When an employee hands in their resignation and you have accepted and completed the exit interview, it’s time to co-ordinate the recruitment strategy. What this means, is that time is of the essence and if you procrastinate with putting up the ad to fill the position, it can potentially affect your bottom line and cost you. When posting your ad for a potential new hire or replacement you need to ensure the ad reflects a true picture of the role you are trying to fill.
I just recently had an employee who shared their experience with me regarding the first two weeks of employment at an organization. When the employee was interviewed for the role, they were advised that their role would involve, greeting clients, entering data on spreadsheet and A/P and A/R. The employee explained that unfortunately, the job was very much different than what had been discussed during the interview and what was posted on the ad. The employee was disappointed and it resulted in the employee leaving the company. As you can imagine, this has cost the organization in recruitment and onboarding cost, coupled with the fact that they have to start the process all over again.
Another pitfall companies run into, is the feeling of being rushed if they don’t have someone hired before the employee’s departure date. If this is the case, I would recommend you hire a temp or have another employee trained in that role temporarily, then you can continue interviewing for the right candidate. For future, I would also recommend to have a training manual for the roles so that you are better prepared for such challenges. Making a rushed decision on a potential new hire can once again become costly if they don’t work out and it will affect the bottom line.
When recruitment is done correctly, it can result in a positive experience for both the organization and the new hire resulting in a win-win situation. A few important tips to keep in mind:
Review the posting to ensure it’s very accurate and that it closely matches the job description
Interview preparation is important, have a room booked, interview questions ready and no interruptions
During the interviewing process be sure to use a combination of questions such as behavioural and situational depending on the position
Be sure to ask the appropriate questions that are in line with legislation and know what questions to avoid, for example you may ask a question regarding professional and industries associations, but not social groups, especially those related to church, parenting and politics.
It’s suggested to have a panel interview, it will provide you with more notes and additional feedback from others who were in the interview
At the end, thank the candidate for coming and inform them of the next steps in the interviewing process.
Incorporating these tips in your recruitment process will assist you in securing you the right candidate.