A successful approach to recruitment – the stages.

17 Feb A successful approach to recruitment – the stages.

Recruitment is often a stressful and time consuming process. It can be a drain on internal resources and if not handled properly can result in poor decision making, overspending and worst of all risk hiring the wrong people. By following a clearly defined recruitment strategy you can reduce the likelihood of a risk event happening. 

So how do we start this process?

• Map out your requirements. Know which roles come first and allocate sufficient time to hire them. Some specialist roles can take months to recruit so plan accordingly. Research the market, find out the salary you need to pay to attract the people you’re looking to hire. In my experience some of the online salary calculators are way off the mark so don’t solely rely on those if you want to make an informed decision. 

• Decide how you are going to source the staff. Consider the costs involved because they can vary considerably. If you choose to advertise then assess the costs of an ad campaign. The likelihood is this will be online and the various jobsites will have their USPs. Decide which internal resources will manage the advertising campaign. This includes writing the adverts and managing the applications. If you choose to use a recruiter then find one who has experience recruiting the roles you are looking to hire. Make sure the person you’re dealing with isn’t just a client manager and someone who never gets involved in the sourcing of the candidates. You need to know the person speaking to candidates on your behalf has the level of experience necessary to do this effectively otherwise this will have a negative impact on your recruitment campaign without you ever realising it. 

• Shortlisting the candidates. Don’t be rigid in your assessment of the candidates. Some of the best candidates I’ve seen hired were far from the perfect fit on paper. Taking a diversity positive approach to team building has many proven tangible benefits. Amongst these are the group’s ability to avoid confirmation bias mentalities which result in better decision making. Once this approach to recruiting is adopted you will be able to tap in to significantly larger and more varied talent pools. 

• Arrange the interviews but before you invite your preferred candidates to interview map out the interview process. Will this be a 2 or 3 interview process. Will the first one be via phone or zoom. Will there be a technical test or a presentation. These are questions you need answers to before you start interviewing candidates. And then make them aware of the steps during or prior to the first interview. Assess everyone equally, which will also help you measure the results.

• Making the job offer. If your preferred candidate has come via your recruiter network then seriously consider letting them make the offer on your behalf. This can act as a great buffer during final negotiations. Make sure the recruiter knows exactly what the offer is (salary, pension, bonus, leave, etc) enabling them to present it in a clear and concise manner.  Before drawing up a formal letter of offer, ask for a verbal acceptance. Once accepted, draft the letter of offer immediately.

There is always a risk when hiring new staff. There are so many variables that can work for or against you when you go through the process. But the companies I recruit for who follow a thought out process coupled with a flexible recruitment methodology always hire well.