To Recruit or not to Recruit? Lessons for Success
Are you always successful when you recruit new staff? How lessons learned the hard way can help us all succeed in the future.
Photo by Tim Gouw from Pexels
Search google for the best way to recruit and you will find over 200 million results. It seems everyone is an expert and knows better than you. Well sorry, that’s just not the case. Nobody knows your business better than you, but they may just have learnt some hard recruitment lessons that they are willing to help you avoid.
With 30 years managing, commissioning, owning and regulating care services across the UK, I have recruited 1000’s of staff. Along the way I have made mistakes in the rush to fill that vacancy. I hope these life lessons help you avoid the same.
Why am I recruiting?
There has never been a more difficult time to recruit quality staff. Companies are faced with legal obligations, regulatory requirements, best practice, Brexit, competition, financial restraints and much more.
However, it is also an ideal time to look at the efficiency and quality of your company. With care at home companies running at between 3-5 per cent profit margins, every penny counts. So, before you post your next job advert ask yourself:
1. Why are we doing things this way, are they needed at all? (Ritual)
2. If needed can tasks be automated, or processes improved? (Research)
3. Do I really need to replace the role or employ additional staff? (Rationale)
If at the end of this you still need to recruit staff, you should know in detail the skills, knowledge and experience required to fill the role. This will shape an honest advert and job description.
How can I be more efficient?
If you don’t have one already get an applicant tracking system. Whether you employ 1 person or a 1000, a good ATS will ensure you don’t miss the perfect applicant and help you comply with your legal responsibilities.
Good recruitment systems can revolutionise your company and this is the main reason we created novacare. Going digital allows automation, opening your office 24/7 to interested candidates, it helps recruit them faster, keeps in constant communication with them and can reduce your costs by up to 90 per cent.
Choose wisely
Don’t be tempted to advertise across 100’s of job boards there are only a few that produce consistent results:
- Adzuna – Replaced “Find a Job”
- Google Jobs – Great for search engine returns
- Gumtree – Links with Google Jobs
- Indeed – This aggregates jobs from other job boards
- Total Jobs & Jobsite – 20 million visits a month
Quality not Quantity
If you want to find quality candidates who are genuinely interested in your company, then avoid CVs. Our system shows avoiding CVs reduces unwanted applications by 90 per cent. It allows you to compare applicants equitably, process them more quickly and stand a 10-fold better chance of them completing the recruitment process.
Never shortlist by phone. There is no substitute for non-verbal communication when interpreting applicants’ responses. Today nearly everyone has access to Skype, Face Time or WhatsApp.
When you are ready to interview in person, then having a second person present allows you to balance opinions of candidates. This also safeguards continuity if one interviewer is unable to complete all interviews, and brings greater observational skills as they do not have to ask questions.
Good Management Information
At any point in a recruitment process you should be able run a live report which includes:
- The number interested in the vacancy
- The number of people who applied
- Time taken in each recruitment stage
- The number rejected
- The number offered
- The number recruited
- The reason for rejection
- The source of successful candidates e.g. Indeed
- Detailed demographics of candidates
Live data allows you to quickly alter adverts, understand why job offers are rejected, ensure budgets are spent wisely and that successful candidates match the original skills, knowledge and experience required for the role.
Ultimately, there is no one size fits all when it comes to recruitment. However some key factors are universal and should be implemented or avoided to give the best chance of success. Take the time to learn from other people and you might just uncover the top talent you are looking for.
