How can you reduce hiring risks and avoid mis-hires, no-shows, and turnover?

Reducing hiring risks is crucial. We need precise job descriptions, behavioral interviews, thorough reference checks, and an emphasis on cultural fit. Skills assessments and a robust onboarding process can set up new hires for success. Open communication, continuous process improvement, and employee involvement make the process more reliable. Retaining top talent is equally important. Staying updated with market insights and ensuring legal compliance are essential for a seamless hiring process.

A better question would be, “How can you reduce bias in the hiring process?” Hiring is biased. Stop playing it safe. Take some chances. If we care more about reducing hiring risk and avoiding mis-hires than diversifying our hiring outcomes, we are part of the problem.

To minimize hiring risks like mis-hires, no-shows, and turnover, I focus on clear job descriptions, thorough interviews, pre-employment assessments, and robust onboarding. Continuous feedback and support ensure employee engagement and retention.

Defining your hiring needs is the foundational step in the recruitment process. It's like setting the coordinates for a successful hire. Without a clear understanding of what you're looking for, you risk making costly mistakes by either hiring someone who doesn't meet your requirements or missing out on great candidates. By carefully defining your needs, you not only attract the right talent but also create a clear roadmap for evaluating candidates' suitability. This ensures that the hiring process is both efficient and effective, saving you time and resources in the long run.

Best way to increase your internal referral, this will solve your all the above issues in a very short time and cost effective as well. by doing this you can solve your attrition.

This is where someone in my position can really add value. The best talent still remain passive as they are top performers in their current positions. Partnering with a recruiter who understands your brand, values, and company direction can really tap into their network of candidates that they speak with everyday. In today’s market, posting a job ad may attract upwards of 300 applicants, but are they all relevant to the needs of the role and its requirements? Engaging with recruiters will save time (and cost) in the long run by streamlining the process and finding a shortlist of qualified candidates that you may have not known were interested in the role.

Utilizing multiple sourcing channels is essential and it not only broadens candidate pool but also helps to discover hidden talents who may not be actively job searching. In addition, it's crucial to think of recruitment as an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. Building a consistent pipeline of potential candidates ensures that you have a pool of talent to draw from when a position opens up. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of rushing into hiring decisions, allowing to take the time to identify the best fit for organization. By tapping into various sourcing channels and maintaining a talent pipeline, we can not only reduce the likelihood of mis-hires but also strengthen ability to adapt to changing business needs.

In my role as President and Owner of Engage Partners, I've learned the value of diversifying our candidate sourcing channels. We realized that relying on a single source was limiting, so we started using job boards, social media, referrals, networking events, career fairs, and collaborations with other agencies. The result? A broader and more diverse talent pool. We discovered that candidates from various channels brought different perspectives and fresh ideas, enriching our services and helping us meet our clients' diverse needs more effectively.

At Fraction, we do this by evaluating candidates for several key factors: 1) Experience in specific skillset/technologies, and the technical challenges your business is facing 2) Industry relevant experience to bring greater expertise to the problem and challenges in the business 3) Ability to independently and collaboratively lead and build solutions Since we screen them, client's don't have to conduct additional interviews. Just set the start date and kick off your onboarding!

Specialising in sales, this is where numbers come in! Asking about stats like average deal size, sales cycles, and targets/quotas are the best ways to understand experience in this field. Sales is interesting, a candidates performance speaks to their credibility. In my experience, the candidate who aren’t ready with their sales numbers and statistics are typically not the candidates who are right for the role.

Poor screening comes from a few things eg: companies that want recruiters to focus on quantity vs quality, not training recruiters well, hiring managers not being asked pertinent questions re: their hiring needs, etc. Work has to be put in upfront to have the results needed. Invest in onboarding, training and acclimating every person that is hired…including the recruiters.

Define the functions of the role, verify that the candidate and what the profile seeks match, be honest with the methods and forms of work, clarity in salaries, benefits, as well as creating a good recruitment experience, from the beginning of the process to the end, giving timely follow-up to each of them. Validate that all the information mentioned by the candidate in the interview is true."

