In this article, we’ll give you all the tools you need to produce a simple recruitment process map. Our advice will enable you to draw up a diagram, in other words a cartography, in the form of a flow chart. This representation will be both comprehensive and easily shared and understood by other employees.
We’ll illustrate our method with examples that you can adapt to your own context and needs.
In an introductory section, we’ll present the main stages in a recruitment process (with tips). In the second part, we’ll show you how to produce a recruitment process diagram.
Below you will find a extract. The full diagram can be found at the end of the article.
What are the stages in a recruitment process?
Recruitment is one of the key activities of a human resources department, or even of a company. Its aim is to attract a large number of qualified candidates and hire the best talent.
This Human Resources process takes time and method. It is, moreover, a tool for enhancing a company’s reputation and brand image. In fact, an average job description, poor-quality interviews and omitted answers will have a direct impact on the company’s image, and will drive away the best talent.
Step 1. Why recruit a candidate at this time?
It’s not uncommon for managers to identify operational problems and think too quickly that the best solution is to recruit. Very quickly, however, they realize that this doesn’t make much difference, or even that the situation is getting worse.
Clearly identify your needs and possible solutions
That’s why it’s so important to clearly define your problem and, above all, the underlying issues. Once the need has been properly formalized, the question arises of the solution.
This need must then be transcribed into an objective. For example, the objective “Increase the number of sales” answers the problem “I’m not generating enough sales”.
To meet this objective, there are many possible solutions, and it’s important to list them exhaustively. In our example, for “Increase the number of sales” various solutions are possible, such as :
- 1st Solution – Free up salespeople’s time
- 2nd Solution – Hire new sales staff
- 3rd Solution – Outsource part of the sales generation process
- etc.
Once the solutions have been defined, it’s important to compare them with the organization’s requirements and constraints.
If recruitment proves to be the best solution, it then needs to be framed.
The manager, with the help of the HR manager, must produce a document answering specific questions. Examples of framing questions:
- Which profile ?
- What skills and qualities?
- Roles and responsibilities
- What kind of salary? If need be, which decision-maker to convince to get more budget?
- How does this compare with other employees’ salaries?
- What capacity for evolution?
- Etc.
Step 2. Write TWO job descriptions: one for HR recruitment and one for operational use.
Whether the position concerns a replacement or a new creation, you need to produce or update a job description. It will be your main tool for attracting future candidates.
Elements to be included in a job description :
- Company description,
- Description of the department,
- Work arrangements (location, working hours, etc.),
- Job summary (see answers to questions in previous section)
- Requirements (experience, skills…),
- Constraints (unlike requirements, a constraint is an aspect imposed on the company, non-negotiable and prohibitive for certain talents),
- Optional – Compensation and benefits.
We also strongly recommend that you produce two job descriptions:
- Functional, comprehensive and exhaustive for your in-house operational needs
- An attractive, and perhaps more concise, recruitment handout. The best talents are in great demand, and the clarity of your job description will enable them to be better screened.
Step 3. Draw up and monitor an HR recruitment plan
Choosing the right channels
There are many HR recruitment channels, so it’s up to you to choose the one or ones best suited to your needs.
Examples of Human Resources channels:
- Corporate website
- Sites and platforms dedicated to Human Resources recruitment (Linkedin, Indeed, France Travail…)
- General social networks (Facebook, Instagram…) or specialized ones like Linkedin
- Physical or digital business or HR communities. Numerous groupings exist: associations, forums, Slack groups, Facebook groups…
- Presence at job fairs
- Visits to higher education establishments
- Outsourcing to HR hunters
- Word of mouth or recommendations
It is of course advisable to draw up a recruitment plan for each new hire. This plan is simply a document formalizing :
- your chosen channels,
- the messages chosen for each channel (it’s important to adapt the message for each channel to have a better chance of succeeding with your HR effort)
- the underlying actions, dates and players.
With regard to the channels tested, don’t hesitate to experiment and share feedback with other departments in your company, so as not to reinvent the wheel with each new recruitment.
Step 4. Receipt of applications and qualification of candidates
This stage requires the right tools to receive applications, and to facilitate their processing and qualification.
The right tools for your HR recruitment process
I won’t draw you a picture, but if you receive 200 recruitment files and you have to search for the CV in one place, then the cover letter in another, then note your comments in a non-collaborative Excel, and your colleague tries to use the Excel at the same time and a conflict is created… then processing becomes a real hell.
What’s important is to have tools that automatically centralize applications, making documents easy to consult and enabling collaboration with other colleague appraisers.
Qualifying candidates in two stages
Candidates may be selected for the interview phase in one or two stages:
- First stage: Evaluation and selection/disqualification of candidates based on documents received + Linkedin profile observation
- Second step: If necessary, to clarify points, a short 10-minute phone call can help you avoid wasting time with a candidate during interviews, or missing out on a nugget.
