In today’s volatile labor market —the historic convergence of low unemployment percentages, high turnover rates and an overflow of job openings continues to dominate the cycle — having a smart, future-focused hiring strategy has never been more essential to ensuring a company’s long-term relevance and resilience. Add in the rising threat of inflation and you have a continuously unsettled situation that won’t be quickly resolved, so it’s best to make sure your hiring strategies are safeguarded.
At an inflection point such as this, it’s imperative that companies and hiring managers take into account their own goals and needs, regardless of the headlines. Attracting top talent and filling skill gaps are key components of a company’s ability to innovate, stay competitive in the marketplace, and achieve its objectives in both the short and long term.
When the stakes are this high and the circumstances remain unstable, it’s essential to assess your company’s hiring practices to guarantee they’re effective and impactful. Here’s a guide to how to hire today.
Putting the Human Back Into Human Resources
As HR expert Josh Bersin recently noted in his company’s “Human-Centered Talent Acquisition” report, “Recruiters, the human part of the process, have become more important than ever. Let’s face it: Recruiting is a people-centric process.”
In the same report, Bersin goes on to point out: “Recruiting, by its very nature, is the most important thing HR organizations do. If you aren’t finding the best, brightest, and most aligned people to join your company, all the other management and business process work will fail. So recruiters, at their core, are doing one of the most strategic jobs in the company.”
Developing your company’s hiring managers is a business-critical initiative. The best recruiters — whether internal or as an external partner — have a deep understanding of your industry, your company’s initiatives and goals, and its culture. Equipping these professionals with the tools and support they need to source and place the perfect candidate in an open position is your company’s strongest advantage in the war for talent.
Adept recruiters also understand what workers today want — from more purpose and flexibility in their day-to-day to better benefits and, yes, pay — and serve as a liaison between the candidate and the employer. This insider brokering between parties can help everyone reach an agreement that sets both the employer and the new employee up for success.
Radical Transparency
The concept of radical transparency was introduced in 1993 by legendary hedge fund manager Ray Dalio. Dalio was looking for ways to increase his company’s performance and productivity and landed on the countless benefits of cultivating an open work culture that values honesty, integrity, and clarity above all.
This progressive approach to talent management begins for the employee at the recruitment stage. Sharing information about your hiring process and communicating to candidates that they are valued and an essential part of the operation from the very start helps them feel more engaged and excited about the opportunity. Working with an experienced executive search partner is a powerful way to make those informed and impactful connections that lead to fruitful placements.
Improving the hiring process also means overhauling job interviews. Choosing an ideal candidate comes from asking behavioral and skills-based situational questions, not from the basis of personality or office politics.
The Executive Search Solution
The best recruiting strategy is centered on a combination of process, technology, tools, and, most important of all, people. Empowering your human resources team with a dedicated executive search partner supercharges a company’s ability to source the best talent.
As recruitment specialists and experts in your industry, we have a shared goal: finding and placing the right professionals who will help drive your company’s ongoing success.