Hiring new talent can be challenging without a plan outlining the steps necessary for sourcing, reviewing, and selecting job seekers. A recruitment plan is your guiding light to filling open positions with the most suitable candidates who will be perfect cultural fits and help your company grow.
That plan should outline the entire recruitment planning process, helping you hire top talent, cut costs, save time, and eliminate the stress of filling vacancies at the last minute.
Here are the essential steps to recruiting qualified candidates and reaping the benefits of data-driven recruitment.
1. Identify hiring needs.
Assess your company’s goals to determine which departments might need strengthening. For instance, increasing revenue might require more salespeople, while revamping a particular product might call for new product designers or developers.
A skills gap analysis will help you identify your team’s strengths and weaknesses and understand which lacking skills to address in job ads. You might also uncover an upskilling opportunity to promote an existing employee.
Identifying likely attrition and turnover is another way to forecast future hiring needs and improve recruitment strategies.
2. Determine job requirements.
Once you know which vacancies to fill and the skills your company needs, determine the requirements for each open position.
Whether you create new or enhance existing roles, define new hires’ daily responsibilities to write accurate job descriptions and attract suitable candidates. Consider many other things if you are hiring for overnight remote jobs.
3. Prepare compelling job descriptions.
Your job descriptions must inform potential applicants about their responsibilities, duties, qualification requirements, and skills necessary for the job. They must be accurate, specific about the working conditions and employee benefits, and highlight the advantages of joining your team.
Injecting your company’s unique personality into every job description will help you attract ideal cultural fits. Be inviting and inclusive, and share your company’s mission, vision, and core values to make applying for the job irresistible.
Don’t forget to specify the application deadline, how job seekers should apply, and which documents to submit (e.g., resumes, cover letters, and references).
4. Set the recruitment budget.
Your recruitment budget will help you determine which talent sources and tools you’ll need to attract, evaluate, and hire candidates.
Besides job ads, you might need to pay a recruitment agency or another external partner for talent sourcing services. Then, there are assessment tools, employer branding, background checks, and other recruitment expenses. For example, there are a lot of sites that offer free background check services, these sites usually have a limited database and may not have the latest information. If you need to do a more thorough check, there are sites that charge a monthly fee. These sites usually have a more comprehensive database and may be more up-to-date. It all depends on your needs.
Estimate a budget for the entire year, including new hires’ salaries and their onboarding and training costs. That will help you reduce your cost per hire and other recruiting metrics.
5. Create a talent sourcing strategy.
A talent sourcing strategy is an integral part of the recruitment planning process. It outlines the sources you’ll use to attract qualified candidates and the recruitment tools to streamline the process.
You can consider these sources:
- Employee referrals – Someone in your team might know perfect candidates for open positions.
- Job boards – For instance, Indeed is an excellent choice for displaying job openings and exploring resumes of job seekers matching your requirements.
- Job fairs – Attending job expos is ideal for getting your company on the radar of many talented people entering the workforce.
- Social media – Social platforms can help with employer branding and talent sourcing, and some, like LinkedIn, let you post job ads.
- Recruitment agencies – Letting professionals with vast talent pools and tried-and-tested strategies handle your recruitment will save you time and money.
- Data providers – Many companies like Coresignal can help you enjoy data-driven recruitment. They can provide structured employee and firmographic data to enrich your database and enhance AI-based recruitment tools.
As for your recruitment tech stack, consider these tools:
- Applicant tracking system – An ATS helps you create and share job postings, collect and store resumes, screen and track applicants, interview candidates, and finalize hiring.
- Candidate relationship management software – A recruitment CRM system helps manage relationships with existing and new talent pipelines, streamlining talent acquisition, recruitment, hiring, and onboarding.
- Recruitment analytics software – This solution allows recruiters to track HR metrics, improve DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts, and make data-based hiring decisions.
6. Streamline the candidate selection process.
Whether you use candidate scorecards or blind hiring to avoid bias, outline the entire selection process in your recruitment plan.
It should include candidate screening, background and reference checks, pre-employment assessments (e.g., skill and cognitive ability tests), and interviews.
Streamlining this process will eliminate the risk of unqualified hires, reduce recruitment costs, and welcome employees likely to stay with your company.
Also read: Must-Apply Resume Tips for Executive-Level Jobs
Conclusion
Recruitment planning is essential for hiring qualified candidates who fit your company’s culture. It also lays the foundation for employee orientation and onboarding when you welcome new hires and prepare them for the work ahead.
Consistently optimize your recruitment process and have a backup plan for last-minute hires because some candidates might reject your job offer.