Have you ever hired someone who seemed perfect for the job but then wasn’t? Have you every tried to hire the “best person for the job” and then they turned down the offer?
Why can it be so difficult to find really good talent sometimes? And by “really good”, I mean the right fit for the job and company culture.
The Selection Process
There are a number of elements that need to work together well (but need not be perfect) to hire great people. The high level basics are called:
- Process
- Recruitment
- Selection & Assessment
- Offer Process
- Pre-Employment Checks
- On-Boarding
Sometimes these steps are called by different names. The reality is they flow together and are part of one hiring process continuum. That’s why the first is Process. It’s the structure ensuring that all moving parts are increasing the opportunity to hire the right fit. Conversely, avoiding low quality process – which just means a process that’s getting in the way – will help avoid mistakes that lead to the wrong hire.
The Recruiter
Right now, let’s say your overall hiring process is sound and not getting in the way. Where, then, does hiring the right person start? This discussion begins with recruitment. Actually, it begins with the Recruiter.
A skilled Recruiter intentionally and systematically uses the recruitment and hiring process to create opportunities in these areas (think of these as areas of recruiter competency).
- Relationship
- Credibility
- Competence
- Closing
Many recruiting articles found in online blogs focus on the hiring process. Taking that to the next level, the discussion is now about skills and competencies of the Recruiter. Naturally, recruiter competence highly impacts the ability to hire the right fit for the job and the company culture.
Depending on the size of the company the person acting as the Recruiter may be an HR Generalist, the company Owner, the Hiring Manager, an external agency, or an internal Recruiter. However, even though one person is acting as the Recruiter, every person in the hiring process must be recruiting to hire great talent.
Let me say that a different way. To hire the right fit – that is great talent as defined by the hiring manager – every person that all candidates come into contact with must understand their part in the process and how to leverage their conversations to recruit.
In this way, recruiting competencies is important for everyone in a selection process to understand.
Is the Recruiter similar to a sales person? There is a selling element but it’s really more of a promotional element that educates and builds a candidate’s desire for the job. This is necessary so candidates will volunteer to go through an, often times, stringent selection process. This isn’t fun for the candidate! (Candidates are not “professional candidates”, so the whole selection and hiring process can be somewhat discomforting or painful for anyone.) Though there is an element of this, recruiting is not selling.
Read the rest of Miki Jo’s Talent Management blog on ManagingAmericans.
Miki Jo Resto, VPI’s Vice President and Senior Consultant, represents VPI Strategies on the Expert Panel for Managing Americans. ManagingAmericans.com is a management blog with more than 300,000 monthly readers. Miki Jo contributes monthly to the Human Resources Blog.