1. Define your goals. What do you want to achieve ? 

• Increasing headcount, 
• Improving diversity 
• Reducing the cost to hire 
• Reducing the time to hire
• Improving employee retention 
• Other …                           

2. Identifying the type and number of positions needed                                                        Check and define your hiring needs – this means the number of roles and job vacancies your organization will have in the coming months.                                                                                  The essential part of this step is to plan for the following months not only focus on current needs. This will help to attract the right people in the right time and save money.

3. Determining the required skills and qualifications                                                             Create a candidate persona and job description that outlines all the necessary responsibilities for the role as well as any desired qualifications. Include both skills and personality you are looking for in a candidate. Comparing your candidates to this description will help you make the right hiring decisions.

4. Set up realistic timelines                                                                                                        Create a pipeline with your vacancies, decide which do you want to fill as soon as possible and which positions you can fill throughout next months.                                                                    This will help your recruiters to win more time and focus on candidates.

5. Set up the preferred methods of communication

Keep your candidates updated during the whole recruitment process.                                        Stay in touch.                                                                                                                                    Automate our communication where possible and choose the right channels depending on what your candidates need. Emails, messages, calls – engage your candidates by stating in touch

6. Diverse your sourcing methods                                                                                                Choose the right source of candidates for particular roles. Measure the effectiveness of your candidate sources and apply those methods that are most effective for a particular role – job boards, referrals, direct search, internal recruitment …

7. Establish a candidate selection process

Decide from the beginning what selection process your candidates will go through. 

• Determine Selection Methods. Common methods include reviewing resumes, conducting interviews (in-person, phone, or video), administering tests or assessments, checking references, and conducting background checks.
• Design Interview Questions. Prepare a set of interview questions that assess the candidates’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and cultural fit.
• Create Evaluation Criteria that align with the job requirements. Assign weights to each criterion to prioritize their importance.
• Make a Selection based on the evaluation results, select the candidate who best matches the job requirements and organizational fit.
• Provide Feedback. Offer constructive feedback to all candidates, including those not selected

8. Develop a standardized interview process

Identify core competencies and create interview questions. Each question should be clear, specific, and focused on gathering evidence about the candidate’s qualifications.

Develop a rating scale. Create a standardized rating scale or scoring system to assess candidate responses consistently. This can be a numerical scale (e.g., 1-5) or a descriptive scale (e.g., poor, fair, good, excellent). Clearly define the criteria for each rating level to ensure consistency among interviewers.

Maintain a consistent interview environment for all candidates. Use the same location, room setup, and interview format 

9. Make objective hiring decisions

Making objective hiring decisions is crucial to ensure fairness, reduce bias and make good hiring decisions in the recruitment process. 

First, define clear evaluation criteria based on the job requirements, core competencies, and qualification. It is important to follow a structured process and interview plan to enable equal opportunity for all candidates. Involve multiple evaluators in the hiring process to minimize individual biases. Each evaluator can provide their perspective and contribute to a more comprehensive assessment. Avoid Comparing Candidates. 

Evaluate each candidate independently and avoid comparing them to one another.                        This helps prevent relative judgments or biases based on the performance of other candidates.

10. Develop the best onboarding process

The onboarding process should be considered as a part of the recruitment process. Your new employees are not yet a part of your organization and this process is necessary to integrate and engage them. While onboarding,  you are still recruiting them.

Start the onboarding process before the new employee’s first day. Send a welcome package or email, including essential information about their start date, required paperwork, dress code, and any pre-employment tasks. Provide access to necessary systems and resources, such as email accounts or online training materials, in advance. Begin the onboarding process with a comprehensive orientation session to introduce new hires to the organization’s mission, values, culture, and structure. A mentor or buddy to new employees to provide guidance, support, and answer questions during the onboarding period. 

It is also important to schedule regular check-in meetings during the initial weeks or months to assess progress, address any concerns, and provide feedback. 

Your purpose with the onboarding is to make new employees feel really integrated.              Foster a sense of belonging by organizing team-building activities, social events, or departmental introductions. Encourage new employees to participate in company-wide initiatives or employee resource groups to help them feel connected to the broader organization.