Recruitment or Hiring ?
I began my career (or my real world life, like I call it) with recruitment. And so, it will as a profession always remain my favourite. It is what taught me everything. Although today I call it hiring, I always hated this word. It sounded like something very temporary, say like hiring a cab or hiring a service. Recruitment, on the other hand sounded meaningful. However, I guess I started began going with the flow & calling it hiring. But the word still means the same to me.
Recruitment has always for me, been the most important function. And I strongly believe in the fact that People make an Organisation. It breaks my heart to see what has happened to this important function of recruitment & the way it is being managed.
Recruitment for all purposes, is that first step where you as a recruiter are letting the future employees, good or bad, be a part of the Organisation. The technicalities apart, recruitment is not just filling or closing a position, but letting a right fit; both a Technical Fit & an Organisational Fit take over a specified role. While a match of the requirement & the skill sets is vital, a cultural match is equally important. And a recruiters role is not restricted to finding a technically sound potential candidate but also to evaluate to whatever extent possible his personality, fitment & determine what he or she will bring along in terms of value to the Organisation. Having said that, it is crucial to note that recruitment is a two way process. While you as a recruiter & as an interviewer are assessing the candidate, the candidate is also assessing you - the recruiter, you - the interviewer & the entire recruitment process. It is therefore very important to ensure that the entire process is handled & carried out professionally, projecting the right & relevant information to the candidate, whether positive or not so positive.
Things that every recruiter should remember & follow, ALWAYS -
1. If skills & experience are important, so are attitude & ability to learn.
2. For every requirement, there are skills that are mandatory & skills that are a bonus.
3. Spend sufficient time with the hiring manager, get to know the requirement very well & in your own words.
4. Do your homework, before you start working towards hiring. Know what is possible, what is difficult & what is difficult but not impossible.
5. If a candidate cannot express it, he may not know it.
6. Treat all candidates as equal, however do not lose your ground.
7. Study the market, always know what is in & what is not.
8. Have a fair idea of what kind of position you are working on, what the possible challenges are or can be
9. Carefully choose your source.
10. Decide how the opening should be projected & stick to the plan.
Here are a few things that are absolutely important & which, if managed effectively will ensure a high degree of success in the recruitment process -
Before scheduling for an interview -
1. Shortlist the resume objectively. However, make an initial contact to get a feel of the candidate's ability. Strike up a conversation to discuss his/her professional growth. Assess communication, confidence & ease with which he or she can converse. Give equal importance to the non verbal communication & cues that you observe or feel. Trust your own judgement about the candidate's overall personality, attitude & skills.
2. Share details about the Organisation & the role clearly. While it is okay to generate interest in the opportunity, it is a good idea to let the candidate decide whether he or she is really interested in pursuing the opportunity.
3. On completing your own checklist as a result of your assessment & a go ahead from the candidate, schedule an interview.
4. Choose a good team to interview for the position. Two is good, for niche or tricky position 3 is fine. This also helps in deciding.
While Scheduling an interview -
1. Give the interviewer (technical) & the candidate, sufficient time & notice before & during the interview. The Hiring Manager is a "must be there" in the team of interviewers.
2. Choose a right time & place for the interview. Ensure the interviewers are on the same level of understanding about the role & have similar expectations. It is good to have an interviewing strategy in place, like one interviewer is supposed to evaluate 2 specific areas or skills & the other say 2 other skills, who starts first or what kind of questions to start first. Whether you want to start the interview with a "take me through your resume" or "tell me about yourself" kinda questions. Encourage interviewers to decide a few things in advance.
3. Make sure you have most things sorted out, so as to have a concrete yes or no & why answer from the interview panel. And ofcourse, be ready with your opinion as well.
After an interview -
1. Have a good discussion on why a candidate is selected or not selected. Make sure the reasons are objective & relevant to the role.
2. Always remember, you along with the interview panel, are taking a "Hiring" decision here. Take a well informed decision. Be ready to own it up.
3. You may choose the let the candidate know about the decision after a few days. It is a good idea to inform rejection as well. If the candidate wants to have a feedback, give a genuine one.
If you were to ask most HR professionals, we do not considered a recruitment complete, unless the person selected has joined. Hence, this does not end with selection. Now that you have informed selection, the ball is in the candidate's court. And just because he or she has been selected by you, does that guarantee his or her joining. The time period between selection & joining is as crucial.
Between selection & joining -
1. Have a open discussion about the offer, clarify what the job has & does not have in store for the selected candidate.
2.Ensure that the candidate willingly accepts.
3. Keep in touch with the candidate between the selection or offer stage until joining. However, do not go overboard & annoy him or her with frequent phone calls or emails. Just do that much bit so as to sound interested but not desperate.
4. What can you do to keep in touch ?? Okay, check if the handing over is progressing well at his/her current employer, inform about the preparations at your end towards his/her onboarding, inform about the recent developments in the organization, while it is okay to sound "looking forward to having you on board", there is a difference between that & "I will so be in trouble if you do not join".
Let us also be aware that if someone is not interested in joining your organization & is using your offer to simply bargain for a better one from someone else, its just not worth it & no amount of being professional is going to get him or her to join. And honestly, you & your organization are better off without such people. So, be well equipped to deal with such situations as well.
Some things that you can do is, have back ups. If it is possible & affordable, offer two people in place of one. If you cannot offer two, ensure you have two or three final selections. If you have a not so good feeling about the person you are about to offer, don't waste your time. Look for any cues from the potential joiner about him or her having second thoughts on joining your organization. The sooner you get to know the better. If, at any point of time, between the offer stage & the joining date, the candidate begins to re-negotiate your offer, the call I yours to make. Do not hesitate to revoke an offer on grounds of unethical behavior.
While there is no full proof hiring, we all can do our best to ensure there are minimum or no loopholes. Ofcourse, time & experience are the best teachers.
Happy Recruiting !!
