In This Edition...

FOCUS ON ...CANDIDATE FEEDBACK

NHS ...SAYS YES!

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

MANAGING CHANGE

WEB TRAFFIC SOARS

REC REPRESENTATION

EMPLOYEE OF THE QUARTER


CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY

Wakefield
01924 241010
wakefield@jonlee.co.uk

Leicester
0116 299 4040
leicester@jonlee.co.uk

Stourbridge
01384 397555
consult@jonlee.co.uk

St Albans
01727 841101
st.albans@jonlee.co.uk

Basildon
01268 889250
southfields@jonlee.co.uk

International
00 44 (0)800 6529801
int@jonlee.co.uk

www.jonlee.co.uk

Focus on …Candidate Feedback

In the last issue of New Recruit, we reported that the recruitment market had picked up, with positive news for job seekers as signs of life appeared across the engineering and manufacturing sectors. With budgets starting to get freed up, many businesses are again starting to recruit, to fill long-standing gaps in the business and support business growth.

This suggests that companies recruiting now must have the pick of the talent and can therefore be extra selective when reviewing CVs and candidates. This is actually a very dangerous assumption, in large part because skills shortages have returned with the best candidates still very cautious about entering the job market. Recruiters who delay recruiting a good candidate so that they can wait and see what else is out there, could find they miss out on talented people. There are already skills shortages in many areas and good candidates are being snapped up or counter offered by their current employer. This means employers have to start their search all over again, wasting valuable time.

Another risk of procrastinating is that delays in giving feedback to candidates also damages a company’s reputation and employer brand, with job seekers feeling unfairly treated if they are left waiting for weeks or even months to hear about a job. It is unlikely to make them feel inspired by the job or the employer and may decrease their inclination to work with them in the future. Plus, you can’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth, particularly with the proliferation of blogging and social media.

With time of the essence, what steps should HR and recruitment professionals take to ensure they recruit the best person for the job, but within a reasonable timescale?

Have a clear idea of what you are looking for
Take time to establish what skills and competencies are essential for the role, which ones are nice to have and which ones may be detrimental. Job specific and technical abilities are important but it is also crucial to look at the ‘soft’ skills required for the job, such as interpersonal, leadership or team working. It is also crucial to bear in mind a candidate’s potential and attitude - these are often more important than experience.

Implement an efficient process
Examine the recruitment processes and procedures you currently have in place and identify which areas are causing delays. Once you know where the problem is, you can decide upon ways to speed certain stages up and make them more efficient. It can be surprising how long it takes to recruit a new employee from start to finish, taking into account the initial application, interviews, assessment and then the notice period of the successful candidate. Try to ensure those areas you can control are as tight as possible.

Communicate internally and set strict targets
A breakdown in communication between line managers, HR and recruitment teams can often be responsible for slow decision making, as each department has a range of different responsibilities and priorities. To ensure that each party is clear of their role, sit down together at the beginning of the recruitment process, outlining who is responsible for which tasks and create a timeline showing when certain stages and activities should be completed. Then try to meet at key points in the process to ensure everybody is on track.

Work in partnership with your consultant
Jonathan Lee Recruitment has years of experience in attracting, sifting and identifying the best candidates. Make sure you make the best use of us by providing detailed feedback on which candidates you like and don’t like, and why. This enables us to tailor our approach to fit with your needs and will ensure you find the best candidate as quickly as possible, whilst letting unsuitable candidates continue their job search elsewhere.

tony.street@jonlee.co.uk