Recruiting Plans - The Road Map to a Great Hire

A recruiting plan is your road map to the successful hire of top candidates. Just as a road map will lead you to your destination, a recruiting plan will help you get top candidate. The plan helps you create activities that lead to that great hire.

'Action without planning is the cause of all failures. Action with planning is the cause of all success.' - Brian Tracy

Here are the top 3 elements of a successful recruiting plan.

Needs Analysis - Similar to a road map, where you need to know your destination, in a recruiting plan you need to understand what is needed in the position. The needs analysis is just that description of you are looking for in a person to fill the position. It is in a very real sense your 'destination' in your search. If you do not know your ideal candidate and start an interview process, it is like going on a road trip without having a destination in mind.

With the road trip, you will come across some really interesting places but you won't end up anywhere. Similarly with recruiting, if you don't have a needs analysis, you will find some terrific candidates but not necessarily the one who would be the ideal fit for the position. So you need to ask yourself, why spend all the time and resources searching for someone to fill a position, only to be setting them up for ultimately to fail?

Methods & Strategy - If the your needs analysis is the "what" of the search, then the methods and strategy is the "how" in your recruiting plan. Back to the road trip analogy, the methods and strategy is your means of transportation. It is how you are going to get to the end point of a great recruiting effort.

In either instance, it requires an understanding of the resources available to attract great candidates or in the road trip scenario, how to get from point A to point B. There are dozens and dozens of methods available. The best method usually depends on a number of factors including the company, the type of position, the importance of the position, and so on.

The job here is to select the methods that make sense in your company/organization and evaluate other potential methods to develop a strategy. Not to say it won't change but you need to have a starting point.

Document and Track - Finally it is important to document and track the results. Whether it is for a recruiting plan or a road trip, to repeat the process it better be written down. For the road trip, write down where the traffic was bad so next time you could pick a better route. In the recruiting plan, if you lack sufficient quantity of quality candidates you could look for other ways to find or attract more candidates for the next recruitment.

There are two important reasons to follow this step. First since you are going to the trouble of finding candidates, you should collect those resumes that don't work now and hold on to them. That candidate may be a fit for future openings.

Second, you need to know and track your numbers. If it takes you 2 months to fill a position, you need to understand why it took so long. Are you starting with too few candidates? (Maybe you need a better sourcing plan.) Are you rejecting lots of candidates after interviews? (Maybe you need to improve the screening process.) You get the picture.

There may also be government regulations that require you to keep candidates on file for a certain period. These laws vary by location, and size of company. Best to check with a local authority to find out what is required of your company in your region.

Final Thoughts - Like a well planned road trip, a recruiting plan will guide you through a process that will result in attracting and hiring great candidates. So long as you follow the process and use the information it is providing to continually improve the process your planning will pay dividends over and over.

Here is more information on creating a recruiting plan for your company or situation.