CONCORD, Mass., Feb. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enterprise recruitment marketing technology leader SmashFly Technologies today shared the findings of its fourth annual Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report on the Fortune 500, which analyzes more than 20,000 data points on 32 recruitment marketing criteria and external business metrics across all 500 companies.
A critical finding this year – that talent networks have doubled from 22 percent to 44 percent since 2016 – supports industry-wide reports around a rising investment in candidate relationship management (CRM). However, the sobering reality is that candidate experience is severely lacking. Forty-five percent of the Fortune 500 with a talent network or community never send out communication post-confirmation, and 95 percent share nothing but job postings, the same percentage from last year. This begs the question: Where is the “community?” And why, despite increased investment, has adoption reached a standstill?
Thom Kenney, SmashFly CEO, commented, “In the four years that we’ve conducted this research, we’ve seen positive, incremental growth in recruitment marketing tactics and investment. But stagnancy in adoption points to a critical, ongoing challenge: companies haven’t put the right people, skills and strategy behind the technology. It’s apparent that vendors need to find a better way to partner with customers to solve for this and change the experience.”
SmashFly’s research also found:
- More than 60 percent of organizations that have talent networks also have employer brand content on their career sites, like employee stories or military/veteran initiatives.
- Yet, most companies don’t leverage this content: 51 percent don’t send monthly communication, leaving interested candidates sitting in a database without reason to engage.
- And though many employers do share openings, a mere 28 percent send personalized jobs.
“This is a pivotal moment for employers; because of candidate expectations, recruitment marketing is now synonymous with talent acquisition,” said Elyse Mayer, SmashFly’s Director of Marketing and lead researcher for the report. “And yet, despite a continued rise and investment in recruiting technology, we see a stagnancy in recruitment marketing excellence. Based on our findings, it’s increasingly apparent that in order to recruit and hire top talent, organizations need to pair recruitment marketing efforts with the right people and processes behind the technology.”
According to the SmashFly report, while recruitment marketing high performers increased from 3 percent to 13 percent since 2015, more than half of Fortune 500 companies remained at an introductory level or below in 2018, the same percentage since 2017. That said, companies with mature recruitment marketing strategies are making substantial headway, with leaders boasting more positive Glassdoor reviews and recommendations, plus higher average revenue, over two years of data.
Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research, shared, “Research shows that recruitment marketing has a positive impact on the candidate experience, prompting more reviews and recommendations and elevating an organization’s overall employer brand. And still, only 2 percent of companies are maximizing the functionality in their recruitment marketing solutions. In a candidate-centric hiring landscape, this is a missed opportunity.”
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More About SmashFly Technologies
Privately held, SmashFly is backed by OpenView Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and SSM Partners. The award-winning company serves more than 100 customers, including 25 of the Fortune 500. Powered by AI, SmashFly's enterprise platform combines CRM, career site, events and analytics solutions to create a smarter, seamless experience for talent – and your team. To learn more about SmashFly, visit www.smashfly.com and follow us on Twitter @SmashFly.