How to speed up your recruitment process and bring on the best talent

Is the war for talent still on? Apparently, it is according to this thought leadership piece from Doug McKay at Collingwood. Over the past few years, we have certainly seen companies placing greater levels of focus and resources on finding and retaining top talent. Employers need people with certain skills, and with those skills remaining challenging to find, some companies have decided to instead look for potential in candidates. Some of the strategies companies have been using to attract the best and brightest have been:

1. opening up to a broader talent pool
2. being more willing to consider potential than requiring experience
3. seeking the right combination of wages, benefits and flexibility 

While sourcing and engaging candidates remains a critical first step, this article explains that this is the easier part. The harder part is the impact you make on the candidate and the speed at which you can move them through your hiring process to a job offer. Here is an example of the need for speed and how companies are making the candidate journey short and sweet:

"One candidate we recently introduced has been through a recruitment process with a large global technology business in 4 days!! Sadly, the process hasn't involved any human contact, which I strongly believe is critical, and all interviews have been via Skype. That said, the company's interest and intent has blown the candidate away. He feels loved and wanted!"

Putting forth some effort to evaluate your candidate journey (journey map) might allow you to gain a better understanding of the candidate experience and the time that journey takes, could lead to insights that would help to create a shorter conversion time-frame and subsequently improve your candidate conversion percentage.  

 So, how can global mobility support? Here is a list of ideas to consider:

• Recruiter training: educate recruiters on the value of the relocation process, the kinds of information that is needed to expedite the process within the organization and provide a much better understanding of what the experience will be for the candidate. Make sure that recruiters have a "go to" contact that can help them be effective and efficient.
• Recruiter materials and documentation: design materials specifically for recruiters to use. Work with them to understand how they work and when relocation comes up what they need to move forward.
• Consider technology options: Look for options that are on the market that are designed to support a candidate that would relocate. The key is to minimize their reluctance to relocate and make sure they gain an understanding of how they will be supported through the process.

Try reading this for some further details on moving candidates through your talent pipelines: 

5 Global Mobility Strategies to Attract (and Keep!) Top Talent