You wouldn’t move in with someone without dating them first – so why should you accept a job after just an hour’s Zoom call? There’s been a lot of chat about recruitment lately – through some recruitment I’ve been supporting, with contacts about the recruitment challenges in the sector or going through recruitment myself. There’s no doubt the charity sector is really struggling to recruit, so what do I think would make the difference?
Give Them Access
An hour’s Zoom call is not a lot of time. And it’s even shorter when someone’s using it to decide whether it’s right to risk their livelihood, adjust their caring responsibilities, change their commute, move their pension etc because of your organisation. It’s a huge life decision and it would be great to see more organisation reflect that – information sessions, open days, opportunities for informal conversations before AND after applying. Publish a Team Guide or similar for more of an insider’s guide to the organisation. Respect the space and time needed for you to find out about each other.
Give Them Time
If you’re asking questions – consider giving them in advance. How many times in your workplace do people not have the opportunity to check a policy, run something by a manager, sound out a colleague or even Google something?! Is the job ever going to require a test of memory or pre-prepared answers? Reflect real life better in your recruitment and have at least some questions sent in advance.
Make it a Conversation
Great conversations are two-way. I don’t know about you but I’m not at my best in a formal interview with an expressionless panel (I’ll never forget that interview) – I want to engage and connect. I want to feel warmth and encouragement from the people I’m talking to, because what faith have I got in the organisation’s culture otherwise? I want to see a good fit from the start of the process, I don’t want to roll the dice and risk finding out too late that it’s not going to work.
Give Them the Microscope
This isn’t just about an organisation scrutinising an individual. It’s also about giving individuals opportunities to scrutinise the organisation – the structure, the culture, the strategy, the policies, the governance, the finances, the leadership. Expect and encourage lots of questions from candidates.
Give Them Information
How many organisations pre-publish key policies like flexible working, maternity/paternity/adoption or study leave? If you’re not proud of your policies, why have you got them? Informed decisions require decent disclosure. Giving people core information upfront demonstrates openness and invites people into that conversation of what working for an organisation is really like.
Ask Questions That Add Value
Whether it’s the application criteria, tasks set or interview questions, if an organisation can’t outline specifically why it relates to better performance in the role, why are they asking it? Does a role really, honestly require a degree? Do 10 “tell us a time when” questions give a genuine representation of that person? Swapping them for something like tasks or scenarios means you’re far more likely to get a genuine insight into their approach and less likely to get a pre-planned answer that’s regurgitated on the day.
Make it Real
A set of criteria is a tough way to interpret a job. It’s better if you can categorise these into core areas of responsibility, and it’s better still if you can weight these to demonstrate how a role is split. But the magic happens when you share what someone will actually be doing – when you take the time to outline some of the tasks that they can expect to be doing, or even key projects that are coming up. There’s also a case study of a service, a blog from a colleague or a video diary from a manager – they’re all about making it real.
Summary
Ultimately a recruitment process reflects on the whole organisation. Rushed, scrappy and disorganised? Welcome to the organisation. Recruitment is an opportunity to set the tone from the beginning and it’s never been more important in the midst of a huge recruitment crisis. Right now there’s a huge opportunity to exploit this– to be the ones that offer that openness and transparency, that provide a welcoming and inclusive process, that thrive on questions and scrutiny and that have great conversations built on respect and curiosity. It might not be easy but it’s possible and it might just be the way to stand out in the recruiter crowd.