An Indeed study found that 33% of the job vacancies in the U.S. remain open for more than three months. The cost of these unfilled jobs is estimated at $160 billion a year. What can you do to avoid this cost and attract the best people through your hiring processes?
- Decide on one or two attributes that define who you want to hire. Tell everyone, HR, ads, social media, recruiters, only those two attributes. Clarity and brevity go a long way in generating the right response.
- Keep the search focused. Resist the impulse to add to that list of two attributes. Don’t fluff up and muck up the job description with generic competencies or an impossibly broad set of skills or credentials.
- Don’t play games in the interview process. Is that long application really necessary before they even interview? Is one of your goals to catch the candidate off guard when they are interviewing? Are HR metrics the deciding factors on who to interview and when? Extensive administrative processes and tricks in the interview process don’t put your company or your opening in the best light.
- Make the candidate feel like a star. Lay out the red carpet. If you are going to the effort of bringing the candidate in for an interview, convince them this is the place to work by the extra effort you make. Instead of leaving them to sit in an empty conference room, have someone chat with them and give them a latte while they wait. Give them some company tchotchkes before they leave. You don’t HAVE to make them an offer, but you should make sure they WANT your offer before they leave.
An empty desk is an opportunity for you and for a candidate. Filling that empty seat means productivity and profits for the company and earning a salary at a great place for the candidate. Executive Recruiters, Smith Hanley Associates, can help you fill those empty seats in the areas of analytics, market research, direct marketing, information technology and consumer credit.
