Supercharge Your Recruiting With Glassdoor

DP Electric Inc was founded in 1990 by CEO, Dan Puente with a single truck, out of his garage. Over the course of the following 28+ years DPE has grown from a small electrical company to one of Arizona’s largest commercial electrical contractors specializing in Healthcare, Aviation, Corporate Office, Mission Critical and other technical and highly skilled commercial electrical sectors. The priority of DPE is to stay true to our brand identity of capability and empowerment that we have established so that we can accurately share why a career in the electrical contractor field can be so rewarding. We know that this approach is why the company has had success on Glassdoor and with our recruiting campaigns. People choose where they want to work because they want to feel good about what they do and take pride in their company. Therefore, a positive company culture is important. The culture at DP Electric is our differentiator. We have been recognized by Glassdoor for our commitment to transparency through the Open Company initiative. We have also been recognized twice as one of Arizona’s Top Companies to work for, most recently in 2018. We are especially proud of this distinction because it is one given to a company by their employees. The Glassdoor platform provides DPE with a feature-rich medium that targets job seekers for telling our story and communicating why we are a great place to work. From fully customizable tabs on our profile page, to the ability to embed photos and other tools that tell our story, there is no other platform that feels as familiar as other social media channels, but specifically designed for the job seeker.

Glassdoor is also an excellent platform to engage active candidates. This is key for recruiting in our environment. Recruiting for skilled electrical tradesmen is an incredibly challenging task; we are at the lowest unemployment rate in the last 10-years along with a skilled labor shortage. A small qualified talent pool mixed with industry disruption leads to a very competitive job market. With new technologies disrupting the way many different jobs are done, employers now must now take a larger role in giving employees the skills required to succeed as colleges may not be able to keep up with the pace of change due to the rapid pace of industry shifts.  From a recruiting perspective, this forces a talent acquisition specialist to be more of a strategic partner than ever before. A strong recruiter knows the labor market, the talent pool available in the market as well as macro-level conditions facing the market in which they recruit. Having this information empowers the recruiter to paint a realistic picture of what a hiring manager can expect in terms of prospective candidates. Additionally, a strong recruiter also has marketing prowess and knows what message will resonate with prospective candidates.  It was an operational goal of DP Electric to shift to a “branding forward” recruitment strategy in 2017. With this implementation we saw 5x as much traffic come through our career page during our peak hiring season. Additionally, we began to get better quality candidates who already knew the DPE story. This allowed us to scale responsibly while being selective with hiring. With the right team in place, a recruiting department can be a company’s competitive advantage. With this strategy we have more than doubled in size in just over two years and our competitors have now begun to add recruiting departments of their own. This is where Glassdoor has given us a considerable advantage. We are very active on the platform as it gives us tools and analytics to dive deep. One tool we love is the company comparison report where we can become more aware of our competitors’ cultural opportunities based on current and former employees’ reviews. Having this information has been tremendous when it comes to connecting with possible candidates that apply, as it gives us a way to reputably contrast ourselves from our competition. Upgrading the company profile on the platform has helped the company with using our budget much more efficiently by getting more applicants for the same investment. Since we’ve invested in the premium features we’ve seen an increase in Glassdoor applicants of 59% YOY. Having the ability to compare your company to the competition in real-time while boosting applicants is powerful. We view Glassdoor as the first interaction many have with our brand. It is the first opportunity to make the right impression and this is what our Glassdoor page is built around. We have built our page around providing possible future employees an idea of what the DPE “ideal candidate” looks like. We supplement this with a “digital job description” video that give a glimpse into a “day in the life” based on role as well as a taste of company culture. Organizations that are transparent and open, have an advantage over other companies. When everyone is engaged, one can get a better idea of the big picture. Feedback is an important tool as it gives an objective, holistic perspective of how a company is operating at all levels. It is that which makes DP Electric very feedback driven. In addition to Glassdoor, DPE has a digital suggestion box, where employees can anonymously leave feedback. Organizations that are not open to feedback cut themselves out from the viewpoint of their people. This only hurts them long-term through increased recruiting costs and lost labor and inefficiencies through disengagement. Through Glassdoor company reviews and as a participant in Top Company events, we receive both real-time and annual employee feedback reports that gives us valid and reliable data that measure key parts of our company’s culture. Through the consistent measuring of the data points and candid feedback we have tangible results for our culture development efforts. The way DPE recruits is changing faster than ever. In a world filled with information, it’s important to figure out what positive attributes your company has and promote them. Contrast is a powerful tool when used appropriately.  Don’t be afraid to try new ideas…we have had several posts that we thought were going to do great that didn’t get the traction we expected. Use the tools that Glassdoor provides to dig deeper, refine, then move forward. Engage with your marketing department. Recruiting has become as much a marketing function as an HR function. Providing candidates with information they require about your company will give your organization the opportunity to attract qualified talent. Having talent that aligns with your core values will improve your employees’ quality of life and give your company the ability to grow responsibly. Steve M. Brown, MSP, is the Recruiting & Talent Development Manager for DP Electric, one of the leading, full-service electrical contracting firms in Arizona. This article was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse. Reprinted with permission.