With around 80 locations across the US, Canada and Europe, Equinox has become the benchmark for high quality gym and fitness clubs around the globe. Central to the companies philosophy is creating bespoke experiences with their customers, providing ample face-to-face time with highly trained expert professionals.

Hiring success for this kind of human-centric business is therefore of critical importance. The employees and their knowledge are the very product Equinox is selling and to achieve this they need to find and hire the best people and best experts possible.

Equinox uses a decentralized system which local branch managers conduct their own hiring based on their requirements. This approach utilizes around 20 full-time recruiters supported by over 300 local hiring managers who may often carry out many other activities on a daily basis.

How To Ensure Consistent Excellence?

Although this approach provides the flexibility local managers need to keep their branches staffed, it also comes packaged with some inherent challenges. Most importantly is the concern a highly decentralized approach will suffer from a lack of consistency in the long-run.

The high quality standards customers have come to expect are central to Equinox’s brand and business. Several, or perhaps even a single, poor hire in one branch could potentially cause ongoing brand problems, especially considering they primarily court luxury customers with high demands.

Another issue concerns the tools Equinox needs to fulfil this hiring goal. The core strength and value of the company comes from the knowledge of its trainers and professionals in relation to their chosen speciality. It’s unlikely this professional knowledge will be possessed by full-time recruiters and hiring managers. Therefore, it makes sense for Equinox to allow its trainers, nutritionists and instructors to be involved in the hiring process. For this to be effective, they need to have access to an easy to use platform that economises their time. After all, the last thing an Equinox trainer wants to do is spend hours trying to work with clunky software in a backroom.

Turning Your Experts Into Hiring Managers

To solve this problem, Equinox joined SmartRecruiters in 2013. Here’s why they haven’t looked back:

• SmartRecruiters has collaboration as a keystone of the platform, allowing hiring managers from across the country to conveniently discuss candidates. This was particularly useful for Equinox, since knowledge from other branches could be brought into the hiring process if it was not available locally.
• The platform is also incredibly flexible and mobile, allowing trainers-cum-hiring managers to recruit on the move, saving them vast amounts of time and allowing them to concentrate on other daily responsibilities.
• The use of SmartRecruiters’ customizable scorecards allows for a consistent assessment process to be used across the company. This ensures local managers, while having the freedom to work on their own, also adhere to the high quality standards demanded.
• All of these factors, combined with SmartRecruiters’ support for social media and one-click-applications, results in a great candidate experience which supports the brand Equinox wishes to project.

After teaming up with SmartRecruiters, Equinox quickly saw an increase in applications — to the tune of 45 percent. Additionally, they saw an increase of 9 percent in terms of new hires, while 80 percent of individuals who saw a job posting applied to it.

To find out more about how Equinox found hiring success with SmartRecruiters, check out the full case study, Equinox: Hiring The Best Personal Trainers For Every Fitness Club.

Before any relationship can be made stronger it must first exist – it’s important to have a recruiter on staff. Some companies are smaller and can fold those responsibilities into the Generalist/Coordinator role, however most companies are bigger than that and need to invest in a Corporate Recruiter position. Corporate Recruiters are more engaged and aligned with the organizational culture which allows them to focus on the quality of the candidates versus quantity.

The Recruiter and HR team should meet formally within the office to work on recruiting and staffing plans AND there should be some informal interaction – such as coffee? I can tell you, everyone likes to be taken out for lunch, dinner or just coffee – it’s a great way to engage your team and strengthen relationships.

2. Define Who Does What

In a team dynamic, it’s important to clearly define the roles of each team member. Same rules apply with Job Recruiters and HR. You don’t want the HR generalist doing the recruiter’s duties and vice versa – not that they can’t cover for each other from time to time – but assigning duties drives consistency and a better overall experience.

For instance, who does the initial screenings? Who recommends the candidate to the hiring manager? When and who does the salary negotiations? And what about the face to face interviews – who conducts those? What recruiting software will you use? (That could be a great collaborative effort by the way – the recruiter and the HR representative should both interview the candidate, possibly even as a panel interviews.) These things need to addressed and assigned so there are no redundancies, confusion and unprofessionalism.

3. Create Recruitment Strategies Together

Now that you and the recruiter have a good working relationship and you’ve designed the workflow process – (applicant trajectory) – now you have to create the most effective strategies for recruiting – talent acquisition – staffing – whatever you prefer to call it. Here are your options:

Social Media Recruiting – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest; all social networks with hundreds of millions of users in which you can use to engage and reach a new talent community.

