Recruitment – Back to Basics

As many companies continue to experience financial stress or have decided to freeze their hiring and recruitment processes, there are many that are constantly hiring specifically from their direct competitors that are laying off employees. However, many of them might be foregoing a proper talent acquisition process in order to just fill positions as soon as possible. As HR Professionals and CEOs, we need to step back and take a look at our talent acquisition processes to reflect if we are hiring the right talent versus hiring candidates just to fill positions while skipping steps in the recruitment process. Let’s not forget that hiring the right talent is crucial to any organization. As basic as this sounds, companies are starting to focus on quantity and not quality. Taking a step back and reinforcing your talent acquisition strategies, or as I call it, going back to Recruiting 101, will help you find, select, and hire the best candidates out there. 

Why is going back to basics, or Recruitment 101, important? Filling positions as fast as possible can lead to inadequate hiring that can be not only harmful for your team and company, but will also result in a loss of time, money, and effort by recruiting, hiring and training people who perhaps shouldn't have been brought on in the first place. According to the Harvard Business Review, 80% of employee turnover is the result of bad hiring decisions. As we continue to hire candidates without fully taking the time to undertake a proper recruitment process, we could hire a candidate who might turn out to be a bad hiring decision. 

What do I mean by going back to basics? One reason we might not be conducting full recruitment processes is the pressure and urgency the business has to fill these roles. As an example, some time back, a colleague of mine called me to assist her in a recruiting process. When we were interviewing the candidate, the candidate seemed great for the role, the company was happy with the candidate and they were really looking forward to this new hire. However, I continued with the standard procedure, including  one of the last steps: reference checks. It turned out that this supposed ex-Meta employee never worked there, and he had been fired from his former company and not laid off. This candidate would’ve been a bad hire for the company. Unfortunately, the candidate was taking advantage of the current layoffs that are happening right now. Therefore, I urge all HR practitioners and CEOs to follow all of the stages of the recruitment process without skipping any step just to fill the position as soon as possible. Like I mentioned before, a bad hire costs more than taking your time to go through a professional hiring process. 

How to Navigate the Sea of Candidates:

HR departments have the task of navigating a sea of candidates to find the best recruits. The number of applicants might be intimidating, but it’s also quite easy to filter out candidates who do meet the minimum requirements if you follow the correct process. So, let’s go back to basics:

Resume review:

To begin the search, we must understand what to look for when reviewing a resume. Look for someone who has the core of what you need. Focus on these two points:

• Skills/Competencies: Which skills do candidates need to start working, and which ones can they learn? Finding someone who speaks several languages is harder than finding someone comfortable with learning to use your company's ERP.

• Experience: Does your hiring need allow you to spend time training, or do you need someone to start working as soon as possible? This determines the level of seniority you require for the position.

Be practical. Good candidates can do the job, especially if you can provide training. Losing time trying to find the perfect candidate hurts your organization's productivity.

The Interview Process:

Each interview must have a clear objective to determine if the candidate has the skills and experience declared in their resume. 

HR screening call: This screening interview sets up salary expectations and gives an overview of the candidate’s experience, personality, and mindset. You can identify if the candidate does fit with the culture and mission of the company as well as meeting the minimum requirements set for the role. 

Interview with the hiring manager: This interview usually focuses on the technical skills of the candidate. This interview is crucial to measure if the candidate has mastered the knowledge and expertise that the role requires. 

Practical Tests:

Although this step is not applicable for many positions, it can help you reach a strategic decision during the process. Practical tests measure the skills of the candidate. The test should focus on what you need to measure. Keep in mind that broad tests consume too much time for both the candidate and the reviewer. Additionally, many candidates may drop out during this process, so it’s important to analyze which key positions require this step in the recruiting process. 

Reference Check:

This step is usually frowned upon, but it can be one of the most important. Reference checks can be one of the steps in the recruitment process that many HR practitioners might want to skip. Why? It's time consuming, could cause a legal liability (it might be illegal to ask certain questions), and many references do not pick up the phone or won’t answer emails, delaying the recruitment process. As a result, many HR practitioners tend to skip this step to move faster. However, according to research from Checkster, 78% of job applicants lie during the hiring process. A well-conducted reference check allows you to double-check with previous managers and colleagues the veracity of what the candidate stated in the interviews and on his/her resume. You can also learn about their performance in their former role and company. 

Focus on confirming what you already know during the reference check process, and try to find out more about the candidates. For instance; 

• Background: Ask for the exact employment dates. How long did they work in that position and what were the reasons for leaving. 

• Contribution: Ask if the candidate had the results they claimed during the interviews. Is there something they were particularly good at?

• Attitude: Ask about the candidate’s attitude toward the workplace. How was their relationship with their colleagues? Were they always punctual? How was their performance?

• Skills: Ask what they excelled at and what were their weak points. Did they see them improve in any area during their time working together?

As 2023 continues to unfold, companies will continue with their hiring processes; however, we as HR Practitioners, CEOs, and business owners must maintain the quality of the hiring processes that we currently have in place in order to continue hiring the right talent. Good recruitment is crucial, especially when labor markets are tight. However, taking a few moments to consider the cost-effectiveness of your hiring practices can help you save money as basic as this sounds. So, make sure you conduct a thorough yet friendly recruitment process in order to continue to attract and select top-grade candidates for your company.