Examples and practices of a good selection process
Traditional recruitment methods are used by the largest number of companies in the corporate world. However, as there is a talent gap, different companies are resorting to innovative approaches to reach potential candidates and create a talent pool for the company.
Here are two well-known examples of such innovative recruitment and selection best practices used by McDonald's and Amazon.
McDonald's uses the app Snapchat for selection.
People between the ages of 20-25 are very active on Snapchat. The digitally-literate younger generation uses this app a lot and through it organizations can attract their attention and make them a part of their staff. Snapchat is already being used as a tool to create an employer brand and attract young people to open positions within the company. It is now an established recruitment strategy that is used by companies such as McDonald's and GrubHub (Grubhub). McDonald's uses video ads and applications to introduce promising candidates to open positions within the organization.
McDonald's was also the first company to use the now-ubiquitous 10-second videos in which current employees talk about their work experience at the company. A person interested in a position can click after the video and be directed to the company's career page. An interested candidate can also virtually "try on" a McDonald's uniform and send a 10-second video to the company about why they'd make a great employee.
This is a simple way to attract candidates and create a pool of candidates for the company.
Amazon's practice of "candidates selected by colleagues"
Company employees can set appropriate criteria for prospective staff. Reviewing candidates by colleagues is a great way to determine the list of people for the next steps of the recruitment process (interview, etc.). Those already working in the company are aware of the work environment, the specific demands of the job, and the daily workload. Also, if a colleague rejects a candidate, it will be after a thorough review.
Amazon uses this unique recruitment strategy under the 'up-leveling' programme. bar raiser* - one who raises the level). Here, employees volunteer to serve on an interviewing committee. They interview the candidate in person or by telephone. Each then passes on their assessment and collaborates with other colleagues who have interviewed the same candidate. Candidates are rejected if the interviewer raises the level. bar** raiser) did not approve them. This is a peculiar way of using the so called. crowdsourcing ( crowd-sourcing***) by the company's employees.
* A Bar Raiser - one who raises the level/standard is actually an experienced interviewer who acts as a neutral third party in the selection of a candidate. He can be considered something like a broker or agent.
** The Bar bar - bar, in the sense of level, standard, criteria*) - this is a coined term that symbolizes the 50th percentile of all employees of this caliber/level working at Amazon. So, to 'raise the level' is to find someone who is smarter than half of the employees working at that level in the company. The responsibility of the 'one who raises the level' is to ensure that any selection committee concentrates on maintaining and raising the level (of competencies, knowledge, general culture, etc).
*** Crowd-sourcing - using the resource of the crowd; This practice is obtaining needed services, ideas or products by attracting a large group of people, most often these groups are organized online. Crowdsourcing combines the efforts of multiple people, each with their own contribution to the end result.
