Recruiting and hiring the right people is by far the most crucial part of any organization’s business plan. People are the most significant investment any company will make into its future. Talent acquisition is not only about filling open positions; it is about taking a long-term strategic view for filling future posts as well. It is about collecting relevant data and keeping in touch with candidates until the right position is available. It is more about building relationships with top talent in the industry than it is about simply recruiting for current job opportunities.
The process of hiring talent often involves many steps over several months. But generally, here are the steps we suggest:
- Sourcing and Lead Generation
Starting with an irresistible job description, you would begin identifying social networks, industry events and conferences, online forums, and communities where specialists in your industry gather. There, you can network and schmooze, build relationships, and make your talent needs widely known. In doing so, you will generate a large pool of promising candidates and an even more robust pipeline of potential hires.
- Recruiting and Attracting
Building a strong company brand, promoting your unique company culture, and designing a competitive compensation package are vital components of attracting and retaining stars in your industry. Candidate relationship management is as well, which means: creating a positive candidate experience, courting leads, and keeping in touch with those who aren’t a perfect fit now but could be in the future.
- Interviewing and Assessing
Identify the 3-5 most essential tasks that the position requires and the key performance indicators that will help define success. Then, you can build your interview questions based on behaviors, such as, “What have you done that is like this…?” Aim for questions that check out a candidate’s ability to solve problems, be resourceful, and think on their feet. You can also assess candidates using other tools: a skills test (like a sample writing or programming task), a personality or cognitive evaluation, or a demonstrated pitch or close.
- Checking References
Many hiring managers skip this step, but checking a candidate’s references can solidify your gut feeling about a candidate’s fit. Validate your choice by checking references to see if there are any final concerns or impressions you may have missed. If the reference agrees the candidate has the character and qualifications you’re looking for, you are set to start making offers.
- Making Final Selections
Have a system for selecting from your most reliable candidates. Use people tracking and evaluative software or an internal grading system — both for your own talent team, but also any other stakeholders involved in the decision making. Assuming your C-suite and other employees are as busy as you are, make this final selection process as transparent and hassle-free as possible.
- Hiring and Onboarding
Although this step does not necessarily fall under the responsibilities of the talent acquisition team, it is certainly the final phase of hiring top talent. Note that a robust onboarding process can make or break a new employee relationship, so prepare for and streamline this process as much as possible before your new employee starts.
While each organization handles and houses talent acquisition differently, the talent acquisition team is arguably the most critical driver of corporate culture and positive long term growth.