Ask a Recruiter: It’s time we invest in the candidate experience and our talent brand
Before joining Catchafire, Marissa Ferber built the largest Massachusetts volunteer program (15,000 a year, to be exact). She brought this experience to corporate recruiting, where she taught tech companies how to structure their hiring systems to decrease bias and hire the best talent.
First things first — You’re likely here because you’re hiring now or thinking about it soon — CONGRATS. At Catchafire, 45% of our nonprofit community as of late have fewer than 5 staff members, so if you are making a hire we know this is A MILESTONE! It’s an exciting time (and every time) when you add a role because it means more options to increase your impact and, frankly, it means you’ve secured funding.
The reality is recruiting for talent is time consuming. More and more we’re seeing large brands and for-profits putting their mission-driven and social good initiatives in front of applicants meaning candidates can find mission-minded work in all sectors and spaces. It’s great to see influential brands joining us, but does push us to elevate our talent acquisition practices and formalize our hiring processes in order to compete.
Drawing from my experience as a HR professional and now as I work alongside our network of nonprofits, Nonprofit HR’s 2017 survey rings true. In fact, looking at the projects commonly posted on our marketplace, nonprofits are looking for help and consultation with hiring strategy, compensation, new employee recruiting, and management coaching.
Q| How do we balance our need to find, hire, and keep the best with limited time and budget to take on all the bells and whistles we see for-profits presenting to candidates?
A | Whether you’re searching for your next hire now or anticipating adding headcount soon, you need that hiring strategy that you haven’t had the time or resources to finalize.
Sounds impressive, detailed, and expensive. Maybe even a little scary to take on.
What it boils down to is being consistent in every way that you can now. When you focus on consistency now, it will inevitably start to generate your hiring strategy and portray a positive talent experience along the way. Here’s exactly what I mean.
- Prepare now so your interviews are consistent later. The first task is to check your job descriptions and make sure they are consistent wherever you are sourcing applications. This communicates to candidates you are organized with a clear organizational direction. When there is variation, you’ll see this come through when you start selecting candidates. It’s an indicator your current staff members may not be aligned on the responsibilities and this will make its way to the surface during Q&A in interview(s).
- Strive for equality in the hiring experience. Whether you are hiring one role this year or have multiple open roles slated for 2019, create an equal hiring experience for all candidates you talk to and meet in-person. You’re likely having another staff member or advisor speak with your candidates. Interview training is key. It again creates a consistent experience for the candidate and also means you’re tracking the pros and cons on each candidate in a uniform manner. This eliminates bias and variations in what each interviewer might unintentionally be bringing into their feedback.
- Craft your compensation philosophy. Those of us in the nonprofit space have a reputation — compensation. If you feel unequipped to set a salary and benefits package or how to adjust current salary in preparation for bringing on another role, do not avoid this. Talk with an expert in Total Rewards who can, without bias, breakdown a systematic way to calculate compensation and candidly tell you where your budget falls in the market. Equipping yourself with this industry knowledge will set you up to confidently negotiate later.
Talent brand feels like corporate terminology but it is just as important in our sector.
Across sectors, this is easy to de-prioritize. What’s ironic is we all spend time crafting the experience and perceptions we give when we work with funders and post on social media. It makes sense — those moments feel high stakes.
However, think about all the phone and in-person interviews where you’ve been the candidate or the interviewer. That’s a large network of people learning about your mission and you. It matters. As long as you focus on consistency (job descriptions, interviewing systems, and answering for what might be a pay gap) you’re on your way to creating a compelling story and positive experience for all candidates who come your way.
If what I’ve shared has you thinking about what you need, or want hiring to look like at your organization, I’ve bundled up the exact projects and consultation calls you should hand off to a skills-based volunteer.
Originally published at medium.com.
