In a sea of potential candidates, how can you tell who among them is the right employee? Finding the right person is vital for not just the future of your business but the new hire as well. Here, we provide practical tips to hire the right person, not just any candidate, in today’s competitive job market.
Why It’s Important To Hire the Right Person
Sometimes when the candidate pool is slim, it can feel tempting to rush through the hiring process as quickly as possible. Here’s why taking your time to find a qualified job candidate is worth the extra time.
Increased Productivity and Performance
The baseline expectation for hiring is that they need to be qualified to do the job.
While some skills are teachable, others are not. When considering who to hire, it’s important to understand the job expectations and comb through their resume accordingly. Educate yourself or talk to the hiring managers about the expectations you should have before combing through applications.
The right job seeker should have a clear understanding of their role and be confident they can complete their tasks with efficiency and accuracy. What’s more, the right person will be more likely to stick around. Hiring someone proficient in their field is necessary if you want them to hit the ground running.
A Positive Work Environment
Cultural fit is often overlooked, but should never be undervalued. If the ability to do the job is at the top of the list, then company culture fit is second before you send the offer letter.
Personalities, values, and goals need to align before someone is deemed the right fit for your company. There may be a slew of people who can do the job, but who is the right person?
When you think of your business, you may not think of cliques — especially if you’re hiring the right people. But each department has a micro-culture in itself that you’ll need to pull out to find the right candidate.
At the end of the day, it’s difficult being the new person; being the odd man out is even more challenging. A great culture fit hire can support — or even boost — the morale of the office.
Additionally, a company’s culture can sometimes be the one thing that sets it apart in a competitive hiring landscape. In a 2023 survey of 4,400 employees by Great Place to Work, 15% of applicants are more likely to choose a company that’s a certified best place to work than a competitor.
The better you can understand company culture, the better the organization can perform overall.
Innovation and Growth
Organizations that have long employee tenure may seem to have it all figured out. The business runs like a well-oiled machine, and they haven’t felt a need to make any major changes in a while. But this can lead to problems.
The digital native generation, according to CornerStone Staffing, expects a level of digital innovation and proficiency in modern tools as a sign the business is committed to growth.
But if you’re not there yet, hiring candidates based on their ability to advance the business forward technologically is advantageous for the future of the company — and your attractiveness to job seekers.
Long-Term Success
The cost-per-hire according to SHRM is nearly $4,700, but could amount to two or three times their salary to fill the role. Between hiring platforms like LinkedIn, the cost-per-application rate, and the hourly wage of recruiters — in-house or through an agency — the cost to hire a new employee is significant.
When you onboard a great employee, you can save your business a lot of money while ensuring long-term success. If the company doesn’t need to budget for a hefty hiring process, it can allocate those funds to building the business instead.
Taking your time to find the ideal candidate can help support the future success of your organization.
Employee Satisfaction and Retention
Hiring, however nuanced, can help build the decision power of the business. Ever tried making a decision when you’re feeling low self-confidence? Imagine what that feels like on an enterprise level. A confident employee is likely to stick around and make a positive impact because they feel comfortable in their role.
When employees are well-matched to their positions, they experience higher job satisfaction, which boosts retention rates. The more you can reduce the turnover rate, the more expendable cash your organization has around to move forward to the future.
Want To Hire the Right Person? Consider the Following
We’ve all been in a situation where we hire someone we think is the perfect fit, and then before the end of their 90-day probation period, you’re ready to call in your second choice. For one reason or another, the star candidate you thought was going to transform your company ended up coming up short.
Let’s break down how to handle hiring with confidence.
Understand the Role Thoroughly
The job description is a potential candidate’s first test of deciding whether they’re a fit. How well you understand the position and the hiring manager’s needs will come through in the job description and thus who applies.
Adding a hint of the company culture can help keep your competitive edge here as well.
Build a Strong Talent Pipeline
Starting from scratch each time you have a job opening is what increases the cost-per-hire. Instead, keep in touch with past and passive candidates to cut the time-to-hire in half.
And of course, network. People trust their web of trusted friends and colleagues when making big decisions. Attending job fairs, events, and even slipping into public forums can help keep your ear to the ground to find the perfect candidate.
The more you can get boots to the ground and meet people, the better flow your applicant pipeline will have.
Utilize Multiple Sourcing Channels to Hire the Right Person
Job seekers can find a new job on any number of job boards today. So you need to be everywhere your ideal candidates are when they’re looking for a job.
Posting your open positions on your website and relevant job boards should be standard now. However, leveraging an applicant tracking system (ATS) that posts opportunities on these sites for you and helps you track applications is necessary.
Streamlining the hiring process can help ensure you hire people as easily and quickly as possible. Leveraging social media can help you as well. Know where your ideal candidate spends their time and target that platform. Targeted ads and posting a blurb on your main page can help boost interest in the position.
Finally, utilize your current employees. No one knows your company better than your fellow team members. People trust their friends when they suggest something they love. Your company could be one of them. What’s more, a referral program can help ensure participation.
Be Intentional and Thoughtful
As you move through applicants, take your time reading through each application, listen closely during the interview, and ask pointed questions. Weeding out the wrong fit takes conscious effort.
However, a comprehensive ATS can help you here. If you’re looking for a great ATS, find one that will weed out applicants based on keywords on their resume and cover letter. This can save a lot of time in manual considerations.
And don’t forget what it was like being the applicant. Following up during the post-offer process for those who didn’t make it is important. For applicants, waiting to hear back from a company can be nerve-wracking — especially if they took the time to write a cover letter and interview. This can boost your company image while building your applicant pool.
The post-offer follow-up includes checking in with new hires and making sure they’re still happy about their choice to take the job. Gaining feedback can help support the interview process and address retention issues in the future.
Hire the Right Person Faster
If you’re looking for an ATS that supports and streamlines your process of hiring the right person, look no further than ApplicantSlack. Our smart ATS posts your job in the right places, weeds out poor fits, and helps you track each applicant on a single dashboard.
Make your next hiring decision with ApplicantSlack, start a free trial today and ensure you’re hiring the right candidates.
