Mar 1, 2018
Hiring or Tiring Recruitment Process? Why So Many Businesses Getting It So Wrong.
Just before Christmas I found that the majority of our team at Precision Sourcing were getting frustrated with the recruitment process. This was across a number of clients.
So frustrated that some are no longer clients.
Think;
· Weeks and sometimes months between interviews… “we are really busy right now”
· Hiring managers not turning up for interviews…. “sorry I had an escalation to deal with”
· Cancelling interviews at the last minute….. “something’s come up can we reschedule”
· Lack of communication…… “they’re not a no but we will come back to you”
· No communication….left message left message left message. Silence.
In a talent short market (particularly in data analytics), it is so important to have a robust and efficient interview process that offers potential hires (or advocates of your business), a great experience. AND an impression of who they will be working with. Yes, you…. after all they will be working for you or with you.
Why? Because candidates have choice and lots of it.
As a team we white boarded the perfect recruitment and hiring process and communicated it to the clients that were creating the most frustration.
Some adapted and took it on the chin and improved – feedback makes you bitter or better after all.
Others acted differently. “This is the way we have always done it” or “they should want to work for us, so they should be willing to wait for our process to pan out”.
This is a topic I will go into a lot more detail within my next blog, but for now ask yourself the question; if you are in a four-way fight for a candidate, what are your real differentiators that make you stand out?
What are your USP’s?
I think it’s important to note that so many things can arise in each individual hiring process depending on the situation and circumstances. BUT I thought it would be good to share the perfect hiring process we came up with.
I am interested to get your thoughts and any other pointers I missed! See below what we defined:
1. Make sure the position is budget approved & fully signed off by the appropriate parties
· Who has the final say on budgets?
· Have all relevant parties signed off on the role before it is sent out to a recruiter
2. Block out interview times
· Know who should be in what interview stage and include them in the invite
· Communicate who is going to be there to your recruiter and why
· Book a room and communicate where
3. Detailed Feedback on the candidate within 48 hours (integrity when you say you are going to – then stick to your word)
· What were their strengths/opportunities for improvement?
· Where exactly did they mess up if they didn’t do so well so they can improve?
· What did you like about them?
4. Involve decision makers
· Make sure all parties are across this position and the hiring
· Be clear on where they sit in the interview process
· Who is the key decision maker?
5. Prepare interview questions – competency based
· What do you want to know from them?
· What do you want the candidate to bring to this role?
6. Contract prepared within 48hours (because you know others will be sending it out the same day)
· Time is the devil, so the quicker this is released the better
7. Stick to your process
· If it is a two-interview process, then stick to it rather than ending up doing four and disengaging with the candidate
· Make sure the turnaround for the next stage is seamless and ASAP
8. Understand what the requirement is
· Write a role description
· Know where they will sit in the team and what their contribution will be
9. Sell
· You are in a war for talent so sell your USP’s
· Offer some examples of others who have joined the business and developed
10. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
· You can’t over communicate and any news is news so don’t hold back! Offer any little update or change in process/circumstances as it sure to be well received during the process
At the end of the day, you want to get the best candidate for the job and you want to beat the competition. This recruitment process is the key to that success.
I would love to know what anyone would like to add to this and any success stories or challenges that may have come with their own processes.
