Cheryl Cole has just got married after 3 months. Like dating, recruitment is matching people and there has to be chemistry. To make it last, you should hire slowly to ensure the candidate is a good culture fit, but once your mind is made up, snap them up quickly.
The current recruitment market is booming, as an agency, we are hearing from more new clients who are recruiting for the first time in years, or are expanding rapidly. In Stockport alone, the latest Stockport Review states that over 1,050 jobs have been created in the past year from new companies locating here or growing their workforce.
This means that for certain roles, we are seeing candidate shortages; and this means the return of… the counter offer.
It is very tempting to make like Cheryl and quickly hire the first candidate you see to do the job, but often this ends up being a costly mistake.
Equally, with a candidate shortage, you don’t want to miss out on the perfect candidate because your competitor whisked them from under your nose, so what should you do?
The problem with interviewing is that two 30 minute interviews is not enough to realise how the candidate will fit in or whether they will be successful. It is not enough to recruit on experience and qualifications; you need to recruit on attitude.
The first step is to do some ground work, so that when you hire, you are actually in a position to snap the candidate up quickly (perhaps Cheryl has done her ground work too!).
1. Work out your company values, these are the behaviours you would expect from a ‘Company X Person’ and you would look for in a candidate.
2. Then think of the ways your customers feel about your company. You are looking for a candidate that will make you feel the same way.
3. Think of the reasons why the candidate should come and work for you rather than your competitors, sell your opportunity.
4. You may also think of times it has not worked out with an employee? Why is this?
5. Create a list of questions that allow the candidate to demonstrate 2 of the most desirable behaviours and feelings; and avoid the attributes of the employee it has not worked out with.
6. Score the answers to the questions, so that the selection process if fair.
7. You should be thinking of making a job offer within 24 hours. If you are undecided on a candidate, start interviewing again, it will be worth it in the long term.
8. Once you have seen the perfect candidate, don’t dilly dally, get them recruited immediately. Get their offer letter to them the same day.
By doing some ground work, you will be able to quickly identify the kind of person who will fit in to your company; and be able to snap them up before your competitors have chance to make a counter offer. Hopefully for Cheryl, things will work out this time and by following the above steps, your company will also have a better chance of hiring the perfect candidate.
