How to Avoid the Pitfalls of a Cumbersome Hiring Process
Simply Hired Staff
Recruiters and hiring professionals need to face the realities of the current hiring market. With high-quality employees in strong demand and record low unemployment rates, potential hires are in the driving seat for everything from scheduling an initial meet and greets to salary and schedules. It is therefore more vital than ever that the employment relationship be managed to create a positive and rewarding experience from the outset.
Frustrating potential employees during the onboarding phase can lead to everything from withdrawn acceptances to strained relations. Failing to start out on the right foot reduces employee enthusiasm which can make the transition process painful or, worse case, a non starter. Don’t lose all hope. We’ve got a list of common pitfalls companies can sidestep to help avoid a cumbersome hiring process.
1. The Application Process
Sending off an application to a new job should fill a potential recruit with a sense of excitement, not dread. Tedious and redundant application processes can sour an otherwise talented prospect, in some cases lowering the overall rate of qualified applicants. Some of the biggest complaints from prospective employees include:
- Creating a profile in the company or recruiter system
- Unnecessarily complicated password selection
- Numerous security questions
- Request for employment history that extends over 5-7 years previous
- Request for private information such as birthdate and social security number
- Application forms that don’t pull from uploaded resume content
- Faulty resume application software or platforms
2. Use of Mobile Technology
Whether you’re a recruiter or an internal hiring manager, getting your open positions in front of as many qualified candidates as possible should be a primary goal. With the common dependence on smartphones and tablets in place of desktop computers, savvy employment professionals need to ensure that their listings are viewable on the go. You don’t need a specialized app and in fact, a separate required download can be a hindrance. Simply ensure that your web pages are optimized for mobile content and you’re good to go. As a bonus points, search engines such as Google openly admit preference in their results to websites that are mobile friendly.
3. Cumbersome Interview Process
Interviews are the much dreaded but ultimately necessary component of any and all hirings. No one wants to sit through multiple hours of Q&A with little to no productive feedback on a position. Lengthy and unformatted interviews are a burden on the candidate and interviewer alike. To help speed things along and to keep everyone involved positive, try a few of these suggestions on for size:
- Ensure candidate doesn’t have overly long lobby wait for interviewer
- Discourage use of “what if” or irrelevant personality or hypothetical questions
- Ask the interviewee plenty of questions. The interview should be a dialog, not a dissertation
- Try to avoid last minute schedule changes which are disruptive to everyone’s day
- Coach interviewers and hiring managers on appropriate, friendly and productive interview techniques
- Limit trips to the interview location to one or two rounds tops
Remember that an interview is both parties first chance to make a great impression and that employers are often trying out for top quality employees just as they are being interviewed.
4. Compensation and Work-Life Balance
Back in the heyday of corporate growth and keeping up with the wall street Jones’, it was expected that employees worked, lived, and ate in the office. From health concerns to more awareness of the strain overworking can place on mental stability and productivity, savvy employers know that one of the best ways to attract talent is by stressing the work life balance.
During the onboarding process be sure to communicate your corporate culture when it comes to having time to both live and work. Along a similar route, compensation should allow your employees to live where they work and be able to feel accomplished at the end of a tough week. All companies need to keep in touch with their profitability and bottom lines, but if you can’t afford to pay talent a living wage and award top talent in line with industry norms then you may need to reassess your business model. Let new recruits know salary up front for more comfort when they are finally in the door.
5. Keep Lines of Communication Open
Few things can sour a new relationship quicker than one of the parties failing to keep in touch. This is doubly true for employers starting out a new work relationship with a recruit. Candidates can quickly become frustrated during the hiring process if they aren’t kept up to date with start schedules, background check and other processes and procedures. Additionally, employees that don’t feel like their new employer is highly communicative during onboarding may not feel like communication is important to their role overall. In order to keep new hires happy and to start the relationship and expectations out right consider designating a welcoming team within the company to keep primary contact throughout the onboarding process.
6. Your Job Description
Last but certainly not least is another topic along the lines of establishing appropriate expectations at the get go. One of the sure fire ways to shorten the workplace lifespan of a new employer is to set up certain standards during the interview only to change them once the hire is onboard.
Applicants gain interest in a job description during the interview process. Changing the scope of responsibilities after the fact can often feel like a career bait and switch. If the hiring manager has second thoughts about the duties of the position during the interview process this should be thoroughly communicated to the potential hire. This kind of conversation can, in fact, have a positive impact on employer/employee relationships during onboarding and beyond as it allows the candidate to feel involved and their opinion valued throughout the process.
Our top topics for avoiding the pitfalls of a cumbersome onboarding process make a great map for creating or modifying an existing hiring process. If you find your company having high employee turnover or a slew of candidates dropping out of the interview process, you may want to take a look at your onboarding program with our guidelines in mind. With a few minor changes, you can move towards not only keeping employees happy as they transition in, but also increase long term outlook, happiness and productivity which is nothing but beneficial to your bottom line.
Article Updated from the Original on May 10. 2018
