7 ways to optimise your hiring structure

By Tristan Amin

Attracting and then hiring top talent for your organisation has never been more important, however it can often be a challenging and time-consuming process if not done correctly. It’s important to structure the hiring process as efficiently as possible in order to ensure that you attract the best candidates.?

Having an effective system will help save you time, money, and effort throughout the recruitment process. We’ve put together 7 ways to optimise your own hiring processes to improve efficiency and attract and engage the best people!?

1. Define the process. An effective interview process is vital in order to make a successful hire. It's essential to agree on a timeline projection for the entire process so that both the employer and job candidate have expectations set from the start. Similarly, it's helpful to decide the number of stages the recruitment process will involve as well as which decision makers will be involved up front. By blocking out time ahead of interviews in advance, diaries can be synchronised so that there is minimal disruption. Lastly, it's important to consider having virtual or in-person interview formats or a mix of both, to ensure that there isn't any fatigue from over interviewing. As the saying goes… “Time kills deals”.?
2. Be appealing yet real. Produce a job spec that is attractive and enticing, ensure you clearly state important elements of the position, such as what success looks like in the position, and what challenges a candidate could face. The job spec should major in 2 areas, provide an accurate and honest representation of the job while also making the position as compelling as possible. Spend time crafting a job spec that provides candidates with the most complete picture of the role, allowing them to decide if they have both the passion and skill set to be successful in it. Finally, ensuring your job spec is clear and detailed before posting it is one of the best ways to help ensure that you find qualified and relevant candidates for your open position.
3. State what is required. It's important to make sure both essential and desirable skills are included in your job spec. Essential skills should be realistic. It is beneficial to point out desirable skills, anything that could give additional value and attract the right candidates who are proficient in these areas. Take care not to turn a job spec into an overly lengthy Wishlist; instead, identifying those qualities necessary to make the successful applicant stand out should be at the forefront of the job spec.
4. Best way forward. Decide on how you will approach the hire. You will want to consider whether you should take a direct approach, or use an exclusive head-hunter. Avoid mixing both as this is not an efficient use of time and resources. A direct approach might require some extra time and effort on your part to find qualified candidates while appointing a good head-hunter can help you quickly locate top talent that matches your requirements. Ultimately, the right approach depends on the complexity of the skills you are hiring for.
5. Appoint the right person to interview (first impressions count). For starters, it is absolutely essential that all interviewers are sufficiently briefed on the role, have experienced training in interviewing techniques, and are capable of assessing a candidate’s skills and experience. Having an inexperienced interviewer or a team member that, for example, is too junior to conduct interviews for a senior position can prevent candidates from pursuing the job further. In summary,? it is important that all members in the selection process are familiar with key criteria pertaining to the position being applied for.
6. Appoint a hiring leader to drive the process. This individual should have strong organisation and communication skills, as they will be managing the process from start to finish. Just as a project manager is responsible for successfully completing a project within budget and timeline constraints, so too is the person leading the hiring process responsible for meeting recruitment targets. The hiring leader must ensure that each step of the process is carried out with efficiency in order to make successful hires.
7. Manage the offers and onboarding next steps. Clearly define the offer management process and upon acceptance the onboarding and post-placement process. In my experience a successful hiring process, offer and on-boarding process will more often produce a successful starter to the business. Make sure you invest upfront.?

*By following these tips, you can optimise your hiring process to make it more efficient while still attracting and engaging top talent. We hope you've found these tips useful and will help with your recruiting process.