The longest path
How to complete your recruitment process in the quickest time
We have a traffic issue in our local town of Bury St Edmunds.
The council have decided to log jam a couple of the main roads with road works – what a palaver trying to get the kids to and from school!
As a local bor, I’m used to life being sloightly on the huh, and you may not be jiggered that I’m going to blabber my secret for getting around these jams.
You see while all the traffic is stuck along the main road, you need simply go straight on at the roundabout and take the back road. It’s about half a mile longer, but around 20 minutes quicker.
This is an example of the critical path, a project management principle that works out the optimal combination of project components, juggling the immovable and floatable steps to reach project conclusion in the most efficient manner.
In the example above, a simple project of toing and froing, the route is negotiable, the roadworks are not, so it’s only a question of balancing which route allows you to get where you need to be in the best time.
By driving further, we get there quicker.
Leaving a little earlier also helps!
So what does that mean in recruitment?
Firstly establish the beginning point and end point of a recruitment process, as well as any steps that are non-negotiable and those that are movable.
Every process is different, but typically it will look something like this for a replacement role.
Person in post
They resign
Headcount approved for the replacement
Recruitment process starts
Advertising / agency steps
Interviews
Offer
Candidate resignation
Candidate notice period
Candidate start date
The end of the recruitment process is often the most important in planning your time frames.
If you need a candidate to start by a certain date, every step should facilitate this deadline.
If you have a candidate on a three-month notice period, then the active part of your recruitment process needs to conclude three months from your necessary start date.
Even lag caused by an inefficient offer process can cause an impact if you haven’t accounted for it.
Work back along the recruitment process to establish its duration.
Of course, most recruitment processes don’t have a fixed start date, but there will be other factors that define your timings – such as the prospect of losing candidates to other job offers.
Knowing what you are dealing with helps establish the path your recruitment will follow.
The next step in planning a recruitment process is to establish which parts are fixed and which can float.
For example, if you know that you will get headcount approval, but that the signatory is unavailable for six weeks – it makes sense to start recruiting now, knowing you will get approval by the time an offer is made.
Wait for that approval instead, and you won’t be able to start for at least six weeks. What might happen in that time?
If this step in the process is floatable, it doesn’t affect your end date.
If it’s immovable, then you have to wait until it’s done to carry on.
Immovable elements can be things like holiday periods. If Gary needs to interview candidates and he is unavailable for two weeks, how you can manage the rest of the process while he is away?
Does it need to stop, or can you do technical tests, psychometrics, etc, in the interim period? Can these movable elements be put into place, to help ease the rest of the process?
Taking a bit of time to plan your recruitment process at the outset is the best way to get the people you need in the right time.
It will also be easier to manage the expectations of your stakeholders, with no nasty surprises.
The next newsletter is on practical reasons to advertise salary.
Regards,
Greg
p.s. While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:
- recruitment of commercial, operational and technical leadership vacancies
- manage part or all of your recruitment on an individually designed basis (Cognate)
- recruitment coaching and mentoring
- recruitment strategy setting
- outplacement support
Just hit reply to check if my approach is right for you.