Overview of the Great Recruitment Method

<div class="grey-callout"><h2>What You'll Learn</h2>
<p>Here are over 50 pieces of advice from the Recruiting Book; The Secrets of Great Recruitment: How To Recruit Great Employees.</p>
<p>There is also instructions for how to get more informaion on each topic.</p>
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Only recruit when you need to: Organisations often recruit unnecessarily. Use my Six Tests of Recruitment to determine if you really need to hire. (For more on this, see our guide The Six Tests Every Hiring Manager Should Use Before Recruiting: Is Your Business Ready? and chapter 1.)

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Recruit the right people at the right time: As businesses mature they go from needing mainly generalists to having to recruit more specialists. Determine where you are in the business life cycle and recruit appropriately. (For more on this, see our guide The Six Tests Every Hiring Manager Should Use Before Recruiting: Is Your Business Ready? and chapter 2.)

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Know what a Great Performer looks like: Don’t use traditional job descriptions which tend to be too vague and generic to be of use. Instead draw up a Great Performance Profile for each role which specifies desired Measurable Outcomes and Key Competencies that you want in an applicant. (For more on this, see our guide Ditch Job Descriptions: How to Write Great Performance Profiles and chapter 3.)

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Be realistic: Don’t ask too much of applicants. Consider whether the person you’re looking for actually exists and remove unnecessary and overly-stringent competencies. (For more on this, see our guide Realistic Recruitment: The “Perfect” Employee Doesn’t Exist and chapter 3.)

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Assemble a Recruitment Team: Don’t let one person do the recruitment. You need multiple perspectives to make good decisions and to avoid costly mis-hires. Bring in an outside consultant to help if necessary. (For more on this, see our guide Ditch Job Descriptions: How to Write Great Performance Profiles and chapter 3.)

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Pay enough: You need to offer a credible salary to attract great applicants. Conduct a market analysis to figure out the right amount. (For more on this, see our guide Paying for Performance: Deciding Salaries to Attract & Retain Top Talent and chapter 3.)

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Attract enough applicants: Use several Applicant Attraction Channels in the correct order to get a good pool of applicants to choose from. (For more on this, see our guide Fill Your Jobs Fast: Use Multiple Channels to Attract Great Performers and chapter 4.)

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Don’t go to recruitment agencies first: You can usually find the same applicants through job sites and recruitment advertising agencies for far less money. (For more on this, see our guide The Truth About Recruitment Agencies: Choose the Right Type and chapter 4.)

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Choose a good recruitment advertising agency: Recruitment advertising agencies can save you time and money – but make sure you use a reputable one! (For more on this, see our guide Insider Secrets: Select the Best Recruitment Advertising Agency and chapter 4.)

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Advertise on lots of job sites: There are many job sites and your ideal applicants could be anywhere so you need to widely publicise your advert. If you’re using a recruitment advertising agency, make sure that they use a good range of sites. (For more on this, see our guide Navigate Job Sites Like a Pro: Strategies to Fill Your Vacancies Fast and chapter 5.)

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<span class="purple-callout"><p>Quick note – I'm available for advice and assistance if you need it (get your free consultation).</p><p>You'll find my recruiting book helpful, too - it's a bestseller!</p><p>And my flat-fee recruiter service can help advertise jobs on the best UK job sites for just £199.</p></span>

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Select sites rationally, not dogmatically: Don’t advertise on a site just because that’s what your company has always done. The market tends to be fluid and what worked before may not work now. Carefully assess job sites’ suitability for your current recruitment needs. (For more on this, see our guide Navigate Job Sites Like a Pro: Strategies to Fill Your Vacancies Fast and chapter 5.)

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Duration based adverts are preferable: Cost-per-action adverts seem like a nice idea, but are complicated to use and can end up costing a lot. Traditional duration based adverts are often the best option. (For more on this, see our guide Navigate Job Sites Like a Pro: Strategies to Fill Your Vacancies Fast and chapter 5.)

