Create a job description with realistic requirements. Bring the focus of the job onto the person, rather than just the experience. Some positions require technical skill or competency and these are not to be underestimated, however, be sure to also focus on connecting the job around skills like communication, problem solving and the ability to innovate, these will be better predictors for future success.
Look inside first. Your best candidate may be internal! Organizations spend thousands of dollars on recruiting new people into the organization when they have talent internally that could be easily cross trained or moved into the new role creating more opportunities for each person underneath them.
Focus your search on active candidates. Employers spend a vastly disproportionate amount of their budgets on recruiters who chase passive candidates, but on average they fill only 11% of their positions with individually targeted people, according to research by Gerry Crispin and Chris Hoyt of CareerXroads.
Take a good look at your interviewing process. The amount of time employers spend on interviews has almost doubled since 2009, according to research from Glassdoor. Interviews are arguably the most difficult technique to get right for a variety of reasons. Lack of training, resources, consistency and bias are leading the way for problems in the process.
Questions that predict good hires—mainly about past behavior or performance that's relevant to the tasks of the job— is one example of how you can improve the process. Just winging it and asking whatever comes to mind just doesn’t work.
A structured interview process with behaviorally based interview questions will guide you and your people toward the best possible hires. There are assessment tools that will seamlessly fit into the process and provide behaviorally based
Let assessments help do the work. Using a solid selection assessment as part of the process will save you time, money and headaches. It will deliver information about the candidate that will allow you to put the right person in the right role within your organization.
No matter what size or type of organization you have, the hiring climate is challenging. But with a little support and foresight, employers can compete more effectively for good hires that will stay and contribute.
Patricia Darke, RCC™
Darke & Associates
Patricia Darke, Registered Corporate Coach™ is the owner of Darke & Associates and author of DNA Professional Leadership Development Program™. She is a Certified Partner for PXT Select™, Everything DiSC™, The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™ and a member of SHRM™. Contact her at pdarke@darkeassociates.com or 612.866.0692 or visit www.darkeassociates.com