Hiring for Cultural Fit, Part 2 Of 2

When you are faced with limited resources, it makes sense for recruiting leaders to focus on executing the HR practices that have the most impact.

Last time part one of this article covered 10 different recruiting practices for attracting top talents. This part will cover 10 additional best practices in recruiting any hard-to-fill position

1. Encourage employees to refer new employees

Relying on employees’ networks to recruit people they know is cost-effective and creates a higher level of assurance that the rest of the team will want to work with the new person. Referrals have the added benefit of empowering employees, giving them a sense of ownership and the opportunity to pick their coworkers. Some, like Ernst & Young have set ambitious internal goals to increase the proportion of hirings that come from internal referrals. As a result, employee recommendations now account for 45 percent of nonentry-level placements at the firm (2010). Besides avoiding hefty payouts to recruiters, referred employees are 15 percent less likely to quit, according to Giorgio Topa, one of the authors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York study.

2. Improve the quality of assessment

 A few decades ago, a number of consumer goods companies applied mathematical models to quantify the expected value of their advertising investments. These same models can be applied to assess the effectiveness of the recruiting process. They allow you to quantify the expected profitability of investing in generating more candidates, improving your assessments, reducing the compensation of hired candidates, and reducing the operating costs of your recruiting practices. The most important finding from the application of these models is that improving the quality of assessments is three times more profitable than increasing the size of the candidate pool - and six times more profitable than getting the chosen candidate to accept a lower compensation package.

3. Integrate the newcomers

The recruitment process doesn’t end after the deal has been closed, although most companies think it does. The research shows that many firms take no steps at all to ensure that new employees are integrated into the company’s culture.
Many hire experienced professionals, expecting them to be “plug and play.” Typically, the entire integration “strategy” consists essentially of signing up the promising candidate, making the necessary introductions, and hoping for the best. But talented new hires should not be given the freedom to sink or swim - more often than not, they sink. Up to 40% of new C-level hires who departs within two years did so because of integration difficulties.
Turnover is highest in positions requiring the greatest level of integration.

4. Revise your job postings

Experimentation by Cisco well over a decade ago demonstrated that turning job postings into marketing pieces had a dramatic impact on applications. Google recently built on that concept by implementing a pilot project covering one engineering role that had zero female or male applicants over a one-year period. Women in the current role said that the existing description was scaring away many prospects because it made the job appear unappealing (even though it actually wasn’t). Using a marketing research approach, it asked nearly 100 female Google employees working in that role to rewrite the description so that the job appeared more attractive to women. And as a result, the job posting description was dramatically improved.

5. Invite prospects to interact with your team

 Recruiting leaders at IBM realized that simply talking to recruiters wasn’t convincing enough to attract the very best experienced minority candidates. As a result they experimented with a face-to-face approach called “Project View Plus,” which included an expense paid two-day on-site visit.The program attracted more than 2,000 minority candidates and formal offers were made to between 40 percent and 50 percent of the attendees. The program required managers to interact with the referred experienced prospects, and if both parties were convinced, offers were made before they left.

6. Switch to same-level calls

Research at Whirlpool demonstrated that who makes an initial recruiting call has a significant impact on whether it is answered and successful. The job level, the gender of the caller, and the time of the call all have a significant impact on its success. Where calls by someone at an equal or higher job level (same level calls) can get a 100 percent response rate, standard recruiter calls normally only get a 10 percent response rate. Google recently built on that concept by instituting a pilot program that requires that the initial phone screen for all leadership roles will be made by a director or a manager at the same level as the candidate. Having someone at the same level make the call will not only increase the response rate but will also results in a much more accurate assessment of the prospect’s technical skills and cultural fit.  Because the leader making the call knows the job so well (compared to the recruiter), they are also much better equipped to effectively sell the candidate.

7. Re-recruit former employees

Firms like DaVita and Deloitte have learned that re-recruiting former top-performing employees is an easy but effective way to generate top-quality hires. That same boomerang concept can be used in a targeted fashion to re-recruit your former employees who may desire to return to your firm. Boomerang rehires are high-quality hires because you only recruit former employees who were top performers and now they are even better because they have the benefit of added external experience. By telling the best when they leave that they will be welcomed back and by maintaining an online alumni group, you can ensure that up to 15 percent of your hires will be boomerangs.

8. Recruit and create buzz using YouTube

In today’s recruiting and hiring process, companies should branch out from tried and true networks to create qualified applicant leads and have fun doing it. You can use YouTube for both: recruitment and hiring. Mindvalley, Malaysian-based online publisher, ran their second recruitment campaign for their Event Management team. Hundreds of video submissions were posted to Youtube seeking offers to exotic island resorts and rubbing elbows with the most inspirational leaders in lifestyle, meditation, and business. Mindvalley also emphasizes the company’s corporate culture and encouraged candidates to show their personality in the submission of their 3- minute video.

9. Nurture a community around your company

While it’s helpful to have a talent community full of candidates interested in your company, organizations may slip from their minds if they’re not consistently engaged. There are many resourceful ways to keep those candidates in the loop, such as sending out email blasts with company updates, upcoming events and information regarding new opportunities within the company. Mixing in personal outreach too will make the candidate feel significant. A prime example of this would be Zappos’ recruitment approach. Instead of job descriptions, the company heavily promotes candidates to sign up to be a “Zappos Insider,” which provides ways to connect personally to a relevant recruiter. The benefit of Zappos’ talent community is that candidates can begin building relationships with recruiters and other people in the company before they’re even considered for a position.

10. Create WOW referral program

Facebook has expanded referral program eligibility to allow temps (as well as regular employees) to be eligible for their program focused on referring technical women. Limiting referrals only to employees is a mistake because corporate alumni, temps, family members, and contractors also know the firm and they are willing to help. UsabilityTools took the bold step of offering a $10,000 referral bonus for any employee or nonemployee who made a referral that resulted in an sales rep hire. A newly hired employee needs to last just three months at UsabilityTools before someone can cash in on the referral prize. That incredibly high referral bonus reward was picked up and publicized by the media, and as a result, the startup received a great deal of attention.

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