Finding the best talent for your business can be a tricky and expensive process which becomes particularly more difficult without a sufficient plan in place. An unexpected departure by a member of your team can have a significant affect on your company if there is not a strategy ready to find their replacement. Without one, your company could spend a long time without a replacement which could impact its productivity and ultimately the moral of the rest of the team, as well as potentially forcing your hand in turning to more expensive, more immediate solutions. In our latest blog post therefore, we will explore the importance of putting a recruitment plan for your business into place.
Evaluating how you approach candidates
With today’s reliance on all things online, there are a variety of different avenues in which potential clients find vacancies. The primary route is obviously the internet; most active candidates will either search for relevant vacancies on job listings websites, or search directly for the company itself. There is also an increase in popularity of other digital avenues such as social media, with many companies either posting their vacancies directly on their profiles, or employees disclosing the vacancy by word of mouth.
The first part of your recruitment plan should therefore lay out a concrete, agreed proposal regarding which avenues your company will advertise on. Will you be direct in your attitude by approaching passive candidates who may not be actively searching for a new role? Will you use your established network to reach out to those who best fit your vacancy? Which listing websites will you feature on, and why? Questions such as these are a good starting point.
Once you have nailed down where you want to be seen, you also have to establish what exactly you will show. In this context, the job description is the most important aspect. For smaller companies, it can be tricky to compete with larger, international businesses for talented applicants; either not enough people see their vacancy, or no one likes what they see enough to apply. Here is where your job description becomes essential. The most important element to include is to clearly convey your business’s values and culture. Be creative in how you publish your vacancy, as many candidates can be convinced by the close-knit culture of a smaller company, over the big bucks offered by the larger ones.
Identifying skill deficits
It will be difficult for any company to improve if their recruitment process is little more than a one in, one out policy, with those leaving being replaced by very similar candidates. Part of your recruitment plan therefore should be to establish what skills are at your disposal already, and what skills your team currently lacks. This type of skill gap analysis will be an incredibly useful tool in comparing these two elements to what skills your business would like in the future. In identifying areas in which you would like to improve, these can be prioritised and kept front of mind during the recruitment process. Your recruitment plan should therefore lay out a periodical gap skill analysis, so any skill deficits in your team can be filled by those joining your company.
Changing the interviewing process
The interview is one of, if not the most important stages of the recruitment process, and many businesses seem to forget that it is as much a reflection of your company as it is a reflection of the candidate. It is crucial therefore that your interview process is effective to weed out those candidates who are not best suited to your team – and should form part of your recruitment plan. You need to firstly consider who is going to be in the interview. What members of management are most relevant for this particular position? It is important to note that this will be different for each role advertised.
You then have to consider whether those selected to conduct the interviews are sufficiently trained to do so. Bias is a huge part of the interviewing process, and although they can never be completely quashed, attempting to reduce unconscious bias through training will help in establishing a more diverse and talented team for your company. Those who will sit in interviews for each role, and what training they will require are all essential parts of your recruitment strategy.
Putting together your recruitment plan is an essential part of a business which hopes to grow, and should form part of your business plan. If you would like help with putting together your business plan, get in touch today! Contact us online using the form on the right or call 01604 420 420.