Filling out a position in an organization takes time, too much time if you ask higher management who wants a vacant role occupied right away if possible. According to a LinkedIn global study, only 30% of businesses manage to fill out a vacancy in less than 30 days, with the vast majority needing up to 3 or 4 months to complete the process. Here are a few ways to optimize the hiring process in your company.
Set out a coherent hiring policy
When the HR department receives the request to find a new employee for a certain position, there’s no time to lose and no time to wonder how best to go about it. Make sure your company has an established hiring routine detailing who’s in charge of placing ads and where who’s going to look through the resume and the criteria to select candidates for phone and in-person interviews.
Use AI technology
To streamline the hiring process, a business should invest in AI tools that automatically scan resumes, which is essential for a large company where there’s always a position to fill. Modern AI software tools can significantly reduce the time needed to deal with this stage of the process and also keep track of applications.
Create a talent pool
A good HR team thinks in advance and is prepared to find the required personnel as soon as the need arises. One of the best ways to do this is by having a so-called talent pool to draw upon. This requires recruiting agents continuously networking and discovering the most qualified professionals in a field. They will probably be working elsewhere, but when you need a good IT specialist quickly it’s good to know who to approach with an offer.
Online background checks
Even if you must fill out a position quickly, this does not mean you have to put the safety of your organization at risk by hiring someone without doing a proper background check. The fastest way to deal with this issue is to go through a trusted online agency. A commonly used agency all over Australia for police checks is an Australian National Character Check who provides police checks only online. Just have someone in the HR department upload the identity information for a prospective employee and you will get a full national police check certificate in 2-3 business days. Such a background check is 100% valid and offers information on all the convictions and charges, if any, on the job applicant’s record.
Set up an employee referral program
People already working in your organization know first-hand the qualities required to be part of the team. The HR department should set up an employee referral program encouraging all the people working there to recommend someone they know for a certain position, maybe someone they know from their school days or a friend from a past workplace. The company can offer small rewards for referring someone good at a certain job, but you can also rely on the employees wanting to do a favor for a friend. In most cases, the referred person will turn out to be a good choice as no one will risk their position within the company by recommending a person without proper qualifications or low work ethics.
Social Media
Social Media is something that is used by everyone. It is a powerful tool that can be utilized in the hiring procedure. Social Media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. are the best media to attract applicants. It is a good source to identify the right fit for your industry. The amount of time people spend on social media is a good indication of how effective this approach can be. In a pool of applicants, social media can aid to distinguish the admired candidate. Not only to advertise your job, but Social Media can also be used as a part of the screening procedure. The attitude, nature, and character of a candidate are well defined through these media.
Upgrade your “Career” page
The career page on your website makes a difference when candidates are looking for a job. The reason behind this is it says a lot about your company. The instances when a candidate visits the career page is when they are in search of a job and next is when they are considering the job offer. If they are not satisfied, they will either reject the offer or drop-off. There are drawbacks to both these actions. Rejecting will mean you will have to hunt for the right candidate once again starting from selecting the applicant to interviewing them which is a lengthy and time-consuming procedure. On the other hand, drop-offs will slow down the hiring process ending with fewer applicants. To avoid any negative impacts, optimize the “career” page in a way that the candidates receive the maximum information about the job and your company.
Application Tracking System (ATS)
To boost the hiring process, you could consider investing in a good Application Tracking System (ATS). It is an ideal tool to speed up the hiring process. It acts more like a “Robot” capable of performing almost all the time-consuming tasks in the recruitment process. From posting the job ad in the specified job boards to receiving real-time notifications of people applying for the position, it plays a big role throughout the hiring process. The results are impressive and efficient.
It is a must-have tool for any company as it also leaves no space for human errors. Other brilliant tasks that an ATS can perform are application sorting and streamlining, automation capabilities, interview scheduling, and talent pipeline building.
Avoid any Magic-Bullet questions
A magic-bullet question towards the candidate will not prove his capabilities for the position. There’s just one and only advice in this regard-never ask any magic bullet-questions because magic-bullets don’t exist. Instead, get to know the candidate well by asking questions that are relevant to the job. Some things that can be worth asking about is their knowledge, experience, interest, hobby, skills, behavior, attitudes, etc. These will reveal their aptness for the position.
Wrapping it up
All the above-mentioned recruitment strategies will accelerate your hiring process without a doubt. The main reason behind losing the right candidate is delaying in offering the job in most cases as the candidate has already accepted someone else’s job offer. You do not want to lose the perfect match by committing a silly hiring mistake.