HR issues are a helpful way to identify process improvements. we thought this was a useful summary of ways to improve the hiring process.  It provides a comprehensive overview of all the ways the hiring process can fall short and be improved.

If you already have a hiring process in place, there is a good chance it can be enhanced to better serve your business needs. Here are 13 tips to improve your hiring process.

1. Build a strong employer brand.

According to Officevibe, more than 75% of professionals are passive candidates who aren’t currently looking for a job but are open to new opportunities. Building a strong employer brand not only reduces employee turnover by 28%, it also attracts these passive candidates to your company over others.

A Glassdoor survey found that 69% of respondents are likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages its brand by responding to reviews, updating the company’s profile, and sharing updates on the company’s culture and work environment.

When you focus on building a well-known employer brand, you won’t have to do as much active recruiting. You’ll be a highly sought-after organization, teeming with applicants.

2. Answer candidate FAQs.

Another excellent recruitment strategy is to create a page or section on your website that addresses questions candidates often ask. Many candidates may be reluctant to apply for jobs because they still need answers to certain questions before they apply. You can either take specific questions new candidates have asked you or ask your present employees what questions they had before they were hired. This will help you create a page that covers the concerns candidates may have, saving you and your candidates time while also making applicants aware of what the job entails.

3. Move as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Officevibe reported that the best candidates are off the market in 10 days. Act quickly, especially when you know you’re interested in a specific applicant. Even if you haven’t made a decision yet, follow up with the candidate often, discussing further details of the position to ensure you’re on their radar. Respond to any questions or concerns right away to keep them updated throughout the process.

4. Write better job descriptions.

Many companies write job descriptions with lists of responsibilities and requirements, but a study found that this can alienate qualified employees, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In the study, U.S. and Canadian researchers rewrote 56 job ads to emphasize two different approaches: the Needs-Supplies approach, which focuses on what the company can do for the candidate, and the Demands-Abilities approach, which focuses on what the company expects from the candidate. Of the 991 responses, applicants who responded to Needs-Supplies job listings were rated higher than those who responded to the Demands-Abilities ads.

Focus on what your company can do for potential employees, and you’ll attract candidates who better fit your needs.

5. Embrace digital trends and social media.

Most people want to work for companies that keep up with the latest tech trends. Part of embracing the digital age means using public social media profiles for candidate research. Like most employers, you’ll probably conduct a standard pre-employment background check on applicants, but the candidate’s social media profiles can offer more details about the individual as a person and an employee, for better or for worse.

While it’s legally risky to allow a candidate’s social media activity to factor into your hiring decisions, as that can result in unconscious bias or discrimination, it can give you a better picture of a job applicant you’re interested in hiring.

Tip

Before turning to social media, learn about the best background check services.

6. Leverage social media for recruiting.

Social recruiting is a great strategy to ensure you’re reaching the right audience and attracting talent to your brand and culture, said Kayla Vatalaro, global head of Asana’s impact growth and social impact, and formerly its global head of talent acquisition.

“We believe in the power of the employee voice to tell the Asana story, and our employees have a significant influence on social media,” Vatalaro said. “Every week across our social channels, our employer brand team shares an Asana Women Wednesday post, featuring the great work of one of the women from our global team.”

Vatalaro said this form of employee advocacy has increased traffic to the company’s careers page and become a crucial part of its recruitment and talent management strategy.

You can also rely on your employees’ extensive personal and professional connections, via social media as well as friends and acquaintances, as a potentially golden opportunity to recruit talented workers.

7. Utilize employee referrals.

One of the best ways to hire quality candidates is through referrals from current employees or people in your network. Referrals are a good way to screen potential candidates before interviewing them. If your trusted employee recommends a previous colleague or a friend whose work experience they know well, it gives you a level of security knowing this new applicant can do good work. When hiring a stranger, there is less certainty about a candidate’s work ethic and potential fit on the team.

While you shouldn’t give referrals preferential treatment, a recommendation from someone already on staff or in your network is an added benefit for that applicant. Ensure that the candidate’s qualifications make them an ideal fit for the job, and use the referral as insurance that you’re making the right hiring decision.

