The Lean Recruiting Toolkit - Advanced Recruitment Strategy

In this lesson, I take you on a tour of the Lean Recruiting Canvas and its 10 building blocks. By defining what each of these mean precisely, we'll be able to complete each block accurately when the time comes.

Pleased download one or more copies of the Lean Recruiting Canvas before processing. Just click on the Resources tab. And get a pen!

To download a copy of the Lean Recruiting Canvas Cheat Sheet, click on the Resources tab.

We will have a brief look at some completed example canvases I have filled out. These are also available for download via the Resources link in this lesson.

Download Example Canvases seen in the previous lesson by clicking on the Resources tab.

Our first block in the Lean Recruiting Canvas is the 'Problem'. We define the Problem as a clear statement of a business problem that has convinced one or more people in your organization that someone must be hired.

Problems generally stem from a desire to increase revenues, decrease expenditures or improve efficiencies, depending on whether you work for a private sector company, public sector, or non-profit organization.

For each of our canvas blocks, we will examine three separate examples that should give you some ideas for your own company and role. In this lesson, we look at three example Problems.

Hiring someone on a permanent, full-time basis will be your solution the majority of the time. But what about when it isn't. This lesson encourages to you to think about the alternatives, such as issuing over-time, retraining employees, managing the schedule a little better or hiring contractors.

Finding the most efficient solution will ensure your company is making best use of its resources. It will also sure that people you do hire will be engaged with their work and ultimately stay in the role longer.

And here are three example Solutions.

Defining what you are looking for in an employee should be easy now that you have clearly defined your Solution. Come up with three to five bullets. Also, challenge your own assumptions as to what makes a good employee for this type of role. Do a little research. We look at a few bits of research online in this lesson that are applicable to our example roles.

You guessed it. Three examples of the Ideal Employee section filled in.

Here we get into a little marketing. If the right job candidate is going to be attracted to your company, they have to know that the company is a stable, viable concern. They will research you online to find out if you are someplace they want to work.

In this lesson, we help you define why your own customers choose to do business with you as a means of demonstrating to the candidate that your organization is a place they want to spend part of their career at. We later use this info when creating our Job Ad.

Three examples of Company USPs.

It may be clear to you why this is an appealing role, but let's face it, you already work there. In this lesson, we help you clearly define the benefits of this role so that we can clearly communicate it on the Job Ad.

I will show you how to write the job duties in a meaningful way, rather than just as a list of tasks. We will also highlight what benefits come with the role, monetary and otherwise. What's important to you may not be important to the candidate, and vice versa, depending on the stage of life they are at.

Three great examples of Role UVPs

This section is our longest section, so time for a bit of a quick recap on learnings to date. I also discuss upcoming lessons and talk about their function. Go get yourself a cup of tea / coffee and take a short break before continuing.

In this lesson, we examine Active, Passive, and Hybrid™ sourcing techniques. We will also help you decide which techniques are most effective depending on the role you are trying to fill.

Three solid Sourcing examples.

In this lesson, I help you decide what steps are necessary in your hiring process, in what order, and most importantly, why. Hint? It all depends on the role. Why would you have a psychometric assessment for a software developer role? Or a coding test for a sales person?

Eliminating unnecessary steps ensures candidates have confidence in your organization's processes. When you have a really solid and meaningful hiring process, you can process candidates quickly meaning you will not lose them to competing offers.

Watch this lesson for three examples of solid role-specific processes.

There's no point in going through all of this trouble unless we make an effort to measure our results, now is there?

If we measure, we can improve! In this lesson, we examine ratio analysis which involves looking at how many candidates progress from one step in the hiring process to the next, and why. If your numbers balloon in a specific step, then you know where to look to resolve the issue.

Three Key Metrics examples.

Download the Cost Structure calculator by clicking on the Resources tab in this lesson.

In this lesson, we will determine the annualized cost of hiring a new employee. This includes one-off hiring costs plus the annualized costs of employing your new employee. Why do we do this? So we can tie our hiring activities to actual business requirements.

If math isn't your thing, don't worry, there is a calculator you can download from the Resources tab in the previous lesson to crunch the numbers for you.

Have a look at three examples of Cost Structure.

What value does (ideally financial) does your new employee add. Do they earn your company extra revenue? Do they save you money? Is it less tangible. Here is your change to define it, and calculate your Return-on-Investment in hiring your new employee.

Here are three examples of Value Added to wrap things up.

Now that you have completed your canvas, walk away from it and take a break. This will help you get a little perspective for when you review.

When you come back, read your canvas quickly to check for superfluous points. Then, do a cross-block review to check the detail.

Then ask yourself if you can clearly see the difference between your new plan, and what you have done in the past. If there is no difference, you will see the same results.

You can download the notes from this section by clicking on the Resources tab.

Now it is time to execute your strategy as you have planned. In this section, I will give you some overall tips for areas of most interest and sometimes concern.

We will look at getting sign-off with the Hiring Manager, communication with candidates, how to conduct professional and effective screening calls, how to professionally break up with candidates and much more.

A Job Ad is not the same thing as a Job Description. A Job Description is a list of duties and other role-related information used internally at a company.

A Job Ad is a marketing document. Like all good marketing documents it has one purpose only. The purpose of a Job Ad is to get the right people to click 'Apply'. That's it.

In this lesson, we show you all the component parts of an effective Job Ad. Then, we look at a really poor Job Ad online, fix it up, and show you how it should look to attract top candidates.

In this very handy lesson, we show you how to get sign-off (and importantly buy-in) from the Hiring Manager.

