Making any prediction is not easy because you can only predict the things you can influence, or you can make a prediction based on the information you have sooner than others, and people will believe that you predicted that. The rest of the projections you are reading on the internet are just guesses, and that’s why most predictions that people made during 2018 never turned out to be correct, especially not in recruitment.
That’s why recruitment didn’t die in 2018 as many people tried to predict; A.I. did not replace recruiters in sourcing and interviews are not done only through chatbots.
The good news is that people have another year to predict that this is THAT year when chatbots will be everywhere, A.I. will replace recruiters, and smart applications will prescreen candidates, offer them a perfect job based on the best algorithm and hire them.
Here is one spoiler alert for you. Nothing of this is going to happen, not entirely. This year will be almost the same as the year before. Recruiters will be saying that they are hiring people from sources other than LinkedIn, yet most of them will be using only LinkedIn as their primary source.
LinkedIn will still be trying to convince us that all the changes they made are improvements and they are making them for us, yet they will be trying to stop all the chrome plugins that people are using. And this activity will lead only to a bad candidate experience for all users. And instead of limiting people like Mr. Gelo, LinkedIn will support these people to keep other people engaged on LinkedIn.
And, as years before, in 2019 every company CEO and manager is going to say that hiring is a top priority, yet only a few of them will invest in the training and tools that recruiters need.
What about technology in 2019?
Technology will be just a little bit cleverer than a year before, yet chatbots are still going to be like the old gamebooks. You know those when you have “Now you are in front of the bridge, there is a troll on that bridge would you like to: Speak with the Troll (turn on page 132) or return to the village (turn on page 64)?”
Every tool that will appear on the market during 2019 will use an “A.I. inside” label, yet most of them will only use smart algorithms or humans. But you can charge 20% more if you put the A.I. label on your product.
What is going to happen during 2019?
As always, any prediction is hard. But if I must bet on something my money will be on Growth Hacking and Storytelling.
Why these two? I am expecting to see a financial crisis in 2019, and this will lead to the situation that companies are not going to invest in new technologies. And growth hacking is a relatively cheap way to attract talent, and that’s why I am expecting that growth hacking will continue to rise during 2019, especially where marketing works in months, growth hacking works in days.
And together with the storytelling recruiters will be able to attract new people, support the company brand and be more visible than before for smaller budgets and quicker than through standard marketing methods.
That’s why growth hacking and storytelling is going to rule 2019, and that is the reason why improving your storytelling skills is going to be important.
The Power and Importance of Storytelling
Finding the best talents is not an easy task these days. Companies compete with one another to attract the most skilled people that will help the business grow. Considering that people hunt for more than just a generous paycheck these days, you need to do more if you want to find candidates worthy of offering them a position in your company.
If you published an open role in the job market but face a small number of candidates, it’s time you change things a little. What does this mean? It means that you should employ the power of storytelling when composing an ad for a job because job ads, career websites, and recruiters are the first things that candidates see.
How will storytelling improve your recruitment game? Let us take a closer look at what this strategy has to offer. First of all, everybody enjoys a good story. Through stories, our ancestors learned new things and that how we are still learning.
So, the first thing storytelling will help you achieve is visibility and the desire of people to read your story. And to keep people reading something longer than a few short paragraphs is quite a challenge these days.
Secondly, people like to know the story of the company they are considering working for. It is a nice feeling to know that you can be part of a story, having an individual role in making that story successful. Thus, this method works so well because it stirs emotions in people. An audience connects much better with a type of content if the content generates a series of emotions.
Practically, storytelling takes a person from his or her quotidian life and places him or her in “another world.”
As they read your story, tension will be accumulated on the way. It is in your power to take the line of the story where you want the reader to be. If you’re going to take them to a cliff from where they will want to “jump” into your company, you can do so with the power of storytelling.
The purpose of creating tension is to make them feel the need to apply for your job. You first seed the desire of working for your company and then make them feel that this is one of their best options.
But besides just telling the story of your company, make sure to include some stories of your employees as well. Choose successful and positive stories as they will give people a clear image of what could happen in their case as well if they join your company.
Why should you focus on storytelling?
Statistics show that a story helps people to remember more. In 1969, Stanford professors did a series of tests. Students were asked to memorize and recall ten sets of unrelated words. One group retrieved the words in any order they wanted, and the second group constructed a story that contained all the words. When both groups were asked to recall the words, the students that created stories were able to remember six to seven times more words than the first group. (Source: Narrative Stories)
So, if you want to make an impact and make sure that a person retains as much as possible from the information you are providing, then a story is the best way to do it. Stanford University research shows that retention of statistics in a presentation is between 5 and 10%. But when you add an anecdote connected with the story, this rises to 65–70%, which is impressively high. And when you tell a story, your audience tends to pay more attention and listen. Sharing stories lets people hear your insights more effectively.
Stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts or figures alone. Stories are an effective tool to advocate for your ideas, especially when you can weave facts and figures into your story. (Source: Stanford)
Use storytelling to submerge the reader in a different state of mind. Use successful stories of your current employees and make the reading process fascinating. Also, go further than just posting your recruitment ad on recruitment websites. Share your story on social media networks and even with the media in general.
The best part about utilizing a story instead of traditional job advertising is that it looks well no matter where you publish it. It is very easy to create that “wow” factor connected to working within your company with the help of storytelling. Use it and see that attracting talents just became easier and more effective.
Conclusion
Now that you know all this, it is time to change your recruiting strategy. If you want to get the attention of talents and find the right people, then you need to consider storytelling seriously. Just put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn’t you like to join a company that has a goal to build some products like rockets? Or how about joining a company that is trying to get humanity on Mars? Both companies could do the same thing, but the story will make a difference here. Use this technique to connect with people and make them want to join your company and recruiting will become much easier.
Storytelling should be the number one skill you want to improve during 2019. And together with growth hacking, you can spread the news cheaper, faster and more effectively than through billboards and typical job ads.
Have a great 2019!