Improving the Hiring Process

We are continuing to hear members complaining about an employer’s broken hiring process, too many interviews, and great candidates who “got away” or removed themselves from consideration. With more and more companies lamenting the dearth of qualified candidates, it’s even MORE important to make sure that good candidates don’t become disillusioned and drop out. Qualigence created an infographic that points out some of the factors that have contributed to the current hiring environment:

• There are more job openings in the USA than qualified candidates to fill them. Many employers are falling victim to letting perfect be the enemy of good.
• The estimated cost of a poor hire is as high as 2.5 times the person’s salary. Fear of a poor hire can lengthen the hiring process, but a longer process does not necessarily lead to improved outcomes.
• Employers tend to focus on must-haves and rigid job descriptions. Recruiters may be motivated by speed and are sometimes frustrated that they don’t understand what the hiring manager wants.
• Candidates, caught in the middle of a poor hiring process, lose interest. Sixty percent of candidates have removed themselves from the application process because it takes too long.

What’s the good news in all of this? It’s possible to improve the hiring process, and it may not even be all that difficult. Recruiters can educate their clients to do the following:

• Segregate job requirements by must-have, should-have, and nice-to-have skills.
• Focus on what the successful candidate will DO, not what the candidate will HAVE. Use action verbs to write these phrases.
• Develop – and use – a scorecard to grade candidates on their interview performance.
• Get input from key team members on all of the above – others in the same role, those who work on the same team or in the same department, etc.
• Make sure you ask the SAME interview questions of EACH candidate to ensure you’re evaluating fairly and on the same criteria. Consider prerecorded video questions to help you meet this goal.
• Immediately after the interview, write down your top 2-4 observations while the interview is still fresh in your mind.
• Emphasize soft skills that are important to your company’s culture to help attract the right types of candidates. Certain hard skills can be learned or honed on the job.
• Review past hires for this kind of role. Which people were the most successful? Less-than-successful? What can you use from these past experiences to improve your hiring process?

While no one wants to make a bad hire, prolonged vacancies have costs and negative consequences of their own. Look for ways to improve your hiring process so that you aren’t losing out on the best available talent.