No matter which industry, top companies thrive when their people begin to live and breathe their work.
It’s an end goal of engagement that’s only ever possible by first ensuring you’ve found the right person for the job. But what exactly makes a person right for a certain role to begin with?
The problem for many businesses during the recruitment stage is that they tend to focus solely on whether a candidate has previous experience in a similar role. While career history and qualifications are two key factors to consider, they are certainly not the be-all and end-all.
So, many employers miss out on top talent because they don’t take time to assess the innate strengths and personality traits of their ideal hire. And whereas technical skills can often be taught or trained over time, having the natural drive to excel and the ability to ‘fit in’ is far harder to develop.
Research your existing talent
The first step that hiring managers and business owners often miss out when sourcing candidates is to take a closer look at how their current members of staff operate.
Researching the natural talent of existing, high-performing employees and prospective hires is essential. Tools such as psychometric evaluation and engagement assessments give employers a stronger insight into the drivers of sustainable performance at work. They also ensures that businesses can build a clear profile of their ideal hire and their behaviours long before they sit down to conduct any interviews.
The interview stage
For any person applying for a job, it’s well-known that the key to a successful interview is preparation. But just how prepared are the people on the other side of the table? As an interviewer looking for indicators of talent, the challenge is deciding what to ask and what to listen for.
It’s fine to have a neat list of questions printed out and ready to go, but why exactly are you asking these questions? Have you established an ideal response or scoring system for each one?
This is the only way to compare prospective candidates with one another based on objective measures of success and suitability. Without this level of preparation in place, companies are prone to making hasty decisions based on emotion rather than research.
Understanding why
Employee turnover is expensive, especially for SMEs in the early stages of growth. In fact, no business can afford the valuable time and resource required to replace key members of staff each year.
This soon puts a dent in day-to-day productivity and morale. That’s why getting your recruitment right first time around is so essential. It may take a little more preparation and hiring expertise to begin with, but once a business establishes a successful approach to employee sourcing, that’s when staff turnover starts to drop and retention rates increase.
Individual strengths must be aligned with organisational goals from the off. When that happens, people are far more likely to give that extra discretionary effort which is so vital to long-term growth.
Need a hand with your own employee sourcing process? Give us a quick call on 0161 883 1149 to talk through your needs.
