As we move into Q4 of 2019 and peek into 2020, all indications continue to point toward this candidate-driven market. The unemployment rate remains at an all-time low while the increasing number of new, well-funded social selling startups enter the direct selling industry. These startups and most companies in general are working towards growth, which means more competition for a limited resource of high-value talent, which also means your hiring process may be in need of some tweaking.
Let’s take a look at five tips to help your hiring process run smoothly:
1. Screen candidates based on “work-ethic fit” as opposed to “culture fit” The culture of your organization is usually one of the most attractive and most important company characteristics. But sometimes culture flirts too closely with similarities in “personality” or “life interests”. Your new VP may like hiking and photography like you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll meet the needs of the role and of your company.
Focus your interview questions to dig into their work ethic — request specific examples of how candidates stay motivated, what kinds of results they’ve produced over a certain period of time or during a challenging situation, or what their productivity looks like when things are slow.
2. Use video interviewing methods Incorporating video interviews is a helpful tool to get a better feel of the candidate before bringing them in for an in-person meeting.
It may be best to start with a one-way video, which is where you provide a short question set and the candidate records and submits their responses. There’s no interaction needed from your end but it gives the candidate a quick opportunity to show a little bit of who they are and provide details to your insightful questions. Two-way videos are of course more interactive and are the next best thing to a face-to-face.
3. Invest in expert recruiters to relieve the burden If you’re leading an organization, you probably don’t have the time or patience to hire, especially if you’re a smaller company with a limited human resources team. Consider hiring an in-house recruiter or an external search firm. They can fill this gap for you with their full focus on the recruitment efforts.
Plus, they have established connections to the talent market and endless resources to guide them to minimize the chances of making a bad, costly hire. You can expect a return on your investment equal to the amount of effort you would have put into finding a candidate on your own. Make it a high priority, get a high return.
4. Step up your social media game If you haven’t gotten the memo, social media isn’t going anywhere. Qualified people are scrolling every platform all day — even if they’re not looking to leave their job, they may run across your post or ad and start to reconsider their next career move.
Start by sprucing up your company social pages to be consistent with your website and begin posting. Get your marketing team involved to create attention-grabbing posts and be sure to promote the benefits of the role and company.
More often than not, prospective applicants view your social media presence before applying. People want to see and feel the authenticity of your company, not just how you talk about your company. As the wise Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
5. Keep the process and documents organized From a candidate perspective, a lengthy interview process can drive them away. If a candidate is required to jump through too many hoops with too many people, they are likely to look elsewhere. Avoid this by selecting the specific individuals that will conduct the interview(s), gather their availability as far in advance as possible, and require their feedback within 48 hours of the interview.
It’s also important for the interviewer to have a question-set prepared for each interview, which should include open-ended questions that ask for specific and measurable examples. These documents should be organized and updated as needed to fit the role and fit which step in the process the candidate is in.
Finding the right talent is a challenging and sometimes daunting project. But if you set yourself up properly, the right person will eventually be a new team member helping your company achieve its success. Implementing these practices as a part of your hiring process can help alleviate some stress in the long-run.