Hiring, even at a senior level, doesn’t have to be expensive these days thanks to advances in the recruiting process through automation and artificial intelligence (AI). Unfortunately, bad hiring practices are just as expensive as they’ve always been. Having a key position unfilled–or filled by the wrong person, which is even worse–is profit-margin poison.
It’s also unnecessary. Even though recruiting today is more competitive than ever before, it’s still possible to get the right people into your organization quickly. The trick is to have the best possible hiring process in place, and that’s something that companies should be constantly refining, even when they’re not recruiting.
Here is a checklist to ensure you’re doing all you can to get the best talent out there.
Work on your employer branding
Whether you’re actively hiring or not, it is important to give thought and time to your employer brand. What does your company stand for? What are the values that new staff will be expected to share? What is your value proposition to potential employees?
Potential hires are watching and these days they are more likely than ever to assess your culture through social media, Google searches, online review sites like Glassdoor, and your company career page before applying for a job. Use polls to gather feedback on the effectiveness of your social output and use that data to guide your employer branding strategy.
Develop an effective mobile strategy
In a world where beginning a relationship happens online at the swipe of a finger, why are we still trying to connect with talent over missed calls and crowded inboxes? Make a good first impression by meeting candidates where they are – on the phone that’s always in their pocket.
Stand out from crowded email inboxes with one-to-one or one-to-many recruitment text messages that empower candidates to send quick responses at their convenience. After all, text is the preferred communication channel for 60% of candidates and the open rate of texts is 98%!
Don’t forget silver medalists
In your journey to hire the right candidates, you’re going to have ones that didn’t make the cut for a role. But you may still want to keep them in mind for future roles. This is a great chance to engage these silver medalist candidates and keep them interested in your company for future recruiting.
The better a candidate’s experience, the more likely they are to apply for other open roles or even refer their colleagues to your company. Utilize your communication and recruitment marketing strategies to keep silver medalists engaged and updated on your company and open positions that would suit them. Staying in contact with these candidates will allow you to keep the door open with them as well as expand your talent pool – so invite them to subscribe for job recommendations, join a mailing list for your company newsletter, or follow you on social media.
Optimize the onboarding process for new hires
Recruitment doesn’t end with the acceptance of an offer. It’s an ongoing process that also involves looking at development and retention of existing staff. One of the weakest points in the chain is the on-boarding process.
You are assessing the new hire during the probationary period, but they are also assessing you. It is important to get them settled into their role as smoothly as possible, and that means having a robust strategy for training, mentoring, and offering support. If this strategy isn’t in place, you may find yourself putting the Help Wanted sign back up in the window and starting the recruitment process all over again. Work with the new hire’s manager to perfect the onboarding strategy, and perform regular reviews to ensure that targets are being met.
Gather feedback and recommendations from new hires
Each time a new staff member joins the team, you get a chance to gather vital information about the recruitment process they have just come through. Were they impressed by your branding and advertising? How did they find the interview process? Has the role met expectations? Having an open dialogue about this can give invaluable insight and highlight areas requiring improvement.
Also, the new hire will know lots of people from their old job who may be interested in joining you. If you have a staff employee referral program, be sure to make them aware of it. If you don’t have an employee referral program, get one.
Improve your hiring process before you need to hire
People are the heart of every business. Getting the best, brightest, most innovative, and the most committed can mean boundless success for a company. Conversely, bad hires or no hires at all can mean a loss of productivity and a costly cycle of hiring and training as you struggle to get the team right. Don’t wait until it’s time to start looking for people. Review your hiring process now and ensure that you’re set up for success.
