Solid Recrtment | alainlarocque

A solid recruitment process is crucial to maintaining momentum

Updated: Nov. 11. 2018

A business leader I know well doubled his sales three years in a row, then this growth abruptly stopped. His start up’s small team was now embroiled in issues involving production and logistics. Overburdened, the team could hardly fulfil orders. No time at all was allocated to business development. A decision was made to hire new people as fast as possible, but each new hire was either dismissed or resigned after a few months: for one position, 3 people were hired over a 12-month period.

In a fast-growing environment, solid recruiting is one of the crucial issues enabling a company to sustain its momentum or stall. In addition, recruiting is an expensive process. Every time a company has to fulfil a new position or replace an employee on a job, it costs the company an average of 6 to 9 months of wages. This is because training and lost productivity costs, in the first few months of employment, must be added to the actual recruitment cost.

The effectiveness of the recruiting process should therefore be one of the business leaders’ priorities. Unfortunately, even when they know how important it is, many simply don’t know where to start. They go with their “gut instinct” regarding the candidates. Not surprisingly, some new hires are often selected for no other reason than the recruiter wishing to have a drink with them, instead of assessing which candidate is the most qualified for the job.

To add to the confusion, there are many consultants out there who, just to look “cool”, would propose various recruiting methods with no significant value: personality tests bringing together people in blue, red or yellow; asking the candidates to interpret drawings of animals; using non-verbal body language, etc. These can be are very entertaining during a Christmas Party, but are completely useless to improve your recruiting efficiency.

One Simple Method

Only one recruiting method, with some variances, would allow an increase in the success rate from 30-40% to 60-70%. Its effectiveness has been well documented and validated by companies who adopted it as the best recruitment practice. This method unfortunately is neither cool nor sexy, and yields predictable results only when being followed completely. This is a well structured process where almost nothing is left to chance. The following steps summarize this method:

Determine the company’s requirements based on your business objectives
Write a job description including the experience, personality and skills required
Use several different channels to maximize the number of applications
Sort the resumés according to the job description criteria
Conduct structured interviews to systematically validate the skills required and identified in the job description
Use tests and situation simulations when appropriate
Prepare and manage adequately the candidate’s integration

Here is a complete, detailed guide for those of you who must act now. Warning! Nothing of what is stated below is actually cool. If you find some steps tedious or uncomfortable, remember that nothing could be more tedious or uncomfortable than dealing with a dismissal or having to start all over again because the new hire has resigned! Calculate the cost of the recruiting process, and you will surely conclude that it is worthwhile.

1. Defining the company’s requirements based on your business plan

The starting point is a reflection on the skills required for business plan implementation. Where is the company heading and what are the organisational implications? Which objectives each position holder in the flowchart will help us meet? What roles and responsibilities will consequently be assigned to him/her? What are the major challenges the new hire will have to meet?

2. Preparing a job description for the position

The job description for the position will be used as both a sale document to attract potential candidates and a guide for selecting them. Therefore, this description must be carefully prepared and include the following sections:

Description of the company. What are the company’s activities? In which way does the company stand out? Which are the company’s ambitions for the future?

Precise job description for the position. What will the new recruit target accomplishments be? Explain accurately the position’s functions and responsibilities. Here, do not try to remain vague to allow yourself a margin of flexibility in the use of staff. People need to understand exactly what is expected from them. An honest job description will help attract and retain new recruits.

Job challenges: what will the main issue for the new recruit be? What will the main success criterion be?

Experience: what type of knowledge and how many years of experience are required to be successful in this position? Will the new recruit be more likely to succeed if he/she has more work experience in large companies, SMEs or family businesses?

Skills: we mean here interpersonal skills, business acumen, attention to detail or creativity, empowerment, etc.

Education, training, languages, etc.

Important: in a context of rapid growth, it’s best to seek applicants who will be stimulated and strive in a constantly evolving environment, rather than candidates who become anxious due to frequent changes.

3. Finding applicants using the greatest possible number of channels

Internal job posting: good internal potential candidates are too often neglected. It’s important to give current employees the chance to apply for a new position.
Referrals from your team members
Job postings on employment sites
Job postings on placement sites of educational institutions in your area
Search firms: a good professional search firm is usually able to find a great number of qualified applicants in a short period of time. However, I can tell you from my own experience that the quality of applicants presented by search companies varies widely from firm to firm. Therefore, do not necessarily pick the cheapest.

Using the services of a search company must not exclude other sources of potential applicants. In the case of executive search, applicants identified by the company must be referred to the recruiter who will then evaluate them using the same process as for the candidates he/she has identified himself/herself. In the end, the company will be better off financially from having supported a rigourous process, rather than favouring applicants that could be hired without a commission.

