9 ideas to improve recruitment and selection in 2022

Posted on 27 January 2022

Looking to improve recruitment and selection processes? Find the best talent with these unique tips to help you nail the hiring process with ease.

Whether you’re struggling to retain staff or you’re looking to improve the way you hire employees, we’ll help you find suitable job seekers! They won’t only fit in perfectly with the company culture; they’ll become just as passionate as you are about working for a great company.

Writing job descriptions and what the job entails is crucial to make sure you are attracting suitable job applicants during the selection process and, of course, the selection interview.

9 Epic ideas to improve recruitment and selection processes

Let’s get stuck in and share the best successful recruitment process and selection processes to help you become the workplace hero!

1. How to nail the perfect job description

If not enough qualified candidates are applying for jobs in your company, the problem may be hidden in plain sight. Researchers from the US and Canada suggested that poor job postings are the number one cause of low application rates.

What qualifies as a good job advertisement?

According to researchers, job postings should be more than a laundry list of requirements. They should also be inspirational. More than anything, a good job listing should answer the question, “why is this company a good career and life choice for me?”

You might like to set your job descriptions template out with the following ideas:

Summarise what the company is about – this could be the company tag line or pitch.
Mention where the job is based. Let the candidate know straight away if you’re open to a remote role or let them know where the office is located so you won’t waste anyone’s time.
Mention the top three highlights of the company. Remember, you have to sell this role to find the best job seekers.
Talk about the role. Who will the candidate report to, and summarise who they will be working with and what the position requires.
Must Haves! This is the section where you want to list the necessary requirements and skills to win this role.
The negotiables and nice to haves! It would help if you had some leeway regarding the recruitment process. List any skills that will be a bonus but not technically necessary to score the role.
In more detail, talk about the responsibilities of the role and what a typical day might look like.
Sell the perks of the role to attract candidates. You want to make sure they know they will be valued before they even speak to you in person.
Put in a quote from the prospective candidate’s manager introducing themself and what they love doing in their spare time. It’s important to know that the manager and new employee will get on.
Talk about the company culture. Does the company actively supports diversity? What are the current employees like as people?
And lastly, mention who are the directors of the company. What is their background, and where have they previously worked? If you’re a start-up, this will help shape what people are leading the company.

2. Make sure you have a fantastic careers page

You’ll need to spend a bit of time putting together an epic careers page on your company website as it will be the first place most candidates will look at before applying for the role. You’ll want to make sure you nail the brand tone and voice, and mention what makes your company amazing to work for and what sets you apart from others.

Having a great careers page will only lead more visitors to your company website, because quite frankly, you’ll want the candidate clicking through the site to learn more about it. From an SEO perspective, this will contribute to your company ranking better on Google (especially if you’re a start-up) and will help in the long run.

3. Discover talent on unique job boards and via social media networks

Think outside of the box and discover new ways to post job listings to enhance the recruitment process to find the best applicants. You might like to stay away from the major job boards and career sites in America and opt to find candidates on smaller sites. If you’re looking to employ remote workers, try posting on sites such as Flex Jobs or We Work Remotely for example.

If popular career sites haven’t helped you find suitable candidates, then dive deeper into the talent pool. Along with Facebook job advertisements, LinkedIn is one of the best job posting boards to find job seekers that fit your needs. Most industries will have job boards set up; it’s just a matter of spending a few minutes searching for them online, something all hiring managers need to take time to do.

Great opportunities can be discovered on networking events, and there’s an even better offline approach to talent recruitment—employee referral programs.

Your staff knows everything about your company, its goals, culture, team dynamic, and day-to-day operations. Nobody is better equipped for talent recruitment than existing employees, so make sure they know the hiring process and find the perfect internal candidates for the role.

And, since they are expected to vouch for their candidates, they’ll think twice before referring a person for the job.

