Since March 2020, Covid has had an inarguably turbulent effect on the way we recruit.
Gone are the days (for now at least) when you can pop your head around a team members’ office door to ask their opinions about a job description, advert or a CV you’ve received.
Candidates can’t attend your workplace in their best interview suits. Instead, you’ve got the added challenge of setting up professional and perfectly planned remote virtual interviews.
With everybody working autonomously from home, it’s much harder to attune the necessary input from the relevant people. Do you interview one to one, a small panel and do you still run assessments virtually? All of these are new considerations! Just to get the remote recruitment ball rolling takes a new skill set.
An extra challenge is the small matter of the unprecedented volume of applications per job vacancy compared to a year ago, making the task of compiling a shortlist for interview a much longer process.
As many businesses in their droves have already discovered, remote recruitment can be an accident waiting to happen.
5 Key Touchpoints To Help Preserve Your Reputation and Ensure Success
Take a look at our top 5 tips below to help you dodge some of the potential pitfalls catching other businesses out –
• Transparency– Be open and honest in your job ad, about location, salary (advertise upfront), skills requirement and your working from home policy. Your transparency will help reduce the number of applications from unsuitable candidates. It will also remove the perception that you’re trying to secure the best talent for the least remuneration.
• Clarity – Set your objectives, your ideal candidate persona, and your timeline clear from the onset. So that you’re continuously working towards time-sensitive goals. Rather than stop-starting through a stalling process.
• Time – Don’t take too long to move from one stage of the remote recruitment process to the next. Yawning gaps from one stage to another can cause candidate disengagement and potentially lose you the best option.
• Communication – How many times recently have we all heard tales of intrepid candidates at the end of their tether. They’ve been ‘ghosted’ by recruiters. Despite the volume challenge you’re currently facing, show some compassion for unsuccessful candidates. They’re doing their best in an unforgiving jobs market. Even if they’re not what you’re looking for, fair treatment can turn them in to brand ambassadors. And on the flipside, don’t forget to pay extra attention to shortlisted candidates going through the interview process. Protracted silences run the risk of losing the best talent along the way. LinkedIn is rife with horror stories of some peoples remote recruitment journey. Make sure people are saying good things about yours!
• Onboarding – Bear in mind that your successful candidate is likely to be working out their notice with their existing employer from home. Against the backdrop of a global crisis, is the traditional verbal and written offer enough anymore to ease their concerns and nerves? You’ll also, need to dedicate more time to the planning and execution of their remote induction and training.
Navigating the remote recruitment minefield isn’t easy. That’s where our in our Human Resources Training portfolio comes in to play. It’s tailored to ensure you, your colleagues, and your colleagues-to-be have the best possible experience. If you’re looking for recruitment, interview and selection training to help you find the right employees for your business, get in touch today!
