What Does Your Recruitment Process Say About Your Company?
by Dave West
Well, what does it say? Is it a test of character or part of your engagement strategy?
Having spent the last year looking for a new role following redundancy, I have experienced many highs and lows in learning the rules of the recruitment game. As the job market grows ever tighter and skills shortages develop can you really afford to send the wrong signals?
First contact
Whether you use agencies or direct advertising, that initial encounter will be the start of a relationship. It might well be just a one night stand, but every candidate has friends or relatives who may want to work for you in future - or not.
One Government department placed a very arty looking advert in People Management which listed a couple of obscure job titles and invited people to call. It drew a blank. In desperation, they trawled web sites and contacted potential candidates. Just send back your CV, the email trumpeted in bold. This time they attached six documents of turgid prose lifted straight out of "Yes Minister".
Six weeks later the prospective candidates received another email admonishing them for only sending their CVs, when page six of the fourth attachment had "clearly" stated that the need to complete four additional forms...and the deadline was in 36 hours time! Would you bother?
In contrast, a recruiter from the IT sector phoned out of the blue to ask whether I'd be interested in a particular role. We chatted briefly and he sent me a Job Description by email and a link to their web site. After some further correspondence my CV went forward for consideration. Several weeks later he phoned to apologise and say that the role had been withdrawn. He thanked me for my time and said that they'd keep me on file. An ultimately negative outcome left me with a positive feeling about the organisation.
Whatever you want
Do you know what you want? Many organisations expect agencies to find candidates based on a brief chat with no job description and no firm idea of what skills they require. This invariably gets relayed to the better candidates who have cultivated good relationships with recruiters. Despite the spread of competencies, few employers give the impression that they really know what skills are key to the role and have the desire to look for them.
Have you ever advertised for a graduate or for someone with 7 years experience in a particular role? Think again. My former boss had a degree in ancient history. Our director had left school at 15 with nothing. Another colleague had only been in HR for three years. All were brilliant negotiators and excellent HR managers, yet would not have been considered if they'd been external candidates for the role. We all know of stories like this, yet persist in using fairly arbitrary qualifications as a first stage sift. A qualification should only ever be evidence of something you need, rather than an end in itself.
CV or Application Form?
Serious jobseekers may have invested time and money refining their CV, yet many large organisations refuse to consider them. Are the 27 pages of data that you've collected essential? Are they even used? I left school nearly 30 years ago, so why is the address of my school relevant? Do you really need to know how many dependents I have? Why did one insurance company want all my bank and credit card details on application? What does it reveal about the culture of the organisation?
Application forms are frustrating largely because of the habit of providing them in unfriendly electronic formats. People no longer have typewriters and if you send them a non-interactive PDF form, you'll get a semi-illegible handwritten form back - from me at least! If it's in Microsoft Word or some other editable format, you're more likely to have something that the candidate is happy with and that you can read.
Keep it in the family
"What we need is someone who can really shake things up; someone who can look at things with a fresh eye." Often said, but when it comes down to it we play safe and stick to our knitting - private sector, public sector, financial, not for profit, etc.
A large cinema chain was looking for an Employee Relations Manager with experience of the "entertainment" sector. Five agencies approached me independently over 6 months because my CV fitted the job description perfectly; except for the sector experience. All admitted that they had struggled to find other suitable candidates, yet the company stubbornly refused to see me and the role remained vacant. Really, how important is sector experience? Are we not ruling out potentially suitable people by insisting they have 'been there, done that' before? Preparation is the thing, not whether or not you have actually done the job before.
Trial by assessment
So you've selected your shortlist and now it's time to make them sweat. After all you have hundreds of high quality candidates queuing up to work for you? How many of the following of my experiences do you subject your candidates to?
* Give very short notice of interview - we respect that people may have childcare issues or other appointments - but we only care when they are actually working for us.
* We don't tell candidates how long the assessment process is likely to last or what is going to happen on the day - we like to keep the element of surprise.
* We insist that they bring various forms of ID and their qualifications to interview, and then don't actually ask for them - this doesn't in any way imply that we're a shoddy organisation.
* We often switch interviewers or bring along a second or third person unannounced.
* We only explain what the job really entails at the interview, so that they've no chance to prepare or deselect themselves.
* We use capability based assessments, but keep the actual capabilities secret.
* When candidates turn up, our reception will have no idea that they're coming or who to contact.
* Our interviews often overrun, sometimes people wait without any word for up to 40 minutes - we like to unsettle them.
The interview will often be the first physical encounter with an organisation. The efficiency of reception, the state of the décor and the greeting will form lasting impressions. Do I want to deal with this organisation?
In general, the standard of interviewing I experienced was distinctly average and I rarely felt challenged. Major requirements of the role went unexplored or were taken on trust from the CV. The panel interview is often to blame as it doesn't allow an in depth exploration of a key point. Potentially fruitful lines of enquiry were often terminated because the interviewer had exceeded their allotted number of questions. In contrast, one-to-one "interviews" sometimes felt like cosy, fireside chats rather than probing explorations. What exactly did you do? What was the thinking process behind your actions? How does that match the capabilities we're after?
Afterglow
Job applicants are often asked to assume that they were unsuccessful if they've not been called for interview within a certain time period. This might just be defensible if it involved sending hundreds of letters, but a huge proportion of the UK population have internet access either at home, at work or via internet cafés. A bulk email to the unsuccessful candidates costs little and makes an impact if worded well.
Notifying candidates of the result of an interview should be done as agreed. Saying that you'll phone them the following day, then writing ten days later (as happened once) won't do. Don't be afraid to give honest feedback if the candidate asks for it. It helps soften the blow and will often confirm gut feelings. As a result, they'll feel that you've treated them fairly and walk away with a positive experience.
In Summary
* Job adverts should reflect the organisation and ethos you're trying to promote. Make sure that all your communications match the vision. Standard letters must be customised to the role.
* A web site where candidates can research the role and organisation can often make sense and act as an initial filter. You've got their interest and need to turn that into a well-founded application. The more they know, the less likely they are to waste your time.
* Treat everyone with respect - acknowledge applications - greet interview candidates - inform them of delays or changes - leave them with a positive impression. They might apply for other roles, recommend you to others or be future customers.
* Spend time defining what key skills and competences you really require for the role and design your recruitment process to match. These should also form the basis of your induction and performance management once the individual is in post.
* Think outside the box. Someone from a different background may well have transferable skills without the baggage.
* Map out your recruitment process in advance. Tell your agency and the candidates. It does at least give the impression that you know what you're doing.
* Give your candidates honest and balanced feedback if they want it and ask for them to share their experiences. It might surprise you!
