Often your best and most dedicated talent comes from within. Although you may have discussed opportunities for internal mobility back when employees were hired, it's a great time to revisit the program you have in place to recruit your own. That's especially true given the current state of the job market.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, June job opening rates were down in 17 states but up in two. Fears of a recession are creeping in, too. As a result, companies have taken to downsizing, implementing hiring freezes and slowing overall hiring processes as they warily watch for what's next.
But work doesn't stop in the meantime, and you need the right employees to do the job. In 2021, though, the average employee turnover rate was 57.3%. That may be slowing, but replacing the ones who do leave isn't cheap. According to SHRM, the average cost-per-hire for a new employee is estimated at $4,129 an average of 33% of an employee's yearly salary for their exit.
It's an ideal time to tap your current talent in your organization. So, it's time to bolster and future-proof your internal talent retention and talent acquisition strategies to ensure the right experts for the right jobs are on hand.
Here are some tips for engaging your talent by creating the best possible internal job site.
Create an engaging internal job site
A career site is a central spot for your recruitment marketing efforts. Like new talent wants to be wooed, your internal team needs to feel valued, cared for and engaged. Treat your internal career site like your external job site by authentically telling your employer's story.
It's also important to express or, as the case may be, reinforce your brand values while leaning into your work culture in an authentic and aspirational way. Your talent wants and needs to feel they're striving for something and feel support from your organization.
Whip your job descriptions into shape
After all the effort put into your career site, the importance of job descriptions can't be overstated. Job seekers know they have options. Given a better option, plenty are willing to jump ship. So, ensuring your current employees see a clear path toward upward mobility and why they should care is key. That's where job descriptions come into play.
When crafting your internal job descriptions, they should be clear, concise and in line with your employer brand. That means everything from imagery to language and company culture should jibe across touchpoints and feel aligned with what they experience day-to-day. While a current employee already has a feel for what your organization is about, job descriptions can not just reinforce what they already know but also serve as inspiration for what can be. Include a scannable, bulleted list noting the skills, qualifications, and experience must-haves, ensuring your approach is bias-free, personalized and relevant, not to mention warm, informative and written in such a way that it keeps your organization top of mind.
(Check out even more job description best practices here).
Make your organization's initiatives clear
Having DE&I initiatives at the forefront is essential to career site success. But first, are you walking the walk? Your employees are the ultimate judge and jury of that. Clearly outline your DE&I initiatives, differentiators and advancements with transparency. And make sure you're not treating each basket as a bucket to fill that's not inclusive, after all.
Highlight your Employee Community Groups, presenting them as a resource for your internal team as they continue down their individual career paths. Include not just day-in-the-life videos but also impactful testimonials from teammates, who help make your company values, goals and objectives clear and ensure their authenticity conveyed. Likewise, all content on your career site should be meaningful and true. You're not just checking boxes, after all. Ultimately you want to give your talent a reason to stay and a pathway that empowers them to do so while feeling good about it along the way.
In Closing
There isn't a single way to create an internal career site, but there are a few guidelines that can help you achieve your talent retention goals:
- Showcase your authentic employer brand
- Include impactful, authentic content that's reflective of your organization's day to day
- Quickly, seamlessly capture attention and retain it
- Highlight your differentiators
