Find the Right Talent
The competencies you identified in the previous exercise (the required knowledge, skills, and attributes / abilities) will be the basis upon which you attract and recruit and select the right talent.
Recruitment and Talent Attraction
🛒 Recruitment methods include making use of:
- Career opportunities page on your company website
- Job boards to advertise positions
- Professional sites to engage with possible candidates
- Networking (either on-line e.g., Facebook or Instagram) or through face-to-face interactions
- Referrals
- University / School open days and student placement programmes
- SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) Learnership placement opportunities
- Recruitment agencies, etc.
🧲 To attract talent though, you need to work towards being an employer of choice in the market in which you operate, and where the battle for talent is tough. Some business aspects which make your company stand out above the others include:
- Your company values and ethics
- Leadership style
- Rewards and recognition
- Pay and benefits
- Work-life balance
- Opportunities for development
- Opportunities for mobility, growth and internal promotion
- Flexibility (remote working etc.)
- Fun working environment
- Location and workspace design
Making the Right Hiring Decision 🎯
Once you have received applications and identified possible candidates according to the competencies identified, prepare interview questions aimed specifically at obtaining the information you need to make the right hiring decision.
Competency based interviews are recognised as the best way to identify top talent and high potential candidates. A good interview question starts with the phrase: “Tell me about a time when you…? Or give me an example when you…”
Example 1: If you are looking for someone who can handle tight deadlines:
“Tell me about a time you were working on a project / task which required you to adhere to a tight deadline? What was the project / task? How much time did you have? What did you do to ensure you met your deadlines?”
Example 2: If you are looking for someone who can handle difficult clients:
“Give me an example of an interaction you had with a particularly difficult client? Why was the client upset? How did you handle the situation?”
Example 3: If you are looking for someone with a particular set of technical knowledge / or skills:
“Tell me about a time when your ability to (weld, balance the financials, code, programme etc) was challenged? What made it challenging? How did you deal with it?”
Competency based interviews are based on the concept that you can establish someone’s level of competency based on their previous experience. For best results, use the STAR technique as follow up questions to ensure that you obtain as much information from the candidate as possible.
🤝 Finally, when making hiring decisions:
“The secret of [Apple’s] success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.”
Steve Jobs
↙️ Next
Complete the quiz below.