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Forget CV databases: Databases are hard to use and have lots of old CVs. They’re best left to recruitment agencies who mine them heavily. (For more on this, see our guide Efficient Strategies for Using CV Databases to Find Applicants and chapter 5.)

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Write a good job advert: To get a good response, you need a good advert, not a glorified job description full of jargon and business-speak. My guidelines for writing adverts are based on rigorous real-world testing. (For more on this, see our guide Revealed: The Ultimate Structure for High-Impact Job Adverts and chapter 6.)

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State the salary: If you don’t advertise a salary you’ll tend to get 80% fewer applicants. (For more on this, see our guide Revealed: The Ultimate Structure for High-Impact Job Adverts and chapter 6.)

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Don’t identify your company in your advert: If you include your name and logo you might get swamped with calls from applicants and recruitment agencies. And if you advertise regularly, jobseekers might perceive you as having high staff turnover. It’s best not to include your name and logo at all. (For more on this, see our guide Revealed: The Ultimate Structure for High-Impact Job Adverts and chapter 6.)

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Don’t state a closing date: You wouldn’t want to turn down a great applicant just because they’d applied one day after a closing date, so it’s best not to include one. (For more on this, see our guide Revealed: The Ultimate Structure for High-Impact Job Adverts and chapter 6.)

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Don’t redirect jobseekers to a career page: You’ll lose approximately 90% of applicants if you redirect them from a job site to your employer career page. (For more on this, see our guide Why Most Employer Career Pages Fail (& How to Make Sure Yours Doesn’t) and chapters 4 and 6.)

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Understand a candidate’s motivations: Often overlooked in recruitment, but key to successful recruitment and retention. Identify what a candidate is moving away from and being drawn towards, and the difference between professional and personal motivators. (For more on this, see our guide Uncover What Motivates Your Candidates for Long-Term Success and chapter 8.)

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Shortlist everyday: Don’t wait to see who else applies before shortlisting a promising applicant. You could lose them to a competitor while you dither, so shortlist regularly. (For more on this, see our guide Simple Steps to Shortlist Applicants Efficiently & Fairly and chapter 9.)

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Use simple solutions to track candidates: Advanced applicant tracking software is expensive and often overly elaborate. Spreadsheets, emails and cloud-based file sharing usually do the job perfectly well. (For more on this, see our guide Simple Steps to Shortlist Applicants Efficiently & Fairly and chapter 9.)

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Don’t skip Telephone Interviews: Telephone Interviews save you time and effort by helping you avoid interviewing obviously unsuitable applicants. (For more on this, see our guide Effective Telephone Interviews: Save Time & Find Top Talent and chapter 10.)

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Don’t bother with video screening technology: Often candidates don’t want to use these systems. Telephone Interviews are much more effective.

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Don’t use psychometric tests to screen candidates: Few candidates will be willing to take a test early on in the recruitment process. Even the test providers don’t recommend that you rely on such tests to screen candidates. (For more on this, see our guide Exposed: The Pros & Cons of Psychometric Testing in Recruitment and chapter 7.)

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Use the Promise of a Reference Call (PORC): Telling candidates that you will be making reference calls to their former employers makes them much more honest at the interview. (For more on this, see our guides Effective Telephone Interviews: Save Time & Find Top Talent and Transform Your Interview Process: The Structured Interview Approach and chapter 10.)

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Carefully arrange interviews to reduce no shows: Arrange over the phone and send a calendar invite via email to encourage candidates who aren’t going to attend to let you know this. (For more on this, see our guide Effective Telephone Interviews: Save Time & Find Top Talent and chapter 10.)

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Don’t rush interviews: Allow 75 minutes for an interview. If you don’t allocate enough time, you might not find out everything you need to and will have to do follow-up interviews. (For more on this, see our guide How the Pros Interview Candidates: Learn Their Secrets and chapter 11.)

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Assemble your Interview Team: These are the 2-4 people involved in the final decision making process. Ensure everyone attends to avoid dragging out the process. (For more on this, see our guide How the Pros Interview Candidates: Learn Their Secrets and chapter 11.)

