Recruitment - how can I do it better?

Most managers have had to do it at some point in their career but most have never been taught how and they bumble through doing the best they can. Make no mistake, it is still a 'war for talent' in the market and to improve the productivity levels of your business and beat your competition you need to be hiring the right people, at the right time, in the right place.

Effective recruitment practice is a process but also a skill and you can definitely get better at it. It's also critical for your business as hiring mistakes can be costly - both financially and how they impact on your team and their levels of engagement.

So answer some questions for me; do you do most of the talking in an interview? Can you articulate why the candidate wants the job with you rather than with your main competitor? Can you tell me post interview how that candidate would handle a crisis in your workplace, if they experienced one? Do they have the qualifications they say they have? When I was working in India, we found that a number of candidates had forged their University qualifications. Many were actually performing well in their roles but they were still terminated on grounds that integrity was a core value for the organisation.

Here are some things you can do to improve your Employee Talent Pool:

 

1. Scope the recruitment process - articulate the process from end to end and follow it consistently; at the beginning when you need to confirm there is a vacancy, for the position description, the sourcing strategy, interviewing, the decision process and finally the offer

2. Due diligence - once you have made a hiring decision don't stop there. You should conduct reference checks with the last two previous employers. Ensure you speak with their former manager rather than a friend.  You should consider conducting background checks; this might include credit, police and employment history or academic checks.

3. Interview skills - brush up on these skills (we can assist you here), use both a technical and a behavioural interview format. You should be competent in controlling the interviewee and use probing questions effectively. You also need to document the interview as these notes can be called up as evidence up to seven years after the event.

4. Measurement - look to measure your recruitment performance; your ratios for interview vs. offer, offer vs. acceptance and advertisement vs. application.  How long do recruits stay with you? Did the role live up to their expectations? How will you find this out?

5. Sourcing strategy - where is the best source to find your candidates; good people know good people. Ask your team and pay a finder's fee. Use LinkedIn; you can pay an annual fee enabling you to access every CV in the system. This can be a very cost effective way to recruit. Use SEEK or Hire Me Up (specialist part time, contract, virtual or project job board).

6. Recruitment Management System (RMS) - depending of the volume of your recruitment it may be worth considering purchasing a Recruitment Management Tool - we use Jobadder and think it is fantastic.

7. Induction - many resignations occur early - either due to the role not being as described at interview or after a poorly managed induction. This is not difficult - give them a buddy, make sure the desk and IT are ready, arrange meetings with the key people, take them out for a sandwich, check in with them formally at the end of week 1, 4 & 12 and run them through an orientation of the company. This can be very effective to integrate new team members well into your organisation.

It is really important to get this right as in the majority of cases your team are critical to your success. What do you think? Make recruitment matter.

Natasha Hawker owns Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit Management. – find them at www.employeematters.com.au