Why 2019 Is the Year of Inbound Recruiting

Inbound is transforming the way people do business, especially online.

But 2019 is set to be a milestone: The year of inbound recruiting.

As a quick reminder, inbound marketing is the art and science of attracting potential leads to you with valuable, helpful, informative content they can use right away.

Likewise, inbound sales is the sales process flipped on its head: It launches into action when a lead, attracted by inbound marketing, initiates contact with an organization.

The inbound methodology has made a tremendous splash because buyers are more informed than ever. They have bigger decisions to make and less time to make them in. Inbound caters to their need for resources and support throughout the entire customer journey.

And it does so all without pushy, time-consuming pitches – the hallmark of outbound sales.

How does inbound methodology relate to tomorrow’s recruiting trends?

Let’s take a closer look.

The Inbound Methodology Makes Sense for Recruiting Top Candidates

Over the last decade, recruiting – just like B2B buying – has increasingly moved online.

Recruiting top executives and technical talent used to be largely accomplished through business networks and old-fashioned “head-hunting.” This exhausting and time-consuming process meant uneven recruiting results. Best-fit candidates were often lost in the shuffle.

That left essential hiring goals to be unmet for years.

The slow migration of recruiting to digital technology accelerated in a big way with the advent of the LinkedIn platform. By connecting employers and job seekers in brand new ways, LinkedIn incentivized participants on both sides of the hiring equation to make more informed choices.

Now, inbound recruiting is taking that reality to the next level.

Like inbound marketing, inbound recruiting leverages the way people look for jobs today. It recognizes employment decision making as a lifecycle process that can lead to outstanding results for everyone.

There are three big reasons why inbound recruiting is poised for a breakout year in 2019:

1. Your Employees Are Now Your “Buyers”

Not that long ago, employers had control over the amount, quantity, and accuracy of information available about working conditions. Now, employees are questioning everything: Even the sacred cow of “never discuss your salary” has come under assault.

Employees are tired of the bait and switch. They want insightful information that helps them make the right decisions for their career goals. Until now, however, members of the workforce have stitched the picture together using disparate sources like Glassdoor and LinkedIn.

It’s time for employers to step up and embrace transparency. By doing so, they can develop and deliver a coherent messaging campaign that allows them to differentiate as employers of choice. This means a cohesive, multi-channel outreach strategy powered by phenomenal content.

2. Top Talent Takes Longer to Make a Move

It’s a well-known fact the average B2B sales cycle has tended to get longer over the last few years.

The availability of a huge amount of options, along with the expectation that more stakeholders will participate in buying decisions, has ensured brands need to stick it out. It takes months before they cultivate the respect and trust necessary to close an agreement.

The same thing is true of top employers – but for the opposite reason.

With scant details available about what it’s really like to work at any given company, people with skills and ambition struggle to move forward confidently. At the same time, top talent tends to be in demand: Those who’ve distinguished themselves may entertain a dozen job offers at once.

These factors combine to ensure that as seniority increases, so does time-to-hire.

For the staying power to recruit proven leaders, companies must have distinct employer brands. Branding is no longer just for fresh grads and early-stage hires, but all recruitment efforts. Only an inbound recruiting model addresses this need.

3. Everyone Is Looking for a Culture Fit

Culture consists of all the “ways things are done” at an organization. It includes everything from written policies to what actually happens, how decisions are made, and how teams interact.

Enterprises with a productive, results-oriented culture that focuses on accountability are much more likely than their peers to achieve market leadership, especially in tough economic times.

However, traditional recruiting does little to define or spotlight company culture. If interviewers “like” a candidate, it is generally assumed that he or she will fit in.

That assumption can set both parties up for a shock down the line!

If you want your culture to work for you, hiring candidates that will sustain it is a must. With inbound recruiting, you have a much longer and more granular vetting process to bring best-fit talent to your attention.

Inbound recruiting best practices are emerging as we speak. Companies that pioneer them in 2019 will be much more likely to leap ahead of the pack in the fast-paced hiring market to come.