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Choose an appropriate location for interviews: Your work environment is best, otherwise using a provider such as Regus or WeWork is preferable to a cafe or other public space. (For more on this, see our guide How the Pros Interview Candidates: Learn Their Secrets and chapter 11.)

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Probe what candidates tell you: To get the information you need to make good decisions, you need to probe candidates’ answers to see if they really stack up. (For more on this, see our guide How the Pros Interview Candidates: Learn Their Secrets and chapter 11.)

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Sell the job: Great candidates always have options so don’t assume they’re 100% committed just because they turned up to interview. Keep selling the job and your organisation throughout the recruitment process. (For more on this, see our guide How the Pros Interview Candidates: Learn Their Secrets and chapter 11.)

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Be honest with candidates: If the job requires them to work long hours or if there are constraints on career advancement, you need to be open about this. If you aren’t honest, new hires might get fed up and leave. (For more on this, see our guide How the Pros Interview Candidates: Learn Their Secrets and chapter 11.)

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Don’t use competency interviews: Competency interviews can be useful if interviewers properly explore the context of candidates’ answers. Often they don’t, though. Structured Interviews are a more effective and predictable way of getting the information you need. (For more on this, see our guide Transform Your Interview Process: The Structured Interview Approach and chapter 12.)

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Use a Structured Interview script: A script helps you stay on track and be consistent across different interviewees. They also enable you to really listen because you’re not worrying about what to ask next. (For more on this, see our guide Transform Your Interview Process: The Structured Interview Approach and chapter 12.)

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Pre-close the candidate: This helps you gauge how likely it is that a candidate will accept a job offer. If they don’t accept, you’ll have already got a sense of this and lined up other options. (For more on this, see our guide Transform Your Interview Process: The Structured Interview Approach and chapter 12.)

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Don’t bother with third or fourth interviews: Make sure that your first and second interviews are thorough and well designed so that you don’t need further interviews. Candidates might well lose patience with a long sequence of interviews and take a job somewhere else. (For more on this, see our guide Transform Your Interview Process: The Structured Interview Approach and chapter 12.)

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Use Job Simulations: These allow you to check if the candidate really can perform the tasks required of them. Sometimes people shine in interviews but perform poorly in Job Simulations. (For more on this, see our guide Boost Hiring Accuracy: Use Job Simulations & Work Culture Assessments and chapter 13.)

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Test for cultural fit: Candidates need to fit into the team to be effective. Equally they need to be comfortable with the culture of the business they’re working for. Work Culture Assessments are a good way of checking this out. (For more on this, see our guide Boost Hiring Accuracy: Use Job Simulations & Work Culture Assessments and chapter 13.)

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Use the Delphi Technique to make decisions: During the final recruitment discussions, senior people often dominate. But good decisions need to be made on the basis of everyone’s views. The Delphi Technique helps you to do this. (For more on this, see our guide 8 Crucial Steps for Deciding Who to Recruit and chapter 14.)

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Use a Pre-Mortem to foresee problems: Thinking ahead of time how things might go wrong with a candidate helps to make decision making more robust. (For more on this, see our guide 8 Crucial Steps for Deciding Who to Recruit and chapter 14.)

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Keep open the option of not hiring: Recruitment can be such an effort that it sometimes feels like you must hire come what may. Hiring the wrong person could be very costly, however. Sometimes you have to decide not to hire if you can’t find a suitable candidate. (For more on this, see our guide, 8 Crucial Steps for Deciding Who to Recruit and chapter 14.)

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Always take references: At interviews you only hear candidates’ side of the story. Taking references is vital for checking their claims and potentially avoiding expensive mis-hires. (For more on this, see our guide Use Reference Calls: Find Out What Candidates Don’t Want You to Know! and chapter 15.)

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Take references before making a job offer: If you make an offer, then take references and find out something you don’t like, it can feel difficult to backtrack. For this reason, take references first. (For more on this, see our guide Use Reference Calls: Find Out What Candidates Don’t Want You to Know! and chapter 15.)

