Spring clean your recruitment process

Spring is here. It is the perfect time to spring-clean your recruitment process. Just as we tidy our homes, refreshing our recruitment strategies can bring new life into our hiring efforts. For hiring managers, talent acquisition (TA) professionals, and HR teams, this is an opportunity to ensure that your processes are efficient, effective, and aligned with your business needs. Now it is time to embrace your inner Marie Kondo and spring clean your:

Job postings

The feast-or-famine scenario is frustrating and common in recruitment. Start by dusting off those job descriptions. Are they still accurate and reflective of the roles you're hiring for? Update them to include any new skills or responsibilities required.

Take time to remove any bias from your job descriptions and job ads. For example, words like ‘competitive’ tend to attract men, without providing helpful details about the position. Also, be mindful of the language used and ensure it doesn’t discriminate against experienced workers. Remove these words and adjectives that don’t provide meaning or value. Watch for internal jargon and acronyms so potential candidates better understand the role.

Tip: Clear and detailed job descriptions attract great candidates from the start. Gender Decoder is a free app to check for gender-coded words.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

An ATS is an efficient recruitment strategy, as recruiters track applicants throughout the recruitment process. It can help HR teams identify where suitable applicants are coming from. This data helps recruiters determine which avenues are successful and which they can pull back on.

Tip: Is your ATS fit for purpose? Are you using all the data available?

Interview process

Your HR team, TAs, and recruiters can source, vet, and interview candidates, but what about your hiring managers? Employees working closely with a potential candidate should be involved in the interview process. Employees who conduct interviews should be familiar with the interview guidelines.

Hiring cycles have extended in time. By decluttering redundant steps and optimising the interview process, employers can reduce the time to make a hiring decision. Also, a streamlined interview process demonstrates respect for candidates’ time and effort. By minimising unnecessary stages and reducing delays, candidates experience a more efficient and positive candidate journey.

• Pick the right interviewers
• Decide where to conduct the interview
• Align interview questions and assessments with job requirements

Tip: Create a standardised candidate evaluation template and tailor it to each role.

Talent Pipeline

Sourcing candidates for posts before they become vacant will reduce your time-to-hire. Building your talent pipeline, especially for roles with high staff turnover, will enable you to engage prospective candidates early. Passive candidates are crucial to improving your recruitment process.

Tip: An online and social media presence will enable better recognition and visibility among potential candidates.

Communications

Respond to all candidates, regardless of whether they get an interview. According to findings from StartWire, 77% said they think less of companies that don’t respond to job applicants. Leaving potential candidates hanging around will turn them off your company and toward another.  With LinkedIn company reviews, candidates left hanging in the recruitment process are not shy about making their thoughts known.

Tip: Always provide communication and feedback at each step of the process to the candidate directly, your TA partner or your recruitment consultant.

Employer brand

With Glassdoor reviews the norm, corporate reputation matters more than ever. Your employer brand is your firm’s reputation; it’s what potential candidates and the public think of your brand. While you can’t control people’s perceptions, you can help influence their opinions of the business.  In a candidate’s market, job seekers can afford to be picky and shop around. A Wonderful Workplaces survey showed that 94% of candidates consider an employer’s brand when applying for jobs. An employee value proposition enables hiring managers to pitch open roles and the organisation to prospective candidates.

Your company culture is the personality of your organisation. It is an aspect to highlight early on in the recruitment marketing process. According to Jobvite data, 34% of people said they would leave a company within the first 90 days if the culture weren’t as expected.

Spring is a great time to enhance your employer branding. Showcase your company culture, values, and employee benefits to attract top talent. Share employee testimonials to promote your culture and jobs.  A strong employer brand attracts candidates and retains existing staff.

Tip: If you’re looking to fill an HR business partner position, ask one of the HR business partners for their thoughts on what they like about their job and the company.

Onboarding

Glassdoor Research has found that organisations with onboarding processes improved new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. You don’t have to wait for your new hires to arrive at the office to start onboarding. Consider Preboarding, the time between your new hire accepting a job offer and their first day. Culture Amp is a software company that specialises in employee engagement. Every candidate for an interview evaluates their experience in a survey.

Consider the five Cs of employee onboarding: compliance, clarification, culture, connection, and checking back. If you have remote workers, design a virtual onboarding programme.

Tip: Onboarding should start when they accept the job. Communicate regularly, opening with a welcome email.

Technology

Use technology to streamline your recruitment process:

• People analytics can help identify future skills gaps and predict your company's future needs to stay ahead of the competition.
• Applicant tracking systems (ATS) can help manage applications
• Video interviews offer flexibility and widen your talent pool.

Then there is artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. It comes as no surprise that AI is changing how organisations approach recruitment. AI can reshape how organisations identify, engage, and nurture their most important asset—human resources.

By reviewing job descriptions, streamlining applications, updating interview processes, using technology, and enhancing employer branding, you can ensure that your recruitment efforts align with organisational needs. So, roll up your sleeves, grab your virtual marigold gloves, and give your recruitment process the spring clean it deserves.