| FALL 2020 MAGAZINE ARTICLE 3 Steps To Protect Your Hiring Process - By Kyle Gorman
Hiring has never been easy, and with the current guidelines and restrictions, it’s become even more challenging. Currently, it is a challenge to meet people face-to-face, but we have a record number of people applying for jobs. This virtual hiring environment makes it even more critical to have a strategic hiring process in place before you begin looking for a new employee. Over the years, we have helped agencies planning to hire, but some have never formalized a hiring process in the agency. Can you imagine any other project in your business where you plan to invest $30-50k per year, spend months to launch and know it will change the culture and dynamic of your agency – but not have a plan? Of course not, but this is how we approach hiring. We put feelers out to people that we know write up a vague job description, put it on social media and a couple of job boards, then hope for the best. Let me share a simple, straightforward process that we have implemented in agencies just like yours with great success. Step 1: Take a strategic inventory of exactly what you need in the agency and what skills are required to be effective. For example, an Account Manager needs to be personable, have good communication skills, be detail-oriented and have excellent follow-up and follow-through skills. Once you identify what is required, you can focus your search on those skills instead of on someone that has experience in a specific role. Step 2: Develop a job description focused on the skills you outlined and get that job description in front of as many people as possible. You will need to invest in a few job boards and targeted advertising on social media. The goal is to attract as many candidates as possible so that you can screen the best candidates. Step 3: I recommend at least four steps in the screening process. First, email the candidate to be sure they know they applied for the position and are interested. Second, have a brief call to validate the information on their resume and to discuss hours, benefits, pay since these are basic qualifiers. Third, conduct a video interview to dive deeper into the candidate’s experience, personality and cultural fit to your agency. Lastly, set up a face-to-face interview and introduce the candidate to others on your team. This informal conversation will help you determine if this person will mesh well with you and your employees. Keep your candidate informed throughout the screening process. Remember, they are actively looking for a job, so you want them to know the next step of the process and your expected timelines. When you are interested in a candidate, trust your process and move them forward. It can be very frustrating to have a great candidate but lose them because you waited too long to bring them in for the next step. Once you are ready to hire, talk to the candidate about a verbal offer, get a mutual agreement and formalize the job offer with a written letter and set your start date. Building a team is a considerable investment and can be risky, but having a proven process in place increases your chances or hiring the right people the first time. Kyle Gorman is an entrepreneur, management coach and the Founder/CEO of Employer Blueprint. Kyle is committed to helping business owners gain freedom in their business by building high- performing teams through proper talent acquisition and employee development.
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