Does your organisation have the ability to attract and retain the best people?

This was the question that Jeff Grout posed at a Breakfast Briefing on ìRecruiting Excellenceî, hosted by 4MAT. And indeed, given the CIPDís recent survey which showed that 86% of employers admit to suffering from ìsevere recruitment difficultiesî including filling roles, time to recruit, cost pressures and retention issues, it seems many organisations can not answer this question positively.

In a packed, informative 45 minute session Grout started by reiterating that excellence in recruiting has a direct influence on shareholder value, and therefore the recruiting function must be an absolute priority for all business managers, not just the HR department. He suggests it is essential to take a comprehensive approach to recruitment and re-evaluate all aspects of the recruitment process to get effective.

Winning the best talent is all about understanding what motivates your staff ñ why they join, why they stay and why they leave. If you know why they joined in the first place, and ensure that those reasons for joining are continually perpetuated, why would they ever want to leave? Individuals join an organisation for a promise of what it can deliver for them ñ in terms of career progress and being challenged, in terms of reward and satisfaction, in terms of the work ethic and environment, so ensuring the continuation of those promises means they have no reason to seek out another companyís promises. Grout suggests analysing the push factors and pull factors of why an individual leaves ñ the likelihood is that none of these have changed since the employee started, and yet now they want to leave. Why? The most commonly cited reason for employees leaving is their line manager. Grout claims that companies are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds in recruitment because their existing staffís inexperience in managing effectively leaves employees disillusioned. The problem is that unless this is dealt with at the root cause, the cycle continues. It is therefore vital to invest in skills training for management to ensure they are managing effectively. Likewise, it is vital to invest in interview-training techniques for Managers, to ensure they recruit the right staff in the first place. If youíre not getting these fundamentals right, then any investment in other areas of your recruitment process is being undermined.

Interestingly, research shows that Generation Y intend to spend around two years with a company. In order to keep them engaged longer than this, Grout suggests, it is necessary to literally ìrecruit them every dayî by ensuring that their objectives are constantly being met. However, he points out that different people are motivated in different ways and it is important that this is also taken into consideration.

Indeed, the notion of what motivates your employers is something that can and should be considered and used creatively throughout the recruitment process and in creating your employerís brand. Grout suggests that the employment section of your website is vital in creating a positive employer identity. It should reflect the values of your staff and the culture of your organisation. Use soundbites from the very people who are doing the roles you are recruiting for to let candidates know what itís like working at your organisation, what kind of challenges current employees face, what they particularly enjoy, what the work-culture is like. It is also important to ensure your employment section reflects the needs of the different groups you are looking to attract. For example, Generation Y are more accustomed to Web 2.0 Technologies, and more web-savvy, but older more experienced hires may be turned off by this kind of content. The layout of your website can be creatively developed to guide different groups to different areas of the site. However, Grout warns against inhouse terminology ñ such as Experienced Hire, and Talent Acquisition ñ which might be meaningless to some.

It is also vital to bear in mind the candidate experience through the whole recruitment process. The candidate will take the whole experience as representative of the organisation. Donít forget that unsuitable candidates today, with a few more years experience under their belt, could be your ideal hire in a few years time ñ therefore every aspect of the recruitment process must treat the candidate, even the unsuccessful candidate, as you might treat a potential client. What message do your interviewers give candidates? They are ambassadors of your brand, so select them carefully Grout warns. Do you reply quickly to speculatively submitted cvs? After all, you wouldnít ignore a speculative piece of business. Does the recruitment section of your website accurately convey the kind of organisation you are, the values, the work ethic, the type of work you do? If not, how can you hope to attract the right kind of talent?

The interview process itself is vital in evaluating soft skills as much as experience and education. Grout points out that success has more to do with attitude than educationñ determination, drive, curiosity, courage etc and yet managers are often inexperienced in identifying these traits. Consider the attitudes, behaviours and competencies that determine success in your organisation and ensure that interview questions are posed to tease these out from candidates.

Grout suggests that online recruitment is the future of the recruitment industry - responsiveness to recruitment advertising is declining, and he suggests in five years print recruitment advertising will barely exist. Indeed, a Nielson survey found that 75% of all candidates start their job search with a search engine. For the employer, there are serious benefits to be derived from focusing on online recruitment. For example, Astra Zeneca have increased their direct hires from 2% in 2001 to 55% in 2008, with considerable budget savings. Likewise, Orange saved over 1 million in recruitment advertising by taking their campaigns online. Superdrug achieved an 84% reduction in time to hire by using online recruitment solutions.

It is vital to approach recruitment as a comprehensive process, Grout concluded. Employer branding, SEO, employee-referral systems, alumni-programmes, staff training, effective search strategies are just some of the approaches which can be used in tandem to create a truly effective recruitment programme and ensure good retention rates.
4MAT, are hosting a series of Breakfast Briefings on Recruiting Excellence. The next session will take place on 18th September 2008 and is entitled ìSuccess in Tougher Timesî.