The old saying ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ undoubtedly still holds true today, particularly with regard to recruitment. For employers, snap judgements must be made in choosing the right fit for their organisation from a pool of prospective candidates, each with their own unique skills, experience, qualifications and personality traits. From the candidate’s perspective, one or two brief discussions generally form the basis of the decision to accept or decline a job offer.
With so much riding on this initial impression, how can organisations make the most of it?
A recent trend has seen numerous employers throughout the UK ditch traditional interview processes in favour of new initiatives which provide more opportunities for interviewees to interact with existing employees. While it’s nice to meet the Managing Director, HR Manager, Department Manager etc; would candidates rather be introduced to the people who they’ll actually be working with on a daily basis and vice versa? Many companies certainly think so with these new initiatives expected to simplify onboarding processes and in the long-term, improve staff retention rates!
Employee engagement masterstroke or recipe for disaster? Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of involving more staff in the hiring process.
We’ll start with the positives!
Ice Breaker – In addition to easing those infamous ‘first day at a new job’ nerves, spending some time with potential future colleagues allows candidates to get a feel for the culture of the workplace. Furthermore, existing staff members could provide useful feedback regarding who appears to be the right fit for the team.
Effective Motivator – From an employee engagement perspective, including staff members in key strategic decision-making processes such as recruitment can be a strong motivation driver. Not only does it demonstrate the value which the company places on their opinions; they may also feel a sense of pride or accomplishment should the candidate which they recommended succeed.
Better Informed Hiring Decision – Interviews can be something of a pressure cooker and even the most qualified of candidates can endure ‘off days’. Moreover, some people are just better at interviews than others and may come out on top despite not being the best man (or woman) for the job. In addition to the old tried and trusted qualifications, experience and competency tasks, seeing how interviewees interact with existing employees enables managers to make more informed hiring decisions.
Behold the negatives…
Bias / Conflict – Disagreements over candidates and bias towards friends or family members could potentially create conflict between colleagues. In addition, managers may be accused of favouritism depending on who’s recommendation is employed.
Perfectionism – Employers may overcomplicate the whole recruitment process in search of the ‘perfect’ candidate. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that an interviewee will meet all the desired qualifications and experience criteria AND strike up an instant rapport with your existing staff. The odds that all staff members will agree is also pretty low.
Is it a little OTT? – Can you really decide if someone’s personality is an ideal fit in half an hour or so? Many traditionalists believe that adding ‘meet and greet’ activities with existing staff at the interview stage is unnecessary; while others are of the opinion that candidates may feel a little overawed by this mob-handed approach to interviews.
Are you looking to streamline your workforce management processes?
Developed by industry-leading Time and Attendance systems provider ELF Productivity, Ceequel® Employee Management Software has enabled countless organisations throughout the UK to become more productive and profitable.
For more information, please contact ELF Productivity. A range of brochures are also available to download from our website, to view our downloads section please click here.
