Employees are the backbone of any organization and selecting the right candidate is tedious. In any job market – but perhaps never more than in today’s workforce – top talent can come and go in the blink of an eye. If you want to attract and hire top talent, it’s essential that your company has a polished recruitment strategy. Follow these steps to speed up your hiring process:
Use a NetworkESC recruitment specialist. If you don’t have the time to recruit, work with someone who does. Specialists such as NetworkESC use tried-and-tested techniques to place the right candidates in the right roles quickly. Bringing in our company as a consultant to help with the hiring and onboarding process will cost money but save both time and administrative costs.
Put a clear structure in place. It may seem like common sense. But, you would not believe how many times a candidate search goes awry because the hiring has not specified clearly enough the skills needed for the position. Set out a clear and trackable ‘journey’ for your candidates with fixed deadlines that are communicated to everyone. This means you can manage candidate expectations while staying on track with your recruitment goals.
Automate where possible. The less you have to do manually, the quicker the process will be. Make use of automation tools and apps for sifting CVs, tracking applications, and reference checking.
Choose your platforms carefully. If you post on every job board around, you’ll get a lot of applications – but most won’t be right for the role and will take time to process. Consider whether a niche board or platform would work better if it would result in enough applications.
Use social media. If you’ve got a great job advert written, make sure to post it on social media too. This is a dynamic way to get the message out there and boost candidate engagement.
Pre-screen. Tools such as skills tests and telephone interviews are a quick, effective way to weed out candidates who aren’t right for the role at an early stage. This is another area that specialists such as NetworkESC can be best placed to handle.
Only interview the very best candidates. This sounds obvious, but many companies interview many candidates ‘just in case’ – even if they aren’t hitting all of your criteria. Save time by being a little more ruthless and only selecting the very best for the interview.
Consider flexible interviews. If you don’t have to wait for a suitable date for the interview panel and candidate, using telephone or video interviews instead, you can cut days or even weeks from the interview stage.
Look internally. It’s around 1.7 times more expensive to hire externally, rather than hiring a current employee. An internal candidate, who knows the business, its culture, and values, is likely to perform better in the role too.
Use an employee referral program. Current employees are great at identifying people they know who would be a good fit for the role and the company. With an incentive in place, they can do some of the head-hunting for you.