Seven Assumptions Employers Make When Hiring
Zak Wright, Managing Principal – RSG Talent
When hiring employers need to put their best foot forward and sometimes sell their own opportunity to a good candidate. Employers sometimes have issues hiring people because of some assumptions they have of the recruiting process. Below are seven common assumptions employers sometimes make when hiring, which can really hamper a company’s ability to hire.
1) Candidates Understand the Strength of Your Business
You might have the best business in your industry and you may be able to demonstrate as much. However, to expect a candidate to see the strength of your business versus their current employer or others in the industry is a lot to ask of a candidate. A candidate may be interested in your opportunity because of the role, but may have some very strong positive feelings about their current organization. As an employer, never assume that a candidate knows the strength of your business and why you are better positioned than their current employer. As part of recruiting all candidates, always make it a priority to sell a candidate on why you would be a great next company for the candidate to join, and don’t get in the habit of bad mouthing a candidate’s current company.
2) Candidates Understand the Caliber of Your Job Opening
Like the first assumption employers tend to make, the second is that employers sometimes assume a candidate will understand exactly how great the job you are filling actually is. It might be a dream job with great upward mobility that will put an associate on an accelerated career trajectory, however, don’t assume the candidate knows full well this reality. Don’t assume the candidate will know about the positive culture your business has, the great benefits the role provides, the fantastic team of employees he or she will work with, the future investments being committed to the role or be able to see the growth opportunities for someone joining in such a role. Just like an employer needing to sell a candidate on why they are the best business in the industry, it’s just as important to make very clear to a candidate why the job they are interviewing for is something no candidate should pass up.
3) Candidates See Bonus Potential as Real Compensation
When an employer has completed the interview process and finally decided on that right candidate for the role, sometimes this assumption leads to hiring failure. If a candidate is leaving an opportunity where they have a base salary and bonus potential, but the bonus potential hasn’t been paid for several years don’t expect or assume a candidate will believe your bonus will be “real.” Especially if you decide to offer a lateral salary to the candidate, and try and sell them on the bonus potential of the role you may end up with a decline. In situations such as these where you feel a lateral base salary is a fair offer, you need to convince the candidate that the bonus compensation is real. To do so, consider guaranteeing the first year bonus or providing a sign on bonus. Better yet, make sure you have discussed your compensation program in detail with the candidate so you are answering questions and addressing concerns before you ever get to the offer stage. Be prepared to tell them what bonus percentages have been paid out over the last few years and why.
4) A Candidate Will Meet All Requirements of a Job Description and Require Limited Training
When evaluating candidates during the interview process it sometimes becomes quite apparent that the expectations about the candidates who are interviewing are unrealistic. There are very few times when candidates will meet every requirement of an opportunity. Employers need to understand that all candidates will need some sort of training when they join an organization whether in a technical area of the job or simply on how the company does business. Employers should look for candidate who meet most of the requirements of the role, are a good fit for the organization, and have shortcomings that are trainable.
5) There Will Be a Slate of Candidates for Every Job Opening
In industries with highly technical or restricted workforces, employers need to recognize that sometimes they need to make hiring decisions in a one off manner. In these types of industries job opening may only see two or three qualified candidates over a 3 to 6 month search with each candidate entering the process at different times limiting an employer’s ability to compare and contrast candidates. In these types of circumstances employers need to assume they will have to make hiring decisions when candidates present themselves and use other tools to determine a candidate’s strength versus others in the market. If a candidate meets the requirements for the role, is a good fit to the organization, and seems to be a good overall match for the position don’t hesitate in making a hiring decision. Hoping for an even stronger candidate to enter the process may have you regretting your lack of decisiveness, which results in the loss of a good candidate who you were comfortable filling the role.
6) Candidates Will Wait an Extended Period of Time for an Employer to Make a Hiring Decision
Candidates tend to understand that if a role was recently opened and they were the first to interview that it may take the employer a little time to work through their interview process. Candidates will remain interested and give the employer the benefit of the doubt to follow through in their process and make sure they are hiring the right person. However, there is a point at which a candidate’s interest will wane if the decision making process drags on. Some reasons a candidate’s interest will wane is because they start to feel they are a “fall back” if other candidates don’t work out, they see the slow process as a poor reflection of how your business functions when making decisions, their current employer makes things better for them consequently leading to the candidate losing motivation in making a job move, and probably the biggest factor they find an employer who moves much more quickly in their decision process and makes them an offer. Employers need to be mindful of the time a candidate is in process, and look to move as quickly as possible from when the candidate first interviews to the time an offer is extended.
7) Stress of the Offer Acceptance Process has Little Effect on a Hire
Finally, employers need to understand that making a job change is an extremely stressful event in a candidate’s life. Some candidates handle the stress much better than others, but an employer should not assume that a candidate will not need some emotional assistance during the process especially at the offer stage. For example, if a candidate accepts an offer they then have the task of providing their current employer notice. Sometimes this is easy while other times the candidate’s current employer puts extreme pressure on the candidate to stay. Hiring stakeholders need to stay close to candidates during this time and be very empathetic to what the candidate is dealing with and provide as much support and good will during this time. A hiring stakeholder should never go dark on a candidate after an acceptance. Between the time of an offer acceptance and a start date, hiring stakeholders should be most active in their communication with the new associate.
Conclusion
Recruiting hard-to-find and niche talent can be an arduous task, but some employers make hiring for these roles even more difficult by making some of the aforementioned assumptions. To make hiring easier simply be more aggressive in selling your organization and opportunity to a candidate; be more decisive in making your hiring decisions; understand a good candidate may need some training and not be an exact fit for a role; and be empathetic and understanding during the offer close process. Following these principles will go a long way in making hiring tough to fill roles a little easier.