If your business is looking to fill an employment hole as soon as possible, you may be intimidated by the process ahead. After all, recruitment truly is just that: a process. It’s not something that can be done overnight. Rushing to fill a spot with just anyone can lead to plenty of consequences down the road. The person may quit shortly after because it wasn’t a good fit, wasting your time and resources, or worse, you may be stuck with someone who isn’t right for the role and who hurts your business while attempting to perform the tasks he or she was hired to do.
But there is, of course, a gray area between rushing and going too slowly. There are times when roles need to be filled with haste, and you want to ensure your process runs as smoothly as possible. The longer a position is empty, the longer other people on your team will have to perform roles that aren’t in their job description, leaving them feeling burned out and more likely to drop balls. In today’s hiring climate, job openings can linger far longer than recruitment teams would like, and it hurts business in the long run. But how can you keep the funnel flowing without compromising your hiring values? Here are a few simple ways to speed up the recruitment process to keep your business functioning and your employees thriving.
Use Recruitment Software
If you’re still recruiting by personally sifting through job applicants, it may be time for a technological upgrade. There are plenty of options out there for recruitment software that can screen candidates for you. It may feel like your process will lose a bit of its personal touch—many recruiters make decisions based on a “gut feeling” and fear that recruitment software would make that feeling harder to assess—but that’s where the interview can come in. We’re just talking about narrowing the pipeline, not making a decision based solely on an algorithm. For a preliminary screener, recruitment software allows you to quickly narrow down the candidates to who’s most appropriate for this particular role.
Admittedly, the moment you’re searching for a candidate isn’t a great time to research and install software. But if you aren’t currently hiring, consider doing so now so that in the future, you aren’t hit with a recruitment panic. The smoother you can make your recruitment pipeline before you actually need to use it, the better.
Promote Openings on Social Media
If you’re able to throw some dollars behind your recruitment efforts, consider promoting a post on social media that says you’re hiring. Facebook allows you to practice incredibly specific targeting, meaning you’ll know your post is getting in front of the right eyes. You can specifically ask the platform to show it to people who have the skill sets you’re looking for. This targeting can work wonders for getting your post to the people who are most likely to apply for the opening. Maybe the perfect candidate wasn’t even looking for a new position, but by spotting your opening on social media, the person will be intrigued enough to apply!
One downside of promoting openings on social media is that you may be hit with some candidates who aren’t a perfect fit. That’s OK! If you’re in a rush to fill a spot, more options can help bring in that perfect person. You can always screen applicants quickly to determine who should actually be interviewed.
Hire on Teachability and Train on Skills
Your current job opening may require specific skills that are difficult to find. But how hard are they to learn? Consider switching your focus on hiring from skills-based to teachability-based. Those who are “teachable” are humble, have a good attitude, and are excited about the prospect of learning something new. They may not know everything they need to know, but they seem like the type of learner who can pick things up quickly. If you can hire someone with those traits, you’ll be able to teach that person almost anything. No matter how complicated the skill set you’re hiring for is, you’ll be able to get someone in the door who at least has the potential to learn it. Time being of the essence may require you to train someone on skills after he or she has already been hired instead of hunting down the perfect candidate.
Be Flexible on Interview Opportunities
Look at your interview process, and see where it’s getting held up. Are you able to offer interviews on the weekends? During the evenings? What about group interviews? Virtual interviews? The more flexible you’re able to be on the time and place of your interviews, the quicker you’ll be able to get more candidates interviewed and assessed. Only offering interviews during business hours may lead candidates who are currently employed to change their minds on continuing with the recruitment process.
You could also consider bringing the higher-up decision makers in earlier on the process. Maybe you don’t need four different rounds of interviews but could instead consolidate the process into two. You don’t need to waste time on interviews for candidates who you know won’t be a good fit, either—just because someone applied doesn’t mean they need to move on to the next step in the process.
Entice Candidates to Make Quick Decisions
Lastly, once you find the candidate you’d like to hire, entice them to make the decision quickly. You don’t want to find a great candidate only to have them sit on the job offer for weeks on end, thereby delaying your process even further. Avoiding clogs at the bottom of your recruitment funnel is essential to a quick, efficient recruitment.
This could look like any number of strategies. Something like a hard-and-firm deadline could encourage quick decisions; on the other hand, it could backfire. Incentives like hiring bonuses or covering the cost of moving can help a candidate see that your position is the right choice for them.
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