Supply-demand mismatch in the job market remains a major stumbling block for companies and businesses. Industry experts have often complained about not getting the right talent for a position. However, it does not mean skilled and semi-skilled candidates have been scarce. As per an estimate, over 43,000 students graduate in New Zealand annually. And with the economies around the world set to rebound with the lifting-up of Covid restrictions, the supply and demand for jobs will increase. In such a scenario, a pertinent question is whether new entrants in the job market can find a suitable job.
In a competitive job market, the heat of competition is not restricted only to the job-seekers. Employers feel it equally. Hiring the right fit for a position requires an efficient recruitment process and a thorough understanding of the market forces. Doing so saves time and money and ensures a lasting employee-employer relationship and increased productivity for the organization. For a company planning to hire, it can be beneficial to leverage the services of a placement agency or an intermediary website. These professional agencies deal in specialized recruitment and individual and team recruitment. They also help in the overall satisfaction of the job candidates and the organization.
Why is a Standard Recruitment Process Important?
Trust plays a crucial role in a relationship. If a candidate trusts the recruitment process, she will likely apply for the job. The recruitment process should not be limited to the very process of hiring. It should aim at a win-win situation in which both the parties (candidates and employer) benefit. In addition, a standard process can attract active as well as passive talent, both of which are equally likely to be an asset to the organization.
What are the Best Practices?
Because of the prevailing supply-demand mismatch discussed at the beginning of the article, it is significant to follow some of the best practices to bridge the gap. Paying heed to these practices and advice can mean the difference between retaining a potential talent and letting it go away. Here is a list of seven best practices to follow to improve the recruitment process.
1. Defining the Goal
Enunciating the goal of the recruitment process is the most crucial and fundamental step. Defining what type of talent the company needs helps to garner input across departments and verticals. Doing so enforces cooperation and alignment among colleagues towards the singular goal of attracting a potential candidate to fulfill an existing or a future vacancy.
2. Making the Application Procedure Simpler
According to various surveys, job-seekers are prone to quit a lengthy application procedure. Making the application form easy to understand and crisp gives a positive message to the candidates that their time and effort are valued. Simplifying the process also means not asking for redundant or unnecessary details and respecting a candidate’s privacy. For instance, hiring managers should not ask for information that is assumed to be already available in the candidate’s résumé.
Recruiters are also making efforts to make the application form mobile-friendly. This ensures that maximum applicants can apply and that no deserving candidate is left behind.
3. Choosing an Appropriate Platform to Recruit
It is worthwhile to outsource a part of the recruitment process to a third party. An intermediary, with its expertise, streamlines the whole process. This is all the more useful in cases where a specialist role is required to be filled in a company facing a lack of resources and experience. These third-party hiring agencies bring with them an extensive network and professional experience. Further, many companies now resort to using popular social media platforms to advertise jobs and attract talent.
4. Candidate Sourcing
A job-seeker relies on multiple sources to bag a job. Thus, it is also vital for companies to depend on multiple routes for hiring a potential candidate. In addition to hiring a candidate through a linear route, keeping a watch on passive job-seekers and relying on referrals are other ways of candidate sourcing.
During the candidate sourcing process, the hiring managers should be mindful of the type of employment: whether it is a permanent or a contractual role, or does the company require a specialist or generalist role?
5. Candidate Feedback
A company’s hiring ecosystem gains credibility and respect if the rejected applicants are intimated through email and, if possible, with feedback citing the cause of rejection. Such feedback lets a candidate know her skills and abilities and provides an opportunity for the candidate to apply again with an improved skill set.
6. Leveraging Software Tools and Tests
For a long time, recruiters have laid much emphasis on domain-knowledge tests. Technical knowledge can be learned or sharpened even after hiring a candidate. However, this is not the case with interpersonal skills. Now, recruiters and companies use personality tests such as psychometrics, group discussions, and group tasks to screen candidates in the recruitment process. Personality-based tests are significant markers to match a candidate’s ethics and values to that of the organization.
Also, organizations are now using computer-based assessment tests, moving away from the conventional pen-and-paper mode. In addition to the inherent advantage of saving papers and human resources, computer-based tests are useful for the preliminary screening stages in bulk recruitments.
7. Recruiting Across Cultures and Traditions
Employee diversity is a hallmark of open and tolerant work culture. It has become easier to post job applications seeking to recruit candidates across national and sub-national borders due to the rapid proliferation of software and online platforms. Organizations with workers from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds have proven to retain and engage talent. Diversity also helps to curb the oft-quoted “office politics,” regional bias, and group bias in the workspace.
Conclusion
For an organization, an efficient recruitment process is not only about meeting the demands of the management to fulfill the vacancies. The process is also about building and retaining a work environment where employees feel valued and purposeful. An organization should follow the best practices to improve the recruitment process. These are investments that the organizations ought to make while keeping in mind the collective well-being of the employees and the employer.
