Struggling to Find Good Employees? This 5-Step Framework Can Help

Sometimes, it seems that good workers are hard to find in the US and Western Europe. This is often true, especially when the market is filled with gaps.

However, there are countries where the dynamics are different. You probably know about India or the Philippines, but there is also Eastern Europe, where there are usually more beautiful people than jobs.

This market is full of employees who are willing to learn and work within a competitive budget, people who are passionate and try their best.

My video editing company has over 100 employees in Eastern Europe, and we are very happy. So, how do we hire in this market? I would like to share our method, which will be very effective in recruiting line workers.

Step 1: Invest time in preparation

First, we need to decide what type of personality we would like to hire for a particular position.

According to the Performance-Integrity framework, every job can be scaled and fit into one of four categories:

• High skills and high reliability
• Low skills and reliability
• High skills and low reliability
• High reliability and efficiency

For us, it is important to find and train the most reliable employees, even if they are less skilled. Everything we do during this recruitment process is aimed at finding potential.

Our system is designed to help people develop and grow over time. It is important to mention that this system only works if you have a strong department leader who can mentor his employees.

After deciding on the required characteristics, we define the candidate, describe their responsibilities, and write an engaging job description. We publish it on both paid and free channels and move on to the next stages.

Related: Here’s What to Expect in a Job Interview in Today’s Job Market

Step 2: Collecting the correct number of applications

We expect something specific in every hiring situation. For example, we know that out of 70 applicants, only one video editor will be a match. When hiring a manager, we usually need to consider 100 candidates. This helps us to generate how many applications we need to collect.

These ratings proved to be consistent, with only minor fluctuations, allowing us to plan our group’s rating. We’ve learned that recruiting the required number of people for a few applications just won’t get us the results we need.

We are ready to proceed once we have reached our target number of applications.

Related: How Long Should a Cover Letter Be in 2023?

Step 3: Conduct two interviews

Since we usually receive so many requests, conducting more than 100 interviews took weeks.

That’s why we used a more effective method – group discussions. We usually invite 10-15 candidates to these sessions. We evaluate candidates’ experience, how well it fits with our position and company values, and look at how they interact in the competitive environment.

This method also saves us a lot of time when introducing the company. Instead of doing it 10-15 times, we do it once in a group.

After the group sessions, our hiring manager interviews the candidates with the Head of the corresponding department. Together, they identify the people who impress them the most and schedule individual interviews.

That is very traditional: we talk about the candidate’s ambition, discuss how our company can support their career growth, and ask detailed questions about their previous work experience.

Step 4: Assign test tasks

The next step in our recruitment process is a real-world assessment of the candidates who have been successful so far. We give them a few days to complete it, making sure the work reflects the real work they will be doing with us.

Over the past year, we have had to restructure all of our testing operations to be AI proof. With the help of AI candidates, it has become difficult to assess their actual skill levels.

Once jobs are submitted, I review all jobs with client-facing positions. For technical roles, the Head of our video editing department takes over.

We provide detailed feedback to all candidates, whether they are eligible or not. We highlight the highlights, areas for improvement, and tips for their job search. In this way, we ensure that everyone who invests their time gets something valuable in return. Also, it leaves the door open for future employment.

Related: 5 Personality Traits Hiring Managers Should Look For in Candidates

Step 5: Internship

After this review, we invite top candidates to join us for a two-week paid internship, which is a valuable opportunity to develop skills. This experience allows them to learn more about our workplace and demonstrate their skills.

During this time, senior candidates work on real projects under the supervision of a supervisor to apply their knowledge in practice.

It’s a win for everyone. Candidates get a real taste of what it’s like to work with us, and we can see how they work in a real-world setting.

It’s not just about hard skills. We provide ourselves with a mentor who provides guidance and looks at how well candidates can listen, get feedback and adapt – in other words, whether they are a good fit for our business culture.

If they do, this is a strong indication that they have an opportunity to grow and succeed within our team, and it’s a major green flag for us.

Ultimately, we stick with the candidates who do that best. That’s how we went from 100 to 2.

In the world of recruitment, both parties have to put in a lot of effort. It’s not just a time but also an emotional investment. However, the power we gain from successful recruitment is multiplied many times over. Once we’ve nailed down our process and set our course, there’s no turning back.

We will lose much more than we have saved if we miss any step in our hiring. However, if we do it all, the benefits ultimately make the effort worthwhile, giving us a good return on our investment.