8 tips for successful talent recruitment

How to recruit efficiently? Recruitment, a key stage in the life of a company, is aimed at finding, renewing or strengthening the skills necessary for the company's development. It is therefore essential to use all possible means to assess the compatibility between a candidate's profile and the requirements of a job.

From the precise definition of the necessary competences to the selection of suitable profiles and the execution of recruitment, a successful recruitment process is not the result of chance. It is the result of a relatively complex process, involving many stages and requiring discipline, strategy and planning.

But be aware that there are certain safety measures you can take to ensure a better chance of hiring the right person. In this article, appvizer gives you tips on how to conduct your hiring process methodically and ultimately make the right choice. You also need to know that there are programmes designed to improve human resource management processes, especially the delicate recruitment process.

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Successful recruitment

The risks of hasty or poorly organised recruitment

Recruitment is a process that requires a lot of time, energy, money and trust. If the company doesn't take the right steps to implement its recruitment process, it exposes itself to risks involving:

• the opportunity cost: the expected skills and qualities are not there, which causes a loss of potential earnings from your work;
• the training cost: the time lost in managing this employee who doesn't match the position and expectations;
• the financial cost;
• the cost of dismissal if the employee has to be sacked after 6 months, when the probationary period has already ended;
• other consequential costs, such as a significant impact on the working environment or the delay of certain projects in which the person is involved.

Successful recruitment is not an easy goal to achieve, but neither is it impossible. Although absolute success ratings are rarely achieved even after many years of experience, there are methods to minimise the risks and maximise the chances of finding the right candidate.

Choosing the "right candidate"

Matching the requirements of a position to the profile of a candidate is synonymous with added value in terms of productivity within the company, while at the same time promoting the creation of teams that are satisfied in their working environment.

That's why it's important to choose the right person, but equally important not to overdo it. Beware of the myth of the perfect candidate: our vision of the labour market and what makes the "right candidate" can be wrong or inaccurate.

It's important to remain coherent, objective and realistic.

So don't look for white flies! When drawing up your demand, ask yourself whether this person really exists and whether the required skill set is likely to be present.

You can turn to a recruitment professional who is familiar with the labour market and industry practices to help you define realistic requirements that are in line with your needs.

8 practical tips for effective recruitment

Tip 1: Define your needs

As with developing any strategy or action plan, it is essential to analyse your needs before taking any action.

What profile is needed for a particular position?

You can define the needs of the position to be filled according to the key competences you are looking for. Prioritise from the indispensable to the highly recommended, indicating any "bonus" qualities that enhance the candidate's potential.

Take into account the values that your future hire will need to possess. Don't forget to consider the opportunities for growth in the position and the competences that will be needed for this.

The more specific the criteria you define, the more likely it is that the profiles you examine will match the offer. For an existing position, ask yourself whether the job description and recruitment criteria used previously are still relevant.

Tip 2: Choose the right time and validate the budget

Whether for a new position or a replacement, make sure that your recruitment is part of the company's overall agenda and in line with the strategic vision. To do this, get validation from everyone involved in a new hire, so you don't get blocked.

Another key element is that the vacancy must be included in the company's planning. Also, keep abreast of current salary ranges in the relevant area.

Finally, the key here is to anticipate. Internal movement, retirement, maternity leave, the creation of a new department, general company growth, etc. HR managers must have visibility of all the situations involving a change in personnel, in order to identify the profiles to be recruited and build in parallel with their skills development plan.

Anticipation requires the ability to react, but without rushing: it's a question of making the right decision at the right time.

As your decision-making can be delayed by problems in the agendas of the various stakeholders, establish a timetable of important steps and deadlines to be respected:

• appointments and items with the different people involved,
• the date of the proposal to the candidate,
• the deadline for the decision and the communication to the candidate,
• the planned start date, and so on.

Defining the right time and setting deadlines helps prevent promising candidates from giving up and being discouraged by long waiting periods or even accepting another offer before yours. Don't let talent slip away!

Tip 3: Write a detailed and personalised advertisement

A detailed but easy-to-understand job description is essential for attracting qualified candidates:

• Make sure the text is clear and avoid terms (jargon, slang), specific to your company, which can not only give an impression of little openness, but also confuse;
• Describe the requirements of the position in enough detail to be clear, but keep the format concise;
• Be honest and transparent: advertising good career prospects can be damaging if there are no practices or examples to back up this promise;
• Indicate the diplomas, certificates and any proof of competences required for the position: it will save you time later on.

Finally, the advert should include a description of the culture of the company the candidate will be joining. Define it very clearly, as well as your tolerance, i.e. to what extent the candidate needs to fit in, to avoid problems in the workplace in the future.

