The executive search and hiring process is an understandably complex and trying process, and can be incredibly difficult on the employer. However, as difficult as these processes may be, on a fundamental level, not taking into consideration any extenuating circumstances or the need for any additional procedures, these practices can be broken down into nine easily discernible steps that are present in the more traditional hiring strategies. So, with the goal of breaking this whole complicated process down and making things as simple as possible for the employer, here is a brief look at those ten steps which all hiring procedures should follow, as they have been outlined by executive search firms.
- No employer can locate and identify high quality, talented individuals to fill a position if they do not first know exactly what it is that is required of the position in question and what skills and knowledge it will take to meet these needs. So the first thing all employers must do when a position needs to be filled is to briefly interview both those whose roles intertwine with that in question, as well as those who may have been close to the individual who held the position before, in order to create first a list of the duties and responsibilities inherent in the role, as well as a second list of the knowledge, skills, and experiences that the employer believes a candidate must possess to meet the needs of the position. From these two lists the employer will be able to draw up a working job description.
- Next the employer will need to bring together a strategy for effectively carrying out the executive search and candidate souring stage of the hiring process. Such a strategy can contain any number of different tactics to draw in candidates, from using job posting boards, newspaper ads, internet job search sites, employee referral incentive programs, social media marketing strategies, etc. As any number of possibilities exist at this stage, the first thing employers will need to decide on is whether they want to use a broad strategy and try to attract as many candidates as possible to then be weeded through for quality individuals, or whether they want to take a more targeted approach, only trying to attract individuals that they can see are qualified.
- Something that far too many employers seem to fail to grasp the importance of is the significance in that very first instance of contact which is made between the prospective candidate and the employer. Now while many employers might consider first contact to be the first round of interviews they conduct, on the contrary first contact is instigated the moment an individual submits their resume to the company. Where so many employers have continued to fall short in their hiring practices is in not attempting to provide the applicant with any kind of response to let them know that their resume was successfully received. This is an easy enough goal to accomplish, particularly given that simple programs now exist that will automatically respond to these individuals thanking for their interest in the company and letting them know that the employer will be in contact with them shortly.
For a list of the further stages of the hiring process look for the second portion of this article.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
