Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1138801
04.07.19 13 OPINION Kevin-James Fenech Kevin is the founder and owner of JOB Search - jobsearch.mt and FENCI Consulting fenci.eu. He is a management consultant and business advisor by profession, focusing on strategy, human resources and recruitment. He has a passion for anything related to business and has written about the topic for over 10 years in most major newspapers or journals A ccording to the Society for Hu- man Resource Management, em- ployers spend on average $4,129 on hiring per vacancy. Talent acquisition is fundamental to all companies but it is bewildering how so many of them get it wrong or only half right. Let's deal with the basics: a company should always reply to applicants; be it to 'acknowledge receipt'; to inform them that they were unsuccessful and/or to advise that the vacancy is closed. Unfor- tunately, it has become common prac- tice to communicate with the shortlisted candidates and ignore/forget the rest of the applicants. Engage HR experts to draft a good job description. I don't know how many times I see a poorly structured job de- scription which is poorly written and/or inadequate. If you want the best talent to apply, you have to invest the time to write a clear and attractive job description. If the vacancy doesn't exist, don't ad- vertise 'phantom vacancies'. It has be- come common practice to throw out the proverbial 'wide net' just to see what comes in. is is bad practice and an abuse of trust. Some companies or re- cruiters even have rolling 'phantom' va- cancies which they advertise month in, month out. When it comes to interviews, I am amazed and bewildered with how un- professional companies can be. I am thinking of interviewees walking into an interview unprepared and asking ques- tions off the top of their head; asking politically incorrect interview questions; letting functional managers hijack the in- terview process; or allowing interviewers not take structured notes in interviews. It should be elementary, to have in place a semi-structured interview process; dif- ferent interviewers for different stages of the interview process; to set tasks so as to assess the capability or suitability of interviewees; and most important to work with skilled, trained and experi- enced interviewers. Here is a controversial one - and some recruiters will hate me for it - but large companies owning sizable employer brands shouldn't depend on recruiters to find their external recruits. I always advise clients of a certain size, to own their own careers page; to use vacancy platforms or job search sites to advertise their jobs and consequently eliminating the middleperson charging 15% to 25% commission. I mean you are better off investing the recruitment commission which you save, in your own recruitment structure. Don't get me wrong, you will always need to work with recruiters and I strongly suggest using experienced ex- ternal interviewers but wise-up especial- ly if you own a big employer brand. You also need to find the right balance between external hires and internal ones; nothing can be more demoralis- ing and disrupting to employee moral than an employer that always recruits externally. Conversely, an inward-look- ing recruitment policy which doesn't encourage the introduction of new blood breeds an unhealthy viscous cy- cle of promotion from within which leads to nepotism or managerial clones. e ideal, is a mix of the two; external recruitment plus internal promotions. Some companies need more of one than the other, depending on their individual circumstances and where they are in the business cycle. Try to always make sure that the new recruit meets the CEO; yes, he/she is very busy but it is very important for both parties to meet each other. e prospective employee needs to meet the Chief of the organisation and under- stand the company's vision and culture, whereas the CEO needs to feel the pulse of the talent coming in. People / talent is what makes great companies and there- fore the CEO must invest the time to meet interviewees. Don't over rely on technology; recruit- ment, interviews and talent-manage- ment are and always will be an art. In- terviewees are human and therefore you must keep the human element in the en- tire recruitment process. Yes, you need highly experienced interviewers and HR specialists who have been trained in the art of searching, assessing and selecting talent but this is one area where technol- ogy has a limited role to play. Don't look at recruitment as a cost; the time and money you invest in recruit- ment will (should) yield in your company having the best talent and this is where your competitive advantage will come from and what will make it difficult for your competitors to copy you. I always get the impression that HR is underesti- mated in local companies, when in truth HR is one of the most important pillars of any great company. Talent is where the real competitive advantage resides; invest in it. We all want to be successful in busi- ness but if we don't give recruitment the importance it deserves we will struggle to be successful. e customer is always right (apparently) but if you don't have the best talent you will not win the com- petitive game of business. erefore, make the effort to invest in your recruit- ment and talent acquisition capabilities; starting with the basics. Talent acquisition The time and money you invest in recruitment will (should) yield in your company having the best talent and this is where your competitive advantage will come from