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The selection process of many companies should include a third phase in order to retain candidates for the future

Many companies have a standard employee selection process: they do several rounds of interviews and then keep the ones they think are the best fit for the Firm. How many companies do we know with this employee selection process? Probably most of them. 

Therefore, we must think on what we should do better in order to attract and keep talent. One of the most common mistakes is how human resources treat selection processes like a pipeline instead of a continuous cycle. 

Recruiting as a cycle

Obviously, during the selection process, employees are competing with many others. In addition, this competition becomes stronger as the company grows and is more successful. Of course, talent retention teams need to filter CVs and make “yes” and “no” decisions. But, who knows, maybe a candidate who doesn´t fit in a current position, does in one in the future. 

So, why not implement a nutrition process? This is, create a process in which the employees you have rejected may be valid for another job offer in the future. Perhaps for that future moment, the employee has acquired the missing experience and skills you were looking for. In addition, this process would save you costs and time, building a quality process.

Therefore, perhaps a third phase could be added to the traditional selection process. At that stage, human resources should whether that candidate would be a good fit for the firm in the future.  If the answer to the question is yes, then he should be kept in the orbit and not let him out of sight.

Process

Therefore, if you finally think that candidate could be a good fit for the company in the future, add him into a separate bucket in your applicant tracking system. Allocate him to a position that you think he might fit in the future and write down his contact details. This information will make things easier for you in the future recruitment process.  

Then, invite him to subscribe to the firm talent newsletter, so he can be updated with the future new roles available. This way, a small community of talent people would be saved in your system. 

Now that you know this information, how many companies have lost great employees by not adopting a proper process? Implementing this selection process may be difficult at first, but it will eventually work on its own. You will save costs and time and you will be able to take advantage of all resources you have already used in the past.