5 Hiring Resolutions to Make Your New Year Amazing

The new year is the best time for stepping back and taking stock of your company’s policies and procedures. For example, you may ask yourself if your hiring procedures truly match your priorities. If the answer is no, then there’s no better time than the dawning of the new year to aim for better alignment between goals and outcomes. Here, we’ll offer five hiring resolution suggestions to ensure your hiring and retention plans are the best they can be in 2018.

1. Standardize your hiring process to avoid overemphasizing your “gut feeling.”

If you really like someone in an interview, you shouldn’t be so sure that they’ll be the right candidate for the position. Instead of following your instinct too closely, put in place standardized processes to make sure the candidate you like is the best for the job. For example, ask all candidates the same questions, score them on a pre-prescribed set of criteria and know how you’ll eliminate candidates before you even start your interviews.

2. When posting jobs, note the position’s short- and long-term goals.

Attracting top candidates can come down to the job posting. Candidates like to know how their position will fit into the company’s major goals, so be specific in crafting your position statement to draw connections between the position’s responsibilities and the company’s goals more broadly. Further, describe both short-term and long-term goals you have in mind for the position.

3. Use data to optimize your hiring timeline.

There is certainly a sweet spot when it comes to hiring time. If you take too long to hire, you’ll likely have to solve problems yourself. If you hire too quickly, however, you may not be recruit top talent. Review your hiring times to see how long you’ll need for recruitment and determine whether you need to adjust your timeline.

4. Consider new methods to retain your top talent.

Once you hire a candidate, you want to make sure that candidate performs well and commits to your company. Consider factors that cause candidates difficulty in committing to your firm, such as a lack of mentoring, a failure to describe the mission and missed opportunities for professional development.

5. Review your onboarding procedures.

Consider the effectiveness of your current procedures for onboarding talent. To see where new hires are not being integrated into the company, consider factors such as your 90-day hire failure rate and your termination rates for first-year hires. Once you see how you’re faring in terms of retention, you can better pinpoint what tweaks your processes need.

If your hiring and retention process needs an overhaul, but you’re not sure where to start, CareerMoves, LLC can help. For the past 17 years, we’ve helped companies throughout Connecticut find the ideal candidates for their positions. We know the best practices for finding the right candidates, so let us share our expertise with you.