Human capital is, without a doubt, the great engine of the company. Personnel selection processes are key for an organisation to be successful or not. Choosing the right candidates to cover the different positions in the company will be decisive for the good performance of the workers and the performance of the company. Choosing poorly, moreover, is a major expense.

Some consequences of a bad recruitment process are the following:

  • Worker dissatisfaction and poor performance.
  • Problems of adaptation and integration.
  • Increased rotation.
  • Higher cost in training and new selection processes.
  • Losses for the company and worse results.
  • Bad work climate.

Keys to a successful selection process

To avoid these negative consequences, it is possible to follow a series of steps to make the selection process effective . We see them in the following lines.

1. Detect needs

The first step in achieving success in the recruitment process is to define the job you want to fill well . This basic task that may seem common sense to human resource experts, may not be so common sense to those individuals who have not received training in this field. Strange as it may seem, there are still people who use the classic interview system, so they do not analyze in detail the needs of the position, nor do they thoroughly prepare the personnel selection process.

The first step, therefore, is to have a thorough understanding of the tasks that are carried out in the workplace and the skills needed by an individual who wants to work in that position. It will be necessary to collect key information, such as the objective of the workplace, the functions carried out in it, the requirements demanded and those competences and skills that a worker must possess in order to be able to perform well in that job.

Knowing the job position can be done a few weeks before the interview or, ideally, when drawing up an organisational competence catalogue in which all the jobs are well defined and saved for possible future selection processes. The job description is key to being able to evaluate the competencies of the candidates in the interview and to know what to ask them in order to extract as much useful information as possible.

2. Plan it

Another key to success in a recruitment process is good planning. Some companies have implemented a comprehensive human resources plan, which takes into account the processes of selection, training, remuneration, etc., and which greatly facilitates the management of personnel at all levels. This makes it easier to detect needs and be able to plan an improvement, for example, in the training of some employees. When this is not the case, it is necessary to plan the selection process to know how it will be carried out. However, always after evaluating the needs.

3. Take into account the needs of the organization

A recruitment process takes into account three key elements. On the one hand, the job, which as I have said, needs to be well defined. A second key element is the worker, since the skills he or she possesses must match the requirements of the job.

But the third element, and not less important, is the organization, because every company is different and has its values, its work climate and its way of working . Workers must not only fit into the workplace, but also into the organization and its culture. Knowing the company in depth is also key to being able to evaluate candidates who aspire to a job within the company.

4. Evaluate the competencies

What differentiates the classical and modern selection processes is the concept of competence, which arose from the need to value not only the set of knowledge, skills and abilities that an individual possesses, but also his or her capacity to use his or her abilities to respond to specific situations and to solve problems that may arise in the workplace. The competencies, furthermore, take into account the attitudinal and evaluative component that is present in the workers’ actions.

This concept includes four different dimensions :

  • Knowing how to be: this is the personal element. It is the attitudes and values that guide an individual’s behavior.
  • Knowing is the technical element. The studies or knowledge that the person possesses.
  • Know-how: it is the methodological element or the capacity to apply knowledge: it is the ways of acting, the skills, abilities…
  • Knowing how to be: this is the participatory element and the capacity for interpersonal communication and teamwork.

Competences are used to evaluate if the person fits in the position and also in the organization.

5. Detect your own company’s talent

Sometimes it is not necessary to go looking for talent outside because what we have in the company is good. Think of an employee who has been in the organization for 10 years and knows better than anyone else how the company works. Perhaps he is prepared to perform better in another position, or it is possible to train him to work in another job where he can be even more useful to the company. Identifying talent is key to internal promotion. The company wins and so does the worker, because he or she feels valued.

6. Dive into the digital world and look for passive candidates

Traditional recruitment methods are generally based on what is known as an active candidate, as the company expects to receive the resumes of the person interested in the position. The classic method is that of placing an offer, for example, on a job search website, where the candidates themselves take care of sending the CV to the company.

On the other hand, with the emergence of the world 2.0, a new way of recruiting has appeared , and it is the search for passive candidates by headhunters, something that works very well for certain positions, for example, senior positions. The passive candidate does not normally have the need to change jobs, but it is talent that is usually highly valued.

7. Use the necessary tests and questionnaires

The most efficient personnel selection processes include different tests and questionnaires to select the ideal candidates for the jobs they offer. The job interview can be a good tool to get to know the applicant, but relying solely on this method may not be entirely reliable.

It is therefore possible to use various tests (e.g. role-playing) or psycho-technical tests to determine the professional suitability of candidates, to get to know their personality and to assess their motivation.

  • You can learn about the different tests that exist in this article: “Types of tests and recruitment questionnaires”

8 Prepare the interview

As I said, knowing the needs of the position, planning the selection process, and employing the skills method is essential to get the most out of the job interview. Knowing exactly what competencies we need will allow us to recognize and measure them in each candidate we interview, and to do this we must plan an interview that is adapted to each case. Moreover, this will allow us to compare the different candidates for the position and draw more reliable conclusions.

9. Pay attention to incorporation

The selection process does not end with the choice of the candidate and the hiring of him/her, but the incorporation to the job must also be an aspect to take into account to achieve success in this task. Getting to know the company thoroughly and integrating it correctly with colleagues and the culture of the organization is necessary for that candidate to feel comfortable and perform the functions in the best possible way .

10. Follow up

Follow-up is also key in the selection process, and evaluating the candidate in the short and medium term, by means of satisfaction surveys or performance assessments or , is indispensable to know if the choice we have made has been correct.