“While we were impressed with your background and experience, Unfortunately, we have decided to pursue other candidates who more closely match the requirements of the job position.”
Every day Recruiters and Hiring Managers send to job applicants rejection letters like this one.
Although it’s polite and politically correct sending that message, I think we all should stop writing that and act in a different way to maximise the benefits of our organization.
Obviously this is a provocation.
I know that companies have a budget planned to invest in new hires, and HR Departments look to hire new employees only when it’s absolutely necessary. Given how much time and money the hiring process takes, the decision to hold off on hiring ahead seems a prudent one. After all, why waste money on an employee for which there is no open job?
But this strategy is wrong and outdated !
WHY ?
If you really have a positive evaluation of some job applicants involved in the recruiting process, even if they are not the right fit to fill the current job vacancies, anyway, you should have to give a chance to those they deserve it.
Furthermore considering that you invest time and money in doing recruiting, when you see someone special, you must bring them onboard whether you have a job or not. This allows your company to gather some of the best talent in the industry.
If you look for candidates only when you have a need, you’ll have to compromise, since the right person may not be available at that time.
Here’s why a continuous recruitment and hiring strategy can be so rilevant for your company:
1) You can gain access to a larger pool of applicants
When you open your search up for a greater period of time, you increase your exposure to the 85% of the workforce that is potentially available to you.
It increases the odds that you will be able to connect with more of your “right fit” candidates.
2) Elevate employee performance.
By hiring on an ongoing basis (assuming you hire with right fit methods), you constantly infuse your team with the best available talent. If you hire strategically, it should have a positive impact on your employees, fueling their performance as they are energized by an influx of new ideas and productive team members.
It should also reduce employees’ stress from shouldering more than their fair share of work, which occurs when positions remain unfilled.
3) Reduce downtime (and costs) when filling open positions.
If you are constantly open to your right-fit candidates, you are much less likely to have open positions. When you do, you will likely have a head start in filling them. Every day you have an open position, it costs you. Not just in terms of recruitment costs, but through lost productivity and revenue. The more you can reduce the time your positions stay open, the less you risk losing.
So, here’s how it’s possible to implement a continuous recruiting and hiring process:
- · Look Ahead for Hiring
Look ahead to project future hiring needs. Have a strong grasp on who your ideal candidates are, what skills and values they should possess, and how to match them to their right role and seat in your company — even if you are custom-building that seat from scratch.
Create a company-wide initiative to be constantly on the lookout for the next great team member and to encourage referrals of strong candidates, regardless of current job openings.
Pre-plan your process for dealing with ideal candidates when there is no position available, and how to create a position for them when you find them.
- Always be interviewing
Start to set aside time in the day to meet with interested candidates. Have a real conversation with them. Think about what they could bring to the organization. Then consider any possible disadvantages to hiring them. If the positives are more significant than the negatives, find a way to make them an offer.
You have to interview every single day to ensure to find Talents and never turn away awesome candidates because you aren’t hiring. You have to always hiring.
- Think as a Start-up.
Today HR Team needs to be more proactive in their hiring approaches. A startup can never predict when its growth is going to explode. If a company waits until the last minute to find talent, it will have a workforce that isn’t up to speed. So, you can’t sit back and rely on applicants to come to you, otherwise you’ll never hit your targets.
Instead you should have always to post for new positions like sales and customer service. This allows your organization to stay ahead when it comes to unexpected growth.
- Develop a strong internship program:
Think about what they could do and also think about the skills and roles your company will need in the coming years. This will help you to evaluate interns and decide just who among them deserves to be hired in the future.
Originally published at medium.com