Quality’ the word conjures an image that speaks credibility and a set of standards that raises the bar for everyone following it.
But what exactly does this word mean in terms of recruitment practices?
Before we delve further into how you can ensure quality in your recruitment practices, let’s understand the word quality and how it transforms your recruitment practices.
Quality – The Definition and Meaning
Quality is the degree of excellence of something, often a high degree of it.
There is no universal definition of quality. But what it amounts to is – Quality means ‘Performance upon expectations’ and fit for functions.
Now, think about quality in terms of recruitment practices.
As LinkedIn says, “The future of recruiting will revolve around strategic metrics. Those that measure the business outcomes of your team’s efforts – not just the actions they take.”
In simple words – recruiters will always struggle to improve quality in hiring practices if they don’t understand what high-quality candidates must look like.
Keeping this in mind, here’s how you can ensure quality in your recruitment practices.
Steps to Ensure Quality in Recruitment Practices
With these steps in place, you can start to ensure quality in your recruitment practices
↳ Improve your employer branding
↳ Create accurate job descriptions
↳ Use application tracking systems
↳ Prioritize candidate communication
↳ Implement structured interviews
↳ Use pre-screen tests
↳ Automate manual tasks
↳ Build a talent pipeline
↳ Invest in onboarding
↳ Make the hiring process transparent
↳ Monitor the origin of job applications
How to Maintain Quality in Your Recruitment Process
Quality is all about measurable metrics. And by checking these methods you can maintain quality in your recruitment process.
✔️ Create clear, detailed, and accurate job descriptions. Your job descriptions must include the role’s responsibilities, qualifications, and what a candidate can expect if they join your organization.
✔️ Make the application process easy by keeping applications simple and short. Per the recent survey by SHRM, about 92% of job seekers abandon online applications because of their length and complexity.
✔️ Be transparent with your hiring process and provide clear, concise, and frequent communication. It is imperative to keep the communication channels open with the prospective candidates. It may so happen that there is no suitable opening for the candidate, or they might not be a perfect fit for the current role. But with open communication channels, you can reach out to the candidates when an apt opportunity arises.
✔️ Feedback is a must for all applicants, and it has to be a constructive one. Even if you are giving negative feedback, ensure you first appreciate the person for their efforts and time. Then, you go in for the actual kill and tell them where they went wrong and missed the line and how they can improve for better results in the future.
✔️ Respect the candidates and their time. Respect is a two-way street. If you respect candidates as individuals, they will also respect you and your organization. Additionally, everybody’s time is valuable. If you want the candidate to come on time for the interview, ensure you meet them halfway by being punctual yourself.
✔️ Have a well-crafted and well-structured interview, and share the names and profiles of the interviewers before the interview. To save time during the interview, it is crucial to have a well-crafted and well-structured interview. The interviewers’ profiles shared with the candidates will help them learn a bit more about them, and they can be well-prepared.
✔️ Have an effective, smooth, and top-notch onboarding process. The idea is to make the new hire feel comfortable in your organization – right from the day they step in for an interview to the time they are hired and start working in your organization.
✔️ Assess your current candidate experience and review the results to improve. This is where you – the recruiting manager, need to work to create a candidate feedback form. The feedback form must contain questions that have uncomfortable answers. The honest answers from candidates will help you assess your current candidate experience, and you will be able to improve your results.
✔️ Prioritize skill-based hiring. Don’t be biased by gender or let any other biases creep into your hiring process. If somebody has the required skillsets for the role, hire them. Don’t be biased by their gender or their physical appearance. Remember, quality comes with unbiased hiring.
✔️ Employee referral programs must be taken seriously. If your employee refers someone who could be a good fit, give that person a chance by inviting them for an interview. When you pay heed to employee referrals, they will become your eyes scrounging for talent everywhere they go.
✔️ Whenever possible, promote from within your organization. If you see anyone within your organization taking a keen interest in the additional roles and responsibilities, give them a chance. Talk to them to know what they can bring to the table if they are promoted to a new role.
Quality of Hire And Your Recruitment Process
In recent years, tracking recruitment metrics has become a usual practice for organizations. The most commonly tracked Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are
– Source of hire
– Applicants per hire
– Time of hire
And the fourth KPI gaining traction is ‘Quality of hire.’
Before we delve into this fourth indicator, let’s understand what ‘Quality of hire’ is.
What is ‘Quality of Hire’?
Quality of hire refers to the overall value a new employee brings to an organization, encompassing their –
– Performance
– Cultural fit
– Impact on team dynamics
It is a key metric for assessing the effectiveness of recruitment efforts and understanding how well new hires contribute to business objectives.
But how does it benefit my organization?
Keep reading to know why ‘Quality of Hire’ is crucial for your organization.
What Does Improved Quality of Hire Bring?
The improved ‘Quality of Hire’ brings in the following benefits for your organization
↳ Employee retention rates see an upward rise.
↳ Employee engagement increases.
↳ There is a marked improvement in job satisfaction.
↳ There is a significant increase in productivity levels among the employees.
↳ With improvement in ‘quality of hire,’ there is a significant decline in turnover costs.
Final Words
In the coming years, having and maintaining quality in your recruitment processes will become a competitive factor against your peers in the industry.
Reason: The new generation is more concerned about clear job descriptions that tell them what the role entails and what their responsibilities will be in an organization when they are hired.
Additionally, an easy application process, transparent hiring processes, and respect for candidates and their time will win your organization bonus points. It will also ensure you maintain quality in your recruitment processes.
Do you think it is important to maintain quality in your recruitment processes?
How do you maintain that quality? What is that one unique thing your organization does to ensure quality in recruitment processes?
Share your views. We would love to hear from you.
