Successful recruitment is an ongoing process that isn’t just about finding people with the right qualifications. Organisational fit and shared values can also be key, and the reputation that you nurture, as well as the work that you put into retaining employees, also have a role to play. If you want to improve your current approach to employee recruitment then there are some simple ways to do it.
- Ask what the candidate wants to achieve in the role they are applying for. It becomes an expensive mistake appointing someone who has the relevant skills, experience and qualifications if their ambitions don’t align with what you need in the long term. It’s far better to take the time to get the right person, with the correct credentials and similar expectations from the off.
- Outsourcing the recruitment process alleviates key members getting side-tracked from fulfilling the core components of their role. Meet and appoint the right recruitment partner to manage this for you. They will have the tools and candidates on-hand to manage this key business function faster and with better results.
- Look for candidates who can hit the ground running. If you’re limited in terms of training resources the most obvious successes are likely to be those who have experience of a similar role in a similar business.
- Identify opportunities to build on strengths. It’s incredibly time consuming to try to get employees to develop qualities that they don’t have when they start – and may even be impossible. So, look for candidates who have existing strengths you can build on.
- Nurture your reputation. You’ll naturally attract high quality candidates if your business has the reputation of being a great employer. There are many different factors that can contribute to this, such as ensuring staff have a positive work life balance, are engaged, motivated and accountable (all of which will contribute to employee retention too). If your employees are happy they will naturally act as brand ambassadors when it comes to attracting other great people.
- Be competitive. Especially when it comes to salary, if what you’re offering is way below other similar businesses it will be difficult to attract the best people. If you do manage to recruit with a low pay package you risk resentment, a lack of engagement and regular departures.
- Diversify the benefits that you offer. It’s important to take a good look at the benefits that come with the role and ensure they are attractive. Flexibility, for example, is highly valued by the best people today and many also look for protections such as dental insurance or access to amenities, such as a health club or gym.
- Use your website. Does your online presence accurately and concisely portray the business, its goals, vision, culture and values? If not then you could be missing an opportunity to show potential candidates what they’re missing.
- Check references. The process of reference checking should be more than just a box ticking exercise – it can provide insight into who this candidate really is and how they could contribute to your business.
These are just some of the ways in which you can develop existing employee recruitment processes to make them more successful.
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