How To Improve Hiring Efficiency

If you’re struggling to fill open positions you’re not alone. Attracting, hiring, and training high-quality talent is more important than ever before yet great talent is hard to find. Let the war for talent continue!

Over the years we’ve worked with all kinds of companies seeking to hire. They all want the same thing: someone that meets all of the requirements, are within budget, are friendly, and hard working.

But have you ever put yourself in their shoes? Have you ever taken a step back and thought “Ouch! Our hiring process is a pain in the butt!” “Why would anyone subject themselves to this punishment?”

In this blog post, we’re going to think outside the box to improve hiring efficiency.

Referrals

Imagine you’re a small company and seeking to hire a new Drafter. You place a job ad and get flooded with a bunch of unqualified resumes or people that don’t live in your area. Sound familiar?

Why not ask around the office and get a list of potential candidates that you can call? I bet they would listen to your pitch. People love to have opportunities offered to them. This can improve hiring efficiency by getting pre-vetted candidates that people like. Imagine finding your next employee that you’ve heard is super-nice and is a hard worker.

Choosing this route enables you to skip some of the lengthy interview steps when you meet a stranger. And speeding up the process helps you beat your competitors that are likely talking to your candidate already.

Calling References

Ok, I get it. You’ve already hired everyone’s friends and there’s no one left. Now what?

If you’re back to running job ads, always make sure to include qualifying questions so you don’t get a big stack of nothing. With a few decent candidates in your hands, to improve hiring efficiency before making them an offer, pick up the phone and call their references. If they don’t give you any, that’s a huge red flag. Next!

Calling references takes about 15-20 minutes per call and can help determine many things beside being “eligible for rehire”. Ask if the candidate was friendly, if they are smart, if they’re hard-working, but also ask why they left.

Doing this one small thing can improve hiring efficiency ten-fold. Don’t want to do it yourself? There are services out there that specialize in calling references. Usually all of the companies you use for background checks will complete this important step to improve hiring efficiency.

Skip The Phone Interview

After completing all your phone interviews, you finally agree to have the candidate visit you at your office. Doing this can quickly save lots of time and improve your hiring efficiency by getting the candidate right in front of you.

• Did they show up early?
• Did they ask for detailed directions? Where to park & exact location of your building.
• Were they prepared?
• Did they do their homework to learn about your company?

These and so many other things will improve hiring efficiency, because you’re not wasting time playing the guessing game. In our experience some candidates will “self eliminate themselves” and some will delight you.

Have the candidate visit you, meet the team, and take a tour. You’ll learn so much about a person from their body language, appearance, and eagerness to learn. Skip all of the unnecessary barriers, instead try something new and see if it improves your hiring efficiency.