Working from home 100% may be going away, but hybrid work is here to stay. A big part of achieving business goals and scaling an organization is hiring and retaining the right team. It's also important to execute strategies so you're not wasting time and resources on the wrong candidates.
Here are 21 tips our clients have used to streamline their hiring.
Free up scheduling back and forth about interview availability by committing to preset, weekly interview times up front.
Think about what you expect the new hire to accomplish then reverse engineer the job description from those goals.
Acknowledge that giving a job opening to 4 external agencies won’t yield 4x the résumés.
Show your commitment to the hire and get more attention from headhunters by offering an exclusive or 2 week head start to your top performing agency.
Avoid starting new searches from scratch by having recruiters constantly inform you of local competitors that have the skillsets you also need for your team.
Ask your current team members for referrals from their peers at previous employers.
If you had a job opening go on hold then reopen after a period of time, evaluate what’s changed in your business and adjust the new job description to explain the new needs.
When you’re replacing an employee who resigned, audit the current team for what skills you could now use more or less of, rather than trying to replicate the incumbent.
Target less obvious candidates by considering what they “used to be” before being promoted to their current role. Communicate previous job titles with your recruiters as another way to source prospects.
Get a better understanding of a candidate’s qualifications before you interview them by having your recruiters ask preset screening questions about their accomplishments and experiences.
Use interviewing as a branding opportunity. Treat candidates so well during interviews, they tell their peers about the experience and are even inclined to refer their colleagues to you.
Even with exploratory interviews, have a role in mind to evaluate the candidate against. “We just look for smart people”, isn’t a job description.
Realize that years of experience is a subjective KPI. Instead, focus on the abilities needed to do the job.
If your interview process is long with many steps, be transparent with candidates each step of the way and stay close to the contenders so they don’t lose interest.
Keep your recruiters focused on your search over their other clients by providing résumé and interview feedback within 48 hours.
Keep interviews running smoothly by preparing beforehand. Read through candidates’ résumés prior the meeting and draft specific questions and talking points. Make sure other team members involved in interviewing do the same.
If you’re concerned about a candidate’s choppy job history, ask them about what they accomplished in the short time they spent at each employer. How did the companies they worked at get back their ROI?
Eliminate bias when you’re on the fence about a candidate by asking your team, “what risks do we see in hiring this person and what info would we need to feel more comfortable about moving forward with them?”
Employee retention starts at the interview. Clearly define the upward mobility of an opening and talk to candidates about their ambitions, so both align long-term.
Eliminate last minute surprises with offer negotiations by gathering salary expectations from the recruiter early in the process.
Ensure a new hire will definitely show up after accepting your offer by keeping in touch with them periodically until the start date.