Editor’s Note: Ngozi Adebiyi is the Lead Consultant at OutsideIn HR. She has a BSc in Estate Management from the University of Lagos, an MBA from Mercer University, Atlanta and a Global Professional in HR (GPHR) certification from the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), USA. She has held diverse roles in the HR function spanning business partnering, talent management, reward, training and organisational development in organisations like Reckitt Benckiser, KPMG Professional Services and Guinness Nigeria Plc.
Put simply, hiring involves sourcing and engaging someone in exchange for a fee. However, in sourcing the right candidate, a recruiter must bear in mind that the skill sets of the individual must match the needs of the organization. How? Through these three major stages:
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Recruitment – searching for the right candidate
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Selection – making the choice of who to employ
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Placement – assigning the candidate to his/her responsibilities
No one said it is easy to find “Mr. Right”, but armed with the right information and processes, things only get easier. Next time you need to hire someone to fill a vacancy, here are a few things you should consider:
What exactly does your organization need?
It is not enough to say that you have a vacant position that you want to fill. Ask yourself how important that position is to the wider goal of the organization and be certain what your expectations are for the occupant of the role. This way, you would have succeeded in fitting the proverbial round peg into a round hole.
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What about the role?
Make an outline of what the role entails. What will be expected of the lucky candidate when they are employed? What qualities do you want in the candidate and what skills are they expected to possess? What is their personality profile? What are their technical skills?
Step out of the process
Set the stage for objectivity in the process of sorting through applications and short-listing. Invest in good testing materials and make your expectations clear to recruitment consultants or whoever you choose to handle the process. As we mature in our individual lives and work experiences, we learn to detach ourselves from our emotions and personal preferences and let objectivity take centre stage.
Attention please
Take time to carefully sort through the resumes and select candidates whose resumes ‘best fit’ the vacant role. It is important that the candidate’s background, experiences and competencies match the requirement of the job as you certainly would not want to spend the on-boarding period discovering what you would rather not in your chosen candidate. Functional fit is great but the right behaviours are important.
Let’s meet you
During the interview, flip from the technical to the personal and get an idea of who your prospective candidate really is. A face-to-face interview affords you the luxury of getting to know the side of the person that his/her resume would not tell you. Objectively assess the person and make valid use of your interview time.
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What do you have to offer?
An average job-seeker has mastered the art of selling themselves. So, beyond the wealth of experience detailed in their resume, test their technical competence by asking practical questions about their stated experiences and giving them case studies and scenarios to tackle.
Decide
After all has been said and done, meet with the other members of the team and make a decision on who the successful candidate is. It is important to get the view of two or more people.
The backbone and wealth of any successful organization is its workforce so, as you plan to hire, be objective, be transparent, think merit.
Photo Credit: Daniel Feren?ak via Compfight cc
