It’s that perfect moment in HR recruitment. You know the one I mean. It’s when the hiring manager and the job seeker both realise that they would make a great team. Already the future starts to map itself out before them; rapport, camaraderie, respect and trust, all rolling together to pave the way for great times and even greater achievements. I call it the Han and Rey moment.
Fyi, for those of you who have never ‘Felt the Force’ and would rather have your teeth pulled than sit through two hours of Star Wars, Han is one of the key characters, a veteran war hero with a talent for fast flying, fast-talking and surviving even the most sticky of situations. Hard to win over, his meeting with the gutsy, quick thinking, brave and equally talented Rey reminds me of exactly why I love those perfect recruitment moments, because no matter how gifted you are as a recruiter you cannot manufacture the spark that can ignite between a job seeker and a client – it’s all down to chemistry.
To cut a long story short, it’s quite a tense moment in the latest instalment of the Star Wars films, with bullets flying and the ship under fire, yet despite the surrounding chaos we see Han’s eyes start to sparkle as he realises Rey is the one person he has met in a long time – maybe ever – who he would trust to fly his ship and work alongside him. It’s one of the rare times we see his character really come alive and it makes for fantastic viewing.
You may wonder why I feel compelled to mention this and the answer is simple. I wanted to remind everyone actively involved in the jobs market (whether it be as a hiring manager, recruiter or job seeker), that we shouldn’t take the human element out of recruitment. Human beings have created some absolutely fantastic methods and resources that can be utilised in the hiring process. Video interviewing, skype, face-time, psychometric testing, SHL, OPQ’s and CRM’s – the list of acronyms could go, and I’m not saying they don’t have their place, but they can detract from what’s ultimately important; will this person ignite that all important spark with you and with your team?
You could argue that tools such as psychometric tests can predict all this, but they are by no means infallible. More importantly they don’t arouse the excitement and enthusiasm that results from a Han and Rey moment. It’s those kind of cosmic collisions that retain a candidate’s engagement between offer stage and start date, and help prevent them from being swayed by things such as counter-offers. It’s also Han and Rey moments that inspire hiring managers to go the extra mile for their new recruits, preparing induction packs, making sure IT systems are ready and ensuring everything is place so that when the person arrives on day one they feel welcome.
So whether you’re the person going through the interview process or the person leading it, don’t forget to ‘Feel the Force’ and embrace that spark when it happens.