Introduction
Hiring decisions are of utmost value as it is associated with turnover, revenue generation, and client retention. Approximately 13% of all employees worldwide, regardless of their organizations, are genuinely committed to their jobs (Mann & Harter, 2016). Moreover, the turnover rate is nearly 20% for several industries, and in the U.S. only, the associated annual cost exceeds $5 million (Mann & Harter, 2016). All of this is because companies are using outdated practices, old processes, and irrelevant data to respond to today’s demanding talent market. Therefore, this paper aims to examine and review the overall talent selection process and establish the latest hiring trends. It also examines the unique hiring strategies used by non-profit organizations.
Talent Selection Process
There are five elements of recruitment and selection (hiring recommendations, advance questions, interviews, candidate evaluations, and resume analysis processes), and each has a contribution towards finding the most suitable candidates for a given post.
Hiring recommendations
A company needs to consider where their hires come from; that is, the source often used for job searching and recruiting. According to Jobvite (2017), career sites were the most often source used for job searching (27.35%). It is followed by job boards (18.76%), referrals (15.83%), internal hires (15.25%), and lastly, agencies (4.52%).
Resume analysis process, advanced questions, and interviews
An employee profile also referred to as an employee specification, is used to identify the characteristics of the individual(s) that are to fill a given position. Unlike job descriptions that have different information on every position, in the course of an interview, a diverse employee profile does not hold a high significance. The aim of both a resume and an interview is usually to help determine the most suitable candidate for the job. However, in formulating interview questions, hiring managers should identify the most critical attributes for a position, and formulate questions from each selected competency. Overall, both the resume and interview questions entail consideration of the following elements:
- Education qualifications or training – Are there particular educational or training requirements?
- Work experience – Is the candidate required to have a specific level of previous or relevant work experience?
- Skills and knowledge – Are there particular skills or knowledge required for the given position?
- Physical attributes – What are the physical implications of the position and how is the candidate equipped to handle them?
- Personality or disposition – What type of personality is most appropriate for the position?
- Communication skills – Does the position require regular communication with the public?
- Personal circumstances – Does the position encompass unsocial working hours or maybe travel?
Candidate evaluations
Candidate evaluations are centered on the assessment of an individual’s competency with regard to a given position. This is based on their performance on the resume analysis process and interview. This comprises their behavioral, situational, and general performance.
Talent Selection Recommendations
In 2018, companies around the globe had been observed to revamp their hiring efforts, and this is because most hiring managers perceive that there is a shortage of qualified talent (Career Builder, 2019). Therefore, to succeed in the candidate-oriented job market, recruiters have formulated different hiring strategies, thereby adapting their current hiring strategy to the latest trends. The primary selection techniques employed in candidate evaluation include phone screenings, structured interviews, and references. Other common techniques consist of behavioral, one-on-one, and panel interviews. Nevertheless, the least common techniques comprise work or audition samples and stress interviews.
Moreover, future recruiting is expected to primarily align with the selection of more diverse candidates (Career Builder, 2019). Companies are and will be required to provide equal opportunities to everyone regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, and veteran status. This is followed by an increased emphasis on soft skills assessments. The third is an investment in innovative interviewing tools.
Traditional interviews have been identified to be ineffective in the assessment of candidates in areas such as evaluating candidate soft skills, understanding candidate weaknesses, and interviewer bias (Career Builder, 2019). Hence, recruiters are using new interviewing platforms and tools, artificial intelligence-enabled, to perform evaluations within less time. Finally, the advent of big data has made it possible to track and predict hiring outcomes.
Industry Averages
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (2016), the top three selection techniques used to evaluate executive-level candidates include structured interviews, references, and one-on-one interviews. However, those for the middle-management level candidates comprised structured interviews, knowledge tests, and phone screenings. Lastly, with regards to non-management level candidates, structured interviews, phone screenings, and references are most popular. Moreover, an average acceptance rate of 89% was identified in the case that an employment offer was made to a candidate (Society for Human Resource Management, 2016). The positions with the principal responsibility of making the verbal offer are the HR professionals, hiring managers ad recruiters.
It is essential to note that only 23% of companies evaluated the quality of hire, in which they used the following metrics: on-the-job performance as appraised by the hiring manager, retention rate, performance appraisal scores, and 360-feedback scores (Society for Human Resource Management, 2016). Privately owned for-profit organizations mainly used these metrics. In government agencies, promotion rates were included. Furthermore, the turnover rate within six months of tenure was 32%, whereby government agencies were observed to have lower six-month turnover rates as compared to privately and publicly owned for-profit organizations (Society for Human Resource Management, 2016).
Employment Strategies in Anti-Bullying Non-Profit Organizations
The logistics of non-profit employment strategies differ from those embraced by the public and for-profit organizations. This is because non-profit hiring presents unique challenges to the human resource department and recruiters as they try to attract and find candidates to join their organization. They often lack the financial resources that other companies use to attract top talent. Moreover, ideal candidates must not only possess the essential skills and experience but also believe in the organization’s mission and align with its culture. These two factors emphasize the importance of such organizations identifying the best strategies of sourcing candidates, and how to entice them to accept job offers.
Therefore, to attract and hire top talent, non-profit organizations can leverage best practices by including their mission statement and core values in the job description. Additionally, they can promote open positions through multiple recruiting channels to increase their reach to potential candidates and recruit through referrals. They should also embrace proactive hiring and streamline the hiring process. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (2016), non-profits are more likely to take longer to start screening applications after a job posting. Finally, non-profits could outsource the hiring process to non-profit recruiting firms as they have expertise in quickly identifying and placing ideal candidates. Currently, the top five selection techniques utilized by non-profits include references, structured interviews, phone screening, panel interviews, one-on-one interviews, and behavioral interviews.
Conclusion
Organizations need to align their hiring strategies with the latest trends as individuals have evolving desires when it comes to employment. By embracing current employment strategies right from the talent selection process to placement, companies can attract and hire top talent. However, non-profits have to utilize techniques different from public and for-profit organizations as they are faced with financial limitations, and the hiring process is centered on mission alignment.
References
Career Builder. (2019). Survey from CareerBuilder reveals half of employees feel they have “Just a Job” amid heightened career expectation. Web.
Jobvite. (2017). 2017 recruiting funnel benchmark report: Analysis and actionable tips to improve recruiting performance. Web.
Mann, A., & Harter, J. (2016). The worldwide employee engagement crisis. Gallup. Web.
Society for Human Resource Management. (2016). Talent acquisition: Selection. Web.