Hiring processes designed for success
To get the right people for the job, a carefully designed recruitment strategy is absolutely essential. The people you employ will represent your company and they need to be great at what they do. Begin with a thorough job description. You will need to understand precisely the experience and skills that are required to carry out the principal elements of the role. That way you’ll know what’s needed and where the bar must be set.
Consider putting together a success profile. For those that are already doing the job well, what makes them successful? For example, in a sales role, those with the highest sales. What makes them good at what they do? And for those that are less successful, what’s going wrong? This will help you to identify the key strengths and characteristics of the ideal candidate.
Once you’ve identified candidates on paper that appear to fit the job and success profile, invite them to interview. Consider having a colleague with you for at least some of the interview; that way you can get another point of view and discuss the candidate post meeting. To get the best out of interviewees, you need to really engage with them. Go over their CV and make the interview personal to them. Begin with some straightforward questions to put the candidate at ease, then move onto the more complex areas as the interview becomes more relaxed.
Encourage questions; this can really help to move the process on from a formal interview to that of a conversation, again allowing you to get the best out of a candidate. You might need to interview candidates two or three times. Or ask them to undertake a practical task related to the role; or perhaps a presentation. This will give you a great indication as to their capabilities, rather than merely relying upon what you’ve been told and their stock responses to classic interview questions. Employing someone is, after all, an important decision, with the potential costs of poor hires extending far beyond the headline cost of recruitment.
Organisational fit goes far beyond core competencies
In bringing people into your professional life, you want to know that you’re doing right by your company and your existing team. The person you’re bringing on board needs to have more than simply the qualifications and experience; they will also need to fit into your organisation’s culture. So the recruitment process must assess the degree to which a potential candidate will, indeed, fit.
Think about your strategy for on-boarding new hires. Again it can be useful to have others meeting potential employees in order to assist with this facet of the recruitment process. This person will also be representing your business; are you happy with the public profile they will present? And clearly you will also want to retain the best talent. A cultural fit is also essential in this regard.
A successful business relies upon attracting and retaining the best talent. Set the bar high and ensure that yours does just, with a well thought-out strategy designed to identify and attract the best possible new hires.
