During these surreal days, it has been difficult to bring some normality to your business. Your employees may be working from home, your office may be out of action, and Skype has become the go-to medium for all of your meetings. This has meant that your business can feel a little fractured at times. However, by pulling together, your staff team have remained productive and worked hard. So much so, you might actually need to expand and recruit new employees. Is it possible to recruit the ideal candidate to help drive your venture forward during the crisis?
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Use agencies to help with talent sourcing
When it comes to recruiting during what remains an unstable time for many businesses, it needs to be done efficiently and with value in mind regardless of how much is spent to do so. Using agencies is a great way to help with talent sourcing because it takes off the pressure of having to do it yourself as a company.
Not only that but it’s good for those niche roles that may need to expand further afield in order to find candidates. This may be particularly important when it comes to talent sourcing for executive positions.
Prepare For An Influx
With the economic climate looking uncertain and people facing redundancy across the globe, you need to be prepared for an influx of applications. Many of these candidates will be overqualified and desperate to secure a new position. This can make your long-listing and shortlisting process all the more daunting. Don’t be afraid to call a meeting with your recruitment team to set strict criteria for creating a list of potential interviewees. You need to be ruthless and work out exactly what it is you need from a candidate. Do they need set qualifications? How much experience are you looking for? Do they need to be able to travel across the country? With a regimented person and job specification, you can list effectively and have five or six potential candidates ready to interview.
The Interview
The interview that you conduct with potential candidates will not be face to face. You need to adapt your interview technique to make it fit for Teams, Zoom or Skype. With a decent WiFi connection, you will still get a feel for the type of person who has applied for a role. An Enneagram test could help you when interviewing. You could join over 1M people who use this test every year to work out the personality type of individuals. This can help you to see where candidates may fit into your team. While you want to maintain a level of professionalism, don’t be afraid to show a human and empathetic side, especially given the current pandemic situation. Ask your questions and gauge responses in the normal way.
Take A Risk
Sometimes you get a feel for a candidate. This may be their personality, their sense of humor, or the way you can see them slotting into your cohesive team. Qualifications and experience are not the be-all and end-all of recruitment. You may find a candidate who has a first from uni and who has decades of managerial experience, but if they can’t have a giggle or they don’t like working in a team, they may not be suitable for your company. Choose someone who will commit to your business, buy into your vision, and work productively to make your venture more profitable. In these coronavirus days, we need to take more risks. With any luck, your risk will pay off.
Follow this guide and master the art of recruitment even in this Covid-19 era.