Don‘t forget to keep all applicants informed. Whether they’re selected or not, or simply if you’re behind schedule. Not hearing from you for weeks can be frustrating for talent (Source : Welcome to the Jungle)
Be aware that candidate communications can be easily personalized and automated if your HR recruitment process is well established with automation platforms like Lapala.
Step 5. The stage of the HR process most representative of a company’s know-how
Every company has its own recruitment know-how. This know-how is its identity, which has made it what it is. The HR process must strictly support this know-how, and not the other way around.
Whether there is 1 interview or 5 per candidate, it’s up to you to define the results you want to achieve at each stage. For example:
- If you want to assess a candidate’s writing skills, ask them to write a few lines.
- For his problem-solving skills, give him a case study.
- When it comes to interacting with other people, invite a colleague and get them to work together.
- If you want to see how he reacts to stress, have him call an external or internal customer.
- Etc.
Everything is possible and imaginable, depending on your needs.
Ask for references and call them
When you have a very short list of candidates, the last disqualifications can be made by checking the references the talents have sent you.
This step is often not easy, as the referral agents are not always available to answer your questions. You need to think of simple ways for referrers to help you free of charge.
For example, by targeting a simple question that can be answered in a few minutes:
- If you had to improve one thing about “Antoine”, what would you change?
- When did “Antoine” surprise you the most?
- Has “Antoine” ever gotten you into trouble?
Step 6. Make an offer and negotiate
A good candidate may have several offers on the table at the same time. If he needs time to think, don’t hesitate to guide him independently through this process, identifying his reservations.
Candidates are bound to appreciate your help. In some cases, your help may even prompt the candidate not to join you, but you’ll have helped them make a better career choice, and perhaps one day they’ll return the favor. You’ll have gained notoriety.
And when negotiating, if a candidate has too many expectations, don’t hesitate to break off the contract if it exceeds your requirements.
How do you produce the recruitment process diagram?
The recruitment process is a team effort
To create a recruitment process map, you need to work with the employees who carry out these processes. If there are a large number of them, interact with a representative sample of this group.
Choosing the right tools to create your recruitment process map
Pencil and paper: this is one of the best ways to initiate the recruitment process diagram. It allows you to better define the structure and interactions before moving on to other tools.
Office software such as spreadsheets, PowerPoint or Google Slides: they’re easy to share and use collaboratively. What’s more, these tools are widely known. Limiting space on a slide can be restrictive, but it can also be beneficial for better structuring processes.
Design software such as Canva, Figma, Miro or Lucidchart (non-exhaustive list): they offer the same advantages as office tools, but with unlimited workspace! Quick training is all that’s required to use them (a few videos on Youtube are all that’s needed). Their main advantage lies in the integration of specific process creation modules.
Process mapping software such as Viflow, Visio or Camunda (non-exhaustive list): these specialized process mapping software packages are highly effective. However, they require a relatively large investment of time to learn. They are characterized by their rigor: if information not provided for by the software needs to be added, it can be difficult to make it appear.
It’s important to note that these solutions are NOT presented as levels of mastery (from beginner to expert). Each offers specific advantages to be used according to needs and uses:
- For the first draft, use a pencil and a sheet of paper.
- For collaboration, use office software.
- If you need to be very thorough, use design software.
- If you need to comply with standards and requirements, use mapping software.
See our article comparing mapping and design software
Produce a diagram of the recruitment process
A picture is worth a thousand words. Below is an example of a recruitment process diagram:
Mapping should be seen as a roadmap of a process, allowing us to identify :
- Events (start, end, intermediate) symbolized by red circles.
- Actors represented by colored dots.
- Activities (tasks, processes) represented by rectangles.
- Simultaneous decisions, conditions and actions (called gateways) in the form of diamonds.
- Sequence flows and message flows linking the various elements.
In parallel with this map, on another document or on another dedicated map, you can track each process:
- Tools and software used
- Actions performed orally, on paper, on software.
- Procedures
- The timeframe of the recruitment process
- Duration of each action
- Its recurrence
- Stock levels at each stage
- Employee satisfaction with each action
- Problems and shortcomings at every level
If you’d like to go further in process modeling, we invite you to read this article.
Operationalize your diagram and optimize your process with a process sheet
Your recruitment process map will be a good starting point for optimizing your operations. However, if you manage to make this tool come alive and be used by other employees in their daily work, then you will have fulfilled your mission to 200%.
One of the most accessible tools for achieving this mission is the process sheet.
The process sheet is a crucial tool for guaranteeing the long-term viability of an activity and ensuring simplified improvement whenever necessary. It brings together key information such as process mapping and performance indicators.
The process sheet will also facilitate the implementation of new projects, audits, controls and reviews.
However, there’s a fine line between “having a useful process sheet for your company” and “having an unused, obsolete sheet lost in the depths of your storage space”.
To explore this topic further, we have written another resource to help you produce a simple process sheet (with a sample process sheet).
Automate the recruitment process
Find out more about process automation in our article
Now you know all about producing a recruitment process map. Now it’s your turn! See you soon for more content!
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