Effective recruitment techniques

A business is only as good as the people behind it. Making sure you hire the right people is one of the first and most important factors when it comes to good talent management, which means it’s crucial that you have an effective recruitment strategy in place.

Our top recruitment tips

There are many factors to consider when putting together your recruitment strategy – including where you look, the questions you ask, the way you present the company, and the incentives you offer. It’s important to consider both internal and external options; companies too often overlook the talent on their own doorstep when trying to fill new roles. Of course, you also want to cast a wide enough net to ensure you’re not missing out on top candidates elsewhere. This is particularly true in the homeworking era when things like location don’t necessarily need to be a barrier.

When you’re looking for employees to fill roles, it can be easy to focus on your perspective as the employer without paying adequate attention to the candidate experience. This strategy could mean you miss out on great potential employees because they don’t get a proper picture of your business or how they could fit in with the team. Make sure you think through the experience from the candidate’s perspective, making things run as smoothly as possible, offering the opportunity to ask questions and giving some insight into your organisation. Think about what candidates are likely to want to know, such as what provisions you have in place for homeworking and what opportunities there are for growth.

Getting input from other team members can be particularly invaluable. Not only might they have a thorough understanding of the role you’re recruiting for, but having colleagues involved in the recruitment process helps make employees feel their opinions are valued and presents a unified front to candidates.

Recruitment agencies

If you’re looking to take the hassle out of recruitment, you could consider delegating the job to a recruitment agency. This means you get their insight and expertise, and can also tap into their network and readily available candidate pool.

Of course, using a recruitment agency does mean a cost outlay – either through a fee or through commission. However, when you consider the admin hours you can save on sifting through CVs, as well as the cost of hosting ads on job boards, you may find it makes economic sense in the long run.

Internal recruitment

Another readily available candidate pool is within your own office. Promotions are good for morale and can also make the training process much quicker and easier. It’s also worth considering staff in other departments, who may even have skills and experience that you’re not aware of that would make them a good fit for a new position. In fact, they may be able to transform the role via a type of intrapreneurship that boosts your business while also empowering your employees.

Not only should you open up opportunities to your existing staff, but you could also consider asking employees to “recommend a friend” – or, more likely, a former colleague or associate. This helps you find people whose work has been vouched for and verified by an employee you trust, and it also helps build a team that you know works well together. Some companies have seen such significant benefits from utilising their employee network that they offer incentive schemes for recommendations.

Online methods of recruitment

In the modern day, you can’t overlook online recruitment techniques. This comes in many forms, with one of the simplest being the modern-day equivalent to a bulletin board: job sites. There are numerous job advertising websites that you can use to recruit external employees, with some charging fees and others free to use. There are generic job boards, but there are also many that specialise in certain industries, so it’s worth doing some research into your specific area.

Another invaluable tool in online recruitment is social media. Professional networks such as LinkedIn are a good place to start, but you can also get plenty of traction with a well-drafted tweet.

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