This month, we continue to explore how to build a standard, stable recruiting function. Before moving on, please be sure you have read the first three parts of this series:
Part One: Build a Standard, Stable Recruiting Function from the Inside Out
Part Two: Build a Standard, Stable Recruiting Function: Step 2 – Post, Source, and Screen
Part Three: Build a Standard, Stable Recruiting Function: Step 3 – Interview and Select
In part four of building a standard, stable recruiting function, we are ready to create and approve the offer being made to the selected candidate.
By now, managers have interviewed candidates and completed assessment forms, recruiters have hosted debriefs, and hiring managers have made their hiring decisions. In some cases, candidate pools have been narrowed, and a limited group of approved candidates have been sent first for psychometric or technical testing. But at the end of the day, at the end of this step, you should have selected your ideal candidate and have approval from management to extend an offer.
What Happens During this Step in the ATS?
Once you’ve selected a candidate, you should update your ATS with the selection. Candidates who were not selected should not simply be issued a “thank you for applying” form letter. In fact, you should evaluate each candidate not only in terms of the position applied for but also for any position within the company for which you feel they would be a good fit. If you have a potential good fit for another department or team, make a recommendation to that department.
Telling Candidates That They Did Not Get the Job
No applicant should receive a form letter via email telling them they did not get the job without already knowing their status. Call them. The purpose of your ATS is to free you to have more of the human-to-human contact that is so important in the hiring process – and this is one of those times when you should keep as much human touch as possible in the process. Let them know if you were able to refer them to a different department or position, and answer their questions about how they can improve their skills – technical or interview – to have more success in the future.
Extending the Offer
While you may have already reached out to the selected candidate to let them know they’ve been chosen, you should also make note of it in the ATS and begin creating the formal offer. Many of the pieces of an offer are boilerplate – everyone gets the same benefits package, for example. But this is where you can spell out any incentives or perks that were used to entice the candidate. Offer approval workflows should be built into your ATS and the offer should be routed for proper approval. Every organization decides how many approver levels are necessary, and it is often dictated by the job level or compensation. The tighter your approval process is at the beginning of this cycle (when you were creating the requisition), the quicker the offer approval should be. Once the offer is approved, you can communicate the offer to the selected candidate.
The entire process should happen quickly, as applicants are not applying to just your company, and you may lose your new hire to someone who proceeds faster through the selection process. If the process is taking longer than desired, keep the candidate informed of what is happening and why. Open communication is key; as recruiters, we are accustomed to this process, but for the candidate, this is not common practice. Keep it human!
Next month, we’ll talk about the next step in a standard, stable recruiting function: Preboarding
