Dr John Sullivan Talent Management Thought Leadership
Many managers think that recruiting stops after you hire someone. But smart managers know that the best way to ensure that you always hire great people is to continually improve your recruiting process. One way to improve the process is to gather information from those that have just gone through it using a new-hire recruiting questionnaire. One of the most important things that you can do after you hire a new employee is to gather information about what worked and what didn’t during the recruiting process. Not only can the information help you improve the recruiting process, but your new hires can also provide you with important referrals for future hires. Administering the New-Hire Questionnaire The best time to administer the new-hire questionnaire is on the new employee’s first day, during or right after their orientation. Doing it on the first day makes it less likely that you will forget to administer it, and on the first day new hires are more likely to be honest. (Incidentally, you can administer the questionnaire anonymously if you find that employees are reluctant to provide the information). Even if you can’t give the questionnaire to every new hire, it’s important to make sure that you at least give it to new hires in key positions, where fixing errors and referrals are more important. Following is a basic template for what your new-hire questionnaire should look like.
The Recruiting Effectiveness Questionnaire Now that you have joined our firm, you are in a unique position to further help us build a winning team. Please be frank and help us to improve our recruiting processes and bring in more top talent by answering the following questions. A. Improving The Process How did you learn about this job? What source or recruiting tool convinced you to apply?
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2. What part of the recruiting and hiring process worked best or impressed you most? Explain why for each.
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2. What part of the recruiting process needs improvement, or made you uncomfortable? Explain why for each.
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2. What were the final determining factors that convinced you to accept our offer?
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3. B. Other Firms You Considered What other firms did you seriously consider? Please list in descending order of your interest.
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3. What other firms made you offers? How did those offers differ from ours? (Can we have a copy of your other offer letters?) Firm? Superior elements of their offer?
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2. C. Will you help us identify others like you? Who else should we recruit from your former firm? State their job and strengths Please list in descending order of their value as recruits. A referral bonus may be paid to you if they are hired within six months.
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5. Will you help us recruit them? Put a “yes” or “no by each name above. What other employees “look good on the surface” at your former firm, but wouldn’t be a fit here?
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3. D. Other What are the best business and technical practices at your former firm? Please list in descending order of importance. (This is an optional question, if your attorneys approve it.)
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The Next Step: What Should You Do With the Information? After the new hire completes the new-hire questionnaire, analyze it in order to identify what you did right or wrong. Don’t forget to feed the information back to those involved in recruiting at both the corporate and the departmental level, so that they can also learn. You might also consider offering a referral bonus to the new hire if the individuals that are identified are hired within months. You can also ask new hires to fill out:
- A “what motivates and frustrates me” questionnaire
- A “what are my job expectations and development needs” questionnaire
- A “what is the best way to manage me” questionnaire
The information from these different questionnaires can help you better understand, develop and motivate your new employee.
