How Communications Experts Are Rethinking Employment » Leadersnet

Leaders Net: Direct recruitment, what exactly is it?

Martin Distel: As is well known, it is not easy for some companies to find employees at present. We have developed a product in collaboration with partner (KESCH) – Live Recruiting – that helps our clients find the right people, who are available to the company very quickly. Just in the last week, clients like dm or Casinos Austria have commissioned new live employment events and Austrian Post has commissioned more live employment events.

Leaders Net: So employer branding is the big issue?

Thistle: Exactly, that’s the key word. We are a communications agency and communications experts and do not belong to the classic HR environment. This is exactly our big advantage here, because we do what we do best every single day. Where we are leading experts in Austria and at the level of Europe and the world, is the subject of communication, target groups and organization of brands. We have combined all these assets and know-how to the best of our ability and hence the direct recruitment service was born.

Leaders Net: How can you imagine that?

Thistle: And frankly, our approach is that nothing has changed in the recruitment process in the last 70 to 100 years. The big problem is that human resources or people and culture departments are now doing an incredible number of innovative things, but some companies are lagging behind when it comes to hiring. Because what might have been a print job advertisement 70 years ago – job title, four bullet points, “Apply here” – was then printed in 4C color 20 years later, and that was innovation. Another 20 years later, the whole thing was transferred online, but always according to the same scheme. In recent years, people have become a bit more innovative, and they post funny gif videos on Instagram or TikTok, but also with the same content. They all have one thing in common: one-way communication. But what we do know, thanks to our day-to-day experience in social media, our first-hand shopping experiences and all our experience, is community engagement: people want to ask questions and get answers at the right time when it’s appropriate. For them, they don’t want to wait. And that’s what we’ve put together for this direct hire. It’s nothing more or less than an online open day, but we see it all in four phases.

After an extensive workshop process with the client, the target group is determined. Who is this person you are looking for? How do you excel? And we shouldn’t forget that 50% of Austrians are always interested in changing jobs, but only 26% are actively looking. This means that half of those interested in a classic recruitment environment cannot be reached. This is why it is very important to know this target group.

In this second stage, our DNA comes into play as a media agency, because we know where and when to reach our target groups, in which channels, how to formulate it, and what message should be. We know how to target and retarget and can pitch the business offer to the right target group. And in the third stage, you actually only get to the event. This is an hour-to-hour-and-a-half event where we show the workplace directly – not in a presentation desk, not with the general manager, the board of directors or the HR director – but actually in the field of work. In the best case, interviews are conducted with people currently holding this position or their immediate superiors. Because that’s what applicants want to know. And they also want to ask questions directly.

The fourth and final step is that after people have expressed interest, we follow up immediately, which is often not possible for large HR departments because they are so busy. These are the four steps to direct recruitment: workshop, application, live event, and active follow-up.

You can read the full interview on our website LeadersnetListen to podcasts.

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