By Hollie Crampton of ap financial
Recruiting the right people at the right time is vital if your business is to survive and thrive. Making the right decision on the right people saves time and money as well as improving productivity. If you are undertaking the recruitment process in-house, then let me give you my five top tips for getting it right:
1. Know your target candidates and how to reach them
To start it is important to consider exactly how you are going to attract potential new employees and do the proper research into the best way to target them. What does your ideal candidate look like and where will they be searching for a new role? Maybe you don’t have the budget for trade media advertising or cutting edge headhunting tools, like a specialist financial recruitment company would. And there are plenty of businesses that don’t.
Setting clear expectations of what you are looking for in candidates and researching the best avenues to attract them is the best starting place.
2. Include your colleagues
Why is it that the hiring process rarely goes beyond an interview where the potential candidates only meet one or two representatives of your financial firm. Including any colleagues who will work directly with the potential candidates means they may pick up on technical strengths and weaknesses.
3. Consider the overall cultural fit
This is one of the most vital parts of the financial recruitment process. A candidate’s CV could be very impressive and they may perform very well in an interview, however if the cultural fit isn’t right, it’s never going to work. And research shows the most common reason people leave a job is because of a clash of personalities.
Introduce potential candidates to the team and allow them to spend some time together; it not only allows you to assess your new recruit but also the rest of the team.
4. Don’t place too much emphasis on CV’s
CVs only give you the highlights of a candidate’s employment and education, while good for basic information; it doesn’t give you the whole story. When making a great hire, there are a number of qualities you will be looking for that aren’t apparent on a CV.
In my opinion, the only way to assess candidates is via interview; how will your new recruit face challenges, demonstrate good judgement and fit in with your team? Of course the CV is a very useful tool, but wait until after the interview to truly decide if someone is going to be a right fit for your company.
5. A structured hiring process
Sourcing potential candidates yourself appears on the surface to be a great way to save money on financial recruitment agency fees. But it doesn’t always work out as cost effective as you think. How long do you think it will take to write a job spec, advertise the position, sift through CVs, interview candidates and check references and that’s just for starters.
Is your time better spent servicing your business?
Using a specialist financial services recruitment company will save you time, resources and ultimately money.
What are your experiences of recruiting? Please leave your comments below.
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