In the lesson, I will share with you effective email wording to use to show the Hiring Manager how the Lean Recruiting process benefits them by saving them time and helping them get to their new employee in a much more timely fashion than normal.

A lot of talent acquisition professionals don't really have a plan when they go into their screening calls other than conducting a sanity check.

In addition to making sure the candidate's resume matches up with their online profile and to see if they have left any relevant information off their resume, you should also use this occasion to sell the role (Role UVP) and company (Company USPs) to them. The more engaged the candidate is, the more likely they will hang in there when the Hiring Manager delays coming back to you with feedback.

In this lesson, I will provide you with a 7-step format for conducting effective screening calls every single time.

In this lesson, I first discuss the importance of effective communication with the candidate, other than the obvious 'common courtesy'. Great communication means you get better buy-in and a greater chance at getting the candidate to the finish line before they accept an offer with another employer. In addition, we show you techniques to eliminate embellishers, and eliminate people who have already accepted offers elsewhere.

Inform candidates of the entire hiring process at the outset (as agreed with the Hiring Manager), move them to the next step of the hiring process as quickly as possible, and keep them posted on progress, even when nothing is happening.

It is unfortunate, but ultimately most candidates are rejected. I will show you how to reject unsuccessful candidates quickly and professionally, and without damaging your brand. Remember, candidates are potential customers and can act as anti-advocates if improperly treated.

In this lesson, I will provide you with template wording for candidate rejection by email with an explanation of the wording.

In this lesson, I will explain the process for engaging with the hiring manager, and coming back to them again should the process need tweaking. As part of this, I will show you how to negotiate an updated canvas with the Hiring Manager, and get sign-off for a second time.

I also provide you with template email wording for effective communication and sign-off.

You can download the notes from this section by clicking on the Resources tab.

We prefer the word 'Catalyst' to problem, challenge or hiccup. Catalyst implies an opportunity for change, and in our case, improvement.

In this lesson, we discuss the difference between Obstructive Catalysts™ and Latent Catalysts™.

Obstructive Catalysts are when you seemingly hit a dead end in your search. You can either find no candidates, or no right candidates.

Latent Catalysts are a little harder to spot without scheduled reflections. They can be more damaging as sometimes they are noticed until after the candidate is hired. we show you how to catch them before that.

Some of the more common Obstructive Catalysts™ are...

1. There are simply no qualified candidates on the market. Possible solutions include hiring remotely, pay for relocation, or sometimes just simply wait.

2. Too many candidates. Sometimes, we can just become paralyzed by indecision. Strong processes can fix this.

3. The Hiring Manager cancels the requisition. This may not seem like an issue, but you need to find out why they did this. How was the Problem solved?

4. You have no time. As an HR professional, you have a lot of things on your plate, with this requisition being only one of them. Ask for more time, or more help.

Some of the more Latent Catalysts™ are...

1. The Hiring manager changed the requirements without telling you, so your candidates are being rejected.

2. The interviewing panel is looking for something else. 'We'll know it when we see it' mentality.

3. Automated tests are too hard or inappropriate.

4. You are searching for the wrong keywords.

The solution? Book a time on your calendar, even 5 minutes, for a weekly review. Do a cross-block review and check your key metrics. Does something not stack up? If not, why?

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

1. Decide what to change.

2. Create new version of the canvas.

3. Get buy-in (again).

4. Execute.

5. Check for more catalysts.

I have attached a copy of the Lean Recruiting Process for download in the Resources tab.

And time for some examples of an Agile mindset in action.

You can download the notes from this section by clicking on the Resources tab.

You're done and you have made your hire. Time to relax.

First, take a few minutes to review your work. Why? It will save you a ton of time the next time you need to hire for the same role again. effectively, you will be beginning form a template you know actually works.

You can review...

1. Immediately after the placement.

2. During the annual performance review.

3. The next time you hire for the same, or similar, role.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. This lesson shows you how to pick up where you left off the next time you receive a requisition for the same role. Importantly, you need to review the work climate to see if any external factors have changed. The industry? The economy? Has the Hiring Manager changed?

You can download the notes from this section by clicking on the Resources tab.

In this lesson, I discuss how to use the Lean Recruiting Canvas for purposes other than straight up recruitment.

For example...

1. Helping to reduce lay-offs / redundancies by assessing where current workforce skills can be used.

2. Reducing company cost-structure.

As a refresher for many of you, I take a brief look at Boolean search basics. We look at variables such as AND, OR, NOT " ", ( ) and combinations of these to get the best candidates possible while eliminating as many false-positives as is realistic.

We will take a look at a few examples using LinkedIn.

Here I use ChatGPT to generate AI Boolean search strings for talent acquisition purposes.

Key points highlighted in the lesson include the importance of well-written job ads for optimal results and the preliminary nature of the generated search strings. Learners are advised to view the output as a starting point rather than final solutions. Additionally, those utilizing Applicant Tracking Systems are urged to stay informed about upcoming AI tools, especially related to Boolean search functionality.

The practical demonstration involves creating Boolean search strings based on sample job ads. Learners are provided with a step-by-step walkthrough, including tips such as experimenting with different variations and adjusting search parameters based on location and job specifics. The module emphasizes the iterative nature of refining search strings and encourages learners to critically evaluate the relevance of generated terms.

Through examples drawn from diverse job postings, participants gain hands-on experience in crafting effective search strings tailored to specific roles and contexts. The module concludes by reinforcing the importance of testing and refining generated search strings to optimize candidate sourcing efforts.

Here are a number of downloads that are referred to throughout the course.

You can download the notes from this section by clicking on the Resources tab.