Is this the best recruitment process ever? 🤔
That might sound like a bold question. But after seeing the Discovery Day created by my client, Williams Trade Supplies Ltd, it feels like one worth asking.
For short-listed candidates, the second stage of an interview process is often another meeting room, another set of questions, and another attempt to work out whether both sides are the right fit.
Williams chose to do something different. Instead of running a conventional second interview, they invited candidates for a senior role into the business for a Discovery Day, not just to be interviewed, but to really discover the company.
Over 5.5 hours, candidates met people from across the business, including Commercial, Marketing, Supply Chain, eCommerce, Branch Network, HR, Finance, IT and senior leadership. They heard about the company’s strategy, systems, teams, culture and history. They had the chance to ask questions, see how things connect, and get a genuine feel for what working at Williams would be like.
And importantly, it worked both ways.
For Williams, it was a chance to see how candidates listened, engaged, asked questions and responded to the reality of the business. For the candidates, it was a chance to decide whether Williams felt like the right place to do their best work.
Because recruitment should not just be about assessing a CV or performing well in an interview. It should be about giving people the information, access and context they need to make a confident decision.
A Discovery Day takes more time and effort than a conventional interview. But the result is a much richer, more human and more honest process.
So, is it the best recruitment process ever? Maybe that is for the candidates to answer 😉
But if recruitment is about finding the right fit on both sides, then giving people a real opportunity to discover the business before they join feels like a very good place to start. Those of you who know me or just follow me know I’m “old school” and that this approach fits in with my #humaninthe loop message that I keep banging the drum about.
(In the context of the unserious approach to appointing our new Prime Minister, we can be reassured that there are organisations out there still doing the right thing 😉)
Would your business consider this approach? What have you seen that has worked well when you have put a recruitment process in place or that you have experienced as a candidate?
