In the current competitive environment, the selection of personnel has a strategic relevance in the company that nobody can deny. Increasingly, organizations are aware that they need to have a committed and talented human team, since this is essential to achieve the planned goals and stay at the forefront in your sector.
Moreover, the fact of having work teams made up of competent and diverse personnel not only impacts productivity and promotes the achievement of objectives, but also improves the work environment and even its organizational culture. Turning the company that achieves it into a ideal place to work, something that contributes to attract and retain talent.
We are going to see how the selection process can be optimized to make it even more effective, and that the search and hiring of new workers becomes one of the most important steps towards the success of the business.
Table of Contents
Clearly define profiles and competencies in the selection process
One of the most common complaints from those who are participating in a selection process, and something that especially affects how they live the experience, is that recruitment can take too long.
It is clear that it is not always possible to fill a position from one day to the next, but spreading the selection over several weeks seems to have become commonplace. In some cases, the vacancy can take months to fill.
Frequently, the fact that this procedure takes so long is due to an incorrect definition of key concepts such as the profile that is being sought and the skills that the person occupying the position should have. If recruiters don't know what the company wants, how are they going to find it quickly and effectively?
One of the ways to improve the selection process is to start with the basics: if a vacancy arises, the entire Human Resources team must be very clear about the job position to be filled, what the profile is and what skills the person occupying it should have.
the profile
The profile is a description as detailed as possible of the responsibilities, tasks, and specific requirements that are associated with a job. The better defined it is, the easier it is to identify the right candidate to fill the position.
Profiles are usually created when the company starts its life, but can be created later if it has not been done at that time. The basic information that must appear in each of them is:
- Position Title.
- functions assigned to it.
- Responsibilities that it implies.
- Educational and experience requirements to fill it.
- Technical skills and competencies required.
- Soft skills.
- Other characteristics that are considered relevant.
The skills
Competences are the set of skills, knowledge, behaviors and attributes that it is necessary to have to be able to effectively perform the tasks assigned to a particular job.
If the recruiter knows what skills the person who is going to hold a position in the organization needs to have, it will be a little easier for him to make the evaluation and rule out all those who do not have them.
Clearly defining profiles and skills improves communication with candidates and helps streamline the selection process and hiring decision-making.
Prepare short job offers
Writing the job offer is considered one of the least important parts of the selection process, and it turns out that it is the opposite. Because how the ad is written will depend on whether more or fewer candidates are presented and whether they adapt better or worse to the profile sought.
However, a good job offer does not necessarily have to be long. What's more, job ads work better the shorter they are.
In the age of information, we have all become accustomed to scan more than read the content we see online, which implies that candidates will not read even half of the content of a long job offer. On the contrary, a short ad, grabs attention immediately and is read in its entirety. This makes it easier to understand the key requirements of the position.
The aspiring candidate can quickly find out if he has the skills and competencies that are requested, because you will have understood well what is being asked. Consequently, the CVs that will arrive will be of more suitable profiles.
The offer should be brief, but not incomplete. If the previous step of defining the profiles and competencies has been taken, a short advertisement can be made that is as concise as possible.
Value personal abilities over experience
Soft skills are increasingly important in the personnel selection process. Today, a candidate with an open mind and willing to continue learning and adapt to changes that may arise is much more valuable to the company than a person with extensive training and many years of experience.
Because the technical skills to develop a job can be learned quickly. Instead, personal abilities such as leadership, a positive attitude, a good work ethic, or the ability to work in a team are much more difficult to develop through specific training.
By focusing selection on personal capabilities, it is easier to find employees than identify with the values of the company and can be quickly integrated into it. This will decrease the turnover rate in the first few months after hiring.
In addition, a person with certain personal skills (those that are necessary should also be defined in the job profile) tends to be more motivated with their work and shows greater commitment to the company, which translates into better job performance in the long run.
On the other hand, leaving hard skills a bit aside in favor of soft skills contributes to work teams are much more diverse. The result is a company with a greater ability to adapt to changes thanks to its highly efficient work teams.
Ask the right questions in the job interview
The job interview is one of the most important parts of the personnel selection process. Because it is through it that you can really get to know the candidate and what they could contribute to the organization if they are hired.
The basic information about your training and your work experience is already provided by the resume, so the interview must go further and must focus on knowing those personal abilities to which we have just referred.
To achieve this, the first step is to make a good preparation of the interview. By reviewing the curriculum, you can find out the most relevant aspects of the candidate's work experience, which provides ideas about In which points it is important to deepen through the questions that are going to be raised.
It is recommended to start with Open questions in which the applicant can freely express their experience and professional achievements. This is a good way to get to know him a little better and, in addition, value a soft skill as important as communication skills.
From then on, it is convenient to carry out situational questions or questions based on the candidate's specific experiences, to inquire about their key competencies and skills. For example, “how would you resolve a conflict with a partner?”
At the end of the interview you should know:
- The experience and technical capabilities of the candidate.
- Your soft skills.
- Your motivation for employment.
- Their cultural compatibility with the organization.
Request feedback on the personnel selection process
Those who are most qualified to assess how the personnel selection process has been are those who have participated in it. Hence, to improve it, it is important to have the opinion of the applicants, because through it You can find weak points that must be corrected and strong points that can be strengthened.
The right time to ask for this feedback is once the chosen person has been hired, so no one will feel uncomfortable having to give an opinion about the company and the answers obtained will be honest.
It is necessary to decide which communication channel is going to be used to ask the questions. Today, the simplest and least invasive is a online survey.
It is important to raise clear and specific questions that help obtain information about those aspects that concern the organization. For example, how would you rate the clarity of the profile description and job requirements? What aspect of the personnel selection process do you think could be modified?
It is essential guarantee anonymity of those who respond, and inform them of this condition. This way they will feel more free to express themselves.
Finally, once the answer is received, it is necessary to thank the candidates who have taken the time to provide their opinion.
With these five simple tips that any company can start applying today, you can make the personnel selection process a much more positive experience for candidates, and be more effective. As a result, companies will fill vacancies sooner, and will be confident that they have found the perfect worker for the position.
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