15 Mar A Guide To Quality (Not Just Quantity) Hires

As unemployment rates decrease to their lowest number in years, employers face a new challenge managing their workforce.<

According to HireRight’s 2017 Benchmark Report, respondents report that finding qualified job candidates and keeping good employees are the top investment categories they plan to focus on.

Now that the job market is more candidate-centric, employees are more likely to switch jobs in pursuit of a better work environment, benefits package, salary or opportunity. Employers are recognizing the increase in employee turnover and are looking for ways to not only find qualified workers but to retain them too.

Hiring, onboarding and training a new employee can be a costly prospect for an employer, making it worthwhile to try and keep an employee who is familiar with the job and the organization—and even more worthwhile to attract a quality candidate with long-term potential.

How to Attract Qualified Candidates:

1. Start with clear and understandable job descriptions: Outlining specific experience points, qualities and work ethic expectations will help attract the type of employee you want for the job. Also, consider livening up the job description and mention other perks, such as the great team they’ll work with or the casual dress code.

2. Use your current employee network: Many good employees are often found and recruited by reference of a current employee. Most people will only recommend someone they believe will be a good worker, since a bad hire might tarnish their personal or professional reputation.

3. Reevaluate the hiring process: Is it too long or complicated? Many high-quality candidates don’t want to waste their time and will often take another opportunity if it presents itself before you can even get them past the initial stages of vetting. You might try group interviewing to speed up the process and, at minimum, make sure your candidate is aware of what to expect concerning to your entire evaluation process.

4. Make the interviewing process a two-way street: Encouraging candidates to ask questions during the interview may give insight into what is really important to that person. It may also give them a glimpse into what it’s really like to work for your organization.

5. Improve your company brand: People want to work for a company that is well known or has a good reputation. A strong brand or positive reviews in the industry or on social media can go a long way in attracting more candidates.

6. Consider using temporary staffing agencies: Staffing agencies are a great way to recruit employees. In addition, implementing temporary employees (or Teammates, as Ōnin calls them) is a great method for determining if individuals are a good fit for your company culture before you commit to hiring them full-time.

7. Conduct thorough background screens: This can be a crucial step to help you evaluate who you are hiring. The fact is, candidates may try to embellish their resume and can potentially fake their way through a great interview. Background screens can help weed out the impostors and may deter candidates who know about your screening process from lying.

How to Keep Quality Employees:

1. Offer better benefits besides pay: Candidates consider many factors besides pay when looking for a job. Other benefits—such as flexible work schedules, positive work environments or longer parental leave—may be more important to a candidate than salary alone.

2. Conduct exit interviews: Exit interviews can give great insight as to why people are leaving your organization. Another way to focus on employee retention is to conduct stay interviews. These types of interviews allow managers to assess what is and isn’t working in the work environment.

3. Start quality hires at the top: Hire supervisors who are supportive and can communicate clear expectations that will facilitate a positive work environment and promote job security.

4. Create an open work environment: Employees should be able to offer feedback and feel they have a voice that is heard within an organization.

5. Offer opportunities and growth: People will tend to leave a job when they feel like there is no more room for growth.

Openly communicate opportunities and make sure employees know they are valued members of your organization.

By Sabrina Lu

Sabrina is a professional writer at global background screening company, HireRight. HireRight delivers global background checks, drug testing and employment verification services through an innovative platform to help companies hire the right candidates, so they can grow successfully, and efficiently — no matter their size or where they operate. HireRight offers a comprehensive screening solution that can be tailored to the unique needs of the organization, giving enterprises peace of mind about their people and processes. HireRight’s platform can be integrated with existing HR platforms, making it easy to use and giving candidates the best possible experience. HireRight is headquartered in Irvine, CA, with offices across the globe. Learn more at http://www.HireRight.com.