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Recruiting template

Recruitment Strategy Template

A recruitment strategy sets out how your company attracts and chooses people: what you offer, where you look, how you keep selection fair and who does the recruiting. The five versions below cover each of those decisions, plus a one-page summary for leadership. For role-by-role dates, owners and headcount, use the recruitment plan template or the hiring plan template.

Recruitment Strategy Template

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Employer value proposition and channel strategy

When to use it: Deciding what you offer candidates and where that message goes, before any adverts are written.

EMPLOYER VALUE PROPOSITION AND CHANNEL STRATEGY [Company name], [Period the strategy covers] Owner: [Strategy owner] 1. Who we want to attract [Who you are looking for] Locations and work model: [Locations and work model] 2. Why people should join us [Why people should join] 3. Proof for each claim For every point above, record the evidence a candidate can check, such as a team story, a benefit written into the contract or a policy on the careers page. Drop any claim with no evidence. | Claim | Evidence | Where it appears | | [Claim] | [Evidence] | [Careers page, advert, outreach] | 4. What we will not claim [Anything current employees would disagree with.] 5. Channels and the message for each Channels: [Sourcing channels] | Channel | Who it reaches | Message we lead with | Owner | | [Channel] | [Audience] | [Point from section 2] | [Name] | 6. Consistency Job adverts, outreach messages, the careers page and interviewers all make the same case. Interviewers get a short briefing on it before they meet candidates. 7. How we will know it works [How you will measure success] Ask candidates who accept and candidates who decline what made the difference. 8. Review [Review cadence], and whenever pay, benefits or working arrangements change.

Sourcing-mix strategy

When to use it: Deciding how much effort and budget goes to each sourcing channel, based on where good hires have come from.

SOURCING-MIX STRATEGY [Company name], [Period the strategy covers] Owner: [Strategy owner] 1. What we expect to hire [Roles you expect to hire] Hardest to fill: [Roles that are hardest to fill] 2. Channels we use today [Sourcing channels] 3. What each channel delivered last period | Channel | Applicants | Interviews | Hires | Cost | Hires still here after six months | | [Channel] | [n] | [n] | [n] | [amount] | [n] | 4. The mix for this period Inbound (adverts and careers page): [share of effort] Referrals: [share of effort] Direct outreach: [share of effort] Agencies or partners: [share of effort] Hard-to-fill roles get the most direct outreach time. 5. Channels to stop, start or test Stop: [channel that produced few hires for its cost] Start: [new channel] Test: [channel, the roles it will be tested on and the date we decide] 6. Budget [Recruitment budget] Split by channel, with an owner for each line. 7. Tracking Every candidate is tagged with the channel they came from when they enter the tracker, so the table in section 3 can be filled in next time. 8. Measures and review [How you will measure success] Reviewed [Review cadence].

Diversity and fair-selection strategy

When to use it: Widening who applies and making sure every candidate is assessed on the same job-related criteria.

DIVERSITY AND FAIR-SELECTION STRATEGY [Company name], [Period the strategy covers] Owner: [Strategy owner] 1. Where we are now Where our applicants come from today: [channels, regions, institutions] Stages where groups of candidates drop out more often: [stage] Where data is missing: [what we do not yet record] 2. Widening who applies Channels: [Sourcing channels] New channels or communities to reach: [list] Job adverts list only requirements that are genuinely needed for the role, written in plain language. 3. Fair selection Process: [Selection process] Every candidate for the same role goes through the same steps and is assessed against the same criteria, written down before interviews start. Interview questions are structured and scored against an agreed scale. Where possible, the first review looks at evidence of skills before personal details. 4. Adjustments Every invitation tells candidates how to ask for an adjustment, and who will handle the request. 5. Interviewers Each interview panel includes more than one person. Interviewers are briefed on the criteria and the scoring scale before they interview. 6. Data and privacy Any diversity data is collected voluntarily, kept separate from hiring decisions and handled in line with our privacy notice and local law. Check local law before collecting or using it. 7. Measures [How you will measure success] Track pass-through at each stage, so the stage where people drop out can be fixed first. 8. Review [Review cadence].

