Interviews – they are the most effective way to reduce your shortlist, while getting to know your new potential employees. You’ve probably completed lots of interviews, however, the power really is now with the candidate. As candidate experience takes over the hiring process, there are a few ways you can ensure a candidate will leave wanting not only the job, but also a genuine desire to work for your company. It’s easy, when it comes to interviewing in IT, to focus purely on the technical skillset. But it’s so important to also test for personality and team fit. Doing this right can mean that you retain your new employee for a lot longer than if you only looked at tech skills.
Interviews give candidates the opportunity to get to know your company more. It’s their chance to understand whether you’re the right fit for them. You are essentially being interviewed too. Even if someone isn’t the one for the job, leave them with a positive feeling about your company.
Candidate experience is important. We live in an age where people happily share their experiences with others. Whether candidates have a positive or negative experience in an interview, they are likely to share this with their network; influencing whether you’ll attract top talent in the near future.
It is still a candidate driven market, particularly in permanent IT recruitment. Your competitors are fighting for the same talent. Therefore, it is important that your interview process engages candidates, making them feel a part of your company, even at this early stage
Before you hold your next interviews, try to reflect on what your current recruitment process says about you. Then make effective changes if needed to ensure you’re being viewed as you’d hoped.
Check out our top tips below on creating the best interview experience for your candidates and get your first-choice IT hire.
First impressions on both ends of the spectrum count. A candidate’s performance influences their likelihood of moving through the hiring process. Likewise, your processes influences a candidate’s decision if they want to progress to the next stage.
Is your company culture is relaxed and creative? Make sure that your interview has the same feel. A corporate interview style could potentially put those candidates off who will best fit your culture. An interview is the best opportunity to give candidates a true and transparent insight into your company and values.
Some hiring managers find interviews a little awkward. If this is you then you’ll probably find it easier to follow a checklist when interviewing. You may have heard that this is the fairest way to compare candidates? Whilst this is true, it’s important to still inject personality. A list of questions can be disengaging and often leaves you knowing nothing about the candidate’s personality or team fit.
Of course, there are key areas to run through and certain criteria you are looking for. However, finding the most perfect candidate by simply filling all of your tick boxes is unrealistic.
Instead of running through the same process, interview after interview, let conversation flow. How else are you going to really find out what makes the candidate tick? Don’t let your interview process drive your candidates to your competitors!
It is important that you share your company values, goals, and ways of working at the interview. The way you conduct business will influence a candidate’s decision. With that said, it’s best for candidates to understand your culture now, and whether it is for them. This is key for both parties. A candidate who fits your culture is likely to be more engaged, more productive and stay with you for longer.
During this part of the interview, it’s also important to share what happens outside of the office doors. What exciting projects are you involved in? Do you with within your community to give something back? Candidates are keen to secure careers with companies that share their values. An interview is the perfect place to start.
Additionally, when it comes to IT, lots of candidates are keen to keep learning and developing their skills. Are you an early adopter of up and coming technology? Or, are you always looking for ways that technology can continue to help your business thrive? IT candidates love to hear about the importance you place on technology and what it can do for your business now and in the future.
Another way to ensure your candidates feel excited about your job offering and workplace is to ensure engagement is continuous. Provide opportunities throughout the interview for questions, share your own experiences at the company, and really humanise the conversation.
An interview should be a two-way exchange. At the end of an interview, you should feel that both you and the candidate have a better understanding of each other.
If you’re looking for the best possible candidates for interview, get in touch with our team today. We specialise in permanent and contract IT recruitment, helping companies just like you source the very best candidates!
Why Ditch the Vague Job Description?
Imagine this: someone reads your job description and thinks, “That sounds interesting, but what exactly would I be doing?” Vague descriptions lead to a flood of unqualified applications, wasting your time and theirs. Worse yet, it can lead to high turnover from frustrated employees who end up in the wrong role.
Crafting a Description That Gets Noticed
So, how do you write a job description that pops? Here’s a blueprint:
Tailor It to Shine
A one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it. Adapt your description to fit the specific role, industry standards, and seniority level.
Keep it Legal, Keep it Honest
Stay away from discriminatory language and ensure your description accurately reflects the job’s demands.
Keep it Fresh
The world of work changes fast. Regularly review and update your descriptions to reflect current needs and your evolving company culture.
Bonus Tip: Get Insider Input
Ask current employees in the role for their perspective on the responsibilities and skills required. This can help ensure your description is accurate and reflects the day-to-day reality of the job.
Ready to Write that Winning Description?
