What Does Effective and Efficient Hiring Look Like?
What Does Effective and Efficient Hiring Look Like?
The efficiency of your hiring process not only dictates the time, money and resource required, but could also prevent your business losing talented candidates to competitors.
The average time it takes to recruit for a new role is just over 40 days. Ideally, the process should be taking a lot less, closer to two weeks and not over four. In a fast-paced, competitive market, this is crucial for securing talent and moving the business forward.
Follow these five steps to help ensure your hiring process is streamlined and having a positive impact on your business and brand.
- Job description
A well-thought out job description that clearly describes the role, brand and culture, will weed out who doesn’t fit your business, giving you a strong pool of candidates from the offset.
- Give an idea of the company culture – use brand-specific language that makes you stand out, and gives an accurate feel for the company at an early stage.
- Involve colleagues – they can help determine the skills necessary to do the job well and what sort of person will fit culturally.
- Clear job title – don’t try to be creative with the job title, leave words like ‘guru’ or ‘rockstar’ for further down. Your job opening needs to be searchable, so rather than writing anything obscure that won’t be found, opt for the most common terms.
- Expand on responsibilities – rather than bullet pointed lists, expand on growth and development opportunities, how the role fits in with company objectives and what’s happening in the wider industry.
- Salary – is it competitive enough to secure your ideal candidate?
- Advertise and recruit
Use multiple channels to advertise your role, including agencies, your career page, social media, job boards and ask your staff to share it too. You could also think about an employee referral system. Don’t forget to keep a record of where applicants find you, as it will help to analyse the most successful channels and save time and money when you come to advertise future roles.
- Applications
When the applications start flooding in, you need a system in place to keep the process moving quickly and efficiently. In larger organisations, you may want to consider an automated one. In smaller businesses, decide how many people will be involved in advance and how the system will keep moving smoothly. Be open minded when reading applications, but don’t stray from the initial traits and non-negotiables you set out.
- Stay focused and on track
Have a plan for the interview process, such as the example below, and stick to it:
- When should applications be in by?
- When would you ideally like the post to start?
- How many stages of interview will there be and when should each stage be completed by?
- Do candidates need to complete assessments or an assignment and if so, is it prepared?
- Who will join you in the interviews? Are their diaries blocked out?
- Is there any room for negotiation on start date or salary?
- Is the contract up to date?
- The interview
Interviews should be conducted soon after a phone screening – ideally within a week. The process shouldn’t stretch on too long, or candidates may lose interest. A good recruiter informs a candidate about the full interview schedule, so they aren’t left wondering about future steps in the process. Be sure to allot enough time so you can focus and give candidates your undivided attention, and follow up, even if you decide they’re not a good fit.
Finally, recruitment is a two-way street. Candidates invest time to impress potential employers by sharing their experience and skills,. And your business should do the same in attracting talent by illustrating at every stage of the process why people should work for you, from your website and social media channels to the job offer.
