well with your corporate culture, you have a team you can count on, who’ll show up every day to knock it out of the park, and come back to do it again tomorrow with a bounce in their step.

The inbound recruiting approach takes a bit more thought and effort than traditional recruiting, but when you take the time to really cultivate a relationship with potential employees, you get a team filled with rock stars.

Need help creating the kind of content that attracts people who are the perfect fit for your team? Contact us today to find out more.

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Topics: Strategy

Beth Carter
Written by Beth Carter

I love to write and I'm a total grammar freak. I also passionately believe that conversational, approachable and insightful content can help people solve real problems and can make a real difference in the world.

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