In a challenging economy each and every hiring decision has the ability to make, or break a business, and help realise your goals and objectives. As we enter a long awaited period of growth, with more companies hiring more frequently, global talent shortages will challenge even the largest and usually successful recruiting teams. The associated costs of hiring and retaining, talented, skilled professionals, is a fundamental challenge to every business, with an incorrect hire, or, unfilled position costing your business both opportunity and profitability.
So what might be stopping you from recruiting great talent?
- An over reliance on technology:
Technology has changed each of our lives dramatically and with Applicant Tracking Systems, many firms are now able to maintain and access their own database of potential talent, in addition to using social media, on-line and other recruitment tools. Despite all the advances in technology and the global talent pool, the one thing that remains critical for successful talent acquisition, is, the personal touch. Recruitment is like no other industry in that the end product is an individual whose thoughts and feelings change. Building a trusted relationship between parties throughout the recruitment life-cycle, will help achieve a positive, engaged process and experience for potential job applicants. An over reliance on technology to source, screen, match and contact potential talent could alienate, or lose you just the person you are seeking to recruit.
- One solution fits all:
It is hard to manage any process without a robust structure, or strategy in place, whether you advertise all your roles, have built your own internal talent pool, contract a managed agent, or, work with your selected PSL. To follow the same recruitment process for each and every role, without reflection and relying on a ‘one size fits all’ strategy, could mean you run into difficulties when hiring some roles. Every recruiter knows there are certain skills and positions which will take time to hire, or be difficult to source, when others could be filled within a matter of days. Having a contingency plan and the ability to change your recruitment strategy as and when needed will help you ensure a successful hire.
- Assessments Centres/Interviews:
Assessment centres, or a set interview date, can offer an opportunity to benchmark and hire from a number of individuals in one sitting. It can look like a great solution to get everyone in the same place on one day and close off the position rather than going through a number of interviews over a period of days/weeks. However, the nature of having set dates, is that they can all too often create an inflexible solution, which will inevitably preclude some of the people you want to see. The problem with having very defined slots of availability for interviews, or assessments, is that good candidates, who may be in high demand and those who are working, or, more passively considering select roles, may find it difficult and be reluctant to obtain time off. If you have selected a great short-list of candidates you wish to interview, give every candidate the best opportunity to attend an interview and meet with you. Have some alternative options, or even a few out of hours slots, to help develop initial engagement and commitment. If you do not, you are likely to see a number of drop outs before your interviews, limiting your choice and possible success of your hire.
- Time to Hire:
We have helped organisations recruit who have had a six, or seven stage interview process before making an offer of employment. Although this is unusual in most recruitment campaigns, even for companies with a one, or two stage interview process, the time it takes and management of this process is important to consider if you are to achieve a successful recruitment campaign. However many stages your company has, the development of a timeline before you ‘go to market’ and commitment to stick to this from your stakeholders, will help keep your hiring process in check. In addition, clear communication of your process and time-frames to your recruitment partner, or direct applicants throughout the recruitment process will deliver a great candidate experience and ensure your favoured candidate is still engaged and interested in receiving an offer of employment when you reach that stage.
What do you think, we would welcome your thoughts and comments about your experiences?
If you would like some free help and advice help with your recruitment, or if you are finding a particular role difficult to hire, why not give the team at Douglas Jackson a call on 0845 620 9720 or email us at mail@douglas-jackson.com
Douglas Jackson - Diverse Impactful Leadership 
I agree with the importance of personal relationships, regular communication and flexibility in terms of interviews. My biggest frustration as a candidate is the poor level of communication received from many search agencies and recruiters. Good communication / feedback is a key differentiator in my view.
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Thank you for your comments and response Derek. Your frustration is unfortunately a common issue for candidates when it comes to dealing with recruiters. We know from our experience some recruiters try really hard to give feedback and communicate timelines and processes post interview but we also need to get this information before we can communicate it and this can sometimes be a problem. Giving feedback when you have it following interviews is a practice every recruiter should try to do as a bare minimum. We would also recommend candidates chase up their recruiter if you have been on interview and not heard anything, just in case something has gone amiss.
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Reblogged this on FJWilson Talent and commented:
Anthony Haynes writes: This post by Douglas Jackson, which we reblog here, is likely to ruffle a few feathers, since he challenges some conventional practices — which is fine by us. Essentially Jackson’s argument concerns the inadequacy of lazy recruitment. At FJWilson we wholeheartedly endorse the view that good recruitment can’t be done on auto-pilot: recruitment, done well, requires alertness, agility, and a regard for candidate experience. We haven’t met Douglas Jackson but we sense a meeting of minds, at least where this post is concerned.
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Hello Anthony,
Many thanks for your comments and also for the reblog of the article. Douglas Jackson is our business name, as opposed to an individual here. We are made up of a team of committed and experienced recruitment consultants and individuals who work hard to and believe in delivering recruitment services and solutions which deliver on the customer (both client and candidate) experience. We are really pleased that you liked this post and we really appreciate you sharing.
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Thank you for clarifying – I had meant to check this during the reblogging process.
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