In times of urgent hiring need, companies turn to outside recruiters who can find employees to fill necessary roles. Traditionally, recruiters can quickly find a good candidate for the position, but this sometimes comes at the expense of finding a candidate who is actually a better overall fit for the company. However, recruiting firms need to turn to a new model that emphasizes finding a quality candidate rather than just anyone qualified to fill the role.
The issue with the traditional outside recruiting model is that it incentivizes speed over quality because of its commission-per-head payment structure. This model results in high turnover levels and employees’ not being qualified to stay with the company for very long. After all, why would recruiters care about employees’ longevity when they only get paid to fill the opening? Once the spot is filled, recruiters have done their piece and get paid, even if that same position becomes vacant again in 3 months.
Narrowing the Pool
Modern recruiting services are beginning to emphasize the need to narrow pools of candidates down to those most qualified for a particular position. Revolutionizing the payment model and making the recruiting firm a collaborator in the process, rather than a hired hand, ensure the firm is held accountable for the results of the recruiting process and not merely the process itself. This way, the recruiting firm and the hiring entity have a stake in collaborating to find suitable candidates because that is what their partnership is based upon.
The benefits of this model for the company looking to fill a vacant position will make a stark difference in its success. For one, training a new employee can cost thousands of dollars. If a company is paying new employees their salary and a trainer to teach them how to do the job and the employees leave the company within a few weeks, its money is essentially being flushed away. Companies want to find candidates they can make a long-term investment in, not people who will only fill a role for a couple of weeks or months.
For recruiters, slowing down the recruiting process means being proactive in their hunt for the most suitable candidate. Traditional recruiting is all about posting a listing, hoping the right candidate responds, and taking the best of whoever applies to fill the role at the end of the day. This revolutionized new recruiting model will ensure not only that the position will be filled but also that it will stay filled with someone who is happy working at the company and who the company is glad to have working there. It will ensure the best-possible candidate is found.
Most recruiters will go to the company and get a list of four to five skills and qualifications necessary to succeed in the job. Then, they will bring back a list of roughly a quarter dozen candidates within a certain radius who check all boxes. But an employee is not simply a checklist. Just because someone has the essential qualifications doesn’t mean he or she is a good fit for the company.
Starting with the Company
This new model of recruiting begins with understanding the company dynamic. A good candidate is not just one who has all of the basic qualifications in the job description but also one whose entire skill set and personality will be a match for the company. The first step for the recruiter is to work with the hiring manager to determine the culture, dynamics, and goals of the company as a whole and the specific department in which the prospective employee will be working.
When recruiters are held accountable for the quality of candidates they provide, it creates a much better experience for both the candidate and the hiring manager. Rather than fielding dozens of interviews with candidates who may or may not even be right for the job, the hiring manager will only have to interview the three or four top candidates the recruiter has identified as the best potential fit for the company and the position. For candidates, this process means less time wasted on preliminary interviews, with little chance of not paying off.
The current job market is very much in employees’ hands, as there are more job openings than people to fill them. Still, that doesn’t mean employers have to settle for someone subpar to work for them—they just need to work more strategically to find the right person for the job. Rather than rushing into hiring someone who may not be the best candidate, take the time to find someone who truly wants to work at the company. It will pay off in the long run.
Kelly Robinson, CEO & Founder of Panna Knows Recruiting.