Recruitment projects can sometimes drag on. Holidays, illness, and your day-to-day responsibilities all get in the way of an accelerated process.
While there is no doubt that rushed decisions can lead to poor hires, your slow process might result in you missing out on your perfect candidate because your competition moved quicker.
So, what can you do to speed up your process and ensure that you give yourself the best chance to secure your perfect hire?
What Are You Looking For?
Before you can start the recruitment process, you need to know exactly what you are looking for. If you have a more vague picture of your ideal candidate, you can end up wasting the first 2 or 3 interviews while you use them to refine your requirement. A little more time at this point can save time in the long run. Liaise with team members, the current (or previous) incumbent and any other relevant stakeholders to define the necessary skills and experience for your role so you know exactly what and who you are looking for.
Hire From Within
Is there someone already within the business who can step into the vacancy? There might be someone who has skills and experience that aren’t getting used in their current role – skills and experience that are perfect for your vacancy. You can save on the various costs of an external hire (advertising, training etc) and there’s less risk as you already know the work ethic and personality of the individual. It’s also fantastic for employee engagement when you can walk the walk as far as career progression is concerned.
Use an Agency
We would say that, wouldn’t we? But the recruitment process has many aspects, all taking you away from your day-to-day responsibilities. How much time do you have to write an advert, research the best places for that advert to go, screen applications, reply to unsuccessful applicants, call candidates to arrange interviews, conduct the interviews, contact the unsuccessful candidates with feedback, negotiate the salary with the successful candidate and manage them through their resignation process and notice period? A recruitment agency can do almost all of that for you.
Be Flexible with Your Interviews
This can sometimes be the most difficult part of the process. The more people involved in the process, the harder it is to coordinate diaries. Your candidates may need a few days to get time off or might be limited with the number of holidays they have left. While a face-to-face interview is probably the best option, if possible, can you utilise video technology that everyone is more comfortable with now? Can you stay behind in the evening to meet candidates after they have finished work? Can you jump in the car and meet them halfway at a coffee shop? All of these things can help get the interview completed quicker and also demonstrates your own commitment to them.
Same Day Offers
If you interview someone and you are confident that they are right for your vacancy, why wait? Adding unnecessary time into any stage of the process gives opportunities for problems to arise. Yes, you will no doubt have a process that needs followed from an HR perspective, but can you give a verbal offer with the official documentation to follow? Your candidate may be sitting with other job offers on the table with recruiters and Hiring Managers asking them for a decision. If you delay, they may have already accepted an alternative offer by the time you make yours.
Ultimately, the importance you give to a recruitment process will influence your ability to attract the best candidates.
If we can be of any assistance to you with your recruitment requirements, please call 01383 641 222 or email hello@canmorerecruitment.com
5 Ways to Speed Up Your Hiring Process
