Recruiting Strategies in Hiring and Retaining Employees

The need to hire an employee can arise from various events such as voluntary or involuntary termination, increased workload, or restructuring of a department or position, resulting in the need for additional skills and/or abilities that current employees do not possess.

Needs Assessment
The first step in the recruitment process should be to evaluate the need to hire a new employee. In the case of an opening resulting from a termination, the company should consider:

•  Whether the job responsibilities of that opening can be absorbed by other positions.
•  Whether the position should be eliminated.
•  Changing the position to a part-time or temporary status.
•  Restructuring the department to accommodate the changes without adding staff.

Record Keeping
It is critical to maintain accurate records of the requirements for the open position (i.e., a current job description), recruitment methods used, applications received, candidates interviewed, candidate selected and reason for selection.

In the event that a claim is filed against a company for discriminatory hiring practices, the records mentioned above will provide evidence of the valid selection criteria used by the company to make their hiring decision. In order to reduce the risks of discriminatory hiring practices, companies should use a variety of recruitment strategies.

Recruitment Program
A successful recruitment program will ensure a good pool of qualified candidates to choose from. This will increase the chances of selecting an individual with the skills, knowledge and abilities to become a successful employee and a valuable asset to your company. The quality, not quantity, of applicants should be the focus of the recruiting process.

All individuals who will be involved in the selection process must have a clear understanding of the essential functions of the job and the qualifications required to successfully perform the job.

Recruitment Strategies
In developing an effective recruitment strategy, consideration should be given to company and
affirmative action goals and objectives and should be tailored to the companies needs. This can be accomplished by:

• Identifying and projecting staffing needs by department.
• Developing a budget to support projected recruitment activity for the year.
• Developing formal written procedures for the recruiting process to include job requisition forms accompanied by a current job description.
•  Making sure that everyone who might have contact with a prospective candidate is aware of and trained on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requirements and restrictions.
•  Using various recruitment techniques, rather than a single method.
•  Identifying the internal and external recruitment methods, which will be most effective in attracting qualified candidates.

Attracting qualified candidates can be challenging and often requires creativity and planning. When selecting a recruitment strategy, the following factors should be considered:

•  The company location.
•  Labor market conditions.
•  Level of the position to be filled.
•  Pay and benefits.
•  Company promotion policies.
•  Time and budget constraints.
•  Affirmative action goals.
•  Labor union obligations (if any).

   Dr. Marc Clark, CHA, CHRE, CHE, CHO, President & CEO at SmartBizzOnLine.com