An ongoing part of organizational life is the need to hire people.  Whether in a growth mode and building a team, recovering from an unpleasant layoff cycle, or replacing people who departed, many hiring managers and recruiters dread the recruitment process.  And, from hiring top leadership executives to fresh-faced entry-level employees, recruitment can be a time-consuming and stressful chore.

The process requires answering a slew of questions from the get-go:  Where to begin the whole process? Where to source the best candidates? How to find the time to sort through the mountain of resumes? What evaluation criteria to use? How to avoid making costly hiring mistakes?

Indeed, the costs can be unacceptably wasteful in terms of lost opportunity and wasted time if the new hire doesn’t work out in addition to any other damage a poor hire can inflict on organizational performance.  Additionally, the incidence of recruitment failure is uncomfortably high; one study shows that only 23% of top hires remain in their positions for longer than two years. Given these factors, those in charge of recruitment should ensure they do a better job.

Here are some ways to tighten your recruiting process and increase your probability of success:

Before you start actively recruiting …

1. Have a well thought out and commonly understood definition of a successful hire.  Think beyond the immediate tasks that need execution, and get clear about what broader capabilities and qualities your organization needs and values.
2. Create a very thorough, detailed position description.  The more thought and analysis put in ahead of time to understand the critical success factors of each position, the greater chance you have of recognizing the right candidate.
3. Choose your partners well.  People in charge of hiring processes often bring in outsiders such as a search committee or a recruitment firm.  Ensure your partners add value to your process.  Do you know how they operate? Do they understand what you need?

During the recruitment process …

1. Shift your thinking from the individual to the whole system.  Candidates should not be appraised in a vacuum.  They need to interact with your organization’s structures, processes and culture, so design the interview process to be as interactive and “real”-life as possible.  Engage candidates in tasks, and have them meet people in less formal settings.  Allow them to make their own judgments of their fit while you observe them without their interview masks on.
2. Treat recommendations with caution.  Those who trust the opinions of others without exposing all candidates to the same rigorous selection criteria often live to regret taking the “easy” or “safe” route.
3. Develop a good system for tracking applications and responding to applicants.  Recruiters often forget they are building their employment brand, and the way they deal with candidates is a reflection of their workplace.  If you are chaotic, unresponsive and disrespectful in your recruitment efforts, what kind of message are you sending about your organization?
4. Create a template of questions you must ask each candidate, but let the conversation flow during an interview.  Do not ask illegal questions about personal issues unrelated to their work, and focus on creating a rapport so the real person can emerge.  You will be able to make sound judgments if you break through the canned responses of the nervous candidate.

After you have made the hire …

Do not think your job is finished; you are just at the start!  Yes, you are looking to attract and hire the right people, but your responsibility goes beyond that.  If you want a high-performing organization, you will do well to create a helpful on-boarding process as well as ongoing performance support, development and evaluation.

Your recruitment practices from beginning to end should reflect a wide-ranging, strategic talent management mindset.

Fredia Woolf , founder of Woolf Consulting, helps people to manage change and achieve positive results for their careers, teams and organizations.  As an organizational consultant and leadership coach, she works with clients to increase their effectiveness and impact, to manage transitions successfully, and to define and create a leadership legacy. She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

Last updated on April 20th, 2020 at 06:16 am