The cost of living crisis sharply reminded us that prices tend to go up over time. The same is true for recruitment. And especially so as we ready ourselves for the day one unfair dismissal rights set to be reintroduced.
Aside from the heightened risk of employment tribunal in those first two years of hiring, you are probably acutely aware of the time and money it takes. Advertising, appraising applications, interviewing, and then the resources required to train them up. When it doesn’t work out, it may be back to the drawing board, back to your bank account!
There are other potential costs too. Fail to spot a bad apple and you may find your company culture eroded by a disruptive attitude, poor attendance or persistent underperformance. And then there is the opportunity cost of not picking the gamechanger – the person your business was crying out for that slipped through your fingers.
A survey in 2024 found that more than 52% of hires left their role within the first six months because of “shift shock” – a role not meeting their expectations.
With so much at stake each time you hire, it pays to have strong recruitment processes; and better still, work on improving them every time.
Here are five areas to focus on to give your recruitment the best chance.
One – Prepare an excellent job description and person spec
Your job description is one of your top opportunities to sell the role and your company mission to the candidates you truly wish to attract.
Be accurate, if it helps speaking to the rest of your team about what is really involved and required of the successful candidate, take the time to do this. To give yourself the best chance of capturing the interest of top talent, don’t just list bullet points! Tell a story about the difference your company and the role makes, talk about the benefits of working within your team and the prospects for personal and career development.
Once you have written your job description, use it to draw out the key knowledge skills and attitude required to fill this post and put them down in the person spec. Think carefully: do they really need a degree? Requesting this may limit your good options unnecessarily.
Two – Advertise the job effectively
Einstein said the definition of madness is repeating the same thing and expecting different results. If you have been getting poor quality candidates, consider additional places you can advertise your job roles.
Places to consider include social media, industry events, universities and higher education careers centres, a referral scheme via your own staff and external recruiting services. It is good practice to choose at least two places to advertise jobs to attract a more diverse talent pool.
Consider putting a process in place to allow blind CVs for selection once the applications start coming in. This is a way of reducing unconscious bias and is something many leading brands already do.
Three – Maintain good communication
Whether a candidate is successful or not, going through your recruitment process will make a strong impression. For the unsuccessful candidate, if you ghost them, are rude or dismissive, you may generate negative word of mouth from them or lose a potential future customer.
And if the person who makes it through has had a poor experience of your recruitment process, it may sour the relationship from the start. Perhaps they will even opt for a rival based on a bad first impression rather than accept your offer.
To counter this, get a process in place which makes it easy for you to reply professionally and compassionately to all candidates, clearly indicate the next steps and timescales to candidates moving forwards, be punctual yourself with appointments. Especially after you have made an offer, keep your communication up, maybe have them in for an orientation day, to reduce the risk of you being pipped at the post.
Four – Interview well
Job interviews can be notoriously nerve-wracking for candidates, but there is pressure on you too. As well as discerning whether they should make the cut, ensure you sell your business and create the right impression.
The interview is your chance to really evaluate your shortlisted candidates, but don’t fall into the trap of just focusing on competency. For a successful hire, it will be just as important to ensure they fit with your company culture and have the right behavioural attributes for the role.
Refer to your person spec to prepare questions that ensure they match, and consider whether an ability test will help give you clarity. The threat of discrimination can arise at interview: Ensure that you offer reasonable adjustments where necessary.
Five – Nail the induction
Even once they have started, the work is not done. It may be switching to retention but this is essential in order to avoid having to immediately go through the whole recruitment process again.
Make them feel welcome, cover the basics like health and safety and your company policies. Assigning a mentor or buddy is a great way to take some burden off you as a leader, whilst ensuring they have someone to support them and help them acclimatise to their new role.
We can help
One other tip, perhaps the biggest: ALWAYS take up references!
At The HR Dept, we help businesses with every aspect of the employment life-cycle, from recruitment to retirement and redundancy. If you would like support with any or all of the ideas mentioned above, please talk to us and we will help you build a winning team.