In the past, we faced challenges when we invited candidates for interviews without proper screening. It was inefficient and often resulted in the wrong hires, wasting time and resources. To address this, we implemented a rigorous screening process. This involved resume reviews, phone interviews, online tests, video interviews, and reference checks. By doing so, we filtered out unqualified candidates early in the process, saving time and ensuring a better fit for our roles and company culture. The result? A more efficient and effective hiring process with higher-quality placements. Thorough candidate screening has become a cornerstone of our approach to staffing and recruitment at Engage Partners.

Have a clear, consistent list of the key skills you are evaluating to minimize scope creep. For example, when hiring for a key IT role, a manager was saying he wasn't sure of the candidates spoken English skills, but the role was completely digital and the candidate's work samples and assessments were excellent. We concluded that excellence in spoken English was not a key skill for the job and the candidate was hired and performed brilliantly. Not to mention the candidates written English was excellent, she just had a strong accent.

A notable experience involved filling a crucial leadership role for a tech startup client. To ensure the right fit, we used a range of techniques, including behavioral and situational questions. We also involved multiple interviewers to gain diverse perspectives. One candidate looked great on paper but struggled in the interviews. They lacked adaptability and practical problem-solving skill. Feedback from the client's team also raised concerns about cultural fit. Despite impressive credentials, we decided this candidate wasn't the right fit. Our thorough interviews helped uncover important insights that led us to a better-matched candidate, aligning not only with the role but also the company's culture and values..

A few years back, we were working on a crucial placement for a client, and the competition for the candidate was fierce. To keep the candidate engaged and informed, we made it a point to communicate clearly and often. We used various communication channels like email, phone calls, and video conferences to provide updates, set expectations, and answer questions. We encouraged the candidate to share their thoughts and concerns, building trust and rapport. Our approach paid off. The candidate felt valued and well-informed, leading too a successful placement and reinforcing our reputation as a candidate-centric staffing agency.

In my experience this is a crucial step that is often overlooked by most recruiters. Whether you’re sourcing for your own internal position or on behalf of a client be sure to keep the candidate updated at a minimum every 3 days. If a week goes by without any news you risk losing the candidate either because they took another immediate opportunity or they are turned away from your lack of communication which portrays itself as lack of interest/organizational efficiencies etc.

Establish an SLA for the recruiting team that they will communicate weekly with candidates who have been screened. Ideally this should happen for all candidates to inform the of the recruiting stage the company is in. Have you started interviews? Are you nearing the offer stage? Candidates are too often in the dark and losing confidence in companies they don't hear from.

No-show is a open secret in any industry as in todays environment it has become quite common for candidates to offer shop. For this it becomes imperative to keep the prospect informed and involved from the date of offer to the date of joining. Another way is to provide competitive benefits package or something that makes you stand out as an employer. Another way is to have a very frank conversation with the candidate regarding their leaning towards accepting the offer and actually willing to join, although this is a skill that the recruiter must inculcate with time, it does help in many cases.

Making sure the candidate fit's your values and culture is essential. Are you an environment focussed on work life balance for example and does that match the new hire? Are you purpose over profit and does that resonate and inspire the new hire? Or is it all about the money for them? You first need to understand your values and culture and what you are not willing to compromise on, then use this to drive questions and make the right match in the recruitment process.

Roughly 25% of employee turnover occurs in the first 180 days. Because of that, I partner with clients to deliver an engaging onboarding. There are some key factors: 1) It may sound basic, but the candidate's first day can be comically bad if their tech/workflows aren't up and running day 1 2) A person to go to with questions they may not want to ask their new boss (a peer, mentor, coach, etc.) 3)Ease of connectivity with other employees and especially teammates; this can require some real effort when people are remote - help them form relationships A solid executive search partner will help support the onboarding.

I've found it helpful to personally call every candidate who makes it to the final interview to thank them and tell them I have them in a talent pool for future roles. I make this a standard practice on my recruiting teams.

It all boils down to the initial screening. Don't avoid the tough questions just because you need the candidate to go for the interview. It's meaningless to do so if it doesn't work out eventually and you can actually circumvent this by understanding the true motivation and concerns of the candidate. When you invest in this sincerely, trust is built and you have a significantly high probability of the candidate accepting the right offer, showing up on day one, clearing their probation smoothly and leading to a long term tenure before they move on to their next career pit stop.