It’s the eponymous Grand National on Saturday – and the runners and riders are meticulously prepared and trained to qualify for the notoriously unpredictable, four mile long ‘People’s Race’.

It looks like last year’s winner, Tiger Roll, and their support team have hit upon a magic formula – as bookies and pollsters are tipping them as a ‘jolly*, and likely to do the impossible in 2019 and win again. I’m tempted to put a monkey** on it to win, before it becomes a steamer***!!

So, what are you doing to win the highly prized and elusive candidates in the big recruitment race? Is there such a thing as a magic formula?

Well, probably not, but in the case of recruitment, as with horse racing, if you plan and prepare meticulously, and have a great support team, you can absolutely improve your odds and give yourself a flying headstart:

Odds on
Make a recruitment plan – Just as you would a business plan, make a recruitment plan, review who you have in your business and what gaps need filling, consider temp, perm contractors part time full time – flexible working – create job descriptions – do salary benchmarking – make sure there is definitely a job role before you start the recruitment process.

2/1
Now you have a plan and know what skills you need and the kind of person that would fit in with your culture, so what’s the best way to find the best candidates? Decide whether you are going to advertise directly on one of the many job boards or use a recruitment agency. You may want to advertise internally and ask your current employees who they know that could do the job and fit in well, or you could use social media to attract your winning candidate.

3/1
Recruitment basics. So you have a plan you have chosen how you want to recruit but you failed to think about the basics! Have you chosen the right time of year to recruit, by that I mean there is no point advertising in the middle of the school holidays if your target audience is part time candidates with children – is your rate of pay competitive? Are you offering the same package or better than your competitors? Make sure you think about this, before rushing ahead!

4/1
Timing – Always allow enough time to recruit and also consider the time it will take you out of your working day to sift through cv’s and respond to everyone. If you haven’t got the time to do it – who can help as it may take longer than you think! Also consider the time to hire, maybe the successful candidate has to give 4 weeks notice how does that work with your plans?

Evens
Finally make sure your recruitment process is quick and straight forward and respond to candidates quickly. It may mean you need an administrator to deal with responses – think about arranging an interview day rather than spreading the interviews out over a week or 2 – this can save you time and also helps you to compare each candidate easily. It is also important that your process is fair and legally complaint. Remember the experience you give your candidate will stay with them forever and if you want to attract the best talent it is important to make it a positive experience.

A winning recruitment strategy, like a good race horse, is an investment. But if it is well planned, managed, and executed, it will pay you back in finding the perfect new employee to add to your stable – and hopefully, you’ll win by a furlong!!

Still not sure? Then give us a call or drop us a line today and ask us how we can help you create the right recruitment process in your business.

I am totally chanelling my inner John McCrirrick!!
*favourite
**£250
***a horse whose odds shorten in the face of heavy support