Developing a hiring strategy may seem a little extreme, but it is actually a helpful tool when preparing to hire a new employee. When an opening comes available that you will need to fill, there are often several steps to take and follow in order to obtain the best workers. Many companies develop a standard hiring strategy for their open positions, but it is always a good idea to adapt your strategy to your company and its business needs.
Company Information
You cannot hire an employee to join your team if you donât know anything about your own company. You know that having an adequate staff can make the difference in how your company performs and can affect its growth. So when you are preparing to search for ways to fill an open position, take a minute to analyze how your company has changed, and is changing. Based on the companyâs history, predict any changes or growth surges ahead of time, which can help you determine what kind of staffing needs you will have. Will you need more than one person for now? Maybe you only need someone short term? Knowing this information before beginning the candidate search can reduce the amount of stress and headaches youâll have later.
Salary Range
Money is a large driving force behind job descriptions and finding new employees. While many candidates may love the job they are coming into, the pay and salary will usually be a major deciding factor. As a hiring manager or recruiter, it is important to know the salary range the position offers and what kind of compensation the new employee will be worthy of. Many companies offer higher starting salaries for employees with more skills or with cross-training abilities, which can help draw in qualified candidates. Research the history of the position and the department it is in to view what kind of salary range has been issued for previous employees. Is this range suitable for the next employee? Will it need to be increased or decreased? Look into similar positions offered at different companies to see if they offer a similar range or if they differ, and why. The point is not to âbeat their priceâ, but you want to ensure your company is fair and staying competitive with other businesses.
Top Performers
Every company has top performers that often out-shine the rest of the team. These employees often show great initiative and strong work ethic, which would make them an asset to almost any company. Top performers are generally hard workers with great qualities, such as being on time, finishing work on time, and even helping other employees with their work. Observe your employees and designate which of them are considered your top performers. Then determine what makes your top performers so great and why it works for the company. What skills do they possess? What actions do they normally make? What qualities do they have as a top performer? When hiring for an open position, try to pull in candidates that can mimic and adopt these characteristics once they join the organization. Base your strategy on the goal of hiring new employees that can come into work and learn to adopt some of these better qualities and become one of your top performers.
Be Prepared
Productivity can be affected when a position is open, leaving more work for other employees to take on along with their regular duties. While we canât always predict when a spot will open, we can prepare ourselves for when it does happen. If you try to fill the spot in a hurry, you may not find the best person for the job and will more than likely have to repeat the process if the employee doesnât work out. While every company should develop a standard hiring strategy, an emergency hiring strategy is always recommended as well. An emergency hiring plan consists of steps and processes to follow when a position needs to be filled in a hurry, but can still assure that the right person is hired. Partner with other managers and gather information about their positions and what kind of person they would need to fill them. Work together to build a process that can help streamline the hiring process and find qualified candidates – even in a pinch.
This post is from June’s topic on Hiring Strategies, which is also a course on our Mini-MBA program online from Harvard Square.