15 Recruitment Objectives To Improve Your Hiring Process

Updated 30 September 2022

When companies select the best candidates for the positions they want to fill, they make business processes more efficient and encourage professional advancement. The objectives for these recruitments help companies hire qualified candidates and build productive teams. By establishing effective objectives for recruitment, you can foster growth for your team, the company for which you work and your career. In this article, we define recruitment objectives and list 15 of them for choosing an ideal candidate.

What Are Recruitment Objectives?

Recruitment objectives are goals set by businesses or recruiters to ensure they select the right candidates for available positions. The primary recruitment objective of any company is to hire the most qualified candidates, but most have other goals to meet in their hiring processes, as well. In recent years, recruitment has shifted to consider candidates' needs and preferences more heavily, and objectives have changed to reflect this.

When recruiting new employees for the company for which you work, it is important to identify the objectives for recruitment because it can help you find more qualified candidates to fill available positions. It can also help you develop a recruitment strategy, which can save time and resources for the company and lessen your workload.

15 Recruitment Objectives

To help you develop a recruitment strategy for the company, consider the following objectives:

1. Understand your requirements

Start the recruitment process by examining what goals you have for hiring new employers. You might note how many professionals you want to hire, the timeline you hope to follow and the basic characteristics you might look for in a candidate. Knowing this basic information about the company's recruitment process can help you stay focused on company goals and measure candidates according to this standard.

2. Refine the quality of the candidates

When searching for the ideal candidate for a position, recruiters first look for applicants whose resumes match the job description they listed. The professional skills, education and employment experience listed on a resume are important in determining whether a candidate is a good fit for an available position, but refining candidates even further can help you ensure you hire the best possible applicant.

Asking certain interview questions allows you to better understand how each candidate operates as an employee and what they expect from the job. Screening questions or prompts you might include in an interview are:

Tell me about yourself.
What are your three biggest strengths?
What are your three biggest weaknesses?
Why did you choose to apply for this position?
What makes you a good fit for this company?
What professional goals do you have?
Do you prefer working on a team or individually?

3. Find a pool of candidates

Even if you plan on hiring the first candidate you interview, having a pool of select candidates adds quality assurance to your hiring process. You may still select the first person you interviewed, but using their qualifications as a baseline when interviewing other candidates allows you to make a hiring decision with confidence. If you have multiple candidates to compare, you can also ask for feedback from colleagues or supervisors when attempting to select a qualified candidate.

This is also helpful in the event that your first choice for the position does not accept the job offer for any reason. Having more candidates to choose from can allow you to still hire a well-rounded professional to fill the role.

4. Consider the future needs of the company

When hiring candidates, you might consider choosing multiple professionals to offer the job. This can help you consider the goals of specific departments and account for employee turnover. For example, if a department wants to have a team of 20 but currently only has 15 professionals, you might consider the average turnover rate for this position. If you project for two professionals from this department to quit within the year, you might plan to hire seven professionals for the team.

5. Reduce employee turnover

Effective recruitment ensures that both you and your candidates have the information you both require to make a proper hiring decision. Ensuring that you mention as many details as possible regarding the job, benefits and any other expectations of the company can help reduce employee turnover. Consider also encouraging questions from the candidate. If this occurs, the candidates often know what to expect if they accept a job offer and can avoid surprises that may lead to them seeking other employment.

6. Improve the company's reputation

In most cases, you can only hire one candidate for each position. Though you might receive several applications and interview dozens of applicants. This allows you to emphasise your brand's reputation with everyone who interacts with your company, even if you do not hire them.

Regardless of whether they secure an available position, candidates often remember interviews they have had. If they have a positive experience, they may apply for other jobs with your company in the future, recommend your company to others or positively discuss your company with friends and business associates.

7. Increase your professional network

Consider creating a professional social media page for yourself and build a personal brand. Try to keep in contact with former employees, candidates you interview but do not hire and even with other professionals to build a large professional network. You can offer incentives for referrals or even ask professionals within your network to recommend anyone they know to the company who may be looking for a new position.

8. Use a merit-based approach

You can avoid unintentional bias in your hiring process by including merit-based selection in your objectives. When reviewing each candidate's resume, try to solely consider their qualifications, education and experience. Personal information, such as their name or address, is only important if you choose to contact them for an interview. When you select candidates based on merit, you create a larger pool of qualified applicants and encourage diversity in your workplace.

9. Determine the best hiring methods for the company

Adjusting your recruitment methods is equally important to establishing a set of objectives. The best recruitment approach varies by company, as each business has unique hiring goals. Hiring goals and companies as a whole also change over time. Consider implementing new objectives to determine which works best for your company and analyse each method often to determine its success or failure.

10. Find candidates that fit the company's culture

Company culture refers to a shared set of values, practices and goals that members of an organisation share. Effective team managers often consider the independence and preferences of their team members, how team members treat one another and the workplace environment when delegating tasks and assigning group work. Recruiters can maintain a productive company culture by ensuring that a chosen candidate understands their company's culture and wants to actively participate in it.

11. Encourage leadership development

Encouraging a company culture that promotes from within can reduce the requirement to hire candidates for senior-level roles. It also might help to increase employee retention, as a professional may be more likely to stay within a position they feel they can grow in to fit their goals. You can encourage leadership development by establishing training programmes and promoting transparency between management and other professionals. This can allow entry and mid-level employees to understand and observe more management practices, which may help them prepare for the role themselves.

12. Create an efficient recruitment and hiring process

Having an efficient hiring process can help conserve company time and resources. It also may appeal to candidates, as they might be more enthusiastic about working for a company that has an effective hiring process. Create a timeline for the hiring process that designates time frames for initial recruiting, interviewing and extending job offers. This can help you fill positions more quickly and honour the candidates' time.

13. Monitor hiring costs

Monitoring how much the hiring process may cost the company can help you minimise the number of resources you spend. This can help preserve the department's budget and allocate funds to other areas of the company. You can minimise recruitment costs by using methods such as reaching out via social media to recruit professionals and choosing to use virtual interviewing and screening.

14. Create a job listing page on the company website

Having a page on the company website dedicated to the open positions within the organisation can help candidates find careers within the company. This can help recruit professionals who specifically want to work for the company, as they visit the company's website to apply. After creating this page, try to monitor it regularly so you can keep an accurate record of available positions.

15. Provide extra support to new hires

As a new hire, a professional may feel overwhelmed at starting a new job. You can help ensure they feel welcomed to the position and comfortable with the company by providing additional support during their training process. This can help increase employee retention rates.