The recruiting process flow chart is the perfect complement to every hiring process. With so many moving parts and so many people involved, it helps immensely to have a structure to guide the process and weed out unsuitable candidates. It’s critical to find the best job candidates. After all, the success of any organization greatly depends on its team members.
This article will explain what a recruiting process flow chart is and what kinds of information should be included on one, as well as the rest of the recruitment process steps that can make it easier to track down the most qualified candidates.
Also referred to as a recruitment workflow, a recruiting process flow chart is a diagram that divides the hiring process into steps, using various symbols and arrows. It starts with phase one, sourcing, and goes all the way through to the final phase of onboarding.
A recruiting process flow chart provides a visual guide for the recruiter, the HR team, and the hiring manager. It helps create a uniform hiring process, ensuring that your hiring team will stay on track no matter what role they are sourcing candidates for. Furthermore, a recruiting process flow chart leads to better internal communication among your team members — and, as a result, a better candidate experience for your new hires.
While you can use simple software like Creately for a hiring process flow chart template, you can also make one fairly quickly by using some simple squares and ovals in your preferred word processing application. An excellent first step? Start mapping it out with a pencil and some paper.
As for the contents of your recruiting process flow chart, you’ll want to begin by considering some important questions about how the hiring process should work at your organization. Your answers to these questions will help to fill out the flow diagram:
Communication between human resources and the hiring manager is essential to ensure the selection process yields the best candidates to take part in the interview process. The HR department will need to understand the hiring manager’s top priorities, the hard and soft skills needed for the role, the new employee’s responsibilities, and the job’s start date, at the very least.
A job description that is too long will be skimmed by potential candidates — or it may not even be read at all. It’s time-consuming to create a job description, and a waste of time if it gets skipped over altogether. So be sure to edit your job description down to the most important details like:
Keep job candidates engaged and intrigued by keeping the job description short, sweet, and relevant.
Depending on the role, you might have success with job boards, referrals, social media posts (like on LinkedIn), or by putting out paid ads. If you’re interested in conducting a broader search, college campus visits or job fairs can be ideal for bringing in a high volume of talent within a particular niche.
A common mistake in the hiring process is when teams fail to consider that the new employee they’ve been searching for might already work at the company in another department. Internal referrals save both time and money in the recruitment process. Maybe more importantly, they boost morale for current employees who feel that they are working toward personal development and growth opportunities.
Be sure to send out a company email with the job opening listed to give internal candidates a chance to apply.
A recruiting process flow chart can also help your hiring team manage the different recruitment channels being used. For example, the HR department could manage all incoming applicants from the job posting on various websites, and the hiring manager could handle applicants that come through via referrals. This can be reflected easily on the flow chart to keep everyone organized and the process efficient.
By investing a little time and effort in human resources planning and using a recruiting process flow chart, your hiring process will be much more effective — and sourcing your new hire will be that much easier.
When you advertise your organization’s open role on multiple channels, you may be overwhelmed by the response you get. Glassdoor reports that every job posting can result in over 250 resumes, resulting in an average of five interviews and (maybe) one hire.
It’s wise to plan for how the hiring team will manage the selection process — including phone screening, interviewing, and reference checks — ahead of time with a workflow diagram.
Here are some additional tips to help you narrow down the pool of job candidates:
The interview process needs to be more than a check-the-box exercise. By planning for an optimal candidate experience, you increase your chances of attracting the best candidates for your role.
Since by this point you have already vetted the candidate’s qualifications, the interview process is the perfect opportunity to delve a little deeper. You can ask questions about the candidate’s past experiences and goals for the future, answer any questions they might have, and gather additional feedback from other hiring team members.
Here are 8 tips to enhance the interview experience:
When you’ve found your ideal job candidate, don’t delay. Once you’ve conducted the reference checks, you’ll want to make an official job offer by phone, followed by an email, to your top candidate.
The last piece of the recruiting process flow chart should include your onboarding plans for the new hire. During this period, encourage your new hire to speak candidly about any aspects of the job they are nervous about. It can help to tailor their onboarding plan to feel supportive rather than overwhelming.
We’ve covered why a recruiting process flow chart is helpful and the questions to consider before creating one, and now here are the steps to get started on your own chart:
A recruiting process flow chart will make it easier to find qualified candidates and provide an optimal candidate experience. It also helps to keep the members of your hiring team in alignment with one another.
Pulpstream is all about making business processes more efficient in the easiest possible way. Our unique tools support HR management through secure automation and no-code processes that improve accountability and visibility between stakeholders during the hiring and onboarding processes. If you enjoyed the tips in this article, be sure to follow the Pulpstream blog for more ideas on how to streamline your business processes.