9 Ways to Improve “Good Enough” Employee Recruitment
Last month, in collaboration with online recruiting software provider Hyrell, we calculated the financial costs of “good enough” employee recruitment and workforce compliance. As it turns out, there is no such thing as “good enough”: programs believed to constitute the bare minimum actually represent the loss of tens of thousands of dollars every year in turnover, training and litigation costs, as well as regulatory fines.
Once you’ve opened your eyes to the realities of “good enough,” it’s impossible to remain complacent. But transforming your organization’s recruiting process and workforce compliance program is no small feat. You’ll need an implementation strategy, the right tools and commitment from your board. It’s a classic example of “easier said than done.”
Nonetheless, it is very doable, and there are a few actions you can take today to set your organization up for success. Let’s start with the recruiting process.
You’ll need:
- an implementation strategy
- the right tools
- commitment from your board
Improving Employee Recruiting
- Calculate and analyze your cost per hire (CPH). Determine how much you’re spending on recruitment efforts internally as well as externally—for instance: HR personnel’s salaries, advertisements and listings and job fair registration fees. Then, figure out how many people you hired in that time period and how many of those people stayed with the company.
- Survey new employees on their recent hiring experience. Ask new hires what worked and what didn’t work for them: where they felt comfortable, where they felt overwhelmed, whether they needed more support and so on.
- Change your process accordingly. Adjust your hiring process with this feedback in mind, paying attention to the timing, tone and level of information newly-hired team members experience.
- Implement new technology. Don’t overlook the power of technology to revolutionize your hiring process. If you can spend less time and energy on managing and tracking down employee information manually through spreadsheets, you have more to give to the new employees themselves.
Improving Employee Onboarding
- Develop an automated, repeatable process. The goal of onboarding is to foster employee engagement, so commit to doing so intentionally. An automated onboarding process allows you to ensure all new employees receive the same message and avoid communication lapses and errors that lead to confusion—and ultimately, disengagement.
- Include pre-boarding. A new employee shouldn’t sit down at their desk on day one and realize their role is entirely different than what they expected. Eliminate uncertainty by communicating expectations early on—during the transitional period between initial interview and the first day on the job.
- Prioritize human connections and regular check-ins. Consider the length of your onboarding process: Does it occur over the course of a few days? A few weeks? A couple months? Many high-performing onboarding programs continue for an entire year, and that’s because ongoing training helps new employees feel valued and achieve the company’s goals at a time when those individuals need encouragement and reinforcement most.
Improving Employee Training
- Take a systematic approach to training. Again, automation is your best friend when it comes to supporting new employees. Systematized training keeps everyone accountable and on track.
- Measure adoption and retention. Is the information you’re providing to new employees sticking or not? Analyze the outcomes of your training programs, take employee feedback into consideration and tweak as necessary.
Now that you have what you need to get started on improving your hiring process, the next step is workforce compliance. Join us again next week as we take a look at alternatives to “good enough” compliance programs.
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Calculating the Cost of “Good Enough”
