Date: 23-Jul-2020
When you’re looking to fill a vacant position at your organization, time is money. The longer you look for someone, the more time you take away from other aspects of your job and the more efficiency drops as others try to pick up the slack for their missing teammate. And the stakes are even higher for your organization if the position is mission-crucial.
Here are some tips on how to save time, money and productivity by filling your open jobs faster.
"Look at your hiring process and find ways to eliminate inefficiencies," says John Ducar of Skilled Wizard. "Be aggressive. Most internal processes are far too cumbersome. Get the decision-maker engaged to see candidates immediately and make the new prospective employee the priority."
"Consider checking references first before going through the interview process," says hiring consultant Amy Wright. "One of the big time-sucks in filling open positions is reviewing a candidate through reference checking and interviewing," she says. "I never interview someone without first checking references. If they don't have great references, I don't waste my time."
When advertising the position, Wright recommends asking for two or three verifiable references from job applicants. "I then check for skill level and email or call references immediately before scheduling interviews. It saves the back-and-forth and wasted time."
Keep track of good candidates you’ve interviewed or even simply gotten resumes from in the past, and reach out to them when you have an opening. "It’s a good idea to keep resumes of people who have impressed you along the way," says Bettina Seidman of Seidbet Associates.
"Even better, create and maintain an excellent talent bank, identifying skills of staff as well as consultants, and candidates." Specialized software programs can help you keep track of the talent that interacts with your organization.
Reach out to candidates who were close in past job searches. "If you have an opening for this individual and they are interested, you are way ahead of the recruiting process," says Jim Stedt of Hartley & Associates.
Also, consider letting employees who recently left your organization know you have an opening. "People who quit and were good workers may have found out that the grass is not always greener on the other side and may be ready to come back home," Stedt says.
"If you had a promising candidate make it deep into your hiring process but then ended up taking another job, consider getting in touch," Stedt recommends. "There are many people that realize, after the 90-day probationary period, that they made a wrong decision," he says. "Sometimes management reorganized, or the job changed from what was presented or the people in the company are difficult." Your call could be just what they’re hoping for.
Stedt also recommends reaching out to employees you may have had to lay off in the past. "When you downsize you try to only let go the nonperformers, but every once in a while, that employee with star potential is lost," he says. "Now is the time to try to get them back."
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