Build-vs-buy recruitment strategy

When to use it: Deciding which hiring to do in-house and which to give to an agency or a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner.

BUILD-VS-BUY RECRUITMENT STRATEGY [Company name], [Period the strategy covers] Owner: [Strategy owner] 1. Hiring we expect [Roles you expect to hire] Hardest to fill: [Roles that are hardest to fill] Locations: [Locations and work model] 2. Our in-house capacity Team: [In-house recruiting team] Roles the team can run at once: [number] Gaps in skills or market knowledge: [list] 3. The options | Option | Best for | What we control | Cost basis | | In-house | [roles] | [process, candidate experience, data] | [salaries and tools] | | Agency | [roles] | [what stays with us] | [fee per hire, as quoted] | | RPO partner | [roles] | [what stays with us] | [as quoted] | 4. The decision In-house: [roles] Agency: [roles, and the conditions for using one] RPO: [roles or volumes, if any] 5. Rules for outside partners Each partner is briefed with the same job description and selection criteria as the in-house team. Candidates they put forward go through our own selection process. Who owns candidate data, and for how long, is agreed in writing. 6. Budget [Recruitment budget] 7. Measures [How you will measure success] Compare each route on cost, time to hire and how hires perform after six months. 8. Review [Review cadence]. Revisit the decision if hiring volumes change.

One-page strategy summary for leadership

When to use it: Getting leadership and finance to agree the strategy in one short document.

RECRUITMENT STRATEGY SUMMARY [Company name], [Period the strategy covers] Owner: [Strategy owner] What hiring is for [Business goals hiring supports] What we expect to hire [Roles you expect to hire] Hardest to fill: [Roles that are hardest to fill] Why people will join us [Why people should join] Where we will find them [Sourcing channels] How we will choose [Selection process] The same criteria for every candidate in the same role. Who will do the recruiting [In-house recruiting team], with outside partners only for [roles]. Budget [Recruitment budget] How we will measure success [How you will measure success] Decisions we need from leadership 1. [Decision] 2. [Decision] Review [Review cadence].

How to use this template

  • 1Pick the version for the decision in front of you: what you offer and where you say it, how to split sourcing effort, how to keep selection fair, what to do in-house and what to outsource, or a one-page summary for leadership.
  • 2Start from the business goals. A strategy that begins with a list of job boards has skipped the question of what the hires are for.
  • 3Fill in the fields above, then replace the remaining [square-bracket] prompts with your own detail.
  • 4For role-by-role dates, owners and headcount, use a recruitment plan or hiring plan alongside this strategy.
  • 5Choose a small number of measures you can actually track, and review them on the dates in the strategy.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Writing the strategy once a year and never looking at it again when headcount or priorities change.
  • Making claims about the company that current employees would not recognise.
  • Relying on one sourcing channel because it worked last year, without checking where good hires actually came from.
  • Handing roles to an agency without giving it the same criteria and process the in-house team uses.
  • Measuring only how fast roles are filled, with nothing on whether the people hired went on to do well.

Questions

What should a recruitment strategy include?

The business goals hiring supports, why people should join, where you will find them, how you will select them fairly, who will do the recruiting, the budget, how you will measure success and when you will review it.

What is the difference between a recruitment strategy and a hiring plan?

A recruitment strategy sets out how you will attract and choose people. A hiring plan lists which roles you will fill and when. For the role-by-role plan, use our hiring plan template.

What is an employer value proposition?

It is the set of reasons someone should choose to work for you, such as the work itself, pay and benefits, flexibility and growth. Each reason should be backed by something a candidate can check.

Should I use a recruitment agency or hire in-house?

Compare the roles you expect to hire with what your in-house team can run at once. Outside partners can help with roles your team lacks the time or market knowledge for. Whichever route you use, keep the same selection criteria.

What should a recruiting strategy measure?

Pick a few measures you can track reliably, such as time to hire, offer acceptance rate, where hires came from and how hiring managers rate new hires after a few months. Use the same measures at every review so you can compare.

How often should a recruitment strategy be reviewed?

Revisit it on a fixed cadence, for example quarterly, and whenever business goals, budget or headcount change.

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