Dear Kathy,
Have you seen Eddie Haskell lately?
No, we're not talking about everyone's favorite charmer
from Leave It To Beaver. We're talking about the job
candidates who say and do all the right things during the
interview...but then turn out to be nightmare employees.
The article below will show you how you can "Eddie Proof"
your candidate evaluation process.
Of course if you really want to keep them out, we'll be
happy to help you recruit, screen, and reference check
candidates to make sure you are getting top performers.
Just drop us an email at june@jhstaffing.com.
Best Regards,
June Liberty
Johnson & Hill |
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This Month's Solution:
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 The Challenge:
Avoid Eddie
The 60 Second Solution:
Avoid Eddie by Attracting Real Talent
They're dangerous. They can cost your company tens of
thousands in lost productivity and profits.
Who are they? They are those job candidates who looked
great on paper and in the interview, but suddenly become
troublemakers and under-performers once they're hired.
The following are four ways to prevent these candidates
from corrupting your office:
- Recruitment Advertising
The next time your local newspaper prints the employment section,
take a quick read. If you can keep you eyes open long enough to
get past the first few ads, you'll see a disturbing trend.
Most recruitment ads are horrid. They're dull. They're little
more than a list of requirements, and they offer almost nothing
to attract real talent.
Online job posts are no better. Sometimes they're longer,
but again, most say little more than "this is what we need."
Remember, Eddie's out there reading these, and he's looking for
the next new thing to pique his interest.
Recruitment advertising, whether online or off, is marketing.
To make your marketing successful, and attract real talent,
you need to create compelling copy. You need to sell. And you
need to give candidates a strong reason to take action--now!
Make ads visible with intriguing titles that capture the attention
of the best candidates. Include detailed information about the
benefits of working for your company.
- Resume Screening
Many online recruiting methods are great resume generators.
To separate the gems from the masses, most companies employ
some sort of resume screening process. Typically, these processes
focus on making sure a candidate's skills and experience meet or
exceed posted job requirements.
Eddie knows this, and he knows how to beat your process by
carefully "beefing-up" his resume. He may "puff-up" his
responsibilities or load-up on key words for your resume
scanning system to find.
While the solution is not to abandon the resume screening process,
you may need to devise a new scoring system--one that emphasizes
past records of accomplishment, success trends, job longevity,
and participation in activities that are consistent with the
profile of your ideal job candidate.
- Candidate Sourcing
Eddie Haskell is easy to find. He'll come running to you.
But your ideal job candidate is probably happily employed
somewhere else right now. To avoid hiring Eddie, you need to
find creative ways to capture the attention and interest of
these passive candidates.
The two best methods for attracting passive job seekers are
through referrals and direct recruiting. Start with your
current exceptional employees. Create incentives for referrals.
Get them involved in brainstorming recruiting ideas.
If that fails to produce the results you want, or if time is a
critical concern, get a professional staffing or search firm
involved. Challenge them to cull their database and use their
network to uncover the best available talent.
- Hiring Process
Here are a few other ways to improve your recruiting process
to avoid hiring the wrong people:
Prepare "success profiles", each containing a standard job
description as well as information and measurement criteria
to help determine the traits needed and the achievements
expected from each employee in your organization. Include
this profile information on your website and in your
recruitment advertising. Great candidates, who will make
great employees, want to review information about what it
takes to be successful and what they need to "fit well"
and succeed in your company.
Be pro-active. Create a process that will push the best people
responding to your advertising to the top of the list. Contact
those people immediately or you will lose them to someone else.
Train your staff to work with the best people. The best candidates
need extra effort. They want to know more about the companies
they are going to approach for career opportunities. The caliber
of the people you hire will directly reflect the quality of your
recruiting team.
The Secret to Success
Keep in mind that the process for locating the best personnel
is very different from the process used to eliminate bad
candidates. Take a good look at your hiring process. See where
Eddie might be able to slip past the cracks. Spend the resources
needed to attract the best people, and make sure you know how
to spot--and get rid of Eddie when he shows up at your door!
Looking for more ways to improve your candidate screening process?
We can help! Call Johnson & Hill today at 413-746-3535.
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60 Second Solution. |
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