Once you have selected your candidate and they have accepted your offer, your attention needs to move to retention. Having spent all this effort getting them through the door, all your efforts will have been wasted if you cannot keep them within the organisation.
You can reinforce your new recruit's positive impressions of your organisation by helping them to feel involved straight away. Keep in touch with them in any interim period before they join and respond swiftly to any queries.
Do you have a formal induction process?
An effective induction process is essential to help new recruits to settle in fast. If assessments used in the recruitment process identified any immediate training needs, these should be built in to the induction programme. The induction plan should also address issues such as who greets the new joiner on day one, where they will sit, who will brief them on departmental practices and processes, what initial work they will be given, how their progress will be monitored, and what their key priorities are, including any specific objectives and early deadlines they will face.
Appointing a "buddy" can assist in the settling in process, as can assigning the new joiner a project to be completed during the induction period. This gives them the authority to approach other members of staff, an immediate sense of purpose and the feeling that they can make an impact on organisational performance.
The induction is also a great opportunity to seek constructive feedback from the new joiner on the recruitment process - an opportunity to gain genuine feedback that if managed properly can significantly enhance your hiring. Similarly, it can be a very useful exercise to ask the new hire for feedback on the induction process after the successful completion of the probationary period.
These actions reinforce the message that your organisation cares about its recruitment and employment practices, creating a positive impression early on in the employer/employee relationship.
High quality candidates are attracted to organisations that reward talent and don't tolerate under-performance, so it is essential that your recruitment process is seen as part of an overall human resource strategy that encourages performance. That strategy should include a rigorous selection process for new applicants and an objective, transparent and ongoing appraisal mechanism giving regular feedback.
Performance related pay and structures to deal with under performance all emphasise that your firm is a high quality organisation, and one where talented individuals will be rewarded for their efforts.
The success of any organisation can be measured by its ability to attract and retain talented staff at all levels. One strategy that I have found personally very successful in terms of building a cohesive team is to always be interviewing. That may seem an obvious statement from someone actively engaged in the recruitment industry, but I have spent the last 5 years in particular building a network of talent that is my first point of call when I am looking to add to my team. I would actively encourage you all to cast your net as wide as you can when you are recruiting to ensure that you are attracting the widest range of talent available.
I would actively encourage all of you to engage in what I would call "Building a Talent Pool". Never a truer adage; not what but who you know, and the little black book can certainly have a big part to play in the recruitment process.
