Improve your Hiring Process

by Stacey Mc Grath, Digital Marketing Executive with Intelligo Sofrware who provide Corporate HR Software and Payroll Software

One of the most important continuing tasks of a business is hiring. When a role is available in your business, it’s crucial to find the most qualified candidate to fill that position. To do so there are many actions HR or Hiring Managers must take. Ranging from sourcing applicants and interviewing, right through to skills assessment, reference checks, and onboarding the new employee. All in all, it’s an extensive process.
Though in the quick rush to find someone to fill an empty role, it can be easy to overlook a few key areas. These can be the difference between a costly, unfit hire and finding the right person for the role. So it’s immensely important to take the time to ensure an efficient hiring process.

Here are some tips you might consider to help improve your process.

Have accurate job descriptions
The right job description for advertisement is the most important part of a successful strategy, as it performs many essential functions. From the skills needed, and the expectations of the position, including the finer contractual points such as salary. Though a job description does not need to account for every aspect of the role, it should include the critical information.
Contract Information- including job title, salary range, company level status, hours or shifts, and the likelihood of additional work.
Summary of the role – list the general duties and descriptions. Identifying tasks that comprise the majority of the work to be done. This helps highlight to candidates the nature of the work and its obligations.
Qualifications – list all necessary education, experience, training, and technical skills needed for the position.

Streamline the interview process
Another key aspect of the hiring process is the interview stage. Regardless if you conduct one or ten rounds of interviews, it’s important to know what you need or wants to accomplish with them.
To do this make sure there is a clear expectation of exactly what boxes each candidate will need to tick to indicate success.  This allows you to focus your attention on understanding the individual and finding out if they have what it takes to thrive in the role.
Also, as candidates set aside an amount of time to both prepare for and attend an interview, not to mention often arranging time off work to do so, it is good manners to provide constructive feedback regardless of the outcome.

Make Interviews a two-way street
Most Hiring Managers regard the interview process as their opportunity to select from the best candidates. Whether they realise it or not, interviewing is a two-way street. Not only are you meeting someone attracted to the position. You are meeting someone who wants to find out about your company and what you have to offer them. They’re just a likely to be ‘considering’ you, as you are them. So it’s important to allow them the information they need to make that decision easier to make.
Affording candidates the chance to ‘interview you’, creates the opportunity to see what is important to them. It also provides candidates with an opportunity to assess if they want to pursue the role. Or to decide that it’s not the right fit for them. Eliminating the waste of time on both sides, if it’s not of interest.
Being open and honest about working for your company, ensures a realistic review of the work culture. This can avoid bad hires who begin a role but leave shortly after due to a bad cultural fit.

Try to involve others
Including others in the hiring process allows for varied opinions on the individual and their fit for the role. After all one person’s view is only a quick snapshot, having the final candidate’s interview with others in the company, (especially those with whom they will most work with if hired), provides fresh perspectives that may not have previously been seen. Those different perceptions significantly increase the odds of finding the best candidate.

These steps for improvement to your interview process may only be the tip of the iceberg. They are the stepping stones to ensuring you find the top talent to fill those open roles. Those who will improve your business, supporting your company to grow for the better.