If you have a revolving door when it comes to keeping certain positions filled, then somewhere along the line in your recruiting process, there's a serious flaw. And whatever it is, you've got to find it to fix it. Whether it is a position on the front lines or in the executive office, you are under pressure to find the right hire for your team. With so many external influences affecting your hiring approach, you need a way to improve the likelihood of not only finding the best candidate but to setting them up for success.
For example, what if we started by looking at the job description itself? How good was the input from the hiring manager? Was it just a list of duties? Was it too vague? Perhaps once you started interviewing, you quickly realized you are interviewing for a skillset that is not aligned with your current business needs. And when the last hire didn't work out, was the manager’s response to just 'run it again?' Starting the recruiting process with a subpar job description is one of the top recruiting mistakes companies make. This is followed by, not hiring the “overqualified” candidate, rushing the hire, relying too much on references, and on the interview itself.
Here are TMC’s Six Steps to improve your recruiting process, starting today.
Understand the needs of your organization.
How does this position fit into the strategic plan? Ask yourself if restructuring the department, team, or role, would better support your needs & vision.
Understand your Company Culture and Brand
What are your company’s core values, and how are you communicating these to job seekers and even current employees? If you have identified your mission, vision, and goals, you are one step closer to hiring the best candidate.
Optimize job titles to enhance searchability for job seekers
With technology at our fingertips, job seekers' first stop is likely to Google, or another search engine to support their job search. If you tend to use specialty or unique job titles, it can make it harder for your position to come up in search engines. I recommend keeping it simple, but precise. It is also very important to refresh your job postings, at minimum every 30-days to ensure your job remains at the top of the list.
Well-crafted job descriptions
Make sure you have well-crafted job descriptions, containing the current knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the essential functions of the position. Be clear, sell your brand, highlight benefits, be strategic with keywords, pay attention to length, and don’t use acronyms. Having up-to-date descriptions, not only provides clarity for the hiring manager, but more importantly, the job seeker to help them envision themselves in the role, and how likely they will be able to be successful in the new role.
Do your homework
Research isn’t only for the job seeker. Hiring managers, need to participate in the process by partnering with HR to share what it is they are looking for, what are the intangibles, that go behind the essential functions of the position. Understanding what those are, will help determine who should be conducting the interview and what you want to ask to determine if the candidate can perform the essential skills, fit into the organizational culture and be a productive team member. More often than not, when you go into the interview process unprepared, a hiring supervisor can be left confused as to what they are hiring for.
Have fun!
Lastly, have fun! This should be one of the best parts of your jobs, inviting someone in to be a part of your team. You get to put your company’s culture and values in the spotlight for others to be drawn to. Use social media, recruitment videos, and collaborate with employees. Communicating a strong employee value proposition will leave any candidate jumping at the chance to join the team.
For more ideas on how to optimize job titles, retool job descriptions or support in updating your recruitment process. Contact me at hello@tarynmconsulting.com
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