Before hiring an employee, a company needs to go through specific steps to hire an employee. Hopefully, yours will have already created a process to manage the full recruitment lifecycle.
Following an HR hiring process is critical because, if hiring isn't done properly, it could result in high turnover and wasted expense. However, if you have prearranged the hiring steps, it will make finding the right candidates more efficient and cost-effective.
Here are the suggested steps in the hiring process any company should follow when seeking new employees:
Vacant positions can either come up when an existing employee leaves the company or a new job is created.
Whatever the case, the hiring staff need to contact the right person, either an HR representative or a senior manager, to make a case for the job requirement. This discussion will include any specific qualifications needed and the experience the candidate must have to do the job properly.
Hopefully, you already have a recruiting strategy in place.
If this is the case, then take the time to review the strategy to find out whether all the steps are still necessary and if anything needs to be updated. You may see that some processes have become outdated. This could be because you’ve gotten new modern hiring software that has taken the place of the old manual processes.
If you don't already have a hiring process strategy in place, now is the time to start creating one.
After permission has been given and funds have been allocated for sourcing and funding a new hire, a good job description must be created. It must be clear and to the point while providing the most important details about the role and your company.
If you’re looking to create a job description, you don't have to do it from scratch. Fountain has a wide range of job description templates that give you all the necessary requirements for different roles.
With these preset descriptions, all you have to do is tweak them to include details specific to your company, which helps to streamline the hiring process steps.
Click here for a list of Fountain's job descriptions.
The aim is for qualified candidates to complete your application form from beginning to end. This isn’t always the case. Research shows, if it takes too long, a number of candidates will dump the application mid-process.
To encourage candidates to complete the entire form, do the following when completing your application form:
Want to know how to get better performance from your applications?
Download our Five Ways To Improve Your Application Performance e-book now. In this checklist, you have easy-to-implement and practical tips for improving the application process to attract the most qualified candidates.
There are a number of platforms and techniques to promote your job openings. For example, you can start with internal referrals and free job boards. Additionally, there are paid platforms and social recruiting, a trend that has been increasing recently.
Click here to learn from companies who are getting social recruiting right.
These days, most companies - large and small - use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to review resumes based on predetermined criteria. The ATS will look for specific keywords and phrases and determine whether the applicant will go through to the next step or if they will be withdrawn from the application process.
To ensure that your ATS works best, it's ideal to pair it up with modern hiring software, like Fountain, to ensure a full end-to-end recruitment process.
After your ATS has screened the applicants, you now need to manually go through the resumes. As part of the hiring steps, you’ll want the hiring manager, or whoever you’ve designated, to review the resumes and decide whether the candidates should progress to the next hiring step.
After the resumes have gone through the ATS and have been reviewed manually, you can then set up a screening call to filter the shortlisted applicants. During a screening call, you’ll find out whether the candidate really wants the job and if their experience matches up with what's on their resume.
The traditional way to screen candidates was by phone. Now, modern ways take advantage of technology to make this process even simpler for candidates and your hiring managers. The screening interview can take place via video.
With one way video interviews, your candidates can record themselves so you have a better chance of choosing the right person for an in-person interview. With video interviews, you simply ask questions such as, “why are you interested in the job?” and “what are your key skills and attributes that will make you succeed in the role?”
Using a video interview cuts time in the hiring process steps since you can review the videos at your convenience. It helps to assess different communication skills, such as eye contact and speaking.
Video interviews are particularly useful when hiring for jobs suitable for millennials. This is because they’re used to using mobile devices, videos and other technology. They also feel at home recording themselves.
The video interview is directly in Fountain's app, so there's no uploading or downloading. The candidates simply records the video in the app. and when finished, you’re free to review and make a decision.
After you’ve screened the candidates either by video interview or phone, you may want to introduce one more hiring step before the in-person interview to find out whether the person will be suitable for the role. However, an assessment can sometimes take place during an in-person interview or after. Where it takes place in your process for hiring a new employee depends on you.
