Six Simple Tips To Prep Your Recruitment Team For Successful Hires

Recruitment: you’d think it would be easy. After all, you know what your business needs, you know what type of person to find and you know who might be a good fit.

But when it comes to it, there’s a lot more people in the mix than just the founder and manager. Without the right processes, it can get messy.

If I’m out on a run close to the weekend, for instance, I’ll ask myself: “Ooh! If I could do anything in the next two days, what would it be?” My brain comes straight back with: “I know! Let’s have a nice family dinner, then all relax and watch a film with popcorn!” The thought makes me smile because honestly, how could this lovely idea go wrong?

But no sooner do I get home and share the idea than it all Kicks Off. I have three strong-willed teenagers chez Jupp, all of whom have very different ideas about which food we should eat, which film we should watch and which snacks we’ll enjoy. It’s Pizza vs burgers and Marvel v The Greatest Showman. This mum made the rookie mistake of providing open discussion without any guidance or clear options to choose from.

I’ve seen similar situations when greenhorn managers are assumed to have the chops needed to lead the recruitment process to secure a new team member. It’s often assumed that manager will bring the skills and experience to deliver the results, i.e. an ‘onboarded superstar’ who’ll make a difference to the business, Day #1!

But when you’re inexperienced, your natural instinct is to avoid making the decision alone. Your instinct is to get lots of people involved in the process.

The truth is that, without clear guidance, everyone will have a different view of what ‘good’ looks like and what the business needs. This inevitably leads to chaos and, ultimately, an unsuccessful hire. The candidate experience is also poor, which isn’t good for business, brand word-of-mouth, or even socials amplification in today’s fiercely competitive talent market.

Here’s my six simple tips on how to prep your recruitment team for success:

Step 1: Dream Big

Discuss with the Line Manager exactly what they want. What objectives will the new recruit be expected to deliver in the next 3-12 months?

Step 2: Get Granular on Ideals

Dig deeper. What skills and experience would said newbie need, to then be successful in the role?

Step 3: Analyse Existing Culture and Dynamics.

It’s got to be a fit. What would (and wouldn’t) work well when adding a person to the mix?

Step 4: Consolidate and Allocate

List these down and agree who’ll cover off what parts of the interview process.

Step 5: Share / Streamline

Share information via a collaboration tool (I Recruitee or Workable) to make sure there’s no repetition.

Step 6: Finalise.

Agree on who’ll make the final decision.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how many people are involved in the process – although, never forget that pace is also important, and the more people involved, the more drawn out the process.

What does matter is a clear, structured approach and an understanding of what we’re trying to achieve.

I probably ought to take a leaf out of my own book the next time I think about having quality family time! So:

What snack choices.
What takeaway options.
What three films to pick from.

When chaos looms, majority vote rules!

When you want to find out more about overseeing a successful talent acquisition process, let me know.