During normal business conditions, the staff recruitment and selection processes typically are thought of as a single procedure. But the steps that should be taken during Covid, when planning staff recruitment, selecting and proceeding with the selection process and how to recruit appropriate candidates will all make the difference in the final outcome, especially when remote working may become needed during restrictions throughout 2021. The questions that you need answers to are: how to identify the best candidates for each job category, what steps to take when choosing between candidates and what are the recruitment costs? And, of course, how to conduct the actual job interview remotely over Zoom.
Staff recruitment and selection are most often thought of as a fairly straightforward procedure where candidates who have successfully completed an onboarding process in one recruitment agency or another will be sent a resume and other materials and the on-site manager will perform an interview with the selected candidates. This “one-shot” process may work well if you have simply entered a new arrival into your organization or if the position you’re recruiting for requires some sort of on-going training, remote learning or supervision. But what if you need to replace an existing member of staff or add a new hire to your staff? If your employer has established an onboarding program, you could very well be stuck in the same position as before, subject to the same recruitment costs and the same criteria as your old onboarding candidate. And if you need to go through the same recruitment process with your new arrival, you may end up with two or more new arrivals instead of one.
Recruitment costs can quickly add up if you are looking to hire a brand new hire and, because recruiting is often done by contract, you may be stuck with recruitment costs that exceed the value of your contract. If your business is growing, hiring can also be a costly proposition. So, to avoid such pitfalls, follow the advice of seasoned staff recruitment consultants and take a multi-faceted approach to recruiting and finding the right people with the right educational background for your organization. For more about recruitment procedures during covid see the Australian Government website.
