Recruiting Is an Ongoing Process, Not a One-Time Event

How often have you heard this scenario?

A business loses an important employee and goes into recruiting mode. Time to update (or sometimes create) the job description and post it on Monster.com, LinkedIn, local paper, etc.

If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. Too many businesses operate this way when it comes to recruiting.

You know who doesn’t operate this way? Your more successful competitors.

5 ways to keep the recruiting process going

Successful businesses recognize that recruiting is a process, not an event. Successful businesses anticipate the loss of the key employee and have a pipeline of candidates ready to go.

Here is a quick glimpse into your future – you will lose a key employee sometime in the next 12 months. You might want to prepare now so you aren’t caught completely off guard.

Here are some simple steps to take in order to create a recruiting process for your company:

Identify your most important positions. Every organization has positions that are most critical. Making sure you have a backup plan for these roles should be a top priority.
Identify who is most likely to be recruited away. The grass might not always be greener, but more money and better benefits might be enough to lure away some of your top talent. Make sure you know who your closest competitors would love to recruit away and develop a pipeline to replace them just in case.
Develop candidate profiles. What does the perfect candidate look like to you? This can be modeled after some of the best hires you’ve made in the past.
Engage in active recruiting for positions that are already full. Recruiting doesn’t need to start with an interview. Engage with potential hires on social media. Seek them out at networking events. Buy them lunch. Just make sure they know that you are interested in speaking when the time is right for them; it my come quicker than you anticipate.
Develop an intern program. Interns give valuable support to your business while also creating a pool of potential hires. A pool that you have already seen at work, and should have an idea of how good a fit they might be.

While you can’t be certain which positions will turnover, you can be sure some will. Those businesses with a solid recruiting process will be much better equipped to deal with such turnover with limited impact on their bottom line.

This was originally published on the Genesis HR Solutions blog.