Is your poor recruitment detaching your new hires?

Poor recruitment impacts employee attachment

The Treasurer Wayne Swan is forecasting 500,000 new jobs in the upcoming budget, reducing unemployment to 4.5%. That little number can only serve to send big shudders to anyone involved in recruiting in an industry experiencing acute skill shortages. So this reminder from Sandra Benskin on the Firebrand Talent site about employers being assessed by candidates is really timely.

The level of professionalism and efficiency associated with the recruitment process influences how a new employee perceives how well you run your operation. Here’s a checklist of things to consider about your recruitment.

– How clear are your advertisements? What do they tell and sell about your company?

– How is your recruitment consultant, if you use one, actually representing you?

–  How consistent are the messages your new hire receives about a role?  With many people involved in the hiring process, from a consultant to the person making the offer and beyond, it’s easy to send mixed messages. Does the recruitment consultant say something different to the HR team?

–  Where are people getting their information about your company? What’s up on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, for example?

– How are your applicants greeted in reception?

– Are you late for an interview?

– Do the questions you ask reflect the requirements of the role? This may seem like a no-brainer, but we’ve run some research with our clients which shows that only around 20% of hiring managers, or people involved in the hiring process, have actually received formal training in recruitment and selection.

– What are you actually assessing in your recruitment process? We’ve seen recruitment processes that are so cumbersome, and so lengthy, that they create an inflated perception about the requirements of a role.

– The flip side of this, is that an interview that’s just a cup of coffee, can send the wrong message as well.

As Sandra says, candidates have so much choice, and you may lose potentially hot candidates if you treat them poorly during the hiring process. But poor recruitment practice actually goes beyond this. Recruitment and selection is the first critical influence on how well your new employee attaches to your organisation.

If you’d like more information on what else matters to your new employee’s attachment, please give us a call on (02) 9344 7589.