With Halloween fast approaching it feels the right time to admit that recruiting can be a monstrous task. Businesses are both seeking the best talent available, before their competition picks them off (in horror movie fashion - one-by-one), and to avoid making bad recruiting decisions which can lead down a dark path... Whilst some clients are fully aware of the scary prospects resulted from a bad hire; it’s important to remind ourselves that, in a recent survey from CareerBuilder, 27% of UK companies recently reported that bad hires cost them more than £50,000! That’s enough to scare anyone.
With facts this chilling, what better place to turn for advice than from the good old-fashioned horror story? The whole genre is designed to tap into our primal fears of which many apply to the hiring process where, just like picking up a hitchhiker, you never know what you will find.
Here are some (admittedly unintended) recruiting lessons from the makers of horror. That’s learn from their mistakes in order to find candidates who will fit your organisation, while staying away from spooky practices that produce no results.
Keep together: The good old tried and tested premise where a mysterious incident causes the group to split-up to investigate the source (yeah – that will work!). This course of action eventually, more often than not, leads to the characters never seeing each other again as they are left in an infinitely more vulnerable position, alone...
Whilst we accept the hiring process is not exactly like exploring a haunted house, it does however require teamwork. When you are hiring make sure you involve your team so you can collaborate to find the best people, don’t split-up! Having multiple points of view when considering candidates is often the best way to ensure your company hires the talent that fits your team. In our experience; clients who solely rely on qualifications can often miss those that are right for their needs. We believe this has been demonstrated on the countless occasions we have placed someone who has become a key member of our clients team all based on gut instinct.
Whether you are looking to perform a group interview or having a one-to-one, share notes and collaborate with your colleagues to ensure you are moving toward a common goal.
Be on message: Many a teen slasher has taught us that your past influences your future. Whether it be previous romantic entanglement, or a university party gone wrong, these preceding events are shown to cascade into our present with ramifications that could have never even been envisaged.
Similarly; for companies looking to attract top talent, this means identifying your narrative — where you’ve been and where you hope to go in the future — and communicating these key messages. In today’s world of constant social media updates, this is truer than ever before. Companies are increasingly using social media to share information about their culture, articulate their value proposition, and solidify their employer brand.
Candidates preparing for that all important interview now look to social media to answer questions: What do you do? What makes your company unique? What milestones has your company achieved? What is the culture like?
Ensuring a consistent message is delivered throughout these channels can often present a challenge, however the rewards are clear as your deliver your company message loud-and-clear to prospective employees.
Don’t Wait Too Long: We all must have watched a horror movie and wondered why the main characters took so long to figure out – who did it! This maybe a horror cliche employed to keep the characters in the dark about the spooky happenings around them, and in real life, we would all like to think we would have taken quick action...but would we?
We are lucky enough to have 38+ years’ experience behind us, and here’s a little secret, recruitment campaigns can sometimes be a slow process. Often, not acting fast enough results in companies losing the best people, disappearing one-by-one, as new opportunities are presented and offered in a faster recruitment cycle. Wait too long to make an offer to a great candidate and you will often find it is too late – the best talent will be hired by your competitors instead. This could result in a not-so-happy ending for your organization.
Find a way to get your team on the same page at the same time in order to hire fast. The important point is to make sure your team can arrive at an agreement and quickly make an attractive offer. This way you do not face the scary prospect of losing the best people to your competition.
We hope the above shines some light on recruitment practices that will ensure your success in building a winning team.