As the face of the organisation during the recruitment process, hiring managers have a significant responsibility to their organisation, the candidates, and the recruitment consultants engaged to fill the position.
The following tips will help you manage the hiring process well from start to finish.
- Endeavour to know your team, and anticipate where possible exits might occur. A good manager will know her or his team well enough to identify an issue in the distance.
- If you are faced with a vacancy, ensure that the recruiter representing you in the marketplace is reputable. She or he will be representing both your personal and corporate brand so get referrals rather than rely on Google.
- Provide detailed job descriptions with appropriate job titles. Avoid internal terminology.
- Spend time with your recruiter before you embark on the recruitment process. This will result in less time spent managing people out of your business.
- Choose how you go to market, and employ the services of a specialist recruiter if you don’t have the expertise in-house as wrong hires can be very costly for all involved. If you engage one recruitment agency, and they are the right agency, you will get better results.
- Develop a strong relationship with your recruiter so you can call her or him for a consultation in advance of your team’s performance reviews. Recruitment consultants can also be a great source of advice when it comes to restructuring your team.
- Responsibility falls on the hiring manager to ensure that all information relating to the job offer is clear. It is also prudent to ask if the candidate would accept the job on a particular salary, once they progress to the latter stage of the process. This is known as ‘pre-closing’ and can remove a lot of uncertainty at the final job-offer stage.
- Take the time to engage leading recruitment consultants and discuss your team’s needs in detail. This will greatly enhance your organisation’s chance of making the right hire.
- Once the new employee has accepted the position, responsibility for talent retention lies primarily with the hiring manager. All on-boarding activities should be prepared and coordinated to ensure the new employee becomes productive in the shortest timeframe possible.
- Employees who are clear on what is required of them and how their efforts contribute to the overall success of the organisation will quickly develop a sense of engagement with their daily work. Conduct frequent performance reviews to maintain engagement, recalibrate objectives, drive productivity and identify training opportunities for the mutual benefit of the individual and the team.
- Provide mentoring opportunities with other more senior members of the organisation, and opportunities to work with other teams. This will broaden the new employee’s skill set and could also help deepen their sense of connection with the organisation.
- Fill vacancies internally where possible. Aside from the significantly shorter period it takes an internal hire to add value, the capability to redeploy resources and offer lateral moves and promotions is a proven talent retention strategy as employees see opportunities for progression and a proven non-monetary reward for hard work and loyalty. The scope to move employees internally has a short-term benefit for the organisation also, as specialist resources can be used to optimum effect.
- Rather than conduct the standard exit interview associated with a new hire, consider anonymous online surveys on a regular basis for former employees. This would allow for frank appraisals and negate the potential to tarnish anyone’s reputation.
For more career advice and information, download your copy of Career Guide 2016 today.