image showing recruitment process

6 Recruitment Process Mistakes to Avoid

Got an open role but unsure if you’re getting the recruitment process right?

Recruitment can be one of the challenging aspects of running a business, yet critical to your business’s success. 

Let’s face it;

Staffing isn’t just about filling a position; it’s about finding the perfect person who fits your culture, meets your needs, and helps your company grow.

And,

Everyone wants to scale their business, right?

However, many businesses make common mistakes during the hiring process that can cost time, money, and talent.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the top 6 recruitment mistakes companies make and how to avoid them. Plus, we’ll show you how Staffing Partner Africa can help you find the perfect candidate with our expert recruitment services.

Rushing the Recruitment Process

Urgency can lead to costly mistakes. Picture this, when you rush to hire, you might skip critical steps like thoroughly vetting candidates or clearly defining the role. This often results in high turnover and wasted resources. 

How to avoid it?

Don’t rush it. Take your sweet time. Create a solid recruitment plan and timeline to guide your structured hiring process. If you’re pressed for time, Staffing Partner Africa can help streamline everything without losing quality.. The best part? They handle the vetting, interviews, and background checks to make sure you find the perfect candidate.

Writing Unclear Job Descriptions

Your job description is the candidate’s first picture of your company and the role. Consequently, If it’s unclear, too broad, or missing details, you’ll attract the wrong candidates or, worse, turn away the right ones.

How to avoid it?

Be clear about the role’s responsibilities, required skills, salary, and qualifications. Also, don’t just list qualifications, this is your opportunity to characterize the kind of individual who would thrive in the role to attract candidates who align with your values.

Therefore, strengthen this section for both you and the candidate.

Skipping Reference Checks in recruitment process

You’ve interviewed a candidate, they’ve nailed the interview, and their resume is top-notch. Ready to offer the job? Hold on a sec! Skipping reference checks is a common mistake.

Why does it matter? Without checking references, you risk hiring someone who might not be a good fit. Interviews can only tell you so much. References give you the full picture—how they’ve performed in the past

How to avoid it?

Always do thorough reference checks before finalizing your decision. Ask specific, targeted questions to gain insight into a candidate’s work ethic and past performance. For additional support, consider working with Staffing Partner Africa. We offer detailed reference checks as part of our thorough recruitment process, ensuring you find the best fit for your team.

Leaving Out Key Team Members from the Hiring Process

Recruitment should involve more than one person or department. 

Recruitment isn’t just about finding someone who looks good on paper. I mean, it’s about hiring someone that understands their function, vibes with your company culture and clicks with the team. Too often, hiring is left to one person (the HR) or department, which can lead to some serious issues.

Why is this a problem? 

Hiring  without involving key team members, however, may result in a misalignment of expectations between the team and the new recruit.

How can it be avoided? Make sure the interview process involves all pertinent team members. In this manner, you’re evaluating the candidate’s ability to work effectively with others as well as their skills. This cooperative strategy makes sure the new employee fits in well with the board.

Basing Salary Offers on Previous Earnings

When offering a salary, some companies look at a candidate’s previous salary thinking it’s a quick way to secure them. But this can lead to dissatisfaction and high turnover.

Why? The candidate’s old salary might not match the value they bring to your company or the market rate.

How to avoid it? Research the market rate for the role and offer a competitive salary reflecting their value. Always offer a competitive salary that reflects this value. By collaborating with staffing firms such as Staffing Partner Africa, you may gain market insights and offer competitive pay that will draw top  talent while staying within your budget.

Overloading One Employee with Multiple Roles

Many companies, especially smaller ones, try to save costs by having one employee handle multiple roles. While it might seem efficient, it often backfires.

Why is this a problem? When you overload one person with too many tasks, their productivity and quality of work suffer. Even the best employees can burn out, make mistakes, and feel mentally exhausted, leading to lower job satisfaction. This often results in the employee leaving, and you’re back to square one with costly hiring processes.

How to avoid it: 

  1. Clearly define roles and responsibilities within your company. 
  2. Make sure each position is realistic and manageable. 
  3. If your budget is tight and you need one person to juggle multiple roles, ensure they have adequate support and that it’s a temporary solution with plans for future hires. 
  4. Partnering with Staffing Partner Africa can help you structure your workforce effectively, ensuring every employee has a clear, well-suited role.

Nailing Your Recruitment Process

Avoid these common recruitment pitfalls and tap into the expert support from Staffing Partner Africa to boost your hiring game. Ready to grow? Contact Staffing Partner Africa for tailored recruitment solutions that fuel your success!

The Surprising Link Between HR and SDG1

As Organizations, do we understand the role we can play in the implementation of the SDGs?

Born at the UN conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

Now, if this statement doesn’t summarize the role of HR, I don’t know what does.

The role of the HR Team is to advocate for the needs of the employees, improve the employee experience, develop their talents, and help them achieve their career development goals, while at the same time ensuring the goals of the organization are being met through these employees.

If this is achieved, there definitely will be a better and more sustainable future for both parties.

There are 17 SDGs, and number one on the list is No Poverty, which aims to eradicate all forms of poverty.

You may be wondering, what does this have to do with organizations and HR?  Many executives may feel they have nothing to do with this because after all, everyone in the organization is earning a salary.

But it does have a lot to do with organizations and HR. If you take into consideration the cost of living, education, healthcare and the fact that 40% of the Kenyan population earns less than kshs.50,000 per month, you will realize that most employees are living in poverty and struggling with debt.

We therefore cannot leave the responsibility of eradicating poverty to the government alone. Employers must be part of the solution.

So, how can HR Help?

 

 

1. Invest in training, skills development, and career development plans.

By putting in place an effective performance management system, skills gaps can be identified which can then form the basis for upgrading employee’s skills.

This ensures employees are continually being developped and this in turn ncreases their earning power and opportunities for growth.

Another way of promoting career development can be offering student loans as a benefit to employees who want to further their education.

2. Adopting financial wellness programs

The objective of these programs is to help employees understand investments, debt management and budgeting. This will help them build financial safety nets and avoid retiring poor.

3. Develop employee benefits systems, especially for low earners.

This could be as simple as subsidized food products from a specific store or offering meals at work. To avoid the hustle of putting up a kitchen and hiring cooks, employers can consider partnering companies that offer employees’ meals benefit, e.g. M-KULA service by Apptivate Africa. It may not seem like much, but it reduces the employees’ expenses, which helps them save or allocate funds to something else.

4. Stop unfair labour practices.

Cases of termination of contracts for expectant ladies, long working hours without due compensation, paying below minimum wage are still rampant in Kenya. All these practices deny employees the opportunity to have sustainable lifestyles, pushing further away the dream of SDG1.

5. Consider adopting the hybrid work model (where applicable) and allow employees take up more than one job.

It is no secret that some employers will put you on the chopping list the moment its known that you have a second job or a side hustle, because they see it  as a distraction to your “main job”.

I personally think it’s time employers stopped wanting to own employees and instead focus more on productivity. The flexibility will help the employees earn more, and employers in turn will get happier and less stressed employees. The hybrid work model will also help employees save on transport costs thereby increasing their disposable income.

6. Conducting external HR audits

It can be difficult to assess your introspectively. An external auditor however, is able to review processes and standards for what they really are, because they assess through a neutral lense that is not tainted by bias, history or  prejudice. They are able to assess all HR activities, advise and give recommendations on how to better align  the HR operations with SDG1.

It is important now more than ever, for organizations to show what they stand for other than profits.

A commitment by all employers towards “No poverty” among their employees, can go a long way in the achievement of SDG1.