What to look for when recruiting

By Juanita Vorster

Business leaders across the globe worry about attracting and retaining top talent, especially as remote and hybrid workforces are becoming the norm. In their responses to surveys they often list it as a main inhibitor of profitable growth into the future!

Despite this, most business leaders and managers prioritise other tasks over recruitment and talent selection rather than seeing it as a vital part of their jobs. In addition, many business leaders and managers do not have the skills required to ensure that the right people are found and placed in the right jobs.

Statistically, using traditional recruitment methods has a 60% failure rate, resulting in an enormous waste of time and money. Getting recruiting right is therefore something that can’t be left to an HR department or line manager alone; business leaders have to get personally involved. 

Getting the right people for the right jobs as a four-stage process with each step being of equal importance:

Specify

Before advertising a vacancy, business leaders must be crystal clear about the job specification as well as the attitudes and behaviours of the person needed for the job. This, in turn, needs to align with the purpose, vision and values of the company. The best talent has a choice these days and will simply not work for an organisation whose values they don’t share; another reason why leadership needs to be actively involved in recruitment. 

These specifications should be written down and be clear enough for anyone to understand. This will help to prevent two common recruitment mistakes: deciding what the job specifications are based on the available talent or hiring based on chemistry rather than true fit.

The popular saying “hire for attitude, train for skill” is very noble in its intent, but business owners and leaders adhering strictly to this sentiment might run the risk of not achieving the optimal mix of behavioural competencies needed for peak performance.

Find

Owners and leaders of smaller organisations often fall into the trap of thinking that they won’t be able to attract top talent, so they approach the vacancy listing process with a timid attitude. Top talent isn't always the most expensive people or the most qualified. Instead, they are the people who are the absolute best fit for a specific role in a specific organisation.

It is therefore of utmost importance that a vacancy listing is not just a list of required skills and experience; to attract the appropriate talent, the vacancy listing must reflect the true culture and values of the business and what it’s like to be part of the team.

To access the top talent pool, business leaders must involve those who are experts in selling the benefits of the company in creating the vacancy listing. Marketing people are often a better choice for this task than an HR department or even recruitment agencies. 

That is the best for a business to attract top talent – that might be currently employed – rather than limit itself to a talent pool of despondent job seekers.

During the interview process of shortlisted candidate, top talent will most likely ask questions to help them determine whether the values of the business align with their own values. 

If they can’t get a clear idea of what the values are or how the business practically lives those values, or they feel that their values do not align with those of the business, they’ll go look for employment somewhere else.

Assess

It is astonishing that many companies around the world still rely on an impressive CV with one or two interviews as the only activities to recruit talent. Even references can’t be guaranteed as a mark of quality as they can be influence by litigation around labour disputes.

True top talent will be able to prove that they are the best during an assessment that must form part of the recruitment process. The difficulty of the assessment will of course differ depending on the job level recruited for, and businesses must never abuse the assessment process to gain free insights or labour.

Assessments may appear to be time-consuming and costly, but the cost of getting recruitment wrong has been estimated as about four or even five times the employee’s annual salary! It’s therefore much less expensive to use assessments than to recruit and train an employee who was never right for the job or whose aspirations conflicted with those of the business. 

Negotiate

The final stage in the recruitment process should be a discussion and negotiation between the selected candidate and their potential direct manager on the exact details of the role and remuneration package.

People can truly make or break a business – irrespective of its size or shape. With economic pressure rising and an increase in leadership burnout, no business leader can afford to stand back and allow mediocre talent to come on board.

Advertising can help you attract talent

Juanita Vorster is a successful entrepreneur with a knack for turning complex business concepts into simplified, practical advice. She also holds the designation of Certified Director and Ethics Officer.