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Employee Motivation Begins With Hiring Process

Motivated employees strive for more, take chances, and are a valuable asset to every company.  Building a team that demonstrates the qualities of a successful organization begins with the hiring process.  Knowing what qualities to look for and which questions to ask can help in making the screening and interviewing processes more effective. In addition, involving your current employees in the hiring process can further increase employee motivation, while providing an excellent means of evaluating a candidate’s suitability for the job.

The following are some powerful tips to improve your recruiting process and turn it into a strategic activity to increase employee motivation. Your recruiting software and applicant tracking system platform can be leveraged to create and implement processes that improve employee participation in the process.

Technology driven processes can help your organization select and evaluate individuals based on how closely their skills, ability and goals are aligned with or complementary to the company goals. These processes can also reveal the candidate’s enthusiasm for your company’s brand and message, which can eventually impact the overall employee motivation in your company.

Be upfront with expectations

When interviewing potential job candidates, be upfront and thorough about everything the position entails.  This includes disclosing specific details such as salary, benefits, job security, and the work environment.  Keep key qualities and details consistent with the employer brand that you want to project for your company. Knowing exactly what to expect in a new job and a clear sense for future possibilities is likely to increase the candidate’s desire to come on board with enthusiasm.

Highlight the unique opportunity

While monetary factors play an important role in a candidate’s decision, some of the intangible benefits could ultimately have a greater impact on employee motivation.  Share and highlight all those features that make the position exciting and intriguing. Try and understand the likes and dislikes of you target candidates and include some of their desired job characteristics in your description. These could an opportunity to work with the coolest technologies, participation in special industry events or other things that would make the position attractive to your candidates. A position that is unique and challenging is more likely to attract highly motivated employees.

Challenge your employees

A common quality amongst motivated employees is the desire for a challenge in the workplace.  Provide employees with some room to display their creativity. Self-chosen goals create a special kind of motivation called intrinsic motivation, which can go a long way in building sustainable employee motivation in an organization. Enforcing strict rules and procedures, on the other hand, can make employees feel held back, decreasing employee motivation and performance.  When recruiting and interviewing potential hires communicate the company’s stance on creativity and flexibility.  A position that includes an opportunity for self-expression and growth is likely to attract the most energetic and high-achieving employees.

Involve your current employees in the hiring process

The hiring process not only presents the opportunity to attract motivated employees, but can also have a positive effect on the employee motivation of your current staff.  Let current employees take part in the recruiting process.  This shows that they are an important part of the company and play an active role in its future.  Create an employee referral program that rewards employees for sharing jobs on their social networks. Enable employees to refer and recommend select individuals from their connections who could be great potential hires.  Take this technique a step further by allowing employees to participate in veracious aspects of the interviewing process.  Their interactions with candidates and evaluations are valuable as they have a unique, insider perspective to the qualities that your open positions demand.

Finding a way to integrate these practices into your recruiting and hiring process can empower your company to attract highly driven candidates, while creating a basis for sustainable employee motivation.  Building a powerful team of motivated employees begins with the hiring process.  Increase your opportunity for high quality hires and lasting relationships by taking the right measures early on in the process.  Learn how next-gen recruiting software and applicant tracking system capabilities can help you create processes to improve employee motivation.

What are some of the key ways in which your hiring process has contributed towards improving your employee motivation?

Photo by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash