It is probably the most inefficient process in business today. It's hard to think of any common business process that consumes so much time and energy, for such a high cost, for such a random result. Yep, recruiting sucks - for both employers and candidates.
For employers, there's hours spent sifting through applications doing little more than guessing whether each candidate's resumé is a true reflection of their capability. This is made harder when each resumé is in a different format, and they have potentially received hundreds of responses to their advertisement.
Online platforms haven't really helped, they've just monetised (for themselves) and entrenched the existing broken process. They've done little to really help employers find the best candidate, and absolutely nothing to make the process better for candidates.
For candidates, there's the guesswork of responding to what they think the employer is looking for, and then sending their application off to cyberspace - more often than not to never hear anything about it ever again.
Then there's the interview - for some candidates. They may not have been the lucky ones after all, as they're asked about their favourite colour, which animal they might be, what secrets they have, and a whole raft of other questions that are often insulting to their intelligence, and have absolutely nothing to do with how they will do the job. Then might come a 'personality' assessment. Really! As if most employers (or recruiters) are even qualified to interpret how the assessment might relate to the particular workplace.
For employers, they go through the interview process, identify the candidate, make the offer, only to find their candidate has accepted another position, leaves within the first week when they find the job isn't what they expected, or when they realise they don't have the skills the job requires. Then they often have to start the whole circus over again.
Do you smell the money burning? Let alone the raging frustration and untempered anxiety.
Now, if these were rare occurrences then we'd just say, "that's unlucky", but they're not! Every one of us has probably experienced this broken process exactly like this - as either an employer, a candidate, or both!
Let's change the game a little bit, so that we can make it work better for all of us.
7 tips for Making The Most of A Broken Process
How can we improve this? Employers, it starts with you! Here's how to improve your odds of making the broken jig-saw fit together to reveal the perfect candidate:
- Don't advertise for any position until you know exactly what you would like the new person to achieve. Spend some time up-front and ensure that you can state explicitly the outcomes that any person you recruit will be expected to deliver - and what support you will give to deliver them. Don't focus on the tasks you want the person to do, focus on the outcomes that you want delivered for your business. The time you spend at this step will save you hours later and help you know when you have found the right candidate.
- In your advertisement, explain why your business exists and how the position contributes. Ask applicants to tell you why they'd like to work at your business. List the outcomes that you came up with from step 1, and ask applicants to describe in their application how they will deliver them, using their skills and experience. Here's where you have to be disciplined. If applicants do not follow these instructions, then don't even consider them any further. After all, if they can't follow instructions at the time of applying, what evidence do you have that they'll do better when they are employed?
- Be on time for the interview, don't keep candidates waiting. When you do interview them, focus your questions on the outcomes you identified in step 1. Keep the focus of the conversation on their approach to delivering your outcomes, instead of asking them to talk about themselves. Remember the purpose of the interview is to confirm whether the candidate is genuinely capable of helping you achieve your objectives with an approach that is workable for your business.
- Respond to every applicant. Ensure that everyone who applies to your business is provided the courtesy of a response. Keep it simple, polite, and respectful. Your business brand will be reflected well, as candidates are so used to hearing nothing at all from employers when they have been unsuccessful.
- Don't recruit people just because they are there. If you still don't feel you have found the right candidate then advertise again, or perhaps you need some external help from a specialist recruiting firm.
- Be persistent. Like any market, the number of candidates available at any time varies. Sometimes there will be an abundance of great candidates, and at other times there will be a shortage.
- Once you have identified the right candidate and the employment offer has been accepted, then ensure your induction process makes it as easy as possible for your new employee to fit in.
As your business grows, so does the need for robust HR systems and processes. Recruiting is a part of such a process, so it's useful to get expert help to implement reliable HR systems and reduce the stress of the finding the right people who can help you grow, and who can grow with you.
A reliable recruitment process is at the heart of employee engagement, so it's critical that your HR system applies the tips above, and delivers a process that your business can follow consistently.
