Our professional Engagement campaign is our process of ATTRACTING potential candidates. 

In this step, we want to engage with the top talent in the market.  Most of these folks aren’t looking for a job, so we use the Unique Value Proposition and create attractive scripts to use when messaging them.  Our goal is to create the biggest possible pool of candidates, so that we can start refining the group so that we can introduce the very best to you.   

• Step one is to contact all of our former candidates, and everyone we network within this arena to see if any of our known contacts and associates are interested in the position.
• Step 2 of our engagement campaign is to set up a multi-touch email campaign based on the unique value proposition we created in phase one above.
• Step 3 is to call everyone on the list and leave a compelling voicemail to spur engagement. We then schedule several follow up calls. Each of these calls is performed using proven scripts, customized to your position. 
• Step 4 is to utilize our ever-present social media presence to attract people to our openings. We post 2-3 times per day on several different social media outlets.
• Step 5 is targeted social media marketing to these specific people.

The result of the Engagement Campaign is a group of people that are interested and qualified for the role. Through this process, we are typically able to find one or two people per week per opening, assuming there is an attractive value proposition. 

To find out more about our process, click on step 3 below where we will describe PHASE 3 of our search process,  THE  TALENT ASSESSMENT PHASE. 

PHASE 3 of our search process, is THE  TALENT ASSESSMENT PHASE

Talent assessment is where we work closely with our clients to determine who is the very best fit for the job.

• The first step in assessing talent is our One-on-One recruiter assessment. The recruiter has a detailed interview with the candidate.  We summarize the candidate rank them based on critical success factors.  Career wounds are also discussed so we understand true motivation and whether it’s realistic for them to make a change.
• If they are a strong fit, and the recruiter feels like they are a match for the job, they will submit the candidate to the client with a detailed report as to why they are a fit for the job.
• The Third step is Client Assessment and Candidate Auditions.
  • This is when the client interviews the candidates. We can help script behavioral questions, provide you with scorecards for analyzing the candidates without interview bias.  We can also create scoreboards so you can evaluate how each candidate stacks up against the others.
  • Once you have the candidate or candidates that you are interested in, we can guide you through the “Candidate Audition”. This can be part of the first in-person interview or it can come as a second interview.  In this step, candidates will do their job in an interview.  They are, in effect, doing a real-world audition.  A sales person will sell to you, and engineer might design and present it for you, a Continuous improvement leader might put together a Kaizen training or event overview.   This has proven instrumental for industry leaders to figure out who the best folks are.
  • The last step in the assessment phase is reference checking. Many companies have the HR department or their recruiter do reference checks.  That’s a mistake.  Reference checks should be done by the hiring manager so they can hear HOW things are explained and ask detailed follow up questions specific to the problems at hand.

Click on the next section to garner an understanding of how we get 85% of offers accepted, and best ways to avoid counter offers. 

Offer Making Process, proactively discussing Counter offers, and Onboarding your new hire.

You are at the point in the process that you’ve chosen the person you’d like to hire.  You are communicating with us that you’d like to make them an offer.  How do we go about doing that? 

This is a critical time.  You have to move quickly, without any missteps.  Have you ever seen the people race with eggs on spoons?  People have to move quickly, but if they go too fast, they drop the egg and they have to go start over.  Getting your person hired is like having a multimillion $ egg on a spoon…if you move to slow, you lose.  If you move too fast, you lose.  If you give it to someone else to take, there’s a good chance it will bust.  You have to be quick, methodical, and not make any mistakes. 

With that in mind, the first step is deciding what to offer.  We will be sure that you know what the candidate is expecting, and we stay very close to the candidate throughout the process to stay abreast of their thoughts on salary.  It’s common for people to start finding reasons to request a higher salary just before offer….. things like “the commute is further, I need more money”.   Benefits cost more, I need more money.  I don’t get as much vacation, or this job has a bigger scope than we originally discussed.  Seems like there’s always a last minute rush of reasons why the offer has to be higher than they originally agreed to.   Our process helps minimize that in several ways.

We will help you determine a verbal offer.  The offer should be in line with what the candidate is asking for, and a little bit lower than the absolute maximum you will consider paying them.  I am a firm believer in offering a little less than your maximum, because it’s human nature to want just a little more, and it’s innate in our culture to assume there’s always more room.  Just about everyone is disappointed if they can’t get a little more than what was offered.   

Once we determine the number, we will approach the candidate with verbal offer.  There’s no use in going through the exercise of putting an offer in writing unless all of the questions and objections have been covered – and the offer has been accepted verbally.  We approach the candidate, and explain that they are a finalist, and that the client wants to be sure before they get to the offer stage that nothing has changed.  Would you still consider an offer at $XX?   If they say no, we will try to temper their expectations and try to garner an understanding of what it’s going to take.  Regardless, we will tell the client where the candidate’s head is at relative to money. 

We then call the candidate and say OK, here’s where we are at relative to an offer.  I’ve talked with the client, and if you are committed to them, won’t consider a counter offer, I think I can get this done at $XX.  Can I have your AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT THIS OFFER ON YOUR BEHALF?       We will explain that there is a thorough approval process, and we want to make sure that this is doable for the candidate, and that they are committed at this point. 

This question usually surfaces all of the “depends” questions…depends on vacation, depends on benefits costs and coverage, depends on relocation assistance, depends on bonus program. So once you have all that “OK, so $XX, 3 weeks vacation, 10% bonus, you saw the benefits, and you know what our relocation allowance is…can I have the authority to accept this offer on your behalf, and will you sign and return it the same day I present it? If so, we will work to get it put it in writing. At this point, they usually say yes or more typically, they counter a bit higher.  

We then ask “are  you ready to walk into you bosses office, and firmly give notice?”   Are your wife, kids, or any other important people 100% on board?  This is particularly important for someone who is relocating.  “OK great, we will work towards getting it put in writing for you.”

Once it’s agreed to, we will submit it in writing, with an expiration date on the offer. If we’ve all done our job, they should be ready to accept when it’s given to them. After all, they accepted verbally. If they’ve already accepted the offer, why would they need more than 10 minutes to sign and return? If they need extra time, it’s a sign that they are using the offer to leverage a different company’s offer or looking for a counter-offer with their current employer. 

We will be covering counter-offers with them several times throughout the process. We will coach them on how to avoid them, and what to say if it’s brought up.

Now that your new employee has accepted the offer doesn’t mean that they will actually start in the job.  The period between the moment your new employee signs the offer and starts work is what I call the “preboarding period”.  Deals can and do fall apart during this period.  People succumb to counter offers.  They get offers from companies they had already interviewed with.  They get cold feet about the move.  Lots of things can happen, particularly if they aren’t getting much attention from their new employer.  You need to engage with them right away.  Invite them to a party and they are the guest of honor. Have them pick out their computer and phone.  Send them projects to begin reviewing.  Make them feel like part of the family even before they start.  Make sure they have relocation benefits and information.  Be sure they get the pre-employment screenings done. 

For onboarding, once they start, have a full plan laid out for them for the first 60 days, starting from the moment they walk in the door.  Our training is full of good ideas in that area.’

To round out this process, I’d like to speak about retention.  While ultimately, we have very little to do with retention, we will check in with candidates for up to 6 months to be sure of a smooth transition.    If any problems surface with either the company or the candidate, we will work with both sides to see if there is a way to salvage the situation. 

So that concludes the 4^th and final phase of the recruiting process.  This process has worked thousands of times with hundreds of companies across the US.  On behalf of the entire team here at Reliance Recruiting. I look forward to working with you!