Whether you are expanding your business or starting a new one, hiring staff can be tricky and complicated. Knowing who you want and choosing the right person are two very different things, so it can be easy to make simple mistakes. The last thing you want is to spend ages hiring staff for them to not fit in well.
So, how can you make the hiring process easier? What can you be looking out for when screening staff? Fortunately, there are some tried and tested tools and methods available to help you hire the right employees. Let’s dive deeper into these now, in this helpful guide on choosing the right staff.
Decide What You Want
It’s important that, before you even begin the hiring process, you know exactly what you want from a future employee. Don’t even advertise the job posting until you’ve sat down with your team and discussed what this job role is. You need to have it crystal clear in your mind where you need a new employee to fit into your structure, what the job will entail, and how much responsibility you want to give them.
After this, you need to discuss the type of person you think is suitable for the role. Is it suited to someone well-educated or with specific skills? Is this job more geared towards an active, experienced manager, or someone fresh in a new career? Having all of these points laid out before you write and post the job advert/description is very important.
Use HRIS Software
To make the process easier, you should consider using a human resources information system (HRIS.) When selecting the right HRIS, you should be looking for something with an applicant tracking system or detailed recruitment systems. This will help you in many ways throughout the hiring process.
You will be able to track applications, automatically screen for certain things, and get detailed analytical data on your applicants. This can help you build a picture of who is applying, where from, and why they may or may not be suitable. A good HRIS system will also allow your teams to work remotely and collaboratively, all sharing the same data and viewing the same information. For instance, in the restaurant industry where large number of applications are managed, getting analytics on restaurant job applicant is especially useful.
Consider Recruiters
So, you’ve got your job description sorted and your back-office systems in place. It’s time to post the job online. Use a variety of job listing sites to get as much reach as possible, then wait for the applications to start coming in.
If you would like people recommended to you, you can consider the use of recruitment specialists to help you find candidates. These recruiters will scour LinkedIn, contact lists, and more to find people that they feel will be suited to you, your company, and your role. Usually, recruiters work on a commission, so it’s worth keeping that in mind if you do go down this route. They do tend to have high success rates, though, so if you aren’t finding your candidates, consider recruiters.
Screen Employees
At this point, you should have had some applications come in, through your HRIS system. If you have asked it to, your HRIS system can automatically screen employees based on certain things. For example, if you require each applicant to write a supporting statement and someone hasn’t, the system can move their application aside. Don’t worry, you can still look at them if they wish, but the pre-screening is done for you.
After this, it’s time for a few people to sit down and work through the applications. Remember your initial checklist? Time to use this as a point of reference. Does this person have enough experience, enough education, or a combination of both? Do they seem a good fit for your brief? Screening helps whittle down from a large pool to a select few, ready for an interview.
Interview Techniques
After all this, it’s finally time to meet some candidates. If you really want to find the right fit, you can use a combination of interview methods and techniques. Here’s a little detail on each:
Group Interviews
Group interviewing is a great way to meet an extended pool of candidates at once. When advertising multiple similar positions, this can be a great way of interviewing. Put interviewees into groups and give them tasks to assess their ability to work in a team and get to know people quickly. Ask people to speak in front of the group to assess their confidence and attitude. You probably want to avoid people who can’t work well with the rest of the group.
Individual Interviews
After this, you should move onto individual interviews. Some people prefer to go right to this stage if they only have a small pool of applicants, which is obviously fine! Here’s where you want to learn more about an applicant. Why do they want this job, what do they feel they could bring to the team? You should use some of your top employees in this interview panel so that you can get mixed opinions on each applicant.
Cultural Fit Interview
Many employers these days choose to conduct a cultural fit interview, too. This can be conducted by two or more members of staff at any level. It is designed to see if the applicant can fit in with your current team. If the members of staff who have the chat with the applicant feel there’s absolutely no way they could work together, you probably have your answer.
Check References
Finally, you want to check references. You will have asked your applicant to provide employment references from their previous jobs. This is a key part of the process, as you will receive an unbiased view of the person from their previous employer. Look for any compliments as well as any negative points that may affect your opinion of the applicant.
Following these steps will help you find the perfect employees for your business. Use technology to help, while trying a multi-layered interview approach. You will find new members for your team quicker and easier than you ever have before.
