10 Tips to a better recruitment process

Not so long ago, management paid lip service to staff retention (many still do). The reality was that if an employee moved on you just recruited from what seemed an endless pool of applicants. Many managers who didn’t work on staff retention are now saying “I can’t find good people”. The workplace is changing; it has become increasingly difficult finding good people. I hope the following tips can assist you in locating and identifying appropriate candidates. Just remember to avoid the costly and time consuming recruitment process start working on developing and keeping the employees you have. A good start to this process is to ensure a good exit interview process to understand why staff leave your organisation in the first place.

Recruitment is a today problem,

You have a vacancy and the work doesn’t get done until you find, employ, and train a new employee - needs to be done today.

Retention is a tomorrow problem

That’s the work you should do today that goes unnoticed in order to prevent today problems. You’re so busy that tomorrow problems just keep getting put off until…. well…today when somebody leaves and you now have a today problem.

Recruitment is one of the most important things you do in your business; no single factor has a greater effect on your business than employing and retaining your employees. Your employees are the most important people in your business, why? because they are the people that look after your customers.

The following tips will help aid your recruitment success:

Recruitment tip #1: Staff Retention

Work on staff retention so as to minimise staff turnover. This will make you an employer of choice and encourage applicants to approach you. It will minimise the costly and time consuming recruitment you will be required to do. The employment market is changing and you will no longer be able to recruit quality employees at will.

Recruitment tip #2: Identify or Review Needs.

Prior to recruiting for a vacancy it is best to review the position. This is the best time to review your structure and needs. Recruitment is only one option. Consider outsourcing, employment type (Fulltime, part-time, casual), reallocation of work, using the staffing budget in another part of the business. Don’t assume a vacancy needs to be filled.

Recruitment tip #3: Define/Describe the position.

Review the position description, if changes are required then they should be documented in an updated position description. If this is a new position then a position description should be created.

Position description should include selection criteria. The selection criteria will be a vital part of the selection process.

The selection criteria should be weighted in order of importance. This will become important during the interview and selection process.

Recruitment tip #4: Attraction.

Attracting a few quality candidates is far better than creating work by attracting a large quantity of inappropriate candidates. Review all types of position marketing available and select the ones that best suit your situation.

Consider the following areas:

§         offering a spotters payment to existing staff who recommend a successful        applicant

§         local education campuses

§         internal applicants

§         customers

§         business groups

§         Business associations.

Recruitment tip #5: Interview Process.

All questions should be pre determined and based on the selection criteria, which are derived from the job description. Ensure the candidate does 70-80% of the talking

Have at least 2 people conduct the interview (one acts primarily as an observer).

Recruitment tip #6: Post interview

Allow time immediately after each interview for discussion, comparison and compilation. Score answers independently, then discuss, paying particular attention to any points of difference.

Recruitment tip #7: Scoring

Having already listed your selection criteria in order of importance, and asked relevant questions based on identifying candidates, who match the criteria, score the answers to each question. It is important to also weigh the answers as part of the overall score. An example of this would be a question based on a critical selection criteria may make up 30% of the overall score, whereas a question which is based on moderate selection criteria may make up 15% of the overall score. This is to ensure candidates who score highly in the critical selection areas are favored. 

Recruitment tip #8: Have a process and keep candidates informed.

Have an effective recruitment process in place that allows you to make quality employment decisions quickly. Good prospects are not on the market long. Any unnecessary time delays or lack of communication with the candidate during the process could mean they end up working for your competition.

Recruitment tip #9: Be involved in the entire process.

Recruitment is too important to your business to leave entirely to an external consultant, there are some excellent recruitment consultants, but it’s your business so it’s important to work closely with them and be a major participant and contributor to the entire process.

Recruitment tip #10: Tell it how it is.

Don’t misrepresent any aspect of the position. This will only lead to expensive and time consuming staff turnover. It will make future recruitment difficult as word spreads through your industry. I have seen this done regularly with the following just some examples

§         Organizations will omit salary from the advertisements to increase applications. (3 interviews later the candidate scoffs at the offer)

§         Undesirable parts of the job are not discussed.

§         Undesirable jobs with great titles.

§         Restructuring the job or role within days of new employee starting.

§         Expected commissions grossly exaggerated.

There are numerous examples of employees leaving within days and weeks of commencement, due to job not being what they expected. Don’t waste everybody’s time and money (including your own) – tell it how it is

Recruitment is an expensive and time consuming process, but a process that is critical to a successful business. Minimise this process by retaining and developing your current workforce. When you need to recruit put the effort in to ensure the best possible outcome.

If you would like more information on staff training please follow the appropriate link. Business Training, Retail Training , Warehousing Training and Road Transport Training .