Achieving successful business growth: Finding the right person for the right job (page 1 of 3)

After nearly a three-year "forced vacation", the job market in many countries is making some slow and deliberate steps towards recovery. For those charged with recruiting and ushering candidates through the hiring process, the knife cuts both ways in that when the going is good, attracting the best can be challenging. Conversely, when the hunting grounds are teeming with candidates, finding the right person can be equally difficult.

Worse still, after the hiring cycle ends and the offer is accepted, you may realize you've taken on the wrong person for the job. The domino effect of a poor hiring decision is going to affect your deliverables, your budget, and, ultimately, organizational goals.

As might be expected, the Internet is playing a major role in the hiring process. The Internet continues to impact nearly every facet of how corporations identify, interview, hire, enroll and manage new employees — and it will only become more prevalent.

According to a report released by the Pew Internet Project, on an average day, more than 4 million people search out new job opportunities online, which is 33 percent higher than the daily job-search traffic two years ago.

Timing Is Everything, Isn't It?
Recruiting cycles are not insignificant and it takes time before you can evaluate whether or not you made the right decision. Some companies attempt to curb the potential losses in the form of 90-day "expectation reviews."

Still, recognizing an incorrect hiring decision and reaching a mutually agreeable separation package can be complicated and costly, particularly because at that point in time you've already invested significant time and money in achieving productivity from an individual and their role. Investing more time and money to recruit a new candidate puts you even further behind your immediate and long-term project goals.

Once you've traveled so far down the path, the questions extend beyond "how crucial is that person to the particular job?" or "do I have open head count to replace that person?" At that stage—the stage where many companies find themselves today—you need to be asking yourself if you really have the correct automated processes in place to find, recruit, and retain the right people? And, am I putting my company's best face forward with a Website that both pushes out and pulls back information about jobs and recruits?

Territorial Trappings
Traditional recruiting practices (cabinet-recruiting) have long been hampered by the inability to share information and documents between recruiters.

In the past, many recruiters were forced to keep a set of resumes in their filing cabinets, providing zero visibility and sharing between one another — resulting in redundant hires, forgotten candidates, missed opportunities, and inefficiencies. Companies have learned over the years that gaining a centralized view will never be possible if they don't focus on introducing a systematic and centralized approach to recruiting.

Pulling Back On a Push Technology
There's no doubt that in the 15 or so years since the Internet has taken on mass appeal, the process of hiring has shifted dramatically. Job hunters expect employers to be putting their best face forward in the form of a Website with updated job postings and content, and resume management capabilities.

Popularity amongst the masses doesn't always translate into stealth in business processes, and certainly many HR professionals can relate to the intense frustration caused by attempting to fit contemporary demands into outdated hiring practices.