Marketing Director
Getting the right candidate through to offer stage may feel difficult and there’s certainly a lot that can go wrong.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for candidates to accept a different role or no longer be interested by the time you’re ready to make an offer. When you consider the time invested reviewing profiles and meeting candidates, not to mention the cost of not having someone in post, this can be a devastating blow to any manager.
If this has recently happened to you or you’re about to hire someone, try and limit the frustration by reading our 7 tips on how to create an effective recruitment process.
Creating an effective recruitment process
1. Set out a well-defined hiring strategy
This should incorporate a clear understanding of what you need, how you’re going to find it, who’s involved in the decision and what the timelines are. This may seem obvious, but check everyone’s availability and create a project plan, ensuring everyone is looking for the same thing.
2. Make recruitment your priority
There will always be existing deadlines or tasks to complete but recruitment needs to be your priority. The best candidates ‘expire’ quickly; you’ll simply waste your time if you don’t more as quickly as the market (or quicker). It’s better to postpone recruitment if it can’t be your priority.
3. Work with an experienced recruitment specialist
Having a recruitment partner who understands your business, culture and industry will streamline candidate sourcing and communications, saving you time. A good consultant will structure the process around you, highlight risks and challenge you to prioritise when required.
4. Have a fast interviewing and decision-making process in place
If your interviewing process is drawn out, you will lose out on the best candidates – it’s in your best interest to work through the process within two weeks or less.
5. Understand your candidate and the competition
Get close to the candidates through your recruitment consultant. Understand their ideals, what it is they’re looking for, their timelines and where else they’re interviewing. Ask what the pros and cons are for each opportunity then highlight the great aspects of your role and organisation.
6. Trust your instinct and have the confidence to make a decision
When you meet a great candidate, put pressure on others in the process to move quickly (because that’s what your competition will be doing). You need to give yourself the opportunity to make the right offer to the right candidate, there’s no reason why that can’t happen quickly.
7. It’s not over until it’s over!
Once a verbal offer has been accepted the process doesn’t stop there. Make sure a written offer is made as quickly as possible, ideally within 24 hours by post and email. Keep the candidate engaged through their notice period, a great way to do this is to meet them for a coffee or invite them to meet the team during their notice period. This creates an emotional bond to your organisation and reminds them why they accepted your offer – don’t let them be seduced by someone else.
If you are an employer who is looking for help with their next hire, contact us today and we’d be happy to help.
