6 Ways to make your hiring process more efficient

How do you make your company grow? It is when you hire the right people for the right positions. The next question is how do you hire the right people and what is the way to identify if the candidate is competent enough to survive in the work culture you are offering.

Why don’t most hiring managers have a laid-back attitude when recruiting new people for their teams? Why are companies serious about the process? It is because the company’s future practically depends on these hiring decisions.

Effective recruitment involves multiple steps which are not limited to merely writing job descriptions and posting them on job portals/social media to attract job seekers. It is crucial to make the job description engaging and clear as per the position’s demands. This ensures attracting suitable job applicants during the selection process and, of course, the selection interview.

At NLB Services, we know that recruiting the right employees is often the deciding factor between the success and failure of a company. If you want to acquire the best talents and skills you need to make an effective recruitment process.

What is a hiring process?

The process of finding, selecting, and hiring new employees for a company is called the hiring process. Since it requires strategic and pragmatic thinking, certain steps are important to be taken into account to make the hiring process successful.  It is the process of reviewing applications, selecting the right candidates for further rounds, testing candidates on various skills required for the job, choosing candidates from the applications scrutinized to make the decision, and performing various pre-employment tests and checks.

An effective hiring process has three key segments: planning, recruitment, and employee selection.

What steps are in the hiring process?

During the hiring process, a human resources manager or hiring manager will follow the steps below to select the best possible fit for the job:

• Posting the vacancy on various channels (social media & mainstream or both)

Posting job vacancies online or offline is one of the essential ways of making sure that people see and apply for the position.

• Receiving applications

After posting vacancies on various mediums, the hiring manager receives several job applications.

• Reviewing job applications

After the applications are received, it is time to look into them and evaluate the CVs, cover letters or any other type of document candidates might have attached to the application.

• Testing candidates

Test assessments help companies ensure whether or not the applicants have the required skills to successfully perform their jobs. Tests and assignments help to increase hiring efficiency and shortlist candidates.

• Lining up scrutinized candidates for the interview

Determine how the interview process should go. Whether online or a telephonic interview or the candidate needs to be physically present for face-to-face interaction.

• Performing background and reference checks

Background and reference checks are mandatory in the recruiting process. They help recruiters get more information about a candidate by contacting their previous employers, schools, etc.

How long should your hiring process take?

It is very difficult to objectively determine and say how much time it takes to complete an interview process. There is no appropriate length of time as the optimum length for a company’s hiring process is a debatable topic for quite some time.  It depends on various factors like what the economic environment is, how the candidate search is being conducted, how urgent the vacancy is that needs to be filled, weather conditions, and so on. To fill the search for the best candidates in the marketplace, a hiring process should include constant communication, consistent feedback, and a sense of urgency, depending on the company’s vacancy.

Glassdoor reports that the job with the fastest interview process is waiter at 10.2 days, while the slowest is professor at 60.3 days. But, effective hiring practices double the chance of getting quality candidates for the company. No matter how much time it takes.

How to improve your hiring process

Redefine Your Job Requirements

Identify the hiring need. This first step might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many companies jump head-first into hiring without making 100% sure they actually need someone. Get together with your hiring manager and any other key stakeholders and map out a clear list of tasks and responsibilities this new role will cover.

Promote Your Employer Brand

Ask employees to share the job posting through their accounts too. It will help to increase the visibility of the posting and spread the word to the masses. People who are looking to switch organizations might take up the opportunity after watching employees already working in the organization.

First and foremost, you must promote your employer’s brand. It is one of the major concerns of the candidate who does not know about your company and where they are applying to work. In the age of the internet, the very first thing a candidate does before applying for a job is to check out the company’s website and social media pages. It gives them an idea about the work culture and work environment.

Use social media

Start by listing the job associations, recruitment conferences, Facebook groups that are made for category-wise (industry-wise)  job postings, Slack forums, or Twitter chats your ideal candidates are following. The role of social media in talent acquisition has become increasingly important in today’s digital landscape. Nowadays, candidates are mobile screen savvy and they search for vacancies on their phones and do not hesitate to apply too.

Use an Application Tracking System

If you’re planning to use an ATS (Application Tracking System ) to track and manage all your applicants, look for one that makes it easy to scrutinize applications and discuss candidates as a team. Adding to this fact, some ATS even included automated email templates that go out to the candidate when it reaches a specific stage in the process. Using ATS is a small but powerful way to improve the candidate experience and ease your employer brand with every incoming application. The introduction of ATS results in recruitment automation and is considered one of the effective recruiting strategies.

Introduce an employee referral program

Employee referrals are an excellent source to acquire quality candidates in minimum time. Many companies circulate the vacancy among the employees first along with some referral programs and incentives. When a serving employee refers someone and he/she gets selected as well, then the employee gets some incentive.

Contact a recruiting agency

If you’re an employer, look around to partner with a recruitment agency to help with hiring needs. Contact NLB Services which can connect you with recruitment professionals who specialize in various industries.

Conclusion

A detailed and streamlined hiring process is necessary for organizational success. Implementing a consistent hiring plan within the organization or outsourcing can help optimize your ability to identify the strongest candidate for the organization. Also, create a clear understanding of the hiring process if you need to improve it.

Moreover, hiring does not end with a signed offer letter but requires proper planning and careful consideration. The transition from accepting applications through proper channels helps ease a smooth onboarding process.

NLB Services