Best Recruitment Practices

As any executive can tell you, long-term business success requires the ability to find, hire, and retain top-tier talent. And it all starts with a robust recruitment process and hiring strategy. 

Fortunately for you, this guide lays out best recruitment practices for businesses, from detailed job requirements and qualifications to finding passive candidates, and from ensuring valuable interviews to effective onboarding. 

All of these are crucial to good hiring and keeping your business on the road to success. 

1. Define Your Recruitment Process

Finding and bringing in the right candidates can take weeks, months, even years for some of the top positions. The best way to shorten this timeline is to implement recruitment best practices, which usually ensure a smooth and efficient process that leads to quality hires.  

Recruitment begins with building a strong employer brand, which is established with positive customer and employee reviews on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor and LinkedIn. Professionals within your industry and beyond should view your company as a good place to work – that’s the kind of reputation that can attract real talent. 

If your company’s online reputation is less than stellar, work to improve it by responding to complaints and issues mentioned by staff and former employees. Make a show of being willing to improve and address concerns. 

Identify available positions

Next is the identification of available positions – roles that are currently unfilled as well as those that may be in the future. After identifying available jobs, your recruitment specialist should speak to the manager of each position and get detailed information on what’s needed and expected from this employee. 

With this information, you can create comprehensive job descriptions and post them on relevant job boards with application deadlines. Before placing the job post online, you should establish a timeline for applications and interviews and nail down your key criteria. 

Are writing skills more important than problem-solving? Which is better – excellent training or relevant experience? After interviewing the top candidates, you should discuss the applicants with their future supervisors and choose the most qualified candidates.

2. Follow a Recruitment Strategy

Recruiting top talent is not something that just happens. Businesses need to have a smart strategy in place to ensure they identify and attract the best candidates. Here are the steps to a successful recruitment strategy. 

First and foremost is understanding the position that needs to be filled and the type of candidates who would be the best fit. Before publishing any job postings, take the time to craft job descriptions that precisely reflect the duties and responsibilities of each role, as well as the skills required. 

This ensures you’ll only receive submissions from qualified applicants, saving your business significant time and resources. 

Another key step is leveraging the appropriate channels to ensure top candidates learn about your firm’s job opportunities. This requires identifying and understanding your target audience. 

Knowing who you’re trying to recruit results in more effective job postings that employ the appropriate language and tone and rely on the optimal recruitment channels. This may include job boards, social media, career fairs, and other alternatives. Be sure to do your research.   

Overall, a smart recruitment strategy should create a positive candidate experience, minimize costs, and ensure quality hires.

3. List Qualifications and Job Requirements

Hiring the best person for the job requires a clear understanding of the duties and qualifications of the position. Here are some best practices for recruiting new employees.

Specify the qualifications you’re looking for in potential employees in terms of education, certifications, and experience. Avoid vague job descriptions. Sometimes, companies ask for a “high-performing” or “awesome” team player, but this is basically meaningless. Be specific.

It’s also important to consider any special skills required or knowledge of industry-specific tech tools. In addition to outlining qualifications and job requirements, employers should provide detailed information on pay, expected work hours, and benefits. This enables candidates to make an informed decision about the position. 

4. Identify Passive Candidates

Recruiting passive candidates – professionals who aren’t actively looking for a new job – is an integral part of any successful recruitment strategy. It’s essential to know how to identify and approach them to have a chance to turn them into future employees. 

First, once again, make sure your company has a positive online presence, and demonstrate a commitment to employee development by advertising attractive benefits packages. This may include flexible working hours, tuition reimbursement programs, or health and wellness stipends.

Use social media platforms like LinkedIn to reach out directly and engage with passive candidates. You could also use social media to find hidden talent pools that may not be accessible via traditional tools.

If you message a passive candidate on LinkedIn requesting to connect, be sure to introduce yourself and be transparent. Are you offering a job? Which company do you represent? Why are you reaching out to this person in particular? 

You only get one chance to avoid the pit of pending connection requests. Personally, once I’ve read a message that feels like spam or is irrelevant to my interests, I move on. 

5. Interview Job Seekers

Candidate interviews are, of course, a crucial element of recruitment – an opportunity to assess whether a candidate is the right fit. Here are some best practices for interviewing prospective hires. 

