Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/276151
[ 53 ] MARCH 2014 | www.hrotoday.com • Relationship-building skills; • History of reaching goals and driving results; • The ability to inspire and motivate; • A sense of integrity; and • Prior success dealing with failure and adversity. Personality assessments can also be performed as an additional tool to gain insight about a candidate's leadership capabilities. By learning to qualify and recognize candidates who can become "perfect" employees, organizations have the opportunity for greater success in hiring and retaining talent. These candidates have the ability to evolve into key leadership roles that move the company forward. Steps to Streamlining the Process Change is hard, but here is some advice to tailoring your hiring to efficiency: • Determine if your interviewing process is time- efficient. Remember: The best candidates are typically employed and are interviewing with multiple companies. Identify all key staff that are essential to the candidate search and ensure that they make interviewing a top priority. If there are multiple decision makers, consider scheduling meetings between these individuals and the candidate over the course of one day, instead of asking them to come in for multiple interviews. Assess whether a video conferencing program should be leveraged. • Keep the lines of communications open. Explain each step of the interviewing process to the candidate up front. Provide feedback within 24 hours of the interview and explain next steps to keep them engaged in the process. • Consider what your interviewing process says about your company culture and brand. A lengthy process could give the impression that there is a lot of red tape with getting things accomplished or approved. It can also give the wrong impression that you are no longer interested in the candidate. As employers are assessing candidates' reputation from the moment a resume is submitted, candidates are making the same assessments of the potential employer throughout the interviewing process. A streamlined hiring approach is another avenue for a company to brand itself, outside of social media and other marketing efforts, as an organization that puts its employees first. A swift hiring process facilitated by company representatives that are prepared, organized, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about open roles, only helps solidify the culture that the prospective hire can expect. The most successful companies realize that recruitment is not about finding candidates that perfectly match job descriptions. It is about matching individuals who have the experience, skills, maturity, and cultural fit to impact the company and lead it into the future. Most job-related skills can be taught within three to six months, but intelligence and leadership skills are something candidates either have or don't. It is up to hiring managers and highly-skilled recruiters to be able to discern whether applicants have the potential to not only fit into a given role, but also become strong leaders in the company. Rob Romaine is president of Management Recruiters International, Inc., branded as MRINetwork®, a subsidiary of CDI Corporation. By learning to qualify and recognize candidates who can become "perfect" employees, organizations have the opportunity for greater success in hiring and retaining talent. Talent Acquisition