Prioritising recruitment activity

Prioritising recruitment activity

We are going through unsettling times if that is not an understatement and it is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Recruitment will get trickier the deeper we get into this crisis and some companies will put a hold on recruitment for differing reasons. Some will be worried about the impact Corona has on their business, others will be working from home to avoid unnecessary contact. All of this makes sense but it will mean that in 2 or 3 months’ time everyone will be in the same race to recruit.

What can you do to ensure you hire quality people and minimalise the impact this has?

Firstly look at which vacancies are business critical – roles that mean your business will be tangibly worse off without someone in post. These I would move on immediately. Realistically you should be able to interview for most of these roles early next week if you ensure the right resources are there to source candidates. This probably will be a combination of internal recruitment teams and agency support. For most roles a shortlist by Tuesday should be realistic if you move on it today.

Next move on to roles that need filling and prioritise these, with unlimited resources you can move on everything at once, though this is unlikely to be realistic so move in order of priority.

Secondly think about how you interview. People are more easily reachable by phone or video conference than in person. This also means that the 1st stage can be done remotely which will best utilise time spent working from home and will speed the process up once again. Given the circumstances I would suggest that one interview in person is the way forward, whittle down the numbers using technology to speed up your recruitment process and reduce the amount of people you need to be in direct contact with.

Thirdly, keep recruiting throughout. Keep a talent pipeline coming through the door (albeit metaphorically). Use technology to get early stages complete and also to hook the potential talent you want to attract. As this continues people will understand you might not be able to meet in person for a couple of weeks but by having initial conversations you will gain their emotional investment and chances are they will be more likely to hold on meet.

Lastly, keep in regular contact. Be up front in your interest and be honest about next steps and timescales with updates as these change. This will pass and markets will recover quickly which is when the real war for talent will start. Look after your people now and get ahead of the curve and you will be in a real strong position to take advantage when the market reacts and bounces back.

By Christian Pascale