The Northern Star for HR

The Alternative Board is a thriving community of TAB members, boards, coaches, and facilitators located in 22 countries throughout the world. The following is an article from guest blogger and TAB member Dorit Halfon, CEO of Muza-HR in Central Israel.

We have all gone through tough times throughout the past two years. Now, just as the pandemic might be winding down, the war in Ukraine has shaken Europe bringing with it news of gloom, doom, and an economic depression. Even beyond these negative world events, hiring good people is complicated enough, not to mention costly.

Many companies raise millions of dollars but fall short when it comes to recruiting employees.

This is such a challenging period in terms of recruitment. On the one hand, there are candidates who receive multiple job offers. On the other hand, many would-be candidates do not want to leave their current jobs. Not to mention how salary enters the equation.

Here in the HR sector, there is a sense there’s a bubble that is about to burst.

So what should you be doing to recruit top talent for your business?

It is first important to understand that you are in a real competition for the best talent and right people who possess the required skills.

Regardless of your location, it is possible to work with global freelancers residing in places like India and many Eastern European countries. While outsourcing is definitely a solution, we want to encourage local employment and keep hiring inhouse.

While it is also possible to hire and train young, less experienced candidates, to successfully recruit experienced people, we need to understand that we need to be focused with a sharp and fast approach.

The Principles of Proper Recruitment in 10 steps:

1. Be precise and understand the need. Where is the pressure? Which department lacks manpower?
2. Characterize the role in depth in terms of professional requirements.
3. Write a job description. Make it clear, legible, and include a call to action. Keep it relatively short.
4. Define the DNA traits of the organization and accordingly look for suitable candidates. Professionalism is important, but more important than that is the interpersonal adaptation to your organizational DNA. Many also call this your company culture. If you do not know what your exact DNA or company culture is, try to identify the values that guide you, ask your employees why they work for you. This can be a good start.
5. Make sure your “employer branding" is good. In other words, make sure you have a good reputation among job seekers, your past employees, and your existing employees. Good employer branding ensures that candidates will want to come and work for you. And make no mistake, even if you are a small organization or an organization that doesn’t officially have employer branding, you still have "employer branding." Employer branding begins when a potential candidate searches your name on Google where they can read opinions and ratings related to other candidates experience with your recruitment process and business. They can also often read about what your current employees have to say about your company.
6. Your main goal is to successfully recruit; it is not interview as many people as possible. You should aim to see a limited number of qualified potential candidates. Your goal should be a short, focused, and concise recruitment process, rather than a long and tedious one.
7. Be sure to professionally examine and interview the candidate. In the post-COVID era, interviews and tests can be done via Zoom. Once the interviews and tests help you determine your leading candidates, act quickly. Good candidates are scooped up quickly.
8. Recommendations. Once you have selected your leading candidate(s), it is recommended to talk to recommenders. Keep in mind that while recommendations are important, it is important to not rely on it alone.
9. Consider a hybrid work model in which an employee can work remotely from home or really anywhere. The world of employment is changing and companies now realize that, even post-pandemic, it is possible for employees to continue to successfully work from home. Try to be flexible on the subject - this will allow more candidates to want to work for you.
10. Invest in the well-being of your new employee. As your company grows, be sure to manage HR function by supporting your employees, planning your company’s cultural future, and ultimately making your employees want to stay with you.