Leighann Emo, a hiring strategist at WizeHire, shares how club operators can establish a strong hiring process.
Your employees are the face of your business. They deliver the exceptional service that keeps your members coming back. But finding top talent can be a challenging task. According to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), 41% of small business owners are struggling to fill open roles (Dunkelberg & Wade, 2023).
How do you make sure your clubs can fill those openings? The answer lies in establishing a hiring process that is effective, efficient and consistent.
“Having a process mapped out leads to faster follow-up time of candidates,” said Sid Upadhyay, the co-founder and CEO of the hiring platform WizeHire. “You actually win more candidates as a result, delivering a great experience to them and getting to the ground truth of who will be successful.”
Without a structure, you risk wasting time and resources on hiring the wrong people, which can significantly impact your bottom line as KPIs such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire and retention rates can make or break a business.
Your hiring process doesn’t have to be hard. Approach it with a go slow to go fast mindset. Spend time thoughtfully laying out your steps so you can move fast on the right candidates.
Here’s how to establish a strong hiring process:
- Clearly define the job role. To attract the right candidates, you need to define the role and requirements. Then create an accurate and compelling job post tailored to your ideal candidate.
- Make applying easy. A complicated application process can deter qualified candidates from applying. Create mobile-friendly, easy-to-apply applications to increase applicant volume.
- Prescreen to save time. Spend quality time on candidates that meet your skill and culture requirements. Tools like skill tests and personality assessments help you quickly surface top talent.
- Create templates for every decision. Be proactive. Your email invite for a phone screen, next-round interview, skill assessment or empathetic candidate rejection letter should all be ready to send before you start hiring.
- Run equitable interviews. You can’t have a structured interview with one candidate and a long conversation about baseball with another. Interviews should assess every candidate’s fit with your company culture and job requirements.
- Onboard new hires the right way. First impressions matter and you want it to be a positive one. Ensure they have a smooth transition into the company with a solid onboarding process.
Tools like an applicant tracking system can automate the hiring process by filtering resumes, scheduling interviews and sending automated emails to candidates. Whether you use a recruiter or do it all in-house, technology offers ways to make the process more efficient and consistent — and improves your chances of finding the right candidates when you need them.
