As anyone who has had the opportunity to lead a team will tell you, a poor hiring choice can create friction in the ranks, sink morale, wreak havoc on productivity, and ultimately cost the company relationships and money. Conversely, a good hire can bring fresh ideas, a positive influence on team dynamics, and establish new connections for the company portfolio.
Finding Top Candidates
For better or worse, long gone are the days when all one needed do to attract an eager, dedicated employee was to affix a “Help Wanted” sign in their shop window. Not that such an approach today wouldn’t attract applicants. It would. It just wouldn’t attract the right applicants. That’s because the kind of employees who are going to invest themselves in the company’s success, devise creative solutions, and bring a forward-thinking perspective to their work aren’t looking in shop windows. They’re looking online.
They’re reading reviews on Glassdoor and checking out the company’s social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And it isn’t enough just to have a presence on these sites if you’re looking to attract top candidates, your content needs to be compelling. This means articulating your company philosophy, work culture, and current projects in a way that inspires interest from a potential employee.
Completing the Sale
Now that you have a candidate’s attention with a meaningful recruitment campaign, you want them to “complete the sale” by applying for the position. Here’s where a user-friendly, yet person-focused application process can make all the difference. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a straight-forward cover letter and CV sent by e-mail, there’s an argument to be made for asking applicants to delve a bit deeper in considering their fit with the company. This can be achieved by answering a few specific questions about their learning preferences, taking a team roles questionnaire or – for managerial positions – asking for a vision statement on where they would take the company. The purpose of these tasks isn’t simply to weed out the unmotivated (although they certainly have this effect), but to engage with applicants beyond a superficial level.
Once you’ve successfully recruited an ideal new member of the team, your next priority is making sure they get a proper orientation to the company. A dynamic organisation is one that is constantly developing, and this goes for its people as much as anything. Making sure employees have the right resources and feedback channels to feel supported in their work is the key to not only helping your team to flourish, but is absolutely essential to retaining top talent. This is where a recruiting tool such as Talentsoft can prove helpful, since it not only organises applications and allows members of a selection committee to review them independently, but there’s also a second phase for managing the chosen candidate’s induction and tracking the feedback process during the probationary period.
Successful recruitment and retention of highly engaged, thoughtful, and effective employees require planning and investment. The time and effort may seem like a burden, but it will continue to pay dividends well into the future.
