7. Retain the personal touch. 

While advances in technology have dramatically changed the efficiency of recruitment, courting top talent still requires a personalized message—as well as a promise that a potential employee’s career will flourish when he or she joins your team. 
“In our area, there are a plethora of career opportunities just five minutes up the road for folks to do the same kind of work they would with us, so that says to me ‘Why don’t we know these people more?’ ” Hedrick asks. Creating onsite events where prospective hires and senior management can meet each other in a social setting and see if there’s a good fit has worked well for her organization. “Some people we’ll click with better than others, and that’s what we’re looking for,” she says.

8. Simplify job applications. 

Online applications that are daunting to complete can result in the loss of top applicants, among other problems. For example, negative word-of-mouth assessments about overly complicated processes—or bad reviews on ratings websites such as Glassdoor—may harm your brand. And companies can even lose money from abandoned applications if they are operating under cost-per-click recruiting models. 
Yet despite these consequences, poorly designed online application systems remain a widespread problem. About 60 percent of all job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online applications because of a form’s length or complexity, according to CareerBuilder. 
Fortunately, companies can increase completion rates by more than 300 percent by reducing the length of the process to five minutes or less, reports Appcast, an online recruitment service. 
“You have to make applying simple, fast and mobile-friendly, or you won’t attract the best candidates,” Sackett says.

9. Embrace mobile. 

Speaking of mobile, recruiting leaders say offering candidates a clean, well-branded mobile presence is now a basic requirement of an effective hiring strategy. Once that’s in place, you can focus on ways to grab their attention and differentiate your job opportunities. 
“Even my generation [Baby Boomers] uses mobile phones outside of work more than they use computers,” Monaghan says. “And my kids use mobile phones for everything, including researching companies, job searches and completing applications.” 
Research shows that more than half of all candidates are job hunting exclusively via their mobile devices, Weddle says, “so if you don’t have an advanced mobile recruiting platform, those candidates won’t find you.” Fortunately, he adds, the cost of implementing a smart mobile recruiting presence has fallen dramatically in recent years.

10. Expand the use of remote employees, but have a plan to manage them. 

Why fight the relocation battle? Talented candidates have myriad career options, and many of them will opt against moving to pursue a job opportunity. So, to expand your applicant pool (and your global footprint), consider allowing remote workers to handle tasks that don’t require personal interaction with colleagues. But before you start down this path, be sure to create a realistic plan for managing those employees. 
“A recent study showed that over 80 percent of today’s workforce wants to work remotely in some fashion,” says David Lewis, president and CEO of OperationsInc in Norwalk, Conn. But “the reality is that most organizations fail to effectively structure and manage remote workers,” which can turn a potential solution into a waste of resources as remote workers struggle to understand and complete their duties.

11. Forge relationships with relevant colleges and high schools. 

If you aren’t finding the skills you need in the open market, try working with institutions of learning to co-create a curriculum in return for gaining the first shot at new graduates. 
“As companies complain about a lack of available skills, the training they offer hasn’t been keeping up with the speed of change in innovation, technology and business,” Darrow says. “Companies need to partner with centers of higher education to help produce the talent they need.” He cites examples of organizations that have underwritten the cost of new courses at local community colleges in return for getting first crack at recruiting new grads as they emerge from those programs.

12. Hire more recruiters. 

Talent acquisition isn’t a cost center that should be squeezed during every budget review. Hiring is an investment in the future, and the companies that adopt this belief will attract the best and brightest candidates. 
“Most in-house recruiters are underpaid, underappreciated and overworked, so many of the best are transitioning to outside search or contract recruiting,” Darrow says. At the same time, “surveys show that recruiting and retaining top talent is one of the top things that keeps CEOs up at night,” he notes, so making an investment in effective recruiting efforts is critical—and that “starts with having top recruiters setting the strategy and driving the results.” 

Tony Lee is vice president of editorial for SHRM. 

This article relates to one of the nine competencies on which SHRM has based its certification. To learn more, visit www.shrmcertification.org.