Job Boards – Maybe you prefer a more traditional approach to recruitment marketing. Posting jobs to Indeed, Monster, Careerbuilder, and the tons of niche job sites can get the right eyeballs on your job openings.

Fairs – Jobs fairs, career fairs and college fairs; sometimes the older methods work just as well as some of the newer methods.

Database Search – when you want to hunt for new talent, the data base search is a good way to get a list of qualified names.

3rd Party Recruiters – Do you need them? At what terms? If so, discuss how you are going to manage recruitment agencies.

Hybrids – Try mixing it up a bit or as we like to say “The Remix.” Change it up a bit; mix and match strategies – you never know who you will find searching for a good place to land. By mixing any of the above options, strategically you are creating a company culture that makes you a desirable employer.

4. Share Analytics (Data!)

Analytics, that’s data. Yeah data may not sound sexy but we need it; it tells us what we need to know (if it is presented in a comprehendible form and we take the time to listen to it). This just makes sense, in order for your recruiting process to work; you have to know what doesn’t work. You have to ask questions. You have to ask the hiring manager, “Are you seeing the type of talent you need to see? Or are there adjustments that need to be made? Should I open more recruitment marketing channels?” You have to use performance evaluations to see if the candidate is performing well, and if they quit you need to conduct exit interviews to determine if there was something that you could have done to retain that employee.

Some companies send recruitment surveys out to candidates during and after the recruiting process – so there’s that option. A good recruiting software will already give you a lot of data about where the good candidates are coming from. You need data to support your recruiting process and show areas of improvement and effectiveness.

5. Respect 

In speaking with some recruiters, I’ve learned that sometimes what tends to happen when a company brings a recruiter on board is that person becomes the “dumping ground.” They get all the grunt work passed down to them, things that were not part of their essential job duties – they become the assistant’s assistant. Not cool. The recruiter should be viewed a part of the HR team that handles certain aspects of the recruiting process and not the low person on the totem pole.

The HR manager needs to make it clear to all department leaders and staff members that the recruiter is part of human resources and will manage the daily functions of the recruiting process. The HR manager should also make sure the recruiter has all the resources they need to succeed, such as user access with the appropriate administrative rights and privileges into the applicant tracking system and other networks.

Ultimately, recruiters and human resources professionals are on the same page and want the same things. So it’s vital to communicate and work together to ensure the company’s talent is inspired, engaged and happy. Satisfying those internal customers (hiring managers, directors, supervisors) and external customers (candidates) is an extremely important task that requires some team work.

Chris Fields is an HR professional and leadership guy who blogs and dispenses great (not just good) advice at Cost of Work.   Image Credit Ely Tran.

I will be the first to admit, in the past, I was not a big fan of recruiters. My interactions with many of them were not positive.  Some seemed like politicians, promising eager jobseekers the world, getting their hopes up, only to tell them that someone else was selected. You know the old bait and switch sales pitch, “You’re perfect for this position, and this will be an easy match.” – Rubbish.  However within the past 2 years I’ve built some great relations with some fabulous recruiters, who have explained to me what it’s like to be an effective recruiter and what recruiters REALLY do.

Just like anything else, there’s good and bad. Some recruiters are rude, callous and focused on placement to get paid. Recruiters, authentic recruiters, who take pride in their work and care about their clients do a lot more and human resources should definitely invest in recruiting expertise. They ask potential clients relevant questions that relate to the job and not superficial questions that have no merit or place in the screening process.

Most jobseekers view recruiters as one step above a temporary job placement service. Many organizations add recruiting to the laundry list of functions they demand from the human resources department.  HR Generalists, Specialists, Coordinators and Assistants have been tasked with the responsibility of handling the recruiting. In the multiple hat wearing organizations it becomes all the more important to get other employees to help you recruit.

Depending upon organizational size and needs, it may be okay to have human resources incorporate recruiting into the administrative process.  Most companies with anywhere from 50-100 employees will invest in recruiting through either a corporate recruiter and/or a recruiting technology; either way someone has to create a strategy that best fits the employment needs.

As we discussed here on SmartRecruiters, “Recruiting Really is the Most Important HR Function.” It’s imperative that companies optimize the talent selection process. Sometimes, that has meant external recruiters. Recruiters have a keen understanding for great ways to find the best people, and pitch a job opening. However, it may take time for the external recruiter to understand the nuances of the specific role, and possibly more importantly, the company culture.

