In the first part of the series, we shared the steps you need to take to create an effective hiring plan.
In this blog post, we will use the goal-setting ideas in part one and create the steps and stages you will need to implement to make a positive and healthy recruitment plan for the coming year.
Talent Assessment
Step one is to do a complete assessment of your current talent base to see where you need additional skills or support to fill in gaps. What are you missing, and what background should someone bring to the table to succeed in your organization?
Start by understanding the characteristics currently held by your workforce. You can use this time to move people into roles better suited to their skills and interests to maintain their engagement in your company and improve retention.
You can develop your upskilling program to improve the skills of the team you currently have before you decide to hire from outside your organization.
You should also look at leadership qualities to see who in your staff can be part of your succession planning. As you evaluate current skills, you want to have an eye toward the future so you can plan for these advancements and replace the talent you have cultivated.
Skills Gaps
Next, determine the skills gaps in your organization. What do you need on your team to help you stay competitive in the marketplace? Start by choosing your company's strategy and how you want to get from point A to point B. For example, chatbots and SMS messaging are taking over traditional phone-based customer service, so you may need to hire more people with those skill sets.
Next, you'll want to know what roles will fill these gaps and create a profile and persona for each role to help you better identify candidates in the future. Create complete job descriptions for each position and the soft skills to help someone succeed in your organization.
Now match your skills gap analysis with your talent analysis and determine if there is an opportunity for upskilling before hiring someone new. Once you have decided where your gaps lie, you can begin the recruitment process.
Employer Branding
Employer branding is based on your reputation as an employer and the application process. As we discussed in the linked blog post, you can improve your employer brand by focusing on the following aspects:
- Application process
- Current employee satisfaction
- Online reputation
- Recognition in the marketplace
We also discussed how to optimize the steps through digital media and technology.
Hiring Process
Next, you'll need to map out your hiring process for your recruitment plan.
- How do you source candidates?
- How do they apply to your organization?
- What does the online application look like?
With 92% of applicants abandoning online applications without completing them, it's critical that you know your process and see where the pitfalls lie before searching for candidates. And once they apply, what happens next? What are the communication points, and when do candidates know when they move on to the next stage or are no longer in the process? Improving communication keeps the door open for these candidates to return when a better fit becomes available.
Sourcing Candidates
The process of sourcing candidates can take many forms. This is how you attract new applicants to your system and review resumes. You typically find candidates in one of two places: the talent pool and the talent pipeline. The talent pool is candidates external to your organization. A talent pipeline is a source of applicants internal to your systems, most specifically through your applicant tracking system.
Using an ATS or applicant tracking system allows you to store resumes of individuals you have already screened as possible additions to your company. Not everyone who applies with you can be hired, but that doesn't mean they're bad candidates. Going back to your pipeline can make the hiring process faster and easier.
Of course, sometimes you don't have the talent pipeline for your specific opening, so you have to look to the talent pool. To source outside of your ATS, begin with:
- Determining the best resources for advertising
- Diversify sources for finding top candidates
- Use current employee networks to solicit referrals
- Source offline at job fairs, industry events, and conferences
- Perfect your outreach pitch to get candidates' attention
Once you've sourced candidates and narrowed the resumes to your top picks, it's time to move on to the next steps.
Interviewing
Interviewing is where you can get to know the individual candidates more. Start by determining how your interview process will look. Do you start with a phone screen and then invite the top three candidates for in-person or video conference interviews? Do they have to interview more than one person? How many discussions should it take before making a decision?
The interview process can vary depending on your industry and country. Interviews in the US often look different than those in the EU or UK. However, too many interviews can be a barrier to hiring, as candidates will lose interest or accept other positions before you can make an offer.
To learn more about interviewing, check out our Interviewing 101 guide.
Making an Offer
Once you have selected a candidate after the interview, the next step is to present an offer. Keep in mind that the process and requirements for delivering a job offer will differ between countries, so always follow the guidelines in your area.
However, an offer letter is generally a way to make the verbal offer formal. It will include the salary and benefits packages and any legal requirements you must provide before the candidate accepts the position.
Onboarding
The step many companies forget is onboarding. Often, employers provide basic training before throwing the new employee from the frying pan into the fire. But training is only a small portion of onboarding, and both are critical.
Training generally encompasses the hard skills your new employee will need to learn to be successful in the role. For example, a new tech employee will need to be trained on your software and hardware and be given access to systems.
Onboarding is about inviting the employee into your company culture. It includes introductions to your team, a way for the employee to ask questions and get feedback, and regular check-ins to ensure they're comfortable and satisfied.
Here is our complete best practices guide to onboarding.
Conclusion: Launching your Recruitment Plan
With our two-part series on recruitment planning concluded, we hope you have uncovered some ideas to help your business move forward. Don't forget the use of technology to enhance your recruitment process.
An applicant tracking system can provide you with additional insights as you search for candidates who match the skills and background of each job.
With more competition for top talent, it pays for companies to consider all their advantages and the use of tools to assist in the quest to find talent. HireHive helps busy people hire great people. You can post jobs, streamline your online application process, improve the candidate experience, and tap into vast global networks by having your entire recruitment process in one place.
