How You Can Overcome Haphazard Recruiting

How to Overcome Haphazard RecruitingRunning a successful business takes time and planning. You have a clear vision and plan and you stick to it, except when it comes to your recruiting efforts. One of the most common mistakes I see is the lack of a clear vision and a plan for hiring employees. This results in haphazard recruiting and often, hiring mistakes.

Here’s what haphazard recruiting looks like. You decide you need to hire a new team member to relieve some of the burden. You hastily write up a list of things for your new employee to do, spend a minute thinking up a job title, post that hot mess on a job board, and hope qualified people apply. Or, maybe you do take the time to write a good job description, write an awesome job ad, and then have no time to review resumes or interview candidates.

Like most busy professionals, you have too much to do and rarely enough time. And ignoring those pesky competing deadlines, problems to solve, and unexpected hurdles to overcome is impossible. It’s no wonder haphazard recruiting is the result.

Something has to give. It may feel difficult to organize everything and get it all done. However, there are a variety of tools you can use to keep things under control and stop the madness of haphazard recruiting.

Build a Strong Time Management Muscle.

Set boundaries. If you are allowing people to dump their crisis in your lap, end it right now. You’re running a business, not saving the world. Start blocking time on your calendar even if it’s a few minutes a day. Just do it. What is scheduled gets done.

Use an Online Scheduler

There are several low cost and free online scheduling tools that make it easy to set up candidate interviews without a lot of work. Using this tool saves me at least 40 hours per year because I’m no longer wasting time emailing back and forth before settling on a time for an interview. I use Calendly, but there are many to choose from. Pick one that works for you and use it. Bonus: you’ll find that it works for more than recruiting.

Create Templates

Instead of writing a new email every time, create a template for the most common recruiting messages. At a minimum, create a template to schedule a phone interview, an in-person interview with your address, phone number, and other important details, and a rejection message for those candidates you decide not to hire. I use a Gmail add-on called Canned Responses for my templates. It’s fast and easy and I only have to add a few personalized details before I click send.

Use Video in your Recruiting

In your email template for setting a phone interview, you might include a link to a video of employees, managers, or the business owner talking about the work your company does and why it’s a great place to work. A recent study by SparcStart found candidates want to see videos of hiring managers 2 ½ times more often than company overviews and 10 times more often than an HR or recruiter message. This will increase your response rate and save you time.

Act Quickly

If you get an application from a qualified candidate, respond immediately. Please stop playing the waiting game. You know the one. You have to wait a few days to respond so the candidate doesn’t think you’re too eager. If your process is too cumbersome or takes too long, candidates will give up or lose interest. Keep it simple and streamlined. This will save you and your candidate time. Imagine how you would feel if you were the candidate. Are there too many hoops to jump through? Is your communication sporadic or nonexistent? If that’s what your candidates experience applying for a job, they may feel that’s what it will be like working for you. That great candidate will disappear.

Haphazard recruiting doesn’t have to be your norm if you are willing to dump your old system and create a process that works in today’s fast-paced world. What are you waiting for? The clock is ticking.

Perhaps it’s time to grab a copy of The YOLO Principle: The Ultimate Hiring Guide for Small Business. It’s packed with tools, templates, and step-by-step instructions. Purchase your copy here or on Amazon.

Or, you might need some help from an expert. Click this link to schedule a complimentary Insight session. It’s an investment of 20 minutes of focused coaching that will pay huge dividends.