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Speak to referees yourself: Don’t outsource to reference checking firms or recruitment agencies. Calling the referee will get you better information than communicating in writing. (For more on this, see our guide Use Reference Calls: Find Out What Candidates Don’t Want You to Know! and chapter 15.)

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Make offers over the phone: When you call a candidate and offer them a job you can listen to their reaction – what they say and how they say it. This is much better than having to wait for a reply to an email. (For more on this, see our guide Expert Tips on How to Make & Negotiate Job Offers and chapter 16.)

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Send a written offer straightaway: Without an offer in writing, the candidate might continue to look for work. Nail things down with a written confirmation as soon as possible. (For more on this, see our guide Expert Tips on How to Make & Negotiate Job Offers and chapter 16.)

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Stay in touch with new hires before they join: It’s surprisingly common for people to accept a job offer and then never show up! Keeping in contact with a new hire increases the chance that they’ll start – or at least inform you that they won’t. (For more on this, see our guide Don’t Lose Your New Hire: Ensure They Are Ready & Excited to Start and chapter 17.)

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Decline candidates professionally: Candidates deserve a few minutes of feedback, ideally with constructive feedback that is specific and actionable. (For more on this, see our guide 3 Techniques for Declining Candidates Professionally and chapter 18.)

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Hold a proper induction: New staff often leave. Effective onboarding helps to settle them in and reduces the likelihood of them resigning. (For more on this, see our guide Simple Steps to Enhance Employee Retention and Reduce Turnover and chapter 19.)

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Keep your composure when a staff member resigns: Don’t get angry or upset or tell the employee to leave. You may want to make a counteroffer or hold an Exit Interview so you need to receive the news calmly. (For more on this, see our guide Strategies for Handling & Dismissing Poor Performers and chapter 20.)

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Conduct Exit Interviews: Don’t let an employee leave before holding an Exit Interview. The conversation might reveal issues about your organisation that need to be addressed urgently. (For more on this, see our guide Discover the Power of Exit Interviews: Gain Insight to Improve Your Workplace and chapter 20.)

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Don’t tolerate Poor Performers: See if you can get them to change or develop other staff so that you’re less dependent on them. If you can’t find a solution then you may have to dismiss them to protect your organisation. (For more on this, see our guide Strategies for Handling & Dismissing Poor Performers and chapter 20.)

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Reassure your existing staff after a resignation: Employees leaving can destabilise a company. Other employees might get itchy feet and start looking for other opportunities. Resolve any issues that contributed to your employee leaving. Speak to your existing staff and let them know how much you appreciate them. (For more on this, see our guide Strategies for Handling & Dismissing Poor Performers and chapter 20.)

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Seek good legal advice: Good employment solicitors are worth the money. They can help you find solutions when things go wrong. Some lawyers are less helpful, telling you lots of reasons why you can’t do things and never giving you a straight answer. If you treat staff well, you’re much less likely to encounter problems in the first place.

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<div class="grey-callout"><h2>Implement the Great Recruitment Method</h2>
<p>To implement the Great Recruitment Method, follow these steps:</p>
<p><ol><li>Create Great Performance Profiles: Work with line managers to create one for every role in your company.</li>
<li>Grade all your current employees: Who are the Great Performers, Good Performers and Poor Performers? This is the wake up call that your business needs.</li>
<li>Upgrade your organisation by replacing Poor Performers: Ensure every employee knows who isn’t performing and understands that you’re following an objective and thorough process.</li>
<li>Check your recruitment process: Constantly ask, “Are we hiring Great Performers?” While there may be mistakes, if you see a consistent pattern of mis-hiring, either retrain the Recruitment Team or stop them from hiring.</li>
<li>Model your Great Performers: Develop employee training programmes to foster their attributes in others.</li>
<li>Invest most of your time with Great Performers: Ensure they feel valued. Otherwise, you’ll have to invest even more time replacing them.</li>
<li>Continue measuring your return on investment: Part of your monthly reporting should be your gross profit divided by combined payroll and outsourcing costs. If the numbers get worse, it might indicate a serious problem.</li>
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