10 Questions you MUST answer to create a great recruitment strategy

If there’s one thing we’ve  learnt over the last 15 years, it’s that nearly every recruitment mistake stems back to employers not nailing the position scope in the first place. Too many companies start the search phase and/or the candidate screening process for a role without being crystal clear on what they need, why they need it and how they are going to measure and reward success.

Recruitment Planning

As any engineer will tell you, design casts the biggest shadow on any project. It just makes sense to flesh out an IM (information memorandum), performance profile and assessment process that will set you up for success.

If you don’t nail these elements from the outset, you are at risk of allowing the tail to wag the dog (candidates taking control of the process) and dramatically increasing your chances of recruitment error.

Read More: Your approach to recruitment is probably flawed

The Executive Recruiters Approach

A strong scoping approach should be led by a recruitment strategy canvas, that incorporates responses to more than 20 key questions to make sure you are in control of your recruiting process and can answer all the things that an A-Grade candidate will want to know.

In order to craft an effective recruitment strategy, here are 10 of those questions you should ask yourself before you hire another key resource:

1. Can we clearly communicate our company strategy (on a page) – and how this new resource fits into same?
2. What do we really stand for –  our ‘non negotiable’ purpose and core values, that need to be upheld?
3. How are we different from our competitors, or trying to be different, in a way that really matters to customers? And how does this manifest as a UVP (unique value proposition, see this handy article for help creating one)?
4. How are we different in a way that really matters to A-Grade talent? What is our EVP (employer value proposition)?
5. What are the key outcomes we expect from this executive in the next 6 months, 12 months – and the next 3 years? In other words – what does success really look like for this role?
6. What are the major challenges a new resource will experience and that we want them to tackle and/or solve for us? (Don’t sugar-coat, no-one expects to walk into a perfect world!)
7. What are our authority and autonomy limits for the incoming resource?
8. What are the realistic advancement and succession opportunities for this candidate if they do a great job (don’t over-promise here)?
9. What is our defendable remuneration, incentive and benefits strategy – and how does this impact on the business?
10. What assessment tasks and tests will be part of our process to provide objective analysis of the capability of candidates for this role?

If you can’t answer all of these questions (and more), you can’t build an IM and you’re not ready to recruit quality candidates.