Improve Recruitment In Three Steps

The two biggest HR problems business owners and managers face are recruiting new employees and reducing employee turnover.

There’s only one way to reduce the high cost of employee turnover and that is to hire to a higher standard. But, when your best sources of recruits are the unhappily employed and the unemployed, you can’t possibly hire “the best.”

Here are three effective strategies for finding top-quality job applicants:

1. Fish Where The Fish Are: Professional recruiters go after the people they want, and they know these folks are most likely to be found among the gainfully employed.

Print a recruiting message on the back of your business card and, during the course of your day, give one to every person who demonstrates a strong work ethic. Ask your employees, family and friends to pass them out, too. This is a great way to build a database of pre-qualified folks you can call when you have a job opening.

2. Former Employees: When good employees leave to work elsewhere, they often discover that the grass isn’t greener on the other side, after all. In fact, research shows that 20 percent of supervisory employees have gone back to work for the company they’d once left.

About a month after good talent has left, call and ask if he or she would consider coming back to the company. The worst they can say is “no.” And, because “birds of a feather flock together,” even if the answer is no, these former employees can be a valuable source of referrals. Simply ask, “Do you know anyone else you would recommend to us?”

 Also, whenever another company calls you for a reference on a former, good employee, you’ve just been tipped off that your ex-employee is looking for work again. It’s the perfect time to call and see if they’d consider returning.

3. Employee Referrals: Research shows that employee-referred candidates are three times more likely to be good employees. That’s because employees give these candidates more information about the job requirements and working conditions than an employer would. As a result, candidates only proceed with the application process if they feel they would be a good fit.

The key to hiring the best talent is to continuously let your employees know that you need good people. If you don’t already have one, consider implementing a referral incentive program.

However, the big mistake with these programs is to pay the award only after the new hire has worked for 90 days. You don’t pay for classified ads and job boards 90 days after they result in a new hire; why on earth would you penalize your employees for delivering quality applicants? Besides, when you put the reward off to a future date, you’re also sending the message you are unsure about the hiring decision. Pay for referrals immediately.

And when you reward the employee, don’t hide it in their paycheck; make it a celebration. The bonus or gift should be awarded in public with a great deal of fanfare and enthusiasm.

Add excitement and momentum to your referral program by giving employees a choice between cash and a day off with pay. 

Use these tips to refine your recruiting strategies and elevate your hiring standards. Then watch employee turnover plummet. Proactively go after and hire the people you want.

Recruit the best and forget the rest.

Mel Kleiman is a certified speaking professional, writer, pragmatic business owner and consultant on frontline employee recruiting, selection, and retention best practices. He serves as president of Humetrics, is a member of a number human resource-related boards and organizations. He is also a longstanding member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the National Speakers Association.

Mel is the author of five books, including the bestselling “Hire Tough, Manage Easy - How to Find and Hire the Best Hourly Employees,” as well as hundreds of articles for numerous magazines and trade journals worldwide.