The Perfect Match
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The UK job market is changing rapidly and sourcing high-quality talent is challenging.
A recent report should that an overwhelming 78% of candidates are dropping or considering dropping out of a hiring process due to the complex and lengthy procedure. According to the same report here’s what most recruiters attribute their issues to:
Although we can’t fix all of this for you, we can help you spot the issues and give you tips on how to fix them.
A main point and one that you, as an employer, can’t forget is that there is a general disconnect between candidates and employers. Only 9% of HR employers believe their hiring process is complicated, despite a third of candidates exiting the process for the same reason. This is a concerning statistic at a time when skills are short supply – almost half HR employers claiming they are unable to find qualified candidates to fill roles.
Most interview processes are missing the point of this part of the hiring stages because they are becoming too transactional. You, as an employer, are trying to fill the position, and the candidate is trying to get a job. However, it is by making this process less transactional and trying to build a relationship that the hiring process is humanised and both parties are put at ease – making it easier to reach common ground and be able to have an open conversation about the true potential of the hire.
Skill assessments are a significant part of the hiring process for technical heavy roles – which makes sense. It is hard to conclude if an individual is actually as experienced as they look on they CV’s. However, skill assessments are a gate way for unconscious bias. A way to avoid any unconscious bias that might occur is by creating technical tests with peers such as pair programming and code challenges and base the final decision on the result of the tests.
Job descriptions are the most important piece in getting the right talent pool to apply to your job. You should have an internal discussion about the job requirements with everyone in your team. A way to avoid a long list of very specific skills is having two separate lists: a skills required and a recommended skillset. Candidates are more likely to apply for you position if you have these two sections.
When the entire recruitment process has been outsourced to third-part, problems are bound to happen. This is simply because their vision will not be as clear as yours as your company is not part of the recruitment agency. If you do outsource all of the process, make sure you have at least one person to manage and pay a close look in order to ensure that you are hiring what is best for you, not what’s best for the agency.
You do have other options that wouldn’t include fully outsourcing everything. The online world gives you many tools to help you expand your reach as an internal recruiter – allowing you to find the perfect fit. Many companies rely on social media (LinkedIn and Facebook) as well as job boards (Boardrm) to be as cost effective as possible, optimise workflow and a more efficient way of tracking applicants. The features will depend on the platform and on what you are looking for. Job boards especially are a crucial element of recruitment strategy because they attract the best candidates as they give you access to an active talent tool as well as give you visibility with passive candidates.
Regardless of the platform you use, you should always have a dedicated employee to supervise the process.
We have all seen it. You finish writing the job description, post the ad out and a couple of days later you’ve received an email from your manager asking to change the requirements. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If the team realised there’s a spealing mistake or they realised there’s one important skill that needs to be listed, it’s alright to change the job description. However, try not to fall into a pattern of adding skills and changing requirements because that can negatively impact your hiring journey. On top of this, a lot of candidates state they have received offers that require skills they don’t have, which could be a result of the change in requirements described above. The only way to fix this is to make sure your job description is perfect and lists what you need, add in keywords and only reach out to candidates that have the experience and skill set you need.
Speaking of keywords, when you are drafting your job ad or when looking for professionals on apps like LinkedIn, keywords play a significant role. For example, you are looking for web designer but you are searching for a web developer, you won’t find candidates that fit into what you are looking for. So make sure that you use the right terms and job titles in your search!
The recruitment process is rarely a one-man job and it shouldn’t be. If only one person is doing all the hiring, they most likely are not weighing all their options. Plus, the new hire will be working with multiple people and they should be involved in the process and the final decision. By getting more colleagues involved and having multiple opinions, you can make sure you are making the best choice for the role and the company.
Your interview process looks just as it did five years ago.
The recruitment process, like any other business procedure should evolve through time – specially with the advances in technology. But some HR professionals are still relying on outdated processes that will slowdown and complicate the hiring of a new employee. You need to use technologies and tools that are designed to make recruitment easier in your favour. Our tip is to stay up to date and search for new ways to incorporate systems and tools into your recruitment process without obviously sacrificing the quality or the individuality of hiring. Some of these tools could be for example an ATS or incorporating video interviewing in the early stages of the process.
Your talent brand has taken a hit.
Talent brand is essentially how talent (your staff and potential employees) views and brands your organisation. If your job ad isn’t getting the number of candidates you were expecting, your talent brand is likely to blame. A poor talent brand can damage your company pass the recruitment process. A recent study concluded that 69% of job seekers are less likely to buy from a company they had a poor experience with during a recruitment process. A way to avoid this, is to cultivate a good positive talent brand. Remember that the recruitment process as a whole is a two-way street. Just as candidates are trying to impress you, you are also trying to impress the candidates and you should be trying to show the value of joining your team.
Even if, for example, the candidate is not fit for the role, after the interview send out an email asking for general feedback – not only so you can improve but also to show the candidate that you value their opinion.
For more on attracting and retaining top talent here
