My last article talked about a number of elements comprising the Employee Life Cycle:

• Recruitment and Selection
• Orientation and On-boarding
• Retention
• Performance Management
• Development
• Separation

I would like to take a deeper look at the first element, Recruitment and Selection (more commonly called Talent Acquisition).  There are numerous questions to ask yourself before deciding the structure and process appropriate for your business. This includes but not limited to:

1. Do I hire an internal recruiter or outsource it?
2. If I hire one internally, are they an administrative recruiting coordinator, a more seasoned recruiter, or a manager?
3. Do I utilize a sourcer with my recruiter? ( Sourcers usually are responsible for working the job boards to generate resumes and generally work for an hourly fee)
4. If I outsource it, do I engage a firm on a contingency or retained status? Do they fill ALL my jobs or only the specialized or senior roles? How much do I pay them?
5. If I outsource, who internally will manage them?
6. What is my internal interview process and who will manage it?
7. Am I hiring to a successful position profile based on competencies, KSA’s, etc?
8. Is everyone responsible for interviewing trained on proper and legal techniques?
9. Am I doing background checks, reference checks, and drug testing (if appropriate)
10. Does the employment offer fit with my overall compensation philosophy, internal guidelines and policy?
11. Are we communicating the offer in writing using a weekly or monthly amount rather than annual?
12. Do I have an internal staffing process whereby internal candidates can apply for posted positions? If so, is a backfill strategy in place to accommodate internal movement?
13. Once a process is in place, do I have metrics in place like tracking cost per hire and time to fill?

The decisions you make depend on the number and complexity of your position openings, funding, headcount plan and organizational maturity.   Introducing these steps to any sized company will ensure a more cost-effective and efficient talent acquisition process.

Rick Fuelling

Fuelling Associates

http://fuellingassociates.com/