Is a ‘one-size-fits-all’ recruitment process valid anymore?  

Wouldn’t it be brilliant if we could use the exact same method, strategy, and process to recruit for every single role we had? 

Think about how much time we’d save! 

But how successful would we be? 

Our guess? Not very….

Unfortunately, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ recruitment strategy that guarantees success for every hire doesn’t really exist. 

The approach needed? Make each role you hire for a different (acurate) process, but each candidate has the same experience. 

Now hold on, because I can tell I’m going to lose you here…because who on earth has the time (and indeed what company has the resource) to recruit like that? (I hear you yell internally while rolling your eyes.) 

So how do we systemise individuality AND uniformity I hear you ask?! 

Here are some ideas: 

1. Hire to add 

Ask yourself (or the candidate but more on that later) –

Will they add to our culture? And building on that, does the candidate really ‘get’ your culture from your current interview process? Is it clear to you during these interviews that the candidate is not only getting an excellent understanding of what makes your company and teams tick but are they showing you that they have the skillset, experience, and behavioural traits that will make them an excellent fit long term? 

Will they really like (or love) the job? Now, this can be a really tough one to answer, especially in the high-volume hiring arena – warehouse jobs, call centre operatives, or hospitality workers (to name just a few) aren’t necessarily ‘in love’ with their job. Still, it’s really important for you and for them that they understand what the job REALLY entails and whether or not they can see themselves doing the realities of the role day in and day out. 

How many times have you sat in an interview asking those ‘personality building’ questions such as, ’tell me about your hobbies,’ or ‘what do you like to do at the weekend?’ – great questions for a first date, but in an interview process? These types of questions facilitate recruiter bias. the answers are unlikely to reveal whether or not your candidate understands that the role they’re interviewing for requires them to talk on the phone for 7+ hours a day and more often than not irate customers (for example). They might see a chatty, kind, open interviewer and immediately assume that their days will be filled with energetic, compassionate chats! You need to use the interview to manage candidate expectations. Now don’t get me wrong, chatting, small talk, and everything in between does give you the opportunity to get to know your candidate (and that in turn can help you understand their job suitability) but it’s important to get the balance right. 

Can you imagine how long that candidate will last once they find out the realities of the role? 

2. Ensure that your candidate selection process is reliable and valid

There are so many reasons why you should ensure that your candidate selection process is reliable and valid, but first, let’s define what we mean by reliability and validity. A reliable process is one that would consistently achieve the same results across time, while a good process is one that correctly measures what it is intended to measure. The focus needs to be on removing as many opportunities for bias as possible. 

Armed with these definitions, HR practices are leaning more towards scientific approaches (using reliable and valid processes) and moving away from practice-based approaches (which are more intuitive).

Using a job analysis tool to identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for the job you’re recruiting, determining ways to measure these attributes, and using the results as the basis for your selection processes ensure the reliability and validity of your practices.

3. Make Every Interview Count 

We all know how challenging the recruitment marketplace can be, it’s ‘candidate driven’ which means that communicating all of the above, assessing whether the candidate has the right skills and attitude for the job, AND doing all of this in a timely manner to secure said candidate before they move on to the next interview is NOT an easy feat. 

Not to toot our own horn here (we’re going to toot a little bit). Realistic job assessments really do solve a lot of the above issues. By creating an assessment that is a direct representation of a ‘day in the life’ at your company you can: 

• Effectively demonstrate the culture in the workplace by using key environments, challenges, and examples that have been provided by your own workforce 
• Measure your candidate against the true criteria and requirements of doing the job
• Clearly show the candidate what it is they’ll be doing day in and day out to give them an immediate understanding of whether the job is right for them. 

All of this can be achieved before you sit down with them, after, or even somewhere in the middle! Our Realistic Job Assessments are being used in a number of different recruitment strategies. Some of our clients don’t interview at all, because the assessments are so comprehensive and provide a completely unbiased understanding of the candidate’s ability to do the role whilst in turn adequately communicating the company values and culture to the candidate through their assessment. 

Next year will bring with it a whole host of new challenges – are you ready to face them? 

(Maybe it’s time for a call with us!)