One way to solicit referrals from current employees is to implement a referral bonus program. If an employee refers an applicant and that applicant eventually gets hired, the employee who referred the new hire can receive some sort of monetary compensation. Even if the bonus is only a few hundred dollars, it makes employees more willing to recommend people they know are quality candidates. The cost tends to pay off, as data suggests that referral hires can save companies $3,000 in fees that would otherwise be spent on recruiters and job postings.

Did You Know?

An employee referral program can improve employee retention in the long run.

8. Optimize for mobile.

A mobile-friendly hiring process is one of the best ways to draw in candidates. According to SmartRecruiters, close to 90% of job seekers use a mobile device when looking for a new job opportunity. That number has risen exponentially over the past few years.

To that end, your app or website should allow candidates to accept offers, hold live video interviews, complete referral tasks, and self-schedule interviews. For retention purposes, you can also build in functions for new employees: an interactive employee handbook, benefits registration, access to PTO balances and more.

9. Fit the personality to the job.

Although the right skill set may seem like the most important factor in whether a candidate is a good fit, the truth is that skills can be acquired, but personalities cannot.

During the selection process, consider how a candidate’s personality traits align with the daily job tasks. For instance, a trait such as empathy would be much more important for a nurse or a social worker than it would be for a tax attorney or a computer programmer.

“What kind of person you hire depends on [the] culture of organization and the kind of job,” said Dr. Maynard Brusman, a San Francisco-based psychologist and founding principal of consulting firm Working Resources. “A great person with all kinds of skills may be a good fit for one and a poor fit for another, simply based on their personality type.”

10. Improve your interviews.

A study by Leadership IQ found that failures exhibited by new employees may result from flawed interview processes. In the study, 82% of the 5,000 managers surveyed reported that the interviewers were too focused on other issues, too pressed for time, or lacked the confidence in their interviewing abilities to pay attention to red flags.

According to Leadership IQ CEO Mark Murphy, this is because the job interview process focuses on making sure new hires are technically competent, whereas other factors that are just as important to employee success – like coachability, emotional intelligence, temperament and motivation – are often overlooked.

Interviewing the candidate

One way to improve the interview process is to double up on interviewers. Multiple interviewers in the room at once can have several benefits:

• It shortens the interview process.
• It lightens the load of hiring managers.
• It hands employers a better opportunity to give candidates honest feedback.

Doug Camplejohn, CEO and founder of Airspeed, previously advised hiring managers to have an open discussion about the interview in front of the candidate as if they weren’t in the room. It may seem strange, but he said candidates appreciated the candor.

“It’s a much more honest process than saying your thank-yous and then rejecting someone over email or through a recruiter,” Camplejohn said. “Even candidates who we’ve passed on have commented on how refreshing the process is and asked to stay in touch.”

Letting the candidate interview you

Allow prospective employees to interview you as well. Letting candidates ask questions gives you a chance to see what’s important to them, Brusman said. It also lets them determine whether they want to keep pursuing a job at your company, or to decide that it’s not the right fit for them.

“Be open and honest about what it’s going to be like to work for your company,” Brusman said. “You want to give a realistic preview of the work environment.”

11. Offer quality employee benefits and perks.

A comprehensive selection of employee benefits and perks can be a good way to attract a diverse and talented applicant pool. In addition to competitive salaries and good company culture, companies that offer work-life balance and comprehensive health insurance packages appeal to a broad range of candidates. There are plenty of traditional work benefits that attract top talent, and there’s no shortage of unusual and creative perk options either.

Flexible work offerings, like the ability to telecommute, have become very popular with employees since the beginning of the pandemic. According to FlexJobs, 58% of workers said they want a fully remote job, 39% prefer a hybrid arrangement, and only 3% want to return to fully in-person work. Being flexible with schedules and offering remote work not only appeals to today’s workforce, but it has also become nearly essential to attract and retain employees.

Tip

Wondering which employee benefits you should offer? Check out our guide on how to build a great employee benefits package.

When you’re highlighting your benefits to prospective employees, you can also highlight other features such as the efforts your company goes to create a culture of diversity and inclusion, and the opportunities for advancement that are available to employees.

