Companies don’t plan to fail when it comes to recruitment, but many fail to plan. What happens if your marketing director resigns? A recruiting plan gives your organization the confidence in knowing that whatever happens, there is a process in place, a pipeline of candidates, and a recruiter who knows your industry and firm on speed dial.
The worst-case scenario is that you are playing catch-up—four weeks have gone by and you have yet to interview a single candidate. For any key role, you should be able to start interviewing within five days.
So, what can we do to ensure that we have our ducks in a row?
- Top talent follows top talent. Have a strong internal referral program that is incentive and regularly promoted and reinforced.
- Know the market. A client recently asked us to map out top-talent regulatory affairs in Japan. She wanted to have a casual conversation with the four best candidates in the market, and she wanted to be sure that she could act quickly and without hesitation should someone suddenly resign from this key role.
- Have a strong employee brand. Prepare testimonials from employees, case studies of career progression, and examples of corporate responsibility.
- Know the best recruiters in your space who have the experience and bandwidth to act quickly and, most importantly, can represent your firm as well as you could in the market. They are your eyes and ears to the market. What are potential candidates saying about your firm? What is attractive? What or who is repelling candidates in the market?
- Know what you are selling. People are attracted to joining people. Yes, everyone wants to join a strong firm offering fair salaries and a strong pipeline. Do not discount hiring managers and the huge influence they have in attracting or repelling top talent.
- Evaluate your hiring process. What is working? What is not? How long does it take for your firm to make an offer—two weeks or two months? Who are your stakeholders? Are all your firm’s hiring processes necessary? In a competitive market, it is not uncommon for strong candidates to have multiple offers. The firm that executes quickly often wins.
A few simple plans can make all the difference in the time, money, and talent that your firm attracts.
Are you winning when it comes to recruitment?
