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So you are the HR head in a great corporate, but find that hiring the right guy
for the right job is quite an uphill task? The whole exercise of interviewing a
potential candidate assessing his/her skills, knowledge, etc., can be quite overwhelming.
And what could get worse is trying to maintain that great fish you caught six months
ago and lower that steeply ascending attrition rate.
All these challenges can be quite daunting for a mere mortal, but yet there are
ways to streamline and take appropriate measures to ensure that the organizations
don’t loose time, money, energy and resources to get the right guy.
This article is an attempt at giving you some invaluable tips and guidelines on
how to get that right person and more importantly, make him/her stay with the organization
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Head Hunting - A meticulous
herculean task |
Firstly, it's important that the needs of the organizations are accurately and effectively
conveyed to the target group through innovative and efficient channels.
A lot of organizations rely heavily on newspaper advertisements for the entry-level
positions. Approved panels of HR associates or direct references usually aid in
the recruitment of middle and senior level positions. The appropriate channels of
recruitment are identified based on the nature of the job and the required numbers.
Turnkey engagements are handled by placement agencies with clear-cut selection criteria
and its these consultants who do the initial screening of candidates on behalf of
companies. A trend gaining tremendous popularity and being encouraged by corporates
is the policy of employee references. E-Recruitment through websites is an additional
channel whereby potential employees submit their resumes online. Advertisements
in newspapers and leading publications fulfill requirements of immediate or mass
recruitments.
Now begins the task of filtering the applications that pour in. Millions of candidates
apply, but accurately harnessing the required talent is the predominant challenge.
Mostly all organizations follow a strict matrix selection where they rate candidates
on structured scales and award points for each criterion met. Matrixes have a similar
skeleton but get fine tuned and customized depending on organizational requirements
and processes. All applicants are invariably put thorough a multi-stage screening
process that analyses their communication skills and customer support abilities.
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Getting the right candidate
for the right job ! |
Now that the filtering is done, now comes the next crucial part, that of scheduling
the interviews and assessing the credentials of the applicants. Most organizations
are quite flexible with regard to scheduling and timing interviews. For certain
key candidates and senior profiles organizations have even gone to a place of mutual
convenience at odd hours. The BPO industry is always willing to walk the extra mile
in nurturing a good team.
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The Interview Process |
Most organizations have a detailed procedure, where each selected profile is forwarded
to the concerned department head for short listing. Then begins a string of processes
where there are functional and aptitude tests.
Applicants who pass this test automatically qualify for a technical interview where
their technical competence is evaluated.
Then comes the HR interview where the applicant's credentials are verified, along
with communication skills, personality, and fitment in the organization’s culture.
Finally, if the candidate is selected, an offer is made. But in this entire process,
perhaps the most important part is verifying an applicant's educational and work
experience credentials. All candidates are invariably asked ertain key questions
like what are their dreams, aspirations, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, etc.
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Better Safe then Sorry |
Arguably the greatest challenge, is designing that ideal pay package for the shortlised
candidate that will strike the right cord between not burdening the organization
and yet satisfying the candidate. Striking the right balance is an acquired art
that requires years of experience. So what do recruiters do to handle this delicate
yet very important aspect? The salary and grade fitments are done on the basis of
comparable data of the employees within the organization and the industry as a whole.
Salary bands are often very competitive between similar levels of organization and
processes.
Its an open market and the recruitment of candidates from competitors usually
set the foundations for competitive packages. Emphasis on monetary rewards to motivate
outstanding performers, are in line with global practices. We as an industry have
learnt that the individual should partake in the success of the company, and hence
all remuneration packages incorporate a variable pay scheme, linked in part to the
individual as well as the company’s overall performance.
The compensation package is therefore a combination of fixed and variable components,
apart from additional incentives. Most employers offer a salary based on the candidate's
previous experience but are also flexible and open to change.
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Moonlight Blackmail |
The challenge here is to be careful that the selected candidates are not shopping
around with the offer letter. Most employers are as transparent as possible and
expect the same from the candidate. Hence reputed organizations tend to prefer people
who have had a stable record in the past and are not into job-hopping. They also
do a detailed background check to ascertain reasons for change of employment before
making offers. They offer the best compensation in the market and provide early
joining bonus and incentives. Some employers also keep regularly in touch with candidates
post the offer till they join and actually track them.
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Staying Power! |
Then comes the million dollar question of not just retaining these priced catches,
but also ensuring that certain weaknesses don't stand in the way of both, the organization’s
and the employee's professional growth.
Most organizations have extensive induction, counseling and training programs in
place to ensure that the selected candidates don't have to face any problems if
they fall short of certain skills. Motivation is the single most important aspect
to ensure that people don't leave in a short period. Competitive salaries, IT friendly
compensation structure, rewards and recognition, retention bonus, creating career
path and growth (exercise in progress), employee friendly policies (such as late
sitting benefits, conveyance, free dinner, compensatory offs, flexi timings), employee
development through training, job rotation, client appreciation, subsidized canteen,
onsite opportunities are some of the benefits employees derive from sticking to
one organization.
They also celebrate festivals, organize fun activities, various creative competitions
between teams and departments so that employees don't get saturated and feel fresh.
Most importantly, strategic and efficient communication between the employees and
the heads is always encouraged so as to do away with any confusion, misunderstandings
and to tackle grievances. All these factors not only help in retaining a candidate,
but also in bringing out the best in employees thereby harnessing a feeling of satisfaction
and growth and of course, in turn, helping in the organization’s growth as well.
With the way the industry is exponentially growing the time has come for all of
us to revolutionize human resource management by offering real time, effective turnkey
solutions in human resource management and the organizations who can do this through
innovative nuances in employee management and retention will benefit the most and
grow the fastest as effectively understanding and dealing with recruitment challenges
is the foremost tool in enhancing the organizations bottom-line.
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