Top tips to improve your recruitment process

Recruitment is a major strategic practice for companies, the capital represented by human resources is essential. Recruiting is a profession in its own right, that requires skills, tools, and time. It is also an exercise that is particularly delicate for companies experiencing strong growth, between urgent needs, changes in the organisation chart, and the difficulty of finding suitable profiles.

While recruiting today is not the same as ten years ago or even last year, and probably even less so after containment, one variable does not change: successful recruitment means finding the best match between a position and a candidate. So, it is up to the recruiter to implement best practices throughout the recruitment cycle. If you want to improve the quality of your hires, you should probably start by challenging your habits, questioning your posture, your discourse, and your practices. It is essential to examine and ask yourself: do I have the right reflexes?

There are many important points to improve your recruitment process, and here I will only propose five that I think are essential.

 

Taking care of your employer’s brand

Highlight your employees. They are your best ambassadors. By highlighting your employees through different channels, you communicate transparently about what is going on in your company. Employees who already work in your company are best positioned to talk about the company, its vision, missions, and values. It will make it easier for new employees to get involved. Your employees can make a company film, communicate on social networks, and organise lives or webinars to answer questions.

It is also crucial to have a website with a career page. It will enable you to have targeted communication aimed at future target candidates. On this page, you can talk about the positions available, the different jobs in your company, and why not include testimonials or videos from your employees? Potential candidates will be able to get all the answers to their questions very quickly.

 

Define the job requirements and profile carefully

Recruiting process is time-consuming when you have not clearly defined your expectations. You should provide a relevant job description, as precise as possible, to avoid irrelevant applications. This way, you avoid wasting time evaluating profiles that will not ultimately match the company’s needs.

You should also draw up your ideal candidate profile and prioritise the selection criteria. Finally, a clear definition of the position and profile will give you an initial clue in which your sourcing will have the best chance of succeeding.

It will save you time on three levels:

Less non-compliant applications;

Less sorting of the applications received thanks to the determination of a typical candidate profile;

Effective sourcing;

 

Always anticipate: Recruit before you need to

The best way to speed up the recruitment process is to have candidates recruited within the company without issuing job offers. To do this, you need to carry out forward-looking management of jobs and skills by anticipating recruitment.

Recruiting work experience students or trainees increases your chances of finding a suitable candidate tenfold. You recruit them well before your needs emerge and train them. Once the need arises, you formalise their contracts (which used to be an internship, apprenticeship, or professional training contract). This system saves time, keeps recruitment costs under control, and allows you to claim the aid and exemptions offered by the State for this type of recruitment.

 

Reducing the steps

In the field of recruitment, the “less is more” rule is also recommended. Thus, define well in advance of the recruitment the stages through which the candidates will have to pass. Moreover, keep them informed of the different stages.

Don’t multiply tests and interviews because if you are not convinced, it often will be because it is not the right person. Moreover, only 48% of candidates are willing to attend a second interview. If you create a third interview, you are more likely to discourage and damage your image than make quality recruitment. Moreover, there is a risk of losing the candidate along the way. Have an evaluation grid available according to the criteria you have prioritised, and stick to it.

 

Recruiting and integrating

It is perhaps worth remembering that recruitment does not end with signing a contract and that successful recruitment is measured over time. You can legitimately congratulate yourself if you have convinced a rare gem to sign with you. But you still have to make them want to stay for as long as possible.

You must therefore show them how happy you are to see them join the company, take care of their integration into the team, take the time to welcome them, and give them the time to arrive. “Nothing can be taken for granted”; unfortunately, recruiters are no exception to the rule. To put all the chances on their side, it seems essential today to offer an adapted candidate experience. It is up to you to make the most of this experience to improve the quality of your recruitment and ensure that they remain loyal.