7 Ways to Streamline Your Hiring Process in the New Year

Although hiring may be on many employers’ to-do lists for the new year, hiring the wrong employee is a costly mistake for your company.

Amidst labour shortage and a competitive landscape, employers need to make sure they are both hiring the right employees and making sure the hiring process is as efficient as possible to reduce time-to-hire and secure the best talent.

Don’t keep your candidates waiting

The longer it takes to hire someone, the higher the cost for your company. Moreover, with the labour shortage, the job market is more competitive than ever. Keeping candidates waiting can not only increase the likelihood that recruiters will lose candidates to competitors, but it can also poorly impact your company’s reputation if the employee leaves a negative review on job boards and company review websites, such as Glassdoor or Feefo etc.

While it is never advised that employers rush through the recruitment process, the more efficiently you can hire people, the quicker you can get new hires up to speed, fill the gaps in your workforce, and have new hires contribute to business outcomes.

To expedite the recruitment process, limit the number of interview rounds to what’s strictly necessary and only include those in the interview process who are critical or responsible for working with that person. Also, don’t wait too long between interview stages to set up the next interview and ask the interviewee early in the recruitment process if they are in any other last rounds of interviews so the employer can be mindful of this.

Ensure a smooth virtual interview

As the world has shifted to a more remote work environment, so have hiring processes. While virtual interviews are incredibly convenient, technical difficulties can add tension to an already nerve-wracking environment.

To make sure your recruitment experience is as smooth as possible, make sure that there are as few technical difficulties as possible. The most important part of hosting virtual interviews is to ensure that your candidate can easily access the meeting software.

By sending instructions to your candidates on how to use the meeting software you’re using, they can ensure they’re prepared. Some other tips for virtual interviews are to be patient with any unpredictable disruptions or noises that either party may experience. Employers should also make sure they maintain eye contact and are mindful of body language, both of which are easy to forget in a virtual environment.

Be transparent about the reality of the role

In order to make sure you’re making the most of both your time as well as your candidate’s, it is important to be transparent with your employee about the terms of the role. The last thing you want as an employer is to get to the final round of interviewing a dream candidate only to find out that they didn’t realize it wasn’t a fully remote job and can’t come into the office. To hire efficiently, it’s important that any misconceptions about the role are cleared up early in the recruitment process.

This includes being on the same page with salary expectations, whether it’s a hybrid, in-office, or remote job, finding out if the employee requires any special accommodations, and exactly what the job entails. For example, if a marketing role requires occasional reception relief – make that clear at the outset.

It can also be helpful to be upfront about the estimated length of the hiring period, the number of steps in the interview process, and who will be interviewing them at each stage.

Streamline the scheduling process

Sometimes setting up an interview can feel like equally as much work as conducting them, especially if there are multiple members that need to be present and different time zones involved. To avoid any wasted time, instead of emailing back and forth times, use an online meeting scheduler that takes into account different time zones and lets candidates fill in at their convenience.

Seek the expertise of a recruitment agency

Enlisting the help of a professional is always a good idea, especially if you don’t have the resources to hire. A recruitment agency can speed up your hiring process and give you access to more candidates, especially for higher-level roles, which generally do take more time.

Ask candidates strategic interview questions

Choosing the wrong candidate can be costly for your business. To ensure you find the right fit for the role, employers need to carefully listen to and get to know their interviewee. Interviewers will be more likely to find someone who is suitable for the position and the company’s culture if they ask the right questions.

Alongside standard questions like “tell me about what interests you in the role” employers should also be strategic by asking behavioural questions that provide insight into how someone deals with situations. For instance, asking someone how they handled a big project or a failure or multiple projects at the same time helps employers know how a candidate applies the education and experience mentioned on the resume to real-life situations.

Employers should also ensure they ask every candidate the same questions, to ensure that the process is fair and equitable and without bias.

Ensure you have a properly drafted employee contract

Once you’ve gotten past the hardest part of recruiting—finding the right person for the role, it’s important that you don’t glaze over one of the most important parts of the hiring process, having a rock-solid employment contract.

Employers should always ensure they have a drafted employment agreement prior to an employee commencing employment. If an employee starts work without a signed employment agreement, the employer risks having to compensate the employee more than the minimums prescribed by the Employment Standards Act.

Are you looking for more information on employment contracts?

If you’d like to create employment contracts for your business or are thinking of updating your existing ones, Peninsula can help. Our advisors can draft customized employment contracts, and any other HR documents, and help you identify any potential issues with your wording or policies. To learn more about how our HR outsourcing services can benefit your business, call an expert today at 1 (833) 247-3652