Big or small, organizations all want the same thing when it comes to talent -- employees who want to grow with the company. To find that, employers need to do more than hope for the best; they need to hire with growth in mind.
That means adopting a number of growth-driven strategies during the hiring process. It’s more complicated than a set-it-and-forget-it process. That’s how you end up with low quality hires.
Hiring bad candidates is a waste of time and money, especially when it leads to turnover. A 2014 whitepaper from TalentWise found that employee turnover can cost an estimated 150 percent of the annual salary of the associated position.
If you want to grow, look for employees who want to grow with you. Offering talent mobility is crucial to attracting growth oriented employees.
Check out these tips for finding and hiring candidates who align with your growth strategy:
Write Accurate Job Descriptions
Job descriptions have several purposes. Not only do they accurately represent what the role requires and identify how a candidate can succeed, but they also need to clearly communicate how the company provides what the candidate needs.
In the March 2015 edition of the Journal of Business Psychology, a study found that job descriptions focused on the candidate’s needs received three times as many highly rated applicants than those that centered on skills and attributes the employer was looking for.
Simply put, focus on the benefits the organization can supply for the candidate, an approach that researchers of the study call the “needs-supplies” (N-S) approach, rather than using the “demands-abilities” (D-A) approach.
Sell the best aspects about your company in your job posting. Clearly communicate why employees love to work for the organization. Focus on the fact that your company values educating and developing their staff, and integrate that into your employer branding strategy.
Create a Strong Employer Brand
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to an employer brand. You have to define your values and visions, craft a compelling voice and message, create a team of brand ambassadors, and strategize on how to spread awareness.
When it comes to hiring employees who want to grow internally, you must highlight the company’s investment in professional development. After all, it’s a popular desire for many job seekers and leads to high rates of employee happiness. In fact, the The Impact Of Professional Development study by Better Buys last year found 92% percent of 2000 employees say their organization’s commitment to professional development is “very important” to their job satisfaction.
The advent of social media should influence your employer branding strategy. The LinkedIn Global Recruiting Trends 2016 report found 47 percent of the 3,894 hiring managers surveyed say social media is the most effective employer branding tool because it offers multiple outlets that provide unique features.
Build a staff of brand ambassadors and train them on how to help the hiring campaigns. Employees can record testimonials about how they advanced within the company and share it on their social media profiles.
Once you refine your job descriptions, create an employer branding strategy that represents the company’s talent mobility program, and train your brand ambassadors on what message to spread and how to spread it -- the next critical step involves the interview process.
Develop a Great Interview Process
This is where the hiring process feels the most tangible. The resumes and cover letters have a face and a voice. You see the person behind the credentials, which is very exciting.
However, this can be a large investment of time and money. It’s expensive to involve hiring managers and other employees on in-person panel interviews. Even one-on-one interviews require a lot of time, not just in conducting them, but also the amount of time it takes to assess the candidate and reflect on their fit.
While phone interviews help screen candidates with less time involved, video interviewing is even more convenient. It guarantees the same experience to each candidate, allows for simple collaboration, and is available on-demand for all members of the talent acquisition team.
In all forms of interviews you conduct, make sure you inquire about the candidate’s future goals and emphasize how you want to create a team of learners who can take advantage of talent mobility. When you ask the right questions, the candidate will clearly give you an idea of whether or not they fit the role and the company culture, and they will also explain the professional path they want to take.
These three simple adjustments to your hiring process with help you find the talent you want, develop a consistent voice that praises the candidate who wants to grow, and expand your brand awareness.
How are you hiring for employees who want to grow within your company?