DESIGNING AN INTEGRATED RECRUITING FUNCTION (PART II)
Hiring and retaining the right people requires designing an integrated recruiting function which links your processes both before and after hiring. Since we’ve already looked at the before portion, let’s look at what to do once you have a new employee on board.
The new employee now requires the tools necessary to be successful in his/her new position. This includes proper training and development through either on-the-job or classroom education as well as mentoring, coaching and guidance through face-to-face meetings and performance reviews.
While the typical 90-day review is a useful part of the process, performance management should not be limited to a piece of paper with subjective comments from a current supervisor. As much as humanly possible, the form the review process takes should be multi-dimensional and occur on a regular basis.
This could involve a variety of tools including
- regular one-on-one support on both a formal (weekly meetings) and informal (impromptu pep talks) basis;
- regularly scheduled performance reviews (30- and 90-day, six month, annually) based on the competencies and containing specific, measurable goals (answering average of 50 calls daily) and the results;
- 360º feedback from internal and external sources; and
- individual self assessment.
Employing these processes provides clear evidence of how successful the hire has been and aids in planning future training, developing future goals, and in determining the individual’s future potential, which is where succession planning comes in.
Succession planning is not just for executives anymore. Succession planning is a very real and viable way to ensure that employees have opportunities for growth and development while meeting the organization’s need for a ready-trained and qualified pool of promotable candidates. But how do you know who they are?
Probably the best way to track internal candidates is via a database similar to the one an organization uses to track external candidates only with detailed information about employment history, training received or required, potential career paths, and performance data. This way the company can search and match existing employees to current needs while tracking employee effectiveness and linking it to the recruiting source.
Whatever tools a company chooses to employ, methodical workforce planning requires institutional buy-in and discipline. And while operations and human resources have to work together to communicate, it is human resources responsibility for taking the first step to integrating the recruiting function.
Explore posts in the same categories: Recruiting, Hiring
