Whether your business is small or large, the right talent can make or break whether your organization can succeed at the next level. But how do you ensure you’re hiring the right people? In today’s world, prospective employees often have many options; so how do you win the talent war?
It all starts with the job posting. Ensure that your criteria can be broken down into “must-have” and “nice to have.” You don’t want to exclude excellent candidates simply because you’ve added an unintentional barrier, such as a credential that’s not absolutely necessary, or a minimum number of years’ experience. You want to make sure you are using have-to-have criteria in your initial screening process – so make sure they are in the job posting! – but use your “nice to have” criteria during the interview.
When posting the job, remember that candidates find opportunities in a variety of ways, so your recruitment strategy should include a variety of channels to match. Do not rule out social media, and campus recruiting avenues as they can drive potential candidates just as well as more traditional job boards. In fact, networking is often cited (example here) as an overlooked way to get a job, so it stands to reason that using your own network can often help you fill that personnel void.
Once the short list of candidates is developed, ensure that the interview process is structured. This will help your organization not only ensure the best candidate wins the role, but helps eliminate any biases from the hiring manager/team. The interview is the best time to ask about past experiences, and practical knowledge. Since you have already screened out those who don’t meet your minimum requirements, you can fully maximize your interview time by using open-ended situation-based questions. This is a great way to see if the blend of education & experience that is listed on the resume actually lends itself well to your vacancy. To facilitate the best answers from interviewees, it is quite common to allow candidates a chance to review the question-set beforehand (sometimes 15-30 minutes before the interview; other times, material can be emailed in the days leading up to the interview date). Remember it is the hypothetical action a candidate has (or would) take that is important; and for most jobs you want employees taking this time to evaluate how to handle critical decisions, so offering interviewees time before-hand to figure out the best approach is good practice.
Don’t forget to allow time for the potential candidates to ask questions themselves during the interview. It is important they understand your expectations, and it’s better to establish a clear dialogue right from the interview. Open, honest discourse between employer-employee is the best way to ensure you don’t have to keep repeating the hiring process for the same position.
These are just a few tips your organization may use or is using to ensure the hiring process is transparent and effective as possible. Much of the content in this blog was reiterated during the Innovation Centre’s first two HR Series Workshops, held over the past few weeks. If you are interested in the topic, we have one more scheduled for next Tuesday. It is all about workplace culture, and promises to deliver some hands-on lessons on how to make sure your organizational culture is the best it can be.