What does it mean to have a recruitment process?

The recruitment process refers to the steps a company takes to attract and select employees. This is usually done by managers, human resources managers and recruiters. For small businesses, the owner and/or manager takes the lead in the recruitment process. The main goal is to find a good employee in a quick and efficient manner.

Benefits of effective recruitment and selection process

The biggest benefit of an effective recruitment process is that it reduces the cost to the company. When hiring a new employee, businesses have to put money into advertising the job and spend a lot of time reviewing and then interviewing candidates. Then, once the candidate is selected and hired, more money and time can go into the training process, so you want to make sure that you hire people who perform well and stay with the company for a long time to reduce turnover.

Turnover refers to employees leaving a company, but any small business’s interest lies in low turnover. In other words, you want employees to keep working for you for a long time. This is because every time an employee leaves your company, you have to start the recruitment process over again. With low turnover rates, less money needs to be spent on hiring new employees, which, in turn, can go towards improving other business processes to increase employee morale. When employees are happy, they tend to work harder, so you can increase productivity by having an efficient recruitment and selection process.

Ways to make the recruitment process more efficient

The following are a few strategies to help make your recruitment process more efficient:

Get referrals

Before opening up the job to everyone, see if anyone already working for you or in your social circle might know a good candidate for the job. By asking colleagues, friends and family if they know anyone looking for a position in your field, you might be able to cut down the time and expense of looking for a new employee. So, instead of spending time sorting through resumes, you can get the referrals to email you directly to only look at candidates who come from your network of people. This can be efficient as the referred candidates will likely already have sufficient experience in the field, and you will have someone who can vouge for them. If you can find the right candidate through a referral, the entire process becomes quick and efficient.

Use automation software

Investing a bit of money into automation software can be incredibly helpful when creating an efficient recruitment process. To do this, you can find an applicant tracking system (ATS) that will help you track applicants and ensure that you see high-quality resumes. The reason this is an important investment is that the number of resumes you can receive is overwhelming, and you want to spend less time looking through resumes that do not have the sufficient amount of experience for the job. Having automated software can help you quickly narrow down the candidates, meaning you have more time for selection and training.

Develop clear employer brand

Before looking for a new employee, make sure you know exactly what your company stands for and what type of working environment you can offer. People want to know why they should work for you, and if you are unclear about what your company offers its employees, you might end up hiring the wrong person. Being upfront with potential employees about what it would be like to work for your company will help you narrow down the right candidates and will help avoid turnover.

Keep data

Keeping data on how many resumes you received, whom you interviewed and whom you hired can give you a good insight into the type of employees work best for your company. You can then use these records in the future to improve your recruitment process and hopefully have a quicker and more efficient process next time.

Steps for an efficient recruitment process

Here are some steps you need to have to create an efficient recruitment process:

1. Identify need.

   Before starting the recruitment process, make sure you know exactly what type of employee you are looking for. You want to have a clear picture of why you are hiring someone and what kind of work they will be doing. This will help you create a clear job description and attract the right candidates. This will also help you determine what type of employee you need in terms of how many hours a week you need them and whether or not this would be a permanent position. Make sure you also know how much you can afford to pay the employee to make all of this clear to the candidates.

2. Create a detailed job description.

   Once you have identified the need to hire an employee, you want to write a clear and accurate

   job description. A detailed job description will not only help when creating the advertisement for the position but will also help narrow down the most suitable candidates. When you are clear about what you are looking for, you are more likely to get qualified candidates. Having a clear job description also helps make the orientation process easier as the new employees will already know exactly what their duties will be.

3. Craft a job ad and then decide where to post.

   Crafting a job ad that is detailed enough so that potential candidates know exactly what they are applying for is important. You want to give enough detail so the candidates know your company values and the skills they would need for the job. Being too vague about the job details might lead to a lot of unqualified applications, which can further lead to wasted time. Once you have crafted the ad, make sure you post it on the right platforms to get the type of candidates you are looking for. Also, make sure your ad is clear about what type of job it is so that you can place the ad in the proper job/career category.

4. Review and sort applicants.

   This would be a place where the applicant tracking system we spoke of earlier would come in handy. If you have an ATS, it will filter resumes so that you have less to look over when trying to decide whom to interview. Once the ATS has filtered the resumes, you can then take a look at each candidate and decide who might make a good employee.

5. Go through the interview process.

   Once you have sorted through all the applicants and decided who you think might be a good match, it is time to do the interviews. You might want to do a preliminary phone interview before doing a formal interview so that you can see who acts in a professional manner. This can help you narrow the field down even further and is a great step in the interview process. Before the interview, make sure what you will be

   asking each candidate

   and try to make it the same for each person.

6. Check credentials.

   Once you have done the interviews, you can narrow down the field some more by checking references. You want to make sure that the candidate has the experience they said they did on their resume. Also, by speaking to people who know the candidate, you can get a better sense of who the candidate is as a person. You want to hire someone who fits into your organization, so speaking with a reference is a great way to find out their personality.

7. Make a job offer.

   Once you’ve decided whom you would like to hire, it is time to contact that person and offer them the job. You can do this by writing out a job offer letter so that there is a clear understanding of what you are offering and what the candidate is accepting. You might need to do some negotiation, so make sure always to have a second choice if you cannot hire whom you want.

8. Onboarding.
   Onboarding refers to the process when the candidate finally turns into your new employee. You want to make sure that all the paperwork is done within the first few days and that the new hire is comfortable with the working environment and is introduced to other staff. This is also when some of the training might occur, so make sure you have figured out what that might look like and who will be conducting the training.