Definition of Evergreen Recruiting

Evergreen recruiting is also known as evergreen requisition or recurring job posting. It simply means that the advertisement for the vacant position is continuously open. Unlike traditional recruitment strategies that focus on filling specific vacancies as they arise, evergreen job postings are open indefinitely. They aim to build a steady pipeline of potential hires ready to step in when needed.

The industries that rely on this approach are the ones that have roles with a high turnover rate, such as healthcare workers, retail staff, or customer service representatives. Companies from these sectors prefer to keep their always-on strategy for the same job title to stay ahead of the competitors.

Importance of a Continuous Hiring Process

Acting up front, proactively instead of reactively, can be highly beneficial. Companies using evergreen jobs prevent losing valuable time to fill a position, versus those who wait until a vacancy arises to start the hiring process. Here are 4 main reasons why a continuous hiring process is important:

  • Minimising downtime: Vacant positions can disrupt operations and put an additional burden on existing employees.
  • Attracting the best talent throughout the year: The best candidates are not always actively looking for a job when a company has an opening.
  • Reducing recruitment costs: By maintaining a steady stream, companies can avoid the high costs associated with last-minute hiring or prolonged vacancies.
  • Improved decision-making: When companies remove the pressure to fill a role immediately, hiring managers are likelier to make thoughtful hiring efforts that align with long-term business goals.

What Makes a Recruitment Strategy “Evergreen”?

An evergreen recruitment strategy focuses on consistency and preparedness. It involves keeping specific job postings open at all times and continuously engaging with potential job seekers. This approach ensures companies would never struggle to find qualified candidates, but instead have a ready talent pool at their disposal at all times.

The strategy relies on always-on job postings for critical roles, on different job boards and the company’s website. It requires proactive engagement, including regular interactions with potential candidates through networking events, social media communication and warming up applicants with email campaigns. These efforts must be tracked and measured, bringing valuable data-driven insights into action.

What are Evergreen Jobs?

Evergreen jobs are job postings that require a continuous, indefinite job advertisement, due to high turnover rates in the positions they cover. Moreover, these roles often form the essential workforce for the company’s primary operations. For example, healthcare professionals (nurses and care workers) for hospitals and care providers, shop assistants for the retailers, customer service representatives for call centres, drivers for food delivery companies, etc.

These positions are characterised by their consistent demand across industries. For instance, a hospital will always need nurses, just as a retail chain will always require salesclerks.

Industries and Roles That Benefit The Most

Specific industries benefit the most from evergreen jobs, due to their reliance on high-volume or high-turnover roles.

  • Healthcare: Registered nurses, support workers, and care coordinators are in constant demand due to staffing shortages and the critical nature of their work.
  • Retail: Sales assistants and cashiers are needed constantly to ensure the ongoing operations run smoothly.
  • Hospitality: Chefs, waitpersons, and housekeeping staff are essential for the ongoing needs of hotels and restaurants.
  • Logistics: Delivery drivers and warehouse workers are the backbone, ensuring the supply chain efficiency.

Create and Maintain a Talent Pipeline

A talent pipeline is more than just a collection of CVs. It’s a strategic approach to ensuring your company has access to skilled candidates whenever needed. It allows businesses to prepare proactively for future hiring demands, reducing the time and costs associated with a reactive, on-demand recruiting process.

Once your pipeline is established, consistent maintenance is required to keep it running. Investing in tools like Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) software can help you categorise and organise candidate profiles and track their engagement. You can source candidates proactively through job boards, social media platforms like LinkedIn, employee referrals, career fairs and partnerships with universities. Engage and nurture prospective candidates and ensure they remain “warm” for future opportunities, sending newsletters, sharing valuable industry insights through blog posts, or organising virtual events like workshops and trainings.

Create Detailed Job Descriptions

Detailed job descriptions ensure alignment between employers and potential top talent. The former should have their clear expectations written down in the advertisement, so the latter could explicitly respond to the demands, without any doubts. These descriptions should also be created to remain relevant over time, and serve as both an informative guide and a marketing tool. Using Search Engine Optimised (SEO) keywords will additionally help companies in this goal, relating to the words candidates are likely to search for when looking for a job in your industry. For example, if you’re hiring care assistants, include phrases like “care assistant jobs“, “healthcare support“, “elderly care roles“, etc.

Evergreen job postings begin with a clear, general job title, like: Medical Technician, Sales Associate, Technical Support Agents, etc. Continue by providing a concise, but also captivating summary of the position, like “handling diagnostic equipment”, “assisting customers in stores” and “providing assistance with troubleshooting technical issues”. Follow this with a detailed breakdown of key responsibilities, using clear and actionable language. For instance, if you like to say “manage projects”, use “lead cross-functional teams to deliver projects on time and within budget”. The detail of the description can efficiently attract candidates because they can easily imagine and visualise their day-to-day tasks.

Employer Branding for Long-Term Hiring

Job seekersare more likely to engage with companies with strong employer branding. This positive reputation can be built by showcasing employee success stories and testimonials on your website and social media channels. Also important to notice is to promote transparency about your mission, values and company culture– they strengthen your image and show loyalty among applicants.

Focus on Candidate Experience

Positive interactions can turn applicants into your brand advocates. To improve the candidate experience, try simplifying the application process by minimising unnecessary steps. Always provide constructive feedback, even if the applicants for the evergreen positions are not selected. Remember, candidates who feel valued during the recruitment process are more likely to recommend your company to others or reapply in the future when they will have more knowledge and experience.

Data and Tracking

To successfully utilise evergreen requisitions, you need detailed recruiting analytics. By tracking key metrics such as time-to-fill, time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and candidate engagement rates, businesses can identify areas for improvement. Tools like ATS and CRM can gather these valuable insights for you so that you can refine your strategies accordingly.

Why Businesses Should Adopt Evergreen Recruiting?

Adopting an evergreen recruiting process offers 4 significant benefits:

  1. Fills vacancies quickly and efficiently – minimising disruptions caused by vacancies;
  2. Saves costs – eliminating the expensive last-minute hiring efforts;
  3. Strengthens employer reputation – providing consistent presence and communication;
  4. Future-proof the company’s growth – anticipating staffing needs ahead of time.

Evergreen Recruiting with Olive Recruit

Maintaining a steady flow of talent for critical roles is a challenging task. Your company could lose precious resources without an experienced partner to guide you through the process.

Olive Recruit’s tailored solutions help companies implement effective evergreen strategies by creating and maintaining diverse talent pipelines customised to specific industry needs.

Located in Bristol but serving nationwide, Olive Recruit is committed to helping businesses stay ahead in their evergreen requisitions. Whether you are looking to fill high-turnover positions or build long-term hiring strategies, our team’s expertise will guide you every step of the way.