Tip 4: Publicise the advert on all relevant channels

Once the advert is ready, it's time to start the candidate search phase. The most common scenario is to publish the advert on the company's website, under the heading "Jobs" or "Join us!". Other platforms will give you more visibility, such as:

• general or specialised job sites,
• university or school alumni networks,
• recruitment agency portals, etc.
• Social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook)

It can take time, especially if you're targeting several channels, to get the widest possible reach. Why not choose an automated solution? Human resources management software specialising in recruitment and applicant tracking (ATS) is designed to increase your efficiency and is very cost-effective.

Like Kenoby, some of these tools offer numerous advantages: publicising job offers. With one click, your adverts are published on the most relevant websites, portals and social networks, and on the "Work with Us" page of your website.

Tip 5: Involve employees in the selection process

To find the ideal person, you will probably use selection tools, such as aptitude tests, to judge certain technical qualifications of a candidate for the job. As the HR professional is not always the most appropriate person to assess certain technical competences, colleagues will be involved. Playing the role of reviewers, validators, etc.

It would be advisable to seek the opinions of future colleagues about the candidate.

During the selection process, you can engage your colleagues directly using a recruitment management tool that allows everyone involved in the process to share their feedback on each candidate.

Empregare, for example, includes a messaging system, a chat, for exchanging messages directly with the participant, as well as the possibility of applying tests.

Likewise, Gupy provides shared access to various candidate information, activity logs and integration with other websites, portals and social networks.

Both offer HR managers and recruiters the opportunity to take advantage of employees' skills and knowledge to recruit their future colleagues. With this collaborative approach, you'll be better able to make a better decision.

Tip 6: Preparing for the interview

Although naturalness and spontaneity are part of it, conducting a job interview is not something that can be improvised. If you're well prepared, you'll be more confident and, consequently, you'll argue in a relevant way.

For your preparation, here are some steps to follow:

• start by establishing the objectives you want to achieve in the interview and then draw up a structure;
• write down the questions you want to ask and the answers you want to get;
• build a matrix, which will be your support for recording and comparing your candidates' strengths, points for improvement, skills and potential after the exchanges;
• be preparedto answer any questions that may arise during the interview;
• Finally, find a quiet, neutral place to receive the candidate, as it may be uncomfortable for them to be interrupted during your presentation.

Bear in mind that you will need to maintain an open attitude while taking notes and keeping control of the interview.

Tip 7: Encourage life skills

Knowing how to recruit also means anticipating the success of the new employee's integration into the team. As a recruiter, you can even predict that you will work with or for this person, or that he or she will one day become your manager.

One of the essential criteria when recruiting is to assess the person's resourcefulness and ease of integration into a team.

In addition to technical skills and other business knowledge, the added value of the future employee lies in the so-called "soft skills", which apply regardless of profile or hierarchical level (manager, employee, director, supervisor, etc.). These skills are the equivalent of a varnish on wood: the person stands out from the crowd, stands out for their interpersonal qualities and is more likely to exceed expectations thanks to their commitment and proactivity.

Soft skills are increasingly valued in companies, and are sometimes even favoured over purely technical skills. In order to ensure that your future candidate fits in with your company culture, it is advisable to define with your employees the qualities expected of the candidate. For example, should he or she have

• an entrepreneurial spirit?
• a flair for creativity?
• a talent for interpersonal relationships?
• a strong desire to innovate?

Depending on the country and culture, companies favour, to varying degrees, an individual's behaviour in relation to their work, their relationship with colleagues, or even their interpersonal qualities.

It's up to the company, manager and/or recruiter to choose one or more determining elements to help make a decision after the various interviews.

Tip 8: Make a decision

Do you think you've found the right candidate? It's time to send positive feedback to the selected candidate and make an offer. We advise you to do this verbally at first, in order to gain time to check references and for any final adjustments you might want to make.

Once everything is OK, you can move on to negotiating a concrete offer. The recruitment process ends when the offer is accepted by the candidate and the appropriate documents are signed.

However, even after this apparent happy ending, the success of the recruitment process cannot be measured simply by this fact. It must be monitored over time, taking into account how the recruited person adapts to their environment and their ability to develop professionally and personally within it.

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Final tips

In the end, there is no infallible tactic for knowing how to recruit, as each method adapts to a particular professional environment.

However, the essential tips we've seen are a good basis for improving your processes and achieving near-perfect recruitment.

In general, we advise you to adopt a positive and open attitude:

• Empathise: trying to understand the candidate's previous experience and personality requires empathy and humility. Try to dispel prejudices and other preconceived ideas: if you have doubts, don't hesitate to discuss them with your colleagues and even with the people involved.
• Place the candidate in a position of trust: don't try to establish a relationship of hierarchy or power: a relationship of equals promotes a climate of trust and encourages the candidate to be transparent when talking about their skills, experience and values.
• Be open to other types of profiles: even though they may not seem "aligned" with the company's culture, these atypical profiles can bring a new way of seeing things. After all, the strength of a company also lies in the diversity of its employees. This diversity is a source of development, innovation and positive change within an organisation.

What about you? How do you recruit? Do you have a method or a foolproof recipe for a good selection?