Finding the best people to work for your company who fit well within the culture and have the necessary experience can be challenging – but the benefits will have a hugely positive outcome for your organisation. To give yourself the best possible chance of finding and hiring excellent employees, it’s important to have a hiring strategy that sees you being thorough and consistent across your organisation.

As a trusted partner to employers since 1976, Bayside Group’s experienced consultants have pulled together five strategies to help give you the best chance of finding the kind of talent that allows your business to grow.

Shift your perspective

Traditionally when one thinks of the interview process we look at finding the best candidate but all too often forget that we need to make role, and indeed the company, appealing to the candidate.

This is particularly true if you’re hiring for a more senior position, or one with few experienced candidates. In this instance, the impression you make during the interview is just as important, if not more so, than the impression the candidate makes. Remember, you are hoping to attract the best and most experienced people to the role, and they are unlikely to want to work for you if the initial interaction is less than satisfactory.

For this reason, it is important to be open and friendly while still maintaining appropriate professionalism. This will put the candidate as ease, so you can get greater insight into their motivators and drivers. It also pays to highlight the benefits the candidate stands to gain from working within the company, and even reiterate why you yourself enjoy working there.

Prioritise decision making

It’s true that the hiring process can take some time, however if you wait too long to inform a successful candidate there’s every chance they will lose interest – or be offered a job elsewhere. As recruiters, this is something we see happen all too often to our clients.

To avoid this, it is important to have everything in place beforehand, so that the hiring process and decisions around candidates can be streamlined. This will not only give you the best chance of the candidate accepting your offer, but will also allow them to begin working for your company faster.

Carefully consider your salary range

Have you heard the saying you get what you pay for? Well when it comes to recruiting quality talent, this age-old adage usually rings true.

It is often better to have a broader salary range based on a candidate’s experience, so you are better able to respond more suitably to the candidate pool. Depending on what kind of salary the candidate is asking for, you can then adjust your offer accordingly.

Match organisational benefits with your audience

If you are an organisation with a range of employee benefits, consider which of these will appeal most to each individual candidate. For example, a car park means nothing to someone who doesn’t have a car, and career development may not be appealing to someone at the height of their career.

Listen carefully to what the candidate says they are looking for in their next job and tailor the organisational benefits accordingly. This will position both the role and company seem like the best fit for the candidate.

Place emphasis on onboarding

So you have hired an excellent new employee, but they don’t appear to be performing as quickly as you’d like. This isn’t uncommon, as Hiring Managers are often so busy they forget to make time for thorough onboarding, which builds connection and ensures training and support are in place. All of these are crucial when initially building your new employee’s capabilities and giving them the best chance of hitting the ground running.

Furthermore, if a new employee feels unsupported, confused about their role or even bored, there’s a chance that they could resign within the first few months, meaning you will be forced to undergo the entire recruitment process again. Studies have found that up to 20% of all new hires actually resign within the first 45 days of their role , representing an enormous loss in terms of the time and money expended on recruitment.

For this reason, it’s important to have an effective and consistent onboarding strategy in place. It will keep your new employees engaged and give them the best chance of starting their new role strong.

For more information regarding recruiting for your company and interview tips from our professional consultants, download our Employer Interview Guide here. Designed to ensure Hiring Managers engage the best people for their team, it covers interview techniques and structure, asking questions and employment law.