You can use different types of assessments to help you with the hiring process steps, including:
An online test for personality, intelligence and aptitude.
A practical skills test, like data entry.
In-person tests. For example, for a position in a restaurant, you can ask someone to perform some of the duties on the spot. When going for this option, make sure you’re aware of the legal ramifications because, in some states, you’ll have to pay your candidate.
Ideally, the hiring software you use will ensure that the assessment test is integrated into the hiring process. With Fountain, we sync with the assessment platform, Traitify, to ensure that you don’t need a separate assessment. You can sync and integrate with Traitify, so your candidates have the assessment in one tool.
When you’re satisfied that the candidates have passed the mandatory evaluation and are happy with their skills and how they’ve come across on the phone or video screening, it's time to extend an in-person interview to the list of shortlisted candidates.
Your interview should address the following issues:
To ensure that the interview schedule goes as easily as possible, Fountain's scheduling toolkit handles the candidates who have gone through the hiring process and have been selected for an interview. The interview scheduling toolkit sends emails or SMS messages, which includes links to dates and times.
Time slots are updated automatically based on the hiring manager's calendar. This is much more convenient than the conventional way of arranging interviews. It cuts down the amount of communication and misunderstandings. When a candidate chooses a time, they’ll get an SMS message confirming the interview. You can provide the required step by step details for the interview in an email.
A background check is necessary hiring procedure for small businesses to ensure that the candidates are who they say they are and they won’t pose a danger to your business.
Background checks look for many things, including:
When carrying out a background check, find out the law in your state in relation to various roles. In some states, you’re not allowed to ask applicants some types of questions until they get to a certain stage.
Running a background check is very important, therefore, it should be seamlessly integrated into the hiring process steps.
With Fountain, we integrate with one of the leading background checkers called Checkr. You can check the backgrounds of your candidates right through Fountain's app with Checkr to ensure verification of everything they have said.
In addition to background checks, you may also want to do a reference check for your candidates. Including reference checks into your steps to hire an employee will help paint a picture of past performance and how they got on with former colleagues and previous employers.
Your candidates should provide contact details of previous employers, so you can reach out to them and find valuable information.
You can ask the following when doing a reference check:
After you’ve completed the hiring process step by step, it's time to make a decision as to which candidate is suitable to join your company.
Take into account the assessments, interviews and everything else along with how the individual will fit into your workplace culture.
Ideally, you should have a backup candidate in case your first choice rejects your offer. The low employment rate means that candidates have more choices than ever, therefore, it’s not a given that they will accept your offer.
To make a job offer, you need to write an offer letter detailing the job salary, potential start date and other terms and conditions of employment.
Expect that your candidates will negotiate some aspects of the job offer, especially their salary.
When the candidate accepts the job offer and signs the relevant contract, they’re hired by your company.
Then, they’ll need to complete the required paperwork and forms for your specific business and for tax purposes. Hiring is not the end of the process. The next and the very last stage is onboarding.
A well-thought-out onboarding program means that going through all the new hire process steps will not have been in vain because, the better the onboarding, the more likely your candidates will remain with your business.
Use this new hire checklist to onboard like a pro.
With Fountain, we help with onboarding. Send your new hire the details needed, such as handbooks and staff manuals directly through the app. Your new hire can familiarize themselves with these important details before they start work.
The hiring process has many steps and they should be followed to ensure a simplified and efficient hiring cycle. One of the ways to save time and cost in your hiring process is to use modern hiring software.
Fountain has been built for the modern workforce with unique features, such as mobile-first functions for you and the candidate. It also helps you manage the full recruitment lifecycle in one convenient dashboard.
Customers, like PICKUP and Deliveroo, choose Fountain to streamline their recruitment needs.
Fountain is the Labor ATS for high volume hourly hiring that works smarter and harder for you.
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