Ensure all candidates receive a fair and equitable chance by being consistent: avoid any personal bias in regards to ethnicity, religion or background. Make sure your questions are useful and informative. They should be relevant to the available position and help determine whether the candidate is qualified and might be a good fit. 

It’s a good idea to start by introducing yourself and explaining your role. Make them feel comfortable expressing themselves so they can give honest and open answers. Ask questions that allow applicants to showcase their qualifications, experience, and thought process. 

Be sure to assess technical knowledge as well as soft skills such as communication, problem-solving and ability to work collaboratively.  

6. Ask Common Interview Questions

Avoid making your interview questions too challenging or complicated. Every candidate should be able to understand and respond to every query. Here are some of the most common interview questions: 

• Tell me about yourself
• How did you hear about this position?
• Why are you interested in working for our company?
• What sets you apart from other applicants?
• Do you have any questions for us?

“Tell me about yourself.”

This gives you a chance to get to know the candidate, allowing you to assess whether the applicant is a good fit. This question also provides insight into a person’s background experience and professional accomplishments, giving you an understanding of how adept a candidate may be in performing certain tasks. 

Additionally, it might show how well-versed a candidate is in their area of expertise, how uniquely qualified they may be. Meanwhile, encourage organic conversation by allowing candidates to talk honestly about their experiences without feeling rushed or judged.

“How did you hear about this position?”

With the competition for top talent intensifying every year, it helps to be strategic and proactive in your approach to filling open positions. To maximize success, remember to ask potential candidates how they heard about the job opening. 

This question will help you understand which sources are most effective in attracting qualified applicants. It also provides valuable feedback on the effectiveness of your recruitment strategies and tactics.

You can use this data to identify the methods generating the most desirable candidates and tailor your efforts accordingly. From job boards and online postings to employee referrals and career fairs, you have many options for reaching out to qualified individuals.

“Why are you interested in working for this company?”

This simple question can give you valuable insight into a candidate’s motivations and goals, as well as how they view your business.

When a candidate answers, pay close attention. It should be more than a list of potential benefits. The best candidates demonstrate genuine enthusiasm and excitement about joining your team. If they’ve done research on your company and understand its mission, values, and culture, they may be an ideal fit!

“What sets you apart from other applicants?”

This question allows you to understand how candidates see themselves and what makes them unique. They’ll have the chance to show how their qualifications and experiences put them ahead of other applicants. 

It also allows employers to see evidence of confidence and self-awareness. Confident people get more done on the job, and self-aware employees work better with others. 

The answer to this question should provide valuable insight on how well a candidate will fit into your company culture.

“Do you have any questions for us?”

The candidate and the hiring team should feel satisfied with the interviewing process, and a good way to help ensure this is to ask candidates if they have any questions or concerns. 

Responses often reveal candidates’ level of preparation. They also have an opportunity to learn more about your business and express any concerns or doubts about the company or the position. 

Meanwhile, simply asking this question shows your company’s commitment to open communication and a positive recruitment experience. It’s also a sign of respect for candidates. 

Overall, this creates greater clarity and could help avoid misunderstandings down the line. 

7. Onboard an Employee

Did you know that strong onboarding boosts new hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by 70 percent? That data is from staffing advisory Glassdoor, and with such a competitive labor market these days, this means great onboarding can be a game-changer. 

The data shows that robust onboarding sets the tone for a successful employment experience and builds a strong foundation for future growth. Make sure your new hires start off on the right foot with an onboarding program that emphasizes company culture and goals. 

Introduce new employees to their colleagues while providing job-specific training and resources such as policy manuals and online tutorials. The hope is that they quickly become comfortable in their role.

Be sure to give new employees access to a payroll provider where they can upload their direct deposit details and complete tax forms. Employees should also be able to elect payroll deductions for FICA tax and insurance premiums. 

Additionally, it’s important to foster open communication between management and employees so that any questions or concerns can be addressed early on in the process.

Improve the Candidate’s Experience

Hiring the right candidates is key to business success. To make sure the candidate experience is positive and successful, it’s important to follow best recruitment practices, including creating a clear job description, using technology wisely, and maintaining consistent communication.

It might sound like a lot of work. But an excellent recruitment, hiring, and onboarding experience significantly increases the chances of finding and retaining fantastic employees, which helps ensure your company’s continued success.