When to start looking for new employees

Is there a good time to start looking for fresh talent? Should you wait until a position becomes vacant, or keep an eye out for talent in a proactive way?

In our opinion, the best policy for an efficient workplace is to search in a proactive way for new talent that could add value to your business.

In practice, of course, this presents a challenge that is not always easily dealt with by management, and the human resources team. That’s why working with a professional firm is a good idea. When a company partners with a single firm (rather than with several agencies), it allows the partner to truly understand its needs, and to keep a proactive lookout for the best potential hires.

Recruitment versus selection 

When people think about recruitment, they often include the selection process. In actual fact, these are two different processes that require time, energy and dedicated resources.

• Recruitment generally takes longer because it starts with a massive pool of available talent and ends with a few finalists who meet the expectations and criteria of the position to be filled.
• Selection is the next step. It determines who, among those capable of fulfilling the responsibilities described, will be in the best position to assume the other roles associated with the position.

As a partner, Hubble takes charge of the recruitment aspect by offering the client a limited number of qualified and interested candidates. Sometimes the unexpected happens and the selection phase turns out to be more challenging. Normally this part is quick, but indecision and a lack of clear internal processes can sometimes chase candidates away, which means starting all over again from the beginning. This lengthens the process considerably, resulting in additional costs and wasted time, as well as tarnishing the image of the organizations involved.

Planning a realistic recruitment timeline

A number of factors should be considered:

• Is the recruiter (internal or consultant) familiar with the work environment and expectations of the position to be filled? The more they know about the company and its needs, the quicker the process will be.
• Is it a specialized or complex position? Highly specialized or senior-level positions can take a number of months to fill. Some even involve a 6-month trial period. All of this needs to be considered when drawing up a recruitment timeline.
• Is the team and manager ready to receive the candidate? What are their expectations? Companies with ineffective or disorganized internal processes run the risk of losing candidates part way through. Like we mentioned earlier, the selection process is normally shorter, but it is of great importance!