12. Use recruiting software.

Recruiting software is designed to automate the tedious parts of recruiting, doing much more than you would be able to handle manually. It can easily blast out multiple customized job postings, send bulk rejection or welcome emails, and automatically transition candidates to the next phase of the recruiting process based on preset configurations. When recruiting software tracks your candidates every step of the way, you reach the best candidates and streamline the hiring process. If you’re looking for a more robust option, most HR software providers have options to help streamline recruiting.

Automation and tracking capabilities increase your hiring efficiency, allowing recruiters to focus on what matters: engaging with great candidates. This reduces recruiting time and increases employee engagement and satisfaction. Some recruiting software can handle multiple aspects of the onboarding process for you. Recruiting software that provides analytics gives you insight into how your hiring process is performing and where you can improve.

If you’re looking for recruiting software, here are some great options.

• BambooHR: With BambooHR, you can track and hire job applicants, onboard and offboard employees, access HR management tools, track employee time and PTO, and view advanced reporting on candidates and employees. BambooHR has two separate plans and a whole suite of add-on options. To learn more, read our review of BambooHR.
• Workable: Workable is a comprehensive solution that gives you access to hundreds of job boards, e-signature and offer letters, AI-powered sourcing capabilities, third-party integrations, branded careers pages, reports, and self-scheduling. You can choose from four unique plans.
• Breezy HR: Breezy HR offers a variety of recruiting features like branded career sites, access to over 50 job boards, GDPR compliance and automation, background screening integrations, resume parsing, and self-scheduling interviews. You can choose from one free plan and three monthly or annual paid plans.

13. Keep an eye on your reviews.

Potential employees often seek insider information about companies they want to work for, and this includes salary estimates, interview tips, and reviews from current and former employees from sites such as Glassdoor. Studies show that 86% of Glassdoor users read company reviews and ratings before deciding to apply for a job. Top candidates may not even apply in the first place if they don’t like what they see: 50% of job seekers said they would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, even for a pay increase.

Two actions that draw in candidates include being active on review websites and posting accurate information. If you have a lot of negative reviews from former employees, it may be time to work on your company culture before you try to fill any open positions. This can improve your employee retention and lead to more positive reviews that will attract quality employees.

Hire Outcomes HR works to improve employer branding and many of the other steps mentioned in the hiring process improvement.

Source: Best Practices to Improve Your Hiring and Recruitment Process (businessnewsdaily.com)

Candidate feedback—Using recent hires and not hired candidates to assess what is working in your sourcing strategy. Recent hires feedback is helpful in determining what aspects of your organizational brand and culture attracted candidates.  Candidates view other recent candidate feedback about your organization as credible, believable, and trustworthy.  Engaging recent hire feedback in your organization sourcing communication is a great way to cut through much of the sourcing noise that candidates receive.  It is also useful to request feedback on the candidate experience from recent hires.  This can help you define what messages were attractive to prospects and why.  Understanding current candidate needs is important because it is such a challenging and competitive labor market across all industries.   According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “To respond to the challenging labor more, HR professionals are reimagining talent acquisition strategies and deploying a variety of new tactics and technologies.”  Getting feedback on your employer brand and your offerings relative to other opportunities is one of these new tactics.

Rejected candidate feedback is also very helpful in development and refinement of your sourcing strategy.  Although a candidate was not successful for a specific job, getting feedback about their interests, career plans and the type of environment they type of employment where they want to work is possible to obtain by maintaining relationships with rejected candidates.  

At Hire Outcomes HR, we provide feedback to rejected candidates and collect their feedback about the candidate experience. Although it is not required, we provide honest feedback to unsuccessful candidates and let them know of any relevant opportunities we have in the future.  We have found that this is one way to start to create a candidate pipeline.  Past candidates who have a positive candidate experience are more likely to refer others to job openings at your organization and to apply for future roles.  Social media is a great way to continue a relationship with past candidates.  Congratulating them on new roles or providing feedback about their posts are ways to stay in communication with them.  If you are publishing a blog and you know your past candidates interests, you can also forward them information on relevant topics and events. For more information, please go to Hire Outcomes HR – Hiring Solutions for Success.

Source: Employers Are Responding to Job Candidates’ Changing Expectations (shrm.org)