There’s a balancing act when it comes to the recruitment process. It takes time to do it right and therefore, requires some careful thought, but it also should be efficient and not drag out for too long.
When I’m working with a client, one of the first things I advise is to book in the interviews at the beginning of the process because not doing this is one of the biggest mistakes they make.
Companies who need to fill a role will often go out to the market, talk to agencies, talk to candidates and then try to see when managers are available to book interviews. They often don’t look far enough into the future in terms of managers’ annual leave or public holidays and all of this lengthens the process unnecessarily. By the time the employer is arranging second and third rounds, candidates are dropping out of the process because they’re in demand and also, they lose interest in the role.
If you get book interview dates before you’ve even putout the job spec, it focuses you and keeps the process on track. It also means that when you’re speaking to a candidate on day one, you’ll be able to say when exactly interviews will be happening. This signals to candidates that there’s a real intent to hire and they know what to expect.
When you’re thinking about the timeline for your recruitment process, it’s also important to consider notice periods. That’s another area where people make mistakes, because for senior hires it’s quite normal to have a three-month notice period.
For example, we worked a role last year, which was maternity leave cover and it was a very senior appointment and people in that area had a three-month notice period. So in cases like that, you really need to work back to the start date of the candidate, assume a long notice period and start hiring as soon as possible. Most roles are more urgent than companies realise until they make the mistakes themselves.
If a company doesn’t have a recruitment plan in place, they can end up stumbling through the process. They might do a first round, then they’re not sure who will be attending the second round or when it might be. Then another senior partner or stakeholder might decide they want to meet the candidate, so you’re bringing them in a third time. All of this can be very frustrating for a candidate and they can quickly lose interest, particularly when other companies are racing through a process.
We all have examples where we could be working with a candidate through the recruitment process with one firm, and they drop off during the process because they’re getting job offers elsewhere, particularly when they have a high-demand skillset.
My advice would be to put the time in at the beginning, plan your process, plan your dates, know which managers are going to be conducting the interviews and think about what questions you’re going to ask to make the process as seamless as possible.
I would also advice employers to think about what you’re looking for and know what the business really needs. Sometimes when somebody resigns, your immediate instinct is to replace them with someone who can fill that job exactly as the previous person did, but that’s not always the right move.
Maybe the organisation has moved beyond where it was when it first needed that person. Maybe now it’s time to make that role wider or senior, or scale it up into two people. Perhaps there’s an internal person that could be moulded into it, or maybe you can change an up-and-coming employee’s role to give them an opportunity to grow.
You don’t always have to replace someone if they leave. So, companies should closely examine what they actually need and what is the right thing for the business as opposed to a direct replacement.
Looking to hire top talent or improve your recruitment process? Check out our hiring solutions or talk to me by email at gerard.doyle@recruiters.ie or on the phone at +353 1 632 5024.
By Gerard Doyle
Gerard Doyle is the managing director of RECRUITERS
Pocket watch photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash
