7 Ways to Design a Better Hiring Process
The business world is changing so fast that decades-old hiring methods are quickly becoming outdated. This can make your hiring process a challenge, especially if you plan to do things “by the book.”
So what should you do?
The ideal course of action as a company or hiring manager would be to adapt and embrace new trends and technology. As a company in a fast-moving candidate market, you're not the only one eyeing the top talents in your field, so you have to keep up.
Hiring Process Steps
To help you design an efficient hiring process and get the best talent on your team, we've compiled seven steps strategies that you should keep in mind.
1. Customize Your Interviews
You don’t want to repeat the same traditional questions every employer has been asking for decades, such as, “Why should we hire you?” or “What questions do you want to ask us?”
Some candidates (even some good candidates) will fail to answer such questions, as many people are uncomfortable with being put on the spot.
Besides, such questions don’t really tell you anything about a candidate’s competency — well, unless public speaking is part of the package.
It’s better to structure your interviews around your company’s ideals and processes. Also, instead of a basic Job interview Q&A, why not try a conversational interview, which will give the candidate room to open up and comfortably express themselves?
2. Be Concise About Role Requirements
Job ads are a crucial part of the hiring or recruitment process as it’s your opportunity to make an impression on the right candidates. It’s when candidates first encounter your brand, and you don’t want to make the wrong impression.
For instance, you wouldn’t want to scare away the right people with unclear role descriptions and lengthy requirements. You can get more into those details later on.
The ideal approach is to focus on the crucial aspects of the open position and the skills you’re looking for in applicants.
It’s also important to be clear about what you’re willing to give as much as what you’re asking for. You want to attract potential candidates by letting them know what to expect beforehand.
3. Segment the Hiring Process
Considering the hiring process is an important aspect of your business, you should analyze every stage of the process to figure out what will work best for you and your team.
You want to break the hiring process into segments with clear goals that must be achieved before the candidate can proceed to the next level.
Breaking down the hiring process will help you filter down your applications, leaving you with people who meet your standards.
4. Involve Others in the Process
It may not be a good idea to handle the entire hiring process by yourself, even if you know exactly what you’re seeking in candidates.
Yes, bringing others on board will tear them away from their other responsibilities. However, they’ll bring a new perspective to interviews and application reviews, which can be invaluable.
Or, if you prefer to conduct interviews as a one-on-one conversation to help candidates feel more at ease, talk to the employees who’d be working with the new hire in their day-to-day job. Ask them what qualities a person needs to succeed in the role and what they’d look for in new hires.
Use these notes to assess candidates throughout the hiring process and to make your final decision.
5. Make the Process Fast
No one wants to work for a company that drags out its screening process for weeks.
If you take two months to tell someone whether or not they made it to the next stage, they’re probably going to accept an offer from another company before you get back to them. You’re going to lose out on top skills, especially those that have a strong market demand.
Try to make the screening process fast, even though doing that may be costly and time-consuming. An excellent way to achieve a faster recruitment process is to make it as simple as possible.
6. Test Before You Hire
One of the key challenges in hiring is that some people seem better in interviews than they are in real life. They may check all the right boxes, but until they are tested with possible scenarios, you can’t really determine their competency.
Unfortunately, the “work experience” section on someone’s resume doesn’t actually tell you how they’ll perform for your company.
That’s why testing is a good idea In other words, have your best candidates demonstrate their competency by completing some role-specific tasks. For instance, if you’re hiring a receptionist, you might ask them to answer some mock phone calls to see how they do.
You may want to pay them for this exercise, but its money well spent if it helps you find the best hire.
7. Keep Past Candidates’ Contact Info
You’ve completed the interviews and found the right person for the job. But, what have you done with the shortlisted candidates or those whose skill set just didn’t match the role?
As soon as their new hire signs a contract and turns in their W-2s, many employers forget about the whole process.
But the next time they have an open role, they have to start from the beginning, repeating the hiring process all over again.
This is not just a time-consuming method — it’s costly. You have to create new job listings, go through the screening process, and do another round of interviews.
But if you hold onto the contact information of past candidates (the good ones, anyway), you may not have to go through that whole process again. You can just call them to see if they’re still available.
Conclusion
The hiring process is like any other business undertaking, which means you need a good recruitment strategy going in.
You want to hire qualified people with technical skills and soft skills who can bring value to your business.
You wouldn't want to end up with subpar skills or a personality you can't quite connect with, when at the end of the day, you're paying for it. For this reason, keep in mind our top seven strategies the next time you're hiring.
