“Large-scale recruitment of personnel during the pandemic” CASE.

Situation description:

in the summer of 2020, a non-profit international organization contacted us, which has just received approval for the implementation of a very interesting and useful social project. At that time, the company was faced with the necessity to quickly increase its staff for the successful implementation of the project. The company had a small HR department that could not physically cope with the large-scale recruitment of personnel in different regions of the country and in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic (when people’s movements and personal physical contacts were restricted). When working with the client, we faced additional challenges. The recruitment procedure itself in international organizations is very capacious, complex, multi-stage, requiring absolute transparency. All of this had to be complied with and we needed to complete the recruitment in record time (1 month from the date of receipt of the order).

Work performed:

1. A competition was announced on all available working internet sites for searching for candidates, an online application collection was organized.
2. Profiles of candidates were prepared, which took into account primarily personal qualities – responsibility, interpersonal skills, punctuality, etc. All these qualities were checked and assessed during the selection process.
3. Personnel selection tools have been revised – we have selected tests and tasks that can be done online, and, most importantly, for online processing and analysis in automatic mode. Some tests had to be “put” into Google Docs. This also made it possible to upload reporting forms later to ensure transparency of the candidate assessment process. We also made sure that the tests were adapted for mobile phones.
4. Several recruiting commissions were promptly created, which could work simultaneously. During the interview, electronic questionnaires were filled out and the time schedule was strictly monitored. This allowed us to manage the process and not deviate from the work schedule.
5. Since the key requirement for the candidate was integrity, we used projective cases, which allowed us to more accurately determine the declared values and integrity of the candidates.
6. The process of online collection of 2-3 recommendations for each candidate on a special form was organized.
7. The process of collecting price offers was organized and an analysis of price offers was made in the form of a rating of candidates.

Result of the work performed:

235 applications were received, 92 candidates were interviewed and tested, 73 people were shortlisted, 2-3 recommendations were checked and price offers were requested from all candidates who were shortlisted (in seven regions of the country) and the client signed employment contracts with 46 candidates. There were no cases of coronavirus infection during the recruitment of personnel process.

Based on our long experience in HR consulting, we recommend outsourcing recruitment in the following cases:

1. There is no HR team or, if there is, it is small
2. It is necessary to minimize the conflict of interests that may be occur
3. It is necessary to keep the recruitment process a secret from the current employees
4. It is necessary to remove responsibility from the company for the initial selection and shortlisting in order to conduct an independent selection of employees.