Dear Consultant,
I am a Development Manager for a small software company. My team is growing and one of my challenges is recruiting qualified software developers who fit into our culture. Do you have any guidance on how to create a recruitment process for our team?
Never assume your job is attractive to candidates, ensure that you communicate just how attractive it is
Recruiting for your organization requires thought beyond simply screening applicants and selecting the most appropriate candidate, it also requires a marketing and competitive strategy. The pool of talent that exists for a skill job is often sought after, so organizations vying for appropriate candidates are in competition with each other. Never assume your job is attractive to candidates, ensure that you communicate just how attractive it is; sell your job and organization just like a business would sell a product or service.
Your recruitment strategy should have answers for the following:
1) What is your budget for promoting this job?
It is not always free to promote your position. If you have a particular talent pool (target market) in mind, communicating to this group may require a marketing budget.
2) What promotional mediums do you have available to you?
Depending on the particular talent pool that you’re targeting, you may already know how you will promote the job posting, but think about expanding upon the traditional modes of promoting a job posting. Some examples for promoting a job posting include:
- Your company website’s “Career” section
- Other job posting websites
- Newspapers
- Headhunters and recruitment agencies
- Internal referrals from existing employees
- Word-of-mouth from partners
- A nomination process from important stakeholders
- Etc.
3) How can you best reach the target audience from which you’d like to create a pool of applicants, where are they likely to be looking?
Be thoughtful about what type of candidates you will be excluding by only using one or two marketing mediums for your job posting
Think about “selection bias,” that is, some marketing mediums such as news papers, LinkedIn or your company website will attract a particular type of candidate. Be thoughtful about what type of candidates you will be excluding by only using one or two marketing mediums for your job posting. Similarly, word-of-mouth referrals and nomination processes may exclude candidates who may bring different perspectives and add complementary skillets. People tend to refer people that are similar to them; this may be beneficial or harmful depending on your situation.
4) What type of an image do you want to send about your organization and the position you’re hiring for?
The way that your organization is perceived by the talent pool that you’re trying to attract will greatly affect the number of applications you receive. Brand management is something that is a broader topic than can be covered here, but in your job posting you can be thoughtful about how you can position your organization in a positive light to either amplify existing beliefs about your organization or counter negative ones.
5) Selling points, non-monetary compensation, flexible hours, location, organizational culture, etc.
highlight intangible things like flexible work hours, a great location of your office, and organizational culture
Along the lines of “selling” the position, it is important to highlight the non-monetary compensation that employees enjoy at your organization. These can go beyond things like health and wellness benefits, highlight intangible things like flexible work hours, a great location of your office, and organizational culture, proximity to coffee shops and restaurants, positive and supportive colleagues, opportunities for career advancement, etc.
6) Are there “Employment Equity” or “Human Rights” considerations for this position?
In your job posting, it is important to think about whether your organization has an existing employee equity program that you should incorporate into your recruitment strategy. Similarly, unconscious and non-obvious phrases may actively dissuade applicants from some protected groups under human rights law. The perception of any type of systematic avoidance of protected groups, even if unintentional, can still be deemed a human rights violation and may be subject to litigation. Be thoughtful about how different groups may perceive your wording, follow strategies laid out in your employee equity plan if you have one.
7) Are there internal candidates we should be looking at?
Sometimes it may be beneficial to post job opportunities internally before posting them to candidates outside of the organization. This offers existing employees the opportunity to progress in their career without having to change companies. This helps to maintain institutional knowledge within your organization and keeps your employees motivated.
There are many other aspects of a recruitment strategy, but these are some of the broader topics that should be thought of when coming up with a process to recruit top talent.
References:
http://www.amazon.ca/Recruitment-Selection-Canada-Victor-Catano/dp/0176504370