Understanding the importance of the interview process is crucial for recruiting organizations. Building a better talent pool is about leaders and managers at all levels embracing a talent mindset, a deep-seated belief that having better talent at all levels is how you outperform your competitors. Once a manager believes that talent is their responsibility, the other imperatives seem the logical and natural thing to do.
Once the right candidate is identified, it’s critical to persuade them to join the organization or team. You have to woo them and leave them in no uncertain terms that they are ‘The One’. The organization can find the right candidate only if they themselves are convinced that the role is the best for that individual. During the interview process make sure to:
- Give an opportunity for the candidates to promote themselves
- Help to accelerate their learning
- Guide to match strategy with situation
- Help achieve an early win for morale
- Negotiate success
- Achieve alignment
- Help build their team
- Support coalitions
- Provide balance
- Expedite everyone
Best practices to attracting and motivating the best people include offering them a career path and culture fit, understanding their motivations and attending to their concerns. Here are the Loftus Bradford do’s and don’ts in recruiting high potentials:
Do’s
– Hook, challenge and scrub
– Think of it as any normal, consenting relationship, a two-way street
– Hook the candidate on company culture and show them around the office
– Introduce similar high calibre people and arrange meetings with Talent Magnets
– Make sure the interview process is very detailed and meticulous
– Make sure the interview process is fast and you keep the candidate engaged
– The best practice is that a candidate meets four experienced assessors of talent
– Eliminate compensation as a decision factor. Offer competitive and compelling compensation. No more, no less. Align with market standards as per role and responsibility
– Ensure the candidate is interviewed by peers of the hiring manager and his superior to have diversity of opinions and sponsorship for future roles
– Share more information/details with the recruiter and the candidate to help hook the candidate
Don’ts
– A universal truth is that time kills all deals. People take a long time to say no and a short time to say yes
– Manage time/process expectations and stick to them, it sets the right tone
– Do not cancel, move or miss interviews
– Interviews as soon as possible with the Hiring Manager, instead of looping high-potential candidates through Talent Acquisition, then HR, peers…
– Hiring Managers should be aware of candidates being headhunted and not ask why they want to move or why they have applied
– Do not rush or drag the interview. It’s good to test candidates and sell to them. Find a good balance
– Do not tell candidates that they will receive an offer. It affects motivation and raises their negotiation power
– Do not drag feedback or decision-making process
Companies should take a step back and ask themselves: What are we doing right and what are we doing wrong? They should then unlearn the bad habits and learn the good ones. Small changes in the way companies interview can have a massive impact; attracting the right talent and have direct results on the company culture and performance/results.