With so much competition in the labor market, selecting the right candidate for attitude and aptitude is vital to organizational success.  Poor recruitment practices can lead to high turnover, low productivity, loss of employee engagement and an overall toxic environment.

You want to eliminate the incentive of paying someone to place candidates simply for the sake of placement. Consider, corporate recruiters are paid a salary – not a commission – and therefore it’s not a game of the more placements, the better. Again, not all freelance recruiters are sharks, but if you go the freelance route be sure to research the person or firm and negotiate a contract that encourages quality over quantity.

If you don’t prioritize human capital in your mission and vision statements, your organizational planning will probably not unfold like you expect it to. Create a hiring culture.

Chris Fields is an HR professional and leadership guy who blogs and dispenses great (not just good) advice at Cost of Work.  Connect with Chris on Twitter.

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The key to any successful hire is thorough and prioritized communication. Whether virtual via technology, on the phone, or in person, communication is essential.  More communication often creates better and faster results. Better hire, less expense, and less time to fill.  It’s a win/win for everyone.

Sometimes working with your hiring manager can be difficult.  Here are four quick ways to increase hiring collaboration and produce better hiring results.

• Questionnaire. As I mentioned, communication is extremely important. What’s even more important is an understanding of exactly what the position you are trying to fill entails, specific requirements, and skills and qualifications most important to the hiring manager. A simple questionnaire can be completed over the phone or internet. This approach is simple but provides you a better picture of the priorities for the position.

• Repetition. This is a simple technique to increase understanding and allow for more effective communication. During the course of your initial conversation and those going forward, you repeat or recap the important points asking for clarification. This establishes the details of expectations. You might be surprised in what a simple question can reveal about what the hiring manager is or isn’t looking for in a candidate.

• Status Updates. Go beyond the basic spreadsheet and recruiting metrics outlining candidates screened and resumes mined. Share a short written update that provides your client with a weekly update into where you are in the hiring process. Utilize the internet. These types of messages can be sent over a series of emails, or next to the relevant position and candidate in your recruiting software. These should be quick updates to keep them in the loop that can be read easily by your hiring manager from his or her computer or smartphone. This technique allows for increased discussion and provides the hiring manager piece of mind on progress in the hiring process.

• Feedback. When a candidate is submitted to the hiring manager for review, it’s easy to receive a yes or no response. Ask for clarification and don’t get defensive. Keep the lines of communication open. Recruiting software can consolidate and organize these discussions. With all the details and comments of positions and candidates available online, your verbal communications will be on the right priorities. Often times, the scope of the skills requirements can be discovered during this process.

These steps can seem time consuming at first, but it’s time well spent when you find the perfect candidate. The right channels can save you time. By focusing on taking a more consultative approach, you demonstrate your professionalism while gaining a better understanding of the position requirements at the beginning (instead of the end) of the candidate hiring process.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.

Photo Credit Pardington 10

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* User management: Collaborating with your colleagues to choose the right candidate is a key part of your recruiting strategy. To enable this, SmartRecruiters lets you invite colleagues into the system. We have redesigned these user management workflows to make them more intuitive. At a glance, you can tell which accounts are in-use and which have been deactivated. If an employee leaves the organization, you can discontinue their accounts, with just a single click.

Adding new accounts is also a breeze. Fill in the basic information and SmartRecruiters sends them an invitation to join the system.

* Adding new departments: We have made similar changes to the Department management area of the Admin section so that you can easily add new departments. You can then use these departments to classify your jobs, making it easy for candidates to find jobs in departments of interest.

* Setting up auto-parsing of resumes: SmartRecruiters has always had the capability of parsing incoming resumes, be it via email or online applications so that every resume is automatically converted into a candidate profile. Setting up this feature is really intuitive with our new interface. You can easily select the application channels where you require resume parsing to be turned on.

This week’s bug fixes:

* We are very happy to report that we have resolved all job ad related issues. All your current and new job ads will be displayed with the right branding.

* Some users were not able to complete the payment process, which meant you could not post your jobs to paid boards integrated with SmartRecruiters. This issue has been fixed now and your payments should go through easily.

* We have significantly reduced the delay experienced while posting a job and loading some of the key pages in the system. This will reduce the number of system time-outs.

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