‘The cost of a bad hire is three times more than the salary’ (REC, 2017).
To find and secure top talent, a well-planned recruitment strategy is vital. But where do you begin?
1. Starting sooner rather than later! It takes time to find and embed the right person into a role.
2. Consider if there is anyone internally who, with support and development, could slide into the role. If hiring internally, remember to consider the time needed to backfill the role, plus any development time required. The timing of hiring internally can be reduced with the right succession planning.
3. Run a proper process to ensure you find and hire the best person for the role, team and company rather than falling into the trap of hiring quickly or only considering those who are actively looking. A thorough process that includes headhunting allows you access to those who are not actively looking, widening your pool of candidates. The benefits of a thorough search and competitive process include better quality candidates and increased diversity, and therefore a better choice of candidate.
4. Carefully consider your requirements. This is a golden opportunity to revise an existing role and bring in fresh thinking, and diversity which could overcome any skills and competency gaps in your team.
Begin by mapping your current team’s skills and competencies to understand your starting point before drawing up a thorough job description, and person specification and agreeing on the interview criteria.
Make sure your ‘essential’ criteria really are essential to keep your candidate pool and options as broad as possible. Don’t fall into the trap of hiring a clone. As Matthew Syed states ‘Hiring a clone of yourself only duplicates your weaknesses’.
5. Keep the recruitment process streamlined! 60% of job seekers have dropped out of a hiring process because it was too lengthy or complicated. The phrase ‘time kills deals’ is as true now as ever. Keep top talent interested and within the process by keeping it streamlined, straightforward and enjoyable.
6. Provide a clear onboarding process. Research suggests companies with a formal onboarding process experience 54% greater new hire productivity, 50% greater new hire retention, and a 36% decrease in time to productivity. Your recruitment strategy shouldn’t stop at a job offer. Plan to have a clear onboarding process that welcomes your new team member and sets them up for success.
Remember, finding and embedding the right person is an investment (of time and money) in your organisation’s future, and it’s worth the time and effort to get it right.