5 New Year’s Re’cruit’ Solutions
The holidays are upon us and the clean slate of the New Year is looming. Now is a great time to take stock of what worked well over the past year, and where you can make improvements to your hiring process. I think we can all agree if you aren’t improving you’re falling behind. The race to hire and retain top talent is relentless and never ending. Here are a few resolutions or ‘recruit solutions’ for you to employ in 2018…
1. Make Hiring a Priority
Hiring always seems to get pushed to the bottom of the list. Oftentimes, the decision to hire is reactive as opposed to proactive – only to fill a need that just became vacant. Hiring the best and the brightest requires a constant push, and networking on a daily basis. Your business is only as good as the team you assemble, so why not make it a priority in 2018.
2. Standardize Your Recruiting Process
There is no reason to find yourself scrambling on interview day. It is important that you get everyone on board. If there are others in the organization that will be involved in the interview process, in an effort to be efficient, make sure everyone knows their role so there is little to no overlap. Ensuring everyone has an equal but different role in the interview process will eliminate the risk of both boring the candidate, and sending the message that there’s a lack of communication and structure within the organization.
3. Executive Recruiting Partners
Aligning with an industry expert to provide high quality candidates is invaluable in this ‘quality candidate’ poor market environment. Once the job requisition has been approved, start your own search – but don’t stop there. You are losing valuable time by not contacting an Executive Recruiter to start your search on a contingency basis, concurrent to yours. Always think of the big picture, and remember that Executive Recruiter fees are an investment in the future of your organization, not a tax on the hiring process.
4. Pipeline of Talent
As a business owner or a hiring authority, you can never be too prepared when it comes to your staffing needs. Rather than putting yourself in a position to be blindsided by the resignation of a key performer, always remain connected to people in your industry. Resignations tend to come at the most inopportune times (there is never a good time). Knowing you have access to a pipeline of top talent in your industry can play a big role in quickly filling your vacant position. Jeff Herzog, President of FPC National said “I spend a lot of my time speaking with hiring managers and connecting them with top-notch candidates, even if they don’t have an opening. This helps them to act quickly when the opportunity to hire someone arises.”
5. Be Competitive
When a candidate says it’s not about the money, guess what? It’s always about the money! Sure, there are many reasons why a candidate decides whether or not to accept an offer, but total compensation package is very high on that list. Of course you have to keep internal salary equity in mind, but it is important to put together a market competitive offer to attract the best candidates. Communicate with your recruiter who has already had these conversations with the candidate and can offer guidance on what will get the candidate to accept your offer.
At the end of the day, it’s the people on your team that drive the engine bringing your company to new heights. Invest your time and energy to build your dream team. Prioritize, develop a process, collaborate with industry experts and be competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. Putting this simple template into action is a great way to kick off the New Year. Good luck and let us know how we can help.
