We work with a huge number of clients, helping them to attract and hire talent into their business and throughout the years we have seen common mistakes made that either delay the recruitment process or even worse, prevent great people from joining their business.
Sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances, such as a project being put on hold or a candidate that accepts a counter offer, but in this article we share the common mistakes made that can derail a hire for your business. Knowing the common mistakes is important, as it will help you prepare better to help prevent them from becoming an issue when you are next looking to hire talent into your team. Let's get started;
Do you know what you’re looking for?
The first thing to consider when hiring is… do you actually know what you need and want for your business? Obviously skills, qualifications and experience is crucial to ensure you are bringing someone in who knows that they are doing in the role. However, do you know the type of behaviours you are looking for? What soft skills are important to add value to your business and culture? Do they need to be a strong leader, great working within a team or are you looking for someone who can work autonomously without much direction. Hard skills are important, but soft skills are what can determine if someone will thrive within your business and culture.
Have you done your research?
Once you know the type of person you want to hire, do you know what you are willing to offer? Salary and package is an important factor for someone moving jobs, so are you positioning your offering correctly within the current market? It’s important to manage expectations at this point, if you aren’t able to compete with other organisations in terms of pay, then are you open to brining someone on board who requires a bit more development? Also, are you open to negotiation if a great candidate is available but looking for more than you are offering? Being flexible will give you more options in a candidate short market.
Is your recruitment process slick?
One of the most common mistakes made by clients is the time it takes to interview, give feedback and ultimately make a decision on a candidate. We have seen so many companies lose out on great talent because the candidate has either lost patience with the process or taken another role due to the time it’s taken. If there is a genuine reason why certain decisions are taking a little longer than expected, communicate with the candidate. Keep them in the loop and make sure they feel valued. Communication is so important during the recruitment process and can really help keep a candidate on side and interested in your business.
We wrote an article specifically on how speed is crucial when hiring talent. Follow the link below to read the full article...
Are you open to different recruitment solutions?
Sometimes you can find yourself in the position where you haven’t found the right candidate for your role. When this happens are you open to other options? This is where a recruitment agency can really help! Most reputable recruiters will know their market and are paid to provide solutions to problems. You’ve been looking for the perfect candidate for months and you’re probably suffering as a result, so why not consider people from other sectors, overseas candidates, more senior/junior level people, freelance or part time options. In most cases people will have transferable skills and you could potentially unearth a gem with a bit of extra time and investment in someone.
Are you keen to find a recruitment agency that can support your recruitment?
We pride ourselves on our service and are always pushing boundaries to help improve this for our clients and candidates. We have relationships with thousands of great candidates across the construction, civils, rail, power and telecoms sectors. If you want to find out about our services in more detail and how we can help you and your business visit our Recruitment services page.
