Recruitment Priorities for CEOs
Within most businesses, there is an annual statement issued from the CEO, outlining a list of priorities for the year ahead. Many employees will read it, scanning for any small ways their job may be improved. For many, there can feel like there is a real case of ‘over promising and under delivering’.
One of the most commonly cited priorities is the issue of attracting, developing and retaining talent. After all, every business claims to want the best of the best on their side. So why is this also the priority that finds itself falling by the wayside more often than not?
If you are struggling to stick to your plan of securing excellent talent, fear not. We have a clear strategy outline to help you get your business better aligned to your staffing issues.
Here it is broken down in to seven parts.
Engage your internal recruiters
You will have more ‘recruiters’ in your company than you realise. Your existing staff have their own network of friends, family and colleagues who may well blend in perfectly with your company values and culture.
Employee referrals can often be a great way to attract and retain the best talent – several studies have shown that this is the best quality of hire a business can make. You should be aiming to get roughly half of your new employees this way.
Pick quality over speed and cost
If you choose a quick and cheap hire over a truly effective, value adding candidate, you are going to find yourself looking for new talent again pretty quickly. As your gran might say, “You buy cheap, you buy twice.” Recruitment is about playing the long game, not taking anyone who happens to be available.
Think about it – in order to conduct an interview process, you are taking employees and hiring managers away from their usual day-to-day, impacting on productivity. If you keep repeating this process, that’s an awful lot of time wasted. It can also mean that hiring managers become jaded with the backlog of interviews and settle for what is there – that’s no way to attract new talent.
Adopt a clear and consistent interview framework
The whole point of the interview process is to separate top performers from average ones. How are you going to do that if your processes are inconsistent? If your interviewers are asking silly questions such as “If you were a biscuit, what kind would you be?” you are either going to scare people off or attract mediocrity.
Get your HR department to work together to streamline the interview process. Come up with a structure that could be easily applicable to all levels of jobs. Something that will draw out whether a person is aligned to your values and culture and what they can add to your team. Invest in showing your staff how to interview properly. Giving good feedback is a crucial part of this.
Don’t just tick the ‘diversity’ box
We have a problem ensuring that our leadership teams reflect the ethnic, gender and LGBT make up of society. But if you’re making a hire simply to meet a target, then you are completely missing the point of the diversity agenda.
It’s not about meeting a quota. It’s about building a team (at leadership level or otherwise) that is reflective of your customer base. Diversity of opinion, experience and background can only serve to enhance your business – if you do it properly.
Be transparent about your brand
You need to be up front and honest with potential employees about what your employer brand is. There is no sense telling someone that working in your business will be lengthy lunch hours, great perks and plenty of opportunities to have social nights if the reality is something entirely different.
People like to know that their workplace fits their personality (and vice versa) so this is something you need to be explicit about. Otherwise, it will lead to disgruntled employees who have been sold on false promises and, you guessed it, more people leaving your business.
Create talent sourcing ‘targets’
Tie identification, attraction, development and retention in to you hiring managers’ targets, performance reviews and bonuses. This will, naturally, turn it in to a priority for them – with the biggest challenge being the retention aspect.
Expect monthly or quarterly updates; detailed notes about talent sourcing and a solid interview structure. Measures of accountability – where you can clearly demonstrate progress – are the best way to move forward.
Invest, invest, invest
Recruiting costs money. Recruiting well costs even more. It’s understandable that, when budgets are tight, you have less to spend on attracting talent. But, doesn’t it make sense that, spending money to secure brilliant candidates could improve your business? Fresh talent adds value.
The old adage of ‘speculate to accumulate’ really applies here. Do you really think you could win the Champions League with a Sunday pub team?
If you would like to speak to us about sourcing exciting new talent for your team, our teams would be happy to have a confidential chat with you, as well as guiding you through the recruitment process. Click here to meet the teams at HR Consultancy.
Barry Lee, Commercial Director
0141 353 8381 | 07894 593791