The benefits of consistent hiring include preserving a high-quality workforce and assuring cultural fit and overall candidate satisfaction. Lamees Abourahma of RPOA spoke with Elaine Nicol, Sr. Director of Customer Experience and Optimization at AgileOne, a leading global workforce solutions provider. They discussed the importance of consistent hiring processes and the challenges faced, causing systematic problems with the hiring process. They also talked about ways companies can improve their hiring process when it's fractured across various departments.
Nicol discussed how recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) can significantly improve hiring consistency and standardize recruitment processes across all departments and locations. She started the interview by highlighting the significance of consistent hiring processes and their importance to organizational success. The following is an edited version of the first part of this Talent Leader Council interview.
Elaine Nicol: I've been thinking about hiring metrics lately and how much attention time to fill receives. I understand the strategic importance of this metric for business planning, but my passion lies in qualitative metrics. I'm more curious about the quality of hires, the time commitment for hiring managers, and overall candidate satisfaction with the process. A consistent hiring process provides happiness to people who like quantitative and qualitative metrics.
"A consistent hiring process provides happiness to people who like quantitative and qualitative metrics.”
RPO provides a consistent hiring process that maintains quality standards across the organization and ensures that all employees, new employees, and new hires meet a certain threshold of skills and qualifications and, almost more importantly, cultural fit to that organization.
A consistent hiring process benefits organizations by maintaining a high-quality workforce across all departments and locations, leading to better overall performance and productivity. It reduces unconscious bias and enhances fairness in the hiring process. An RPO firm, ours, can create benchmark profiles for roles through that consistent process to promote fairness and increase quality.
Furthermore, such consistency can streamline the process, improve efficiency, and reduce the time to hire. When you have consistent processes, it becomes more streamlined and efficient for hiring managers and recruiters. Ultimately, your candidate knows every step that's happening in the process, so it allows everyone in that recruiting process to work more quickly and efficiently.
In addition, a consistent hiring process enhances the employer's brand and reputation and provides a positive candidate experience. In today's digital age, where people share their experiences online, you might hear from five people about a bad experience. They'll tell 105 people. A fair and unbiased candidate-centric process can significantly improve an employer's image.
Nicol: The lack of a talent acquisition strategy at the top leads to inconsistent hiring processes. The structure and process of hiring should be consistent. While the steps may be the same, hiring frontline workers differs from hiring senior executives. There might be differences in what occurs during those steps.
Without a strategic, documented hiring process and the necessary tools, people will fill in the gaps with ad-hoc solutions, leading to inconsistencies across multiple locations and a disjointed hiring experience.
As an example, at manufacturing or plant locations, somebody sees we don't have a recruiter working on this site. The HR business partner steps in because the hiring managers are busy. They get to know things and to help out; they may take on some of the hiring manager's work. That help can create inconsistency.
Impromptu enhancements don't work either. For example, someone adds coffee gift cards for candidates at one of the corporate locations. If a candidate goes to another location, the experience won't be consistent and can lead to a bad experience.
Overall, inconsistent hiring processes result from a lack of a strategy for ensuring consistency and a lack of a metric to measure and optimize the process. They begin with identifying a gap and lead to varied practices across different locations.
Nicol: It's a slightly nuanced problem, but It comes down to having a clear strategy, documenting processes, using effective tools, and involving the right people in the initial stages. The initial stages establish a successful hiring process. Employers need to step back, assemble a team that includes end users and employees, and carefully assess the process and tools required to support it. Having a communication plan and an educational strategy for those using the process is crucial. By involving the right stakeholders, creating a solid communication plan, and demonstrating the benefits of the process, the upfront time investment will lead to time savings, increased efficiency, and better understanding in the long run. Regularly measuring and optimizing the program as you go forward is also important.
Nicol: Establishing standardized recruitment processes across all departments, locations, and business practices creates hiring consistency. It begins during the implementation process. RPO firms use their wealth of experience, subject matter expertise, and valuable insights to address challenges and implement effective talent solutions. RPO firms must involve the client in improving hiring consistency. Instead of an RPO provider saying that they need little input from the client, the provider must engage the client in the implementation process. By involving the client, the RPO firm can tailor the standardized recruiting processes to align with the client's culture and cater to specific location-based nuances. This approach ensures a consistent, high-quality hiring experience across different locations and business units.
Moreover, partnering with an RPO firm provides access to specialized expertise and best practices. RPO firms offer a wealth of best practices and insights, which, together with their deep understanding of their client partners, drive the development of tailored processes. In addition, RPO firms boast subject matter experts in employer branding, a distinct concept from consumer branding.
RPO can positively shape a company's workforce and ensure quality, skilled new hires who culturally align with the organization. Companies can maintain high-quality standards and foster a cohesive work environment by implementing a consistent hiring process. Ultimately, this approach to hiring has far-reaching implications for organizational success, as it contributes to building a strong, talented, and harmonious team that can drive the company toward achieving its goals.
Want to know more about recruitment process outsourcing? Read this 8-minute ultimate guide on RPO.