4. Streamline your background check strategy

Screening is expensive and time-consuming, so why conduct background checks on all applicants? Many companies are streamlining this process by making a selection first and then screening only the final candidates.

This emphasizes what’s truly important and what’s candidates’ hard and soft skills. Plus, reversing the order helps you make the final decision faster.

On a related note, some roles don’t require specific screening tests. For instance, a candidate’s driving history won’t help you identify if they’re a good software engineer.

To make background checks more efficient, consider tailoring your screening process to the needs of each position.

5. Start hiring for attitude and training for skills

By prioritizing work ethics, flexibility, and teamwork over expertise and technical skills, this recently popularized approach to hiring helps build dynamic teams.

Candidates who pass the attitude test can make better employees in the long-term. They are in the right mindset to learn, develop new skills, and contribute to your company’s future.

Besides, necessary skills change fast in the modern age—the tools your employees will be using in three years will be different from the ones they use today.

6. Use tools to eliminate bias and boost efficiency

A great part of your recruitment and selection process can be automated.

AI for screening can reduce your time per hire and eliminate bias.
Candidate rediscovery tools help you re-engage past candidates.
Chatbots can boost engagement with new candidates.

You can expect developers and HR specialists to launch a brand new generation of hiring tools that will be AI-based and focused on automating screening, optimizing selection, and eliminating bias from the recruitment process.

These tools will introduce a recruitment marketing practice and allow you to use marketing techniques such as multi-channel approach, targeted ads, and deep analytics to discover, attract, and engage better-qualified candidates, making the recruitment process so much easier.

7. Collect and analyze feedback from candidates

Candidate rediscovery is another practice that helps recruiters save time and money. It’s also one of at least two reasons why you should never lose touch with candidates you didn’t fire.

The other reason is about improvement.

A candidate who’s just been offered a job at your company would hardly go on record with rating your hiring experience. The candidates who you have turned down, on the other hand, would probably have a lot to say about your employer brand.

Use the recruitment process as an opportunity to collect and analyze candidate feedback. This will equip you with valuable insight into how applicants perceive your hiring process and tell you what needs to be changed and why. Automation tools can speed up this process as well.

8. Understand how important the onboarding process truly is

The recruitment process certainly doesn’t end once you’ve found the right candidate. Don’t be the hiring manager who loses fantastic staff! Spend time setting up a tremendous onboarding process that will get your new hires up to scratch as quickly as possible. Those first few weeks are crucial for molding your new employees into being highly engaged and passionate staff members.

You’ve got a busy schedule as it is and probably don’t have a lot of time spare to train employees. If you nail the onboarding process, you’ll cut down on training new staff in the long run, which will help you concentrate on growing your business.

The best way to set up a captivating onboarding experience is by turning your Google Docs, PDFS, Word documents, and any other pieces of information you have floating around into one concise document.

9. Don’t forget to have the employee handbook ready

Just because you may have nailed the recruitment strategy doesn’t mean the whole selection process ends there. You’ll need to make sure you have a fantastic employee handbook to give new hires before their first day.

It’s an important process all companies need to have in place to ensure the new hire understands the essentials about the company’s policies and procedures and answer any questions they might have before they start.

They’ll fully understand everything from the company culture, code of conduct and every type of workplace policy required.

Make sure you’ve got the following recruitment and selection processes covered. You’ll be on the path to seeing your business multiply, especially if you nail the onboarding process too.

What is the difference between recruitment and selection?

Unsure what is the difference between recruitment and selection? We’ve got your back. Understanding the differences is a crucial element in the hiring process. It will help you find the right job seekers without jeopardizing any wrong decision makings.

To break it down, when talking about recruitment, this means reaching out to suitable candidates and encouraging them to apply for the position. Post a fantastic job description on relevant websites and reach out to potential job seekers to apply.

The selection process is the actual step for choosing the best candidate to fill the said position in the company. Both hiring processes are critical and need to be refined for every company looking to grow their business in the most effective way possible.