The current HR managers face a couple of major challenges. These are to source the top talent for their requirements and to do so while sustaining budgetary constraints. To manage these challenges, managers need to revamp their recruitment process. They also need to (re) assess headcount parameters and budgets. Where needed, obsolete recruitment processes must be redesigned with the changing recruitment trends.
Recruitment Managers and their senior management must realize that many job candidates are not interested in getting a large paycheck. The current job-seeking candidates want the whole package. This covers a great salary and benefit combination, a strong company culture, and career development options.
Companies that offer these, along with a match for their personal goals, will be successful in hiring the best candidates in their sector. Employers should redesign their HR policies keeping these factors in mind so that they are not treated as a revolving door for candidates to join and leave.
The bottom line remains that teams need to maximize their effectiveness with tightening budgets and a struggling economy. The following are effective measures for getting the best possible hire with the least possible impact on your budget.
Have a Pipeline of Prospects
As a recruiter for your company, there must be a 3–4 person deep prospect pipeline for your key positions. This makes it easier to replace existing talent without affecting workflow significantly. Having a lineup of prospects makes hiring new resources quicker (and cheaper). It saves on advertising and headhunter costs and reduces the time gap between existing and new hiring.
All it involves is some groundwork in the job descriptions for different positions and having a list of suitable candidates ready. Having such a list ready means that when a position is vacant, your initial work is already done, and you have a list of suitably qualified candidates to access. This ensures better applicant quality and a quicker turnaround time.
This tactic is kind of like doing some advanced groundwork and usually ensures that there is better applicant quality. It is also possible to link this step with succession planning and internal promotion of existing resources. Doing so will mean a lesser risk of mismatched candidates getting included in the recruitment process. This means that the hiring process is more efficient. This tactic can also ensure the company’s cost savings over the long term.
Invest in Internal Talent
If HR managers utilize this tactic with that of maintaining a talent pipeline, there is a failsafe group of candidates available for emerging openings. Internal talent is a very neglected option in most Pakistani businesses.
Internal resources offer a culturally aware and pre-qualified (for your company) option. Having internal candidates trained and familiar with work ethics is a great fallback. It also serves to keep skilled employees engaged with the company as they know that the management is thinking of their career progression.
Giving employees the prospect of growing within an organization is a commonly accepted strategy. However, there are multiple challenges involved. The employee may aspire to a different career path than what is planned for them. They may also be too de-aligned with the company and its working to be tempted with career growth.
However, when it is executed effectively, internal mobility can help companies reduce their hiring timelines, improve employee engagement and easily meet key skill requirements.
This option is more attractive as it allows the company to shorten the standard learning curve for onboarding and organizational familiarization that an external hire will need.
Internal talent location allows HR to help the company cut down on hiring costs and allows for a comparatively smoother transition. It has the added incentive of improving employee morale and reducing attrition. Many upwardly mobile employees prefer to stay with their existing employers if they are sure they will be considered for any emerging positions (that match their career aspirations).
Employee Referral System
An employee referral system is also an effective strategy for hiring teams. Employee referrals generate more quality leads than conventional job boards or social media channels. This option is also more cost-effective when compared to options like vacancy advertisements and head-hunting agencies. Employee referrals system can offer a steady stream of qualified candidates at a fraction of the cost.
Invest in Your Careers Site
There is a lot of focus on a business’s social media and internet presence. From the company website to its official social media accounts, potential candidates can access a great deal of information about a company and its culture before they go for an interview. HR must use these tools to their maximum capacity to sell the company’s culture and work ethics. It is also important that the careers section tells potential recruits what you are looking for in your employees.
The company website and careers page should promote the work culture and HR policies. It is essential that the core values of the business are praised by employees and communicated through the business’s online presence and careers page.
A well-planned careers site helps support the HR function in laying the groundwork for an efficient and cost-effective hiring process. This makes it more effective at generating quality leads compared to job boards. It also works as a virtual jobs billboard. A good careers site stages the company’s brand as an employer and helps to generate job applications. It will also help gather candidate profiles (building a passive talent pipeline).
Re-engage Ex-employees
Re-engaging ex-employees (also known as alumni talent) is a highly cost-effective strategy. Aiming to rehire alumni talent implies lower onboarding and training costs than hiring new talent from external sources.
Ex-employees who are rehired are more usually motivated by their broader perspectives, improved skills, and external experiences from their time away from the business. This blend of new ideas and knowledge can increase efficiency and offer better working methods within the company. There is also less risk of disengagement and cultural misalignment usually associated with hiring external talent.
Keeping an open policy for ex-employees also builds a sense of trust and mutual investment within current employees compared to a burnt bridges policy for employees choosing to move on.
Use Technology to Improve Hiring Effectiveness
Multiple AI-based and other tech-based tools are available to help HR find ways to reduce resource drains and streamline hiring and other HR processes to improve productivity and get better ROI from your budget.
With the right tools, HR teams can automate several stages of the hiring process that are otherwise a heavy administrative burden.
Sadia Zaheer holds a Masters in Business Administration from IBA, Karachi. After working in several financial institutions in Client Management, Corporate Lending, Islamic Banking and Product Management she jumped careers to pursue a career in writing.
She is a Finance, Business and HR Development writer with four years of experience. She reads a lot and takes care of her multiple cats to remain calm.
