Human Resources is one of those departments that get formed in up-and-coming companies out of necessity and the need for compliance with the state laws and regulations. Usually, and especially in a small company, HR boasts no more than a single person on whose shoulders rests a difficult and cumbersome challenge – to manage existing employees and bring the top talent into the company.
Needless to say, Human Resources is a crucial element of your long-term success, which is why investing in the development of HR should be one of your top priorities. Most importantly, you need to implement some of the best HR practices in order to drive the hiring process forward, and change your entire company culture for the better. Here’s what you need to do.
Optimizing recruitment and selection
First things first, let’s take a look at how to optimize recruitment and selection. Keep in mind though, this requires your HR staff to implement the best practices that we will discuss later in the article as well, as all of these solutions need to work together in harmony to create a sustainable hiring and HR process in general. In essence, your job is to find innovative ways (for your company) to streamline the hiring procedure without sacrificing the quality of the process.
The two best strategies you can try are to conduct panel-based interviews and to improve your advertising for job openings. When it comes to interviews, Google made a study that showed that the ideal number of panelists and interviews should be four or even less, as there is a rate of diminishing returns the more interviews you conduct – use that to your advantage.
When it comes to job advertisement, it’s not just about posting a few social media ads, it’s also about effective talent prospecting and reach-out. Your HR staff needs to dig deep into the core of your community and scour the online world to find the top professionals that would make fine additions to your team, and then reach out to them for an interview.
Emphasizing transparency and honesty
Honesty and transparency are two crucial elements of a successful hiring process, but also a successful employee retention strategy. There’s a need for your HR staff to be as open about the current state of the company as possible towards potential employees as well as existing ones, in order to increase the brand’s reputation, and boost employee trust. Encourage honest feedback and communication, and you will have made your employees feel valued and respected.
To achieve these goals, your HR professionals will need to promote efficient and effective communication in the workplace, they will need to maintain honesty and transparency during the hiring process (and beyond), and sell the idea of a positive company culture that will inspire top-talented individuals to accept the job offer. After that, it will be up to you as a manager and a leader to live up to these promises.
Complying with government regulations
The most important best practice is for the HR department (and your entire company) to stay compliant with the hiring regulations in your state or country. It is especially important to stay compliant with the latest disability regulations because you want to avoid any chance of discrimination in the workplace or during the hiring process, and thus prevent legal disputes. You can’t choose not to hire people with disabilities, because that’s illegal unless they are literally unfit to perform a certain task, so it’s best to research the regulations and ensure total compliance.
The same goes for all special groups as well as the general regulations governing the recruitment and hiring processes. Luckily, your HR professionals are well-versed and experienced in these areas, so you should have no problem staying on the right side of the law. Just make sure that your employees are aware of this as well.
A focus on employee training and development
The modern employee doesn’t want to do the same job fort the rest of their life, and if you don’t provide a strong incentive for them to stick around, you’re going to lose them to your competitors. And you should know by now that long-term business success depends on your ability to retain the top talent in your company.
Make it known to your potential employees that you offer comprehensive career-advancement programs, as well as training and education that will help them grow professionally over time in order to motivate them accept the job and think of your brand as the ideal place to be. Offer the same to your veteran employees to banish every though of a “dead end” job.
Innovating the termination process
And finally, when the employee does decide to leave, or when you decide to let them go, it’s essential that you conduct a thorough exit interview. This process is not directly related to your hiring process, but it will influence your future hiring practices, as it will allow you to gather the insights necessary to optimize recruiting and retention even further.
Wrapping up
Human Resources is one of those departments that don’t seem all that important to inexperienced business leaders, but in reality, this department has the power and potential to shape the future of your company. Implement these best practices yourself in order to drive the hiring process forward, and improve your long-term retention strategy.