ABCD of Hiring Right !

In a survey conducted by leading Consulting firms in India it was found that 28-35% of candidates back out of offers at the last minute ! This is a consistent problem found across industries-whether the organization is a startup or an established firm.

So what could be the problem ? The cooling off period from release of an offer letter and the actual joining is very crucial and how HR professionals and companies make use of it to ensure candidate joins the company.Also the overall experience that a candidate(CX) gets while being interviewed also matters. It is important to understand that Recruitment facilitates an important process of attracting a talent to the core value proposition a company provides and many companies (few of them I worked in like Shell actually had a department named Attraction and Recruitment(A&R team).ATS dependent application system which most of the companies follw cannot really replace a value any recruiter provides in actually filtering out the right candidate for the company.Here are few things that can be done/started if not already to ensure Hiring process is completed smoothly without any last minute glitches.

• Design the job description such that it shows your passion for the role created.One of the companies I worked with actually used to start with a poetry to explain a product manager role.
• Solidify your screening process with a standard framework vetted by diverse team of people involved in actual hiring.This filters out good candidates as per an initial criteria.
• From the time you have your first discussion to the moment you may decide to offer or reject the candidate, ensure that 'Empathy' is the keyword you should follow for the entire interview process.Enhance the candidate experience by introducing yourself and talking about your role, ambitions and what makes you excited about the company.Keep the entire process real and transparent.
• Stay in touch with the offered candidate and keep updating about each ongoing steps and what they can expect during onboarding/induction process.
• Connect with them over an watsapp/instagram chat and have some fun conversations to make them feel at ease.Show them glimpses about the company culture, invite them to any upcoming events (sports or a family day) where they can join and can be part of a team.
• Listen empathetically and resolve any issues they bring to your notice-this makes them feel important that the company truly cares.
• Giving them a glimpse of what they can expect work wise is also a good idea-a short assignment or Quiz/puzzle or quick facts about what makes the company a market leader and a Great place to work.
• Any goodies (nowadays companies are showering big bonuses and bold bikes as well on recruits) , bonuses or flexi working as part of the total package.

In this VUCA post pandemic World of Work, talent needs to ABCD (Agile, Boundary-less, Collaborative, Dynamic) -this has opened up a whole new spectrum for the companies to redesign their hiring process which suits a more fluid rather than fixed approach of getting only the best talent.If your hiring is right, any gaps in skills can always be filled up with customised Learning and Development programmes.So make sure selected candidate is excited about and align with your business core purpose before they become an employee.