When running a business, especially a smaller one, you need to readily rely on every single employee. This means attracting and retaining the ideal individuals for specific roles is paramount. Not only that, but your team needs to remain flexible, readily adaptive to growth, and receptive to growth and training opportunities that pertain to their roles.
It’s not easy. None of it is. However, with the right recruitment strategy – especially one informed and shaped around the internal needs spotlighted by HR – onboarding and retaining employees can be a positive and deeply rewarding experience. This can be the case for folks on both sides of the proverbial table.
So, What is Recruitment?
The short and sweet of it is that recruitment is the process of attracting, vetting, onboarding, training, and retaining employees. Therefore, the recruitment process needs to be qualitative rather than quantitative in terms of selection, wasting neither the candidate’s time nor yours by ensuring you are an ideal match for one another. This makes it easier and more efficient to narrow down the list of candidates for a position.
Why is Recruiting Important?
As we’ve alluded to, it’s all about matching. A relationship is a two-way street, and it should neither be on the onus of the candidate nor the employer to individually shoulder all the responsibility. The recruitment selection process aids employers in the creation of engaging, up-to-date, compliant, and easy-to-follow job descriptions and vetting best practices. These are essential in helping to attract candidates that possess all the required skills, certifications, background specifics, and much more.
As a result, through interviews and further onboarding, recruitment helps to ensure a fair, mutually beneficial arrangement if a candidate is selected for the role. How so? The candidate lands a position they’re interested in with a clear understanding of the requirements and expectations. Then, the employer finds an ideal individual to welcome to the team while ensuring the candidate’s expectations are met. Again, it’s a two-way street.
What is the Recruitment Selection Process?
Depending on the circumstances, the recruitment selection process may be intended to address one or more of the following:
- Staffing shortages
- Maternity leaves
- Retirements
- Increased workload strain/pressure on existing staff
- Creation of additional roles of the same type
- Creation of all-new roles with unique sets of responsibilities
The recruitment selection process is about finding the right individual(s) for the position (s) in question, which requires being informed of what exactly you require of them. This means that the employer needs to keep up with the latest certification and compliance-related requirements for the role and operations being considered. Implementing a sound talent acquisition strategy will provide a foundation for your recruitment initiatives.
Here are the steps commonly associated with the recruitment selection process:
Data Analysis
Informing yourself of what is required – and what you should expect from the role to be filled – is crucial if you wish to create not only a position but also a positive, supported, and rewarding experience for the applicant. They’re taking a chance on you, too, after all!
Job Description Generation and Posting/Advertising
After carefully proofing the copy to ensure all the specifics are there, it’s time to put it out there and attract the right talent. Candidates expect flexibility in roles that can be fulfilled with ease remotely (if applicable), a clear and competitive salary range, a glance at day-to-day duties, clearly outlined required skills or certifications, and a separate list of nice-to-haves. You should also clarify what benefits will be made available, whether the role is permanent or contractual, and the desired start date!
Resume/Cover Letter Analysis/Vetting
Once you have received applications that interest you and appear well suited for the role, it’s time to screen them accordingly. This means verifying that the minimum requirements are met, background credentials are sufficient, and a portfolio is provided (if applicable) to align with what you’re looking for.
Interviewing
This is the hard part, especially if you have multiple applicants ideally suited for the role. It’s harder than ever to find a job nowadays with so many folks looking, and this has been worsening as the pandemic has dragged on and public interest in breaking into new, remote roles has exploded. Nevertheless, it’s possible to narrow down the list to two to three interviews, along with some skill-testing and random questions relevant to the role and organizational culture. Dedicated HR staffing and recruiting services can assist by saving you time while freeing up internal resources and manpower.
Onboarding, Probationary Period, and Further Training
Taking on a new employee is an exciting experience, but expectations must be met on both sides of the table. This remains a mutual arrangement, which is why giving each other a fair chance is so important. The probationary period allows the new hire to demonstrate what they are capable of and how they’ll fit into the organizational culture. However, it shouldn’t feel like trying to work in a pressure cooker, either. Mutual respect, support, and openness are essential elements of this stage. If an employee is keen on learning something new, set them up for success by helping to arrange for appropriate training or making available some additional internal resources. Shadowing existing employees may also be handy, along with setting up a “buddy” program and creating opportunities to network and collaborate internally.
What Are the Types of Recruiting?
There are two main types of recruiting. The first is internal recruitment, which involves posting jobs on an employee intranet, bulletin board, or other internal means. This allows current team members to try something new and enjoy a different role if they meet the requirements. In addition, knowing the employee well makes it easier to determine whether they are an ideal fit.
There’s also external recruitment, which is the traditional approach of hiring from outside of your company. This may sometimes include working with staffing agencies that have already vetted and may recommend candidates whom they are helping to find roles.
Tips for Recruiting
Lastly, here are a few pointers to help inform your recruiting endeavours:
Know Your Roles
It’s the employer’s responsibility (and the candidate’s expectation) to have sound knowledge of what is realistically feasible within the context of the role. For example, if you’re hiring for an executive position, you’ll want to ensure the responsibilities are not too stretched, and they can focus on the important details. It may so happen that you’re asking for multiple roles without realizing it, bundling a bevy of specialized responsibilities into one position (and therefore making it harder to fill).
Encourage Specializations and Individuality
As a general best practice, you want to avoid creating Jack-of-all-trades positions, instead focusing on enabling specialists to thrive in unique roles catered to their skill sets. You wouldn’t want to hire a graphic designer with the expectation of them having five years of copywriting experience, for example.
Practice What You Preach When it Comes to Feedback and Support
There’s an unprofessional risk in taking on one individual and expecting them to magically shoulder the workload normally handled by two or more, increasing the risk of burnout and a poor employee experience within your walls. This is especially an issue if their concerns fall on deaf ears or are dismissed, resulting in them feeling unsupported or like they are the ‘problem.’ It is your responsibility as the employer to set everyone up for success, including being just as receptive to feedback as you expect every employee to be. So, quite simply put, be sure to practice what you preach!
What Are the Costs of Recruiting?
The approximate cost of recruiting an employee will vary depending on the finer specifics of the role. Some factors that can drive up costs include the following:
- Specialized training and certifications offered to the employee
- Deploying reliable, business-grade equipment for hybrid/remote work
- Software-related fees
- Advertising spend
- Time and labour associated costs with data analysis, screening, interviewing, and training
- Travel, meal, and accommodation stipends (if applicable)
- Employee salary, benefits, and any added incentives
With recruitment, you’re planning for tomorrow and onwards. Sticking together and being there for one another is just as important as welcoming appropriately skilled and prepared individuals into your world. With practice, patience, and determination, it’s possible to narrow down the list of candidates and create truly special experiences that will benefit your team and the newest hire in tandem. For assistance when it comes to HR, staffing and recruitment, or otherwise, feel free to reach out to us today!
