The house always wins: The importance of creating a solid internal environment for recruitment success

When we move in somewhere new, getting our house in some semblance of order reduces the chaos and feels rewarding. Everything doesn't need to have its final place yet but knowing roughly where things are, or at least plan to be, makes all the difference. It may feel like a lot of work, but little by little, it's worth it in the long run.

Sure, we could choose to embrace the chaos and not bother, but we want to make things easier for ourselves and set ourselves up for success from the start. It's the same with recruitment.

Tip 1: Start clarifying why someone would even join

Working to craft this for our company is a collaborative and, if done well, rewarding process. Our Marketing departments may already be doing some elements of this work to attract customers or clients, see if we can collaborate and pivot it slightly for candidates.

Being clear and consistent here provides clarity to everyone internally and externally and will help to attract the right people, repel those not suitable, and also retain the team we have. How?

Start with Identity

Simply put: who we are, what we do, whom we do it for, and why. It’s surprising how often you can ask any number of employees to answer those questions and you'll get a number of variations. It makes sense to have clarity and a single agreed answer. Of course, each department or team could have its own sub-identity, and they’d all fit neatly within each other as part of the cohesive whole - like Russian dolls.

Map Employee Value proposition (EVP)

This is essentially everything that matters to employees at work. It’s what they proudly talk about to friends and family. If we don’t know what these are then ask our employees to help capture this. Do it for the company as a whole but then for each of the different skills or job families we have. Remember not all employees are the same so it’s important to do our research. It can be broken down into two: Tangible (e.g. Pay and Reward) and Intangible (Purpose, Progression etc.).

Each company’s EVP must be unique, relevant, and compelling if it is to attract, engage and retain skilled people. More on this all later in the series.

Cultivate Employer Brand

Employer Brand is a cluster of experiences and impressions of us that candidates condense together to help decide whether they want to work with us. That decision is cognitive, but also often emotional.

The employer brand isn't a logo or a catchphrase commonly linked to our company - those are brand representations, not the brands themselves. It's important to remember that the employer brand is created by the experiences and impressions that candidates have of our company, as customers or anywhere else out in the wild, so make sure they are positive and appealing.

Tip 2: Headcount Planning from the get-go to get going effectively.

Headcount Planning is about outlining our vision and strategy to have the right skilled people, in the right place, at the right time, to deliver our short and long-term objectives.

Share it internally. Be proud of it. An open and visible plan internally will give clarity and direction to all. When I was an internal recruiter it felt so disjointed to receive sporadic hire requests come through and seeing the bigger picture would've helped me join the dots and be more efficient.

Speaking of joining the dots, it will also help with retention and internal mobility as current team members can see what opportunities exist and together we can explore development plans for them to grow and get there. Backfill them if we need to. Meanwhile, we can market this internal mobility and growth to future candidates to show how we help career growth...more on this later in the series.

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything" Dwight D. Eisenhower, President / Head of Recruitment

A headcount plan should join the dots between:

1. The business plan (objectives, product roadmap, financial plans etc.)

2. Org design (business processes, workflows, roles & responsibilities, volumes of work, activity analysis, resources etc.)

Of course, plans change, especially in startups. But that's okay, we just need to ensure we review our Headcount Plan regularly with key internal people, such as the Exec Team/SLT and Heads of Departments. This way, we can make changes and provide further context and clarity as needed.

I always found it made sense to be pragmatic so we'd scope out a 'Gold', 'Silver' and 'Bronze' Headcount Plan based on how we were performing.

(You might find this Twitter thread by the awesome Jessica Zwaan useful).

Tip 3: Start thinking about our internal job communities

When we're creating our Headcount Plan, it's important to break it down by different communities or departments, such as product, engineering, sales, customer service, operations, finance etc. Each of these departments plays a vital role in our company and contributes to its overall success, but they all have their own unique identities and characteristics. We need to keep this in mind when we're creating our Headcount Plan and ensure we're considering the specific needs and goals of each department.

Tip 4: Set Hiring Managers and Interviewers up for success

One of the biggest challenges companies face is getting key decision-makers engaged, capable, and consistent in the recruitment process. These hiring managers are usually experts in their respective fields and know what skills are needed within their team and are supported by Interviewers from their teams.

To be effective, these managers should have been involved in shaping the Headcount Plan and be held responsible for recruiting for roles within their specialist area. In order to do this, the Hiring Managers and Interviewers need to be supported with the appropriate recruitment skills training (such as how to shortlist and interview candidates) and be aware of internal policies and legal rules, or at least know whom they can go to for help. This will ensure that they can make informed decisions and be effective in their recruitment efforts. The lack of support here is often where inclusion and diversity efforts fall by the wayside and hiring becomes sporadic hit-and-miss.

You can contact me if you'd like to find out more and book my Recruitment and Interview Training.

Tip 5: Have some Recruitment Specialists

Recruitment is the responsibility of the entire company, but managing the end-to-end process is a skill in itself. To be successful, we need skilled and experienced recruiters who know the market we're recruiting in, and who have the tools and training they need to do their job well. This will help ensure that we're attracting the right candidates and that the recruitment process runs smoothly.

And while having skilled recruiters is important, it's also important that the rest of the company is aware of the recruitment process and their role in it. This way, the recruitment process can be more effective and efficient.

Agree or disagree with any of the above? Have I missed anything? Are there specific challenges you're facing? I'd love to hear your thoughts and perspectives. Please leave a comment below and let's continue the conversation. Thank you for reading!

This post is part of the wider series sharing my experience, tips and tricks to mastering the end-to-end recruitment process.