As any HRM practitioner will tell you, finding and retaining good employees is often easier said than done.
Aside from an increasingly picky workforce, making the wrong hiring decisions is getting more expensive as the years go by.
What are some of the things that should inform your recruitment decisions to ensure you get the best candidates each time?
Here are a few pointers.
1. Encourage Collaboration
Sifting through, and picking new hires should be a collaborative effort not just involving department heads but other employees as well.
Teamwork exposes blind spots and helps you get invaluable insights from a candidate’s would-be colleagues.
Remember that being able to fit in well is a huge determinant of their success as well as how long they will remain in your organization.
2. Stay in Tune With Industry Trends
HR is a dynamic field.
Taking human resources courses and attending conferences and seminars is one way to ensure you stay on top of the changes in the industry.
Similarly, consider joining professional groups and communities on social media for networking and learning purposes.
3. Engage in Passive Recruitment
Active recruitment means you have a deadline by which you should have filled in a position.
At times, the pressure might lead recruiters to settle for a less-than-perfect candidate simply because they are pressed for time.
A better way to go about hiring is by scouting for talent way before a position becomes available.
You can do this by looking at professional sites that allow you to view bios and resumes, without necessarily making contact with a candidate.
With a few good candidates from these sites, you can create a database to draw from once a position falls vacant.
4. Use Pre-Assessment and Aptitude Tests
Aptitude tests are getting more and more focused to help employers identify candidates with the attitudes, personalities, and specific competencies required for different roles.
When done at the beginning of the process, they can help you narrow down your search to the candidates that fit the profile you are looking for. These can then advance to the next stage.
Alternatively, you can introduce the tests at the tail end of your recruitment process.
If you have 3 to 5 great candidates with similar qualities, you can use assessment tests to help you identify and pick the highest scorer as your chosen candidate.
5. Hone Your Marketing and Selling Skills
Hiring is a two-way street.
While candidates are trying to impress you, you also have to impress them. This is the only way to attract the best talent in the market and keep them.
In essence, a recruiter has to sell their company to prospective employees by pitching the benefits of working there.
Recruiters that do this exceptionally well tend to attract the best candidates.
6. Create a Great Working Environment
Selling your company and painting yourself as an ideal employer can get you good employees but it can’t retain them unless you are indeed a good employer.
It’s, therefore upon you to drive the changes and institute policies that will help you retain your employees.
Some of the things you can look into are creating a positive work culture where employees can freely communicate and showcase their talents.
Similarly, flexi-time and remote working options are desirable options, especially for millennials.
Another thing is having a clear career path where an employee knows how their career ascension within your company looks like, and how to get there.
Roll With the Punches
Bear in mind that HR is a ‘people business’.
This brings together an interesting mix of personalities which will undoubtedly make for some rather complex situations.
Therefore, your best-laid plans and strategies will not always fall into place. And this is okay.
Your role is to keep learning, re-evaluating, and bettering yourself to get the best brains to drive your organization forward.
