A bad recruitment strategy is going to cost you lots of money. Actually, it’s going to cost your more than money. Hiring the wrong people is going to lead to a reduction in worker productivity, lost time, a reduction in team morale and a negative impact on your client relationships. Want to know where you’re going wrong? Read on…

You don’t have the right software

One thing any business needs to consider is the cost of trying to hire new staff: so first, invest in the right tools to make your recruitment process cost-efficient. You could reduce man hours by making use of things like CIPHR HR Systems, drawing on the power of recruitment systems to boost your visibility to potential employees and widen your pool of candidates.

Online applicant trackers are also useful if you’d like to better manage the administrative tasks associated with recruitment, and there’s nothing wrong with relying on old-school technology too. A simple telephone interview will begin to give you a feel for a candidate’s suitability before you invest time and money in face to face talks.

You’re too focused on qualifications

Qualifications are important; strong higher education qualifications naturally infer that your employees will be able to assimilate new skills and knowledge at speed, and depth. But, it isn’t the be all and end all (except, of course, for jobs requiring a level of education such as law, accounting or medicine). What is very important however is a desire to learn.

Bright, passionate employees will be willing and able to learn how to do the job you require of them, and don’t necessarily need a degree to get started. It’s important that your business is hiring people who are motivated to develop with you: remember that a University certificate isn’t an indicator of that.

You’re hiring the wrong people

Stop making quick-fixes, and start taking the process slowly. Whilst it’s inevitable you’ll find yourself trying to hire a replacement for a leaver from time to time, try to become more pro-active with your recruitment strategy. If you envisage needing more staff for a particular role, begin by making a clear list of ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’. By giving yourself more time you can afford to be more ‘choosey’ about who you give a job to. Ultimately, less time-pressured you are higher the chances are of making the right decision.

You might also be missing a trick by only interviewing people who approach you. Some of the best people for your organisation are already working for another business. Why not put some feelers out for people who might consider a change of scene? What can you offer that makes your business an avenue worth considering?

You’re not practising good interview techniques

Are your interviewers properly trained? Are they asking relevant, targeted questions, and are they delivering them in a way that prompts a longer response rather than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Questions phrased with ‘how’ and ‘why’ will encourage detailed responses that will allow you to glean more about a candidate than just the response they give: such as their transparency, history, communication style and personality. It’s a good idea to leave a few moments of silence occasionally too – if you’ve made a candidate comfortable, they’ll probably offer more information about themselves to fill a gap in the conversation.

Author

Founder of Paisley.org.uk in 1998 and constantly strives to change peoples attitudes to the town, Brian is a self described Paisley Digital Champion who promotes Paisley via any means necessary. You can also follow me on X