4. Resumés qualification

Read the job description for the position again and keep only the resumés corresponding to at least 80% of the criteria. Do not interview an applicant just because you share his/her taste for travel or his/her sporting interests. How many candidates should you interview for an important position? 3-5 insofar as you were able to identify 3-5 potential applicants whose qualifications, on paper, match the position requirements.

5. Selection interviews

Interviews must be well prepared and conducted as structured. Each interview must be conducted using the same questionnaire for all the applicants. Although the interview can take the form of a simple discussion, make sure that this discussion follows closely your list of items to be validated. Personally, I ask the applicant to describe his/her professional experience, and I also ask for details, if needed, when a specific item on my list is being discussed. At the end of the interview, I will ask questions about items that were not covered by the applicant.

To validate the most important skills and criteria, the applicant must be asked to give specific examples, such as: Give me an example of a situation where you experienced a recurring performance problem from one of your team members. How did you manage the situation? Give some reflection time to the applicant, respect his/her silence and never suggest any answer. It’s important that the applicant describes a real life example rather than referring to a hypothetical situation.

You are not sure if an answer is honest? Just get back to the topic by asking for another example. Candidates who are skilled at hiding their weaknesses can usually succeed with one example, but rarely two…

If bilingualism is a prerequisite for the position, part of each interview should obviously be conducted in French.

At least two interviews by one or more team members should be conducted before a decision is made. Besides, involving some colleagues will facilitate the applicant’s integration into the team.

Once all applicants have been met using the same interview guide, draw a chart showing the complete list of candidates on one axis, and the sought-after skills on the other. Give a score from 1 to 5 or from 1 to 10 for each applicant and each skill, and then compare them.

If no consensus has been reached at this stage, arrange for a third interview. If you have reservations about all the applicants, do not pick the least worst; keep looking for new candidates!

6. Skill testing and personality profiles

If technical skills are required, do not hesitate to use tests to validate them – for example, problem solving using Excel files, writing letters in both French and English if the position requires a bilingual employee. You will see that applicants trusting their skills will show no concern.
Personality profiles: these profiles enable to predict the behaviour of a new recruit for a new position. For low-management positions, personality profiles obtained using an on-line questionnaire should help to predict the applicant’s performance. Their cost is minimal, even for an SME. For executive positions, complete psychometric tests performed by a specialized firm are crucial. Such a cost varies from $2,500 to $5,000.

It’s appropriate to share the findings of all these tests with the applicants. I can tell you from my own experience that the tests results are 95% reliable, according to both the employers and the candidates themselves. In most cases, they validate the recruiting process but also identify improvement opportunities to help the supervisor in the new hire coaching.

If however, at the end of the skill tests and personality profiles, significant doubts remain regarding the ability of an applicant to be successful in the new position, it would be better to seek new candidates. Disregarding the results because you think you are too far into the process is always a bad decision. I myself made this mistake and, to this day, I regret it. Are skill tests and personality profiles objectionable for the applicants? Perhaps, but not for the confident applicants. Most of them will see that as a sign of a culture of professionalism within the company.

7. “The Last Mile”: integration of the recruit

Once he/she has been recruited, the applicant needs to be motivated and retained. This last step is as important as the previous ones to retain new recruits for more than one year. The first impressions and first few days will be crucial in developing a sense of belonging:

Before he/she starts working in the new position, the new recruit should have received a hiring letter, duly signed by you, indicating the following: position title, description of functions and responsibilities, paid vacation, salary, salary reviewing process, performance bonus if appropriate, confidentiality and non-competition agreements if relevant, notification periods, and terms and conditions for termination of employment as agreed by both parties. A good hiring letter reduces the possibilities of misunderstanding and conflict. The time it takes to write it is a good investment.

Make sure that on the first day’s work, the work station, business cards, keys, access codes, email address, etc. are ready
The immediate supervisor/manager should greet the new recruit on his/her first day's work and stay with him/her for the first few hours. Organizing a visit of the facilities and introducing the recruit to the colleagues is essential, and should be followed by a brief discussion on the first challenges.
Colleagues should invite the new recruit for lunch on the first day’s work.
The first few days should be devoted to the corporate presentation, including a visit to the various departments and 30-60 minute meetings with colleagues with whom he/she will work most closely.
Training sessions should be completed within the first two weeks. They must be given priority over the duties of the position.
If they were not defined before the recruiting, the performance objectives should be set and documented within the first 15 days.

The manager and team members should make the applicant feel welcome and also make him/her feel that they believe he/she will have a positive impact on the future of the department or the company.