Published: May 1, 2014

Hiring a new employee often requires a significant investment in the form of time and resources. Industry best practices supports that building strategic partnerships with campus hiring authorities and departments better enhances the staff recruitment experience for both the department and candidate. The Towers Watson human resources delivery assessment offered a unique opportunity for the Department of Human Resources (HR) to present to campus leadership for the review and approval of changes to recruitment processes.Ìý

HR received significant feedback that hiring authorities and managers often desire greater flexibility to shape recruitment processes to meet individual department needs. To better align with campus hiring authorities and managers, and to truly understand position, unit and department needs, HR has made the following exciting changes to the staff recruitment model:Ìý

  • An intake/strategy meeting: HR is excited to meet with hiring managers as soon as possible, even before a position is drafted, to have a strategic conversation about a department’s staffing needs and the plan for getting there.Ìý
  • Defined service expectations: Better understanding of the recruitment process, roles and responsibilities will be outlined through service level agreements.
  • Increased flexibility: HR continues to explore ways to provide greater flexibility to the recruitment process, including increased hiring manager involvement and the elimination of the requirement to use a search committee.
  • Talent acquisition: Talent acquisition is the identification and selection of candidates who possess special skills and have the potential to influence, contribute to and/or drive a department’s or the university’s mission. Through activities such as sourcing, HR can help recruit candidates for difficult- to-fill positions.
  • Increased efficiency: HR is reviewing and assessing technology for increased efficiency, such as automated reference checking and video interviewing.Ìý

The Department of Human Resources strives in these changes to become better strategic partners to individuals, departments, and the campus. HR hopes to increase collaboration and communication with hiring managers, actively help fill difficult-to-fill positions, and decrease time to hire. Planning is underway to streamline the final hire process from offer letter to first day of employment, leverage metrics and technology to improve efficiency, and ultimately improve the hiring experience for departments and candidates.

HR is your strategic partner to help you achieve your goals. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact 303-492-6475 or visit .Ìý