Recruitment and selection? Do it yourself with the right recruitment technology!
- 17 Jan 2019
A DIY chain with 118 shops, 3,600 employees, and 1,200 vacancies per year should have a solid recruitment and selection policy. Praxis has just that. But its policy is not implemented by a recruiter. All shop managers are responsible for their own vacancy process, from recruitment to appointment.
How do they do this? When Praxis still had a central policy, the first selection round took place at the company’s headquarters. But many of the selected candidates failed to meet the profile that shop managers were looking for. As a result, shop managers would continue the selection process with candidates who applied for the position in person. However, organizations don’t want to hire the first candidate who applies; they want to hire best person for the job. In this case, there was a mismatch between the labour market and the recruitment method.
Mismatch solved
In 2015, the company decided to change course. The mismatch was resolved by bringing recruitment to the stores instead of centralizing it further. Shop managers are now responsible for filling vacancies in their shops using tools that help them maintain a professional and uniform look and feel.
Recruitment and selection tools
A toolkit was developed with the help of several shop managers that contains simple recruitment tools, such as a poster with a QR code and standard vacancy texts in a
Praxis case study: ‘Recruitment and selection? Do it yourself with the right recruitment technology!’ job ad Praxis also wanted all responses to be accessible a single system. This led them to HROffice Recruitment, to which all shop managers were given access. In
this system, they could post vacancies, forward candidates internally, and more. The shop managers also received help with the selection process. Candidates are now pre-selected based on a survey, which includes questions like: What is your availability? Are you willing to follow a training programme? Are you 16 years old or older? Candidates are also automatically screened in the retail sector’s fraud register.
Reactions of shop managers:
Four competences tested in Jobscan
Finally, a concise digital assessment test called the Jobscan, developed by LTP Business Psychologists, provides useful tools for a second candidate interview. Candidates are tested on four competences, after which the shop manager receives a report with the test results and several questions to ask during the job interview.
Results
Transitioning to a decentralized, tech-supported recruitment policy has generated positive results for Praxis in three areas.
- The most important result is that the probation period and end-of-contract period has been reduced from 29% to 10%. The new policy therefore ensures a better match between the selected candidate and the position.
- It also ensures that all job applications are sent to one location and saved in one Praxis case study database, replacing the multiple e-mail addresses, multiple shop visits, and paper letters.
- Last but not least: the policy was received positively by the shop managers. While there was the expected doubt following the 11-shop pilot programme, this scepticism quickly turned into enthusiasm. Handing the reins to the shop managers increases involvement and improves the quality of the selection process.