Hiring: Your Best & Worst PR

• Hiring creates an external and internal reputation.
• Respond to applicants within 48 hours.
• Prepare your materials that you can use each time you go through hiring. This includes an email confirming you have received the applicants’ materials, an email either saying “no, thank you for your application” or “Thank you for application, we would like to move forward with you”, and a final offer or decline email. This will assist with your organization meeting the 48 hour deadline.
• Be flexible.

Read below for more details.

The reality is, although there is always more to do, hiring impacts your organization both internally and externally.

The good news is, there are plenty of tools and resources to assist each of us with the tasks that need to be accomplished each day.

Internally, employees want to feel as if tasks are being taken care of and people have things (generally) under control. The moral of your team is just as important to the work getting done as who you are doing the work for. Externally, hiring is one of the ways your organization can get a reputation. You as an organization have some control over what that reputation will be. Our world is small and people talk – give them reasons to say good things about your organization. Some negative sentiments from potential employees could be curbed by simply providing them with a timely response. While their application or email sits in your inbox for a seemingly “quick” week or two, they are depending on your response to help them move forward in their job search process. A quick “no, thanks for your application” or “we’ll get back to you in ___ number of days” goes a long way.

It is important to respond as quickly as possible to those who are applying for positions in your organization.
“A non-response is simply unacceptable.” Ask yourselves: What do you want the candidate experience to be at your company?

1. Start with clear goals, a researched budget and a well-defined written job description no more than one page.

 

2. Identify the stakeholders.

You should always have the following people in the process: hiring manager = ultimate decision maker, influencers = those that can and should provide input but do not have a final say, culture fit = employees at your organization that have tenure and can speak to their own experience working at the organization.
 

3. Review candidates daily.

Spend 30 minutes a day (when in the hiring process) to find individuals on LinkedIn and reach out to them.
 

4. Once you’ve identified your candidates, make sure they fall into your budget for the role.

 

5. Schedule first round interviews.

This is usually only with the hiring manager. Schedule this in person if possible as it’s often you can decide if you do NOT want to hire them within 10 minutes. It takes a bit longer to figure out if you do want them.
 

6. Provide feedback and next steps to your candidates within 48 hours of their interview.

Think of how great that’ll feel to not have the details of this process looming over your head. Send out the email! This is the step that will help you win the hiring process game, especially if you are prepared in advance. No need to recreate the wheel each time you hire someone new. Create a template for your organization to work off of.
 

7. If a candidate is moving forward, schedule Round 2/final interviews.

This interview should be with the influencer, culture fit person(s), and the hiring manager.
 

8. Gain consensus amongst your team and generate an offer.

This is where the 48 hours comes into play again. Since you have a template for your offer letters (if you don’t, start now!), sending out the letter should only take 5-10 minutes. Let them know you’d like to extend them an offer and provide times you can hop on the phone to go over details.
 

9. Voila! New Employee starts in 2.5 weeks from date of their acceptance.

 

Be flexible with time frames. Plan ahead and be prepared.