Steve Jobs once rightfully said that for any HR professional or business owner, “Hiring the best is your most important task.”
Hiring the wrong employee can be costly to the organization, damaging to the work environment, and also very time- consuming. On the other hand, hiring the right employee can bring immense benefits in terms of increased productivity, better ideas, enhancement of work environment, and more.
Each person you hire will thus be either an asset or a liability, and each employee will ultimately contribute to either making or breaking your organization. Understanding that hiring is such a crucial aspect of every organization, here are a few hiring tips that could help you make better recruitments:
1. Choose Personality over Skill: Most recruiters have a knack for skill hunting and they usually focus almost entirely on skill sets when making hiring decisions. What you must realize is that skills can be learned, and it is better to focus on personality- which is more concrete. For instance, an empathetic person could make for a good nurse, and an extrovert would be better for client relations.
2. Involve your employees in the hiring process: A better team fit can be achieved in new hires by involving your current employees in the hiring process. Involving employees in the hiring process will give you a better understanding as to what kind of employee is required to fill in the current vacancy. It will also give your current employees a sense of involvement, and they will be more likely to assist the new recruit in on-boarding and to fit into the organization quickly.
3. Pay slightly better than your competitors: The job market is highly competitive for both job-seekers and employers. Advertising a slightly better pay than your competitors can attract a larger pool of candidates which could potentially include better candidates. Setting the pay to around 5-10 percent extra on what other competing organizations are offering is not really such a huge difference; considering that it can provide better candidates who can potentially help you earn more. If you are offering low salaries, remember the Chinese proverb- “If you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys.”
4. Focus on the interests of the candidates: When advertising job postings, do not focus only on what is required of the candidate, but also on what your organization can do for the candidates. Mention ways in which your organization can help the candidates in their careers, and the benefits they can gain from working with you. This provides more motivation for good job seekers to want to apply for a job at your company. However, be transparent and don’t make any false promises.
5. Pre-screen Candidates: Hiring processes are often very time-consuming. A good way to avoid unnecessary waste of time and effort is to pre-screen candidates. Instead of inviting a candidate for an interview simply on the basis of a resume, you should first reach him/her over the phone or video call. You can identify his/her salary expectations and get a basic idea of personality and traits. You should also provide a general description of the organization and duties to be performed. Invite the candidate for further screening only when both your requirements and expectations are in sync.
6. Be quick: Researches have shown that good candidates don’t remain in the job market for more than 10 days before they are hired. As mentioned, hiring processes are highly competitive and if you don’t act in time, you’ll lose good candidates. Slow hiring can also be damaging to company reputation, - branding you as slow decision makers, and there are many hidden costs associated with it. If you find any candidate that meets your requirements, its best to be quick in bringing him/her in.
7. Provide status updates: Most job seekers get frustrated when you leave them hanging and uninformed during your recruitment process. Updating them on the hiring process on a timely basis will firstly help you keep hold of good candidates, and secondly, allow for a more professional outlook for your organization. It also has the added benefit of avoiding those persistent and untimely calls and emails from candidates inquiring about the status of their recruitment.