By following these tips, you can craft job descriptions that attract the best and brightest talent. Remember, a well-written description is an investment in your company’s future. It saves time and money by streamlining the hiring process, and it sets the stage for a successful and productive working relationship.
Technical tests are often used in IT, Tech and AI recruitment. Technical testing can provide a far greater insight into how the potential employee will perform in your role. Interviewing on gut feeling is not right, and tests can assist in confirming or rejecting those “nice people” that are professional interviewees. Remember, most people have been an interviewee far more than an interviewer! But are your tests preventing you from securing great candidates?
Technical tests are a more practical way of interviewing a candidate. They are used in order to assess technical ability and knowledge required to be able to fulfil the role. Depending on the technical skills that are required for the role, technical testing methods will vary. Technical tests are a great idea to help your interview process. You can download a multitude of tests to suit your need. There are free ones and there are ones you can pay a fee for. It’s an industry all on its own and some people and companies are making a great living from it, so they must be worthwhile.
Not all questions administered to the candidate are aimed towards testing technical knowledge and ability. Often technical tests also test problem solving skills, personal skills, communication skills and even how their thought process is constructed.
You may already be testing IT, Tech and AI candidates as part of your recruitment process. But are your tests right? What are you testing for? Don’t just test for testings sake! Make it a valuable part of your decision making.
The best technical tests in our experience are written by someone who knows the role you are recruiting. A person who understands all the necessary technical skills to be a success. But not only this, they will also be able to identify any transferable skills. By testing in this way, you may get a better chance to secure the best person for your role. Testing in this way can help identify those that will perform well at the role, even if they don’t have the tech skills that are on your list.
When using an ‘off-the-shelf’ technical test, you’ll find that some of the questions are not relevant to your role. Whilst they may be valid technical questions, not all will be suitable. This is the feedback we have had from candidates. And in some instances, the suitability of the technical test has even discouraged them from taking the role.
So in short make sure your technical test is relevant to the role you are recruiting, otherwise you may be losing out on some great candidates. However, it’s also important to ask the right questions in interview to help determine someone’s technical ability.
To be able to make a fair decision about the ability of the candidate to perform in the role, it is vital to ensure the questions you ask the candidate will reveal certain key attributes.
Our advice is to ask questions that will:
All in all, technical tests are a great method to use to interview a candidate. They can reveal a lot about the individual’s ability to undertake the role they have applied for. But as well as technical testing, be sure to get to know the candidate on a more personal level to ensure they will be a good fit for your company.
Another key point to remember is to make sure that your testing doesn’t cause delays to the interview process. In the current market it’s important to make sure your process can be quick to secure the best candidates. You may find our blog 3 Simple Ways to Speed Up Your Hiring Process an interesting read.
The interview process can be a stressful time for both the candidate and the interviewee. If you need help recruiting the best IT professionals, our expert consultants are on hand to help you at every step of the recruitment process. Call us on 0207 788 6600.
Your IT hiring process, if lengthy, may be preventing you from securing the best staff.
Whilst we’ve always recommended working quickly when it comes to recruitment, it’s now more important than ever, great candidate are few and far between.
There’s something in common with the companies who are still able to recruit great IT staff in 2025. Their IT hiring process. Our team share their insights on how to speed up your IT hiring process. We’ve taken best practice and combined it with what’s working in the real world.
Follow our advice and you can ‘recruit someone worth recruiting’.
Job specs used to simply be a long list of expectations and demands. If yours are still like this, then it’s time for a change! Yes, it’s still important to have a list of desired skills and experience. However, it’s how, and where these are listed in your spec. The best specs when it comes to attracting candidates all follow a similar structure.
Start with details about the company. What is it that makes you attractive to a potential employee? When it comes to IT hiring, candidates are most interested in technology, upcoming projects and more. But don’t forget the bigger picture too. A lot of candidates, particularly generation z are looking for purpose to their roles. A purpose doesn’t have to be saving the planet or ending world hunger. A purpose can be something as simple as making life a little easier for a certain group of people. Think about your company’s purpose and highlight this in your spec. Or failing that, what about your values? If you have clearly defined values, sharing the in a job spec will help you to attract candidates who share the same values.
It’s also key to highlight the benefits in a job spec. Dedicate an entire section to all the benefits on offer for the role. Whether hard or soft benefits, showing them in a spec will again help to attract more candidates.
Getting your job spec right will undoubtably speed up your IT hiring process.
We’ve written many times about the benefit of working with a specialist IT recruiter. With a market like it is, it’s not as easy as it used to be to recruit, Job adverts aren’t working as well as they did and it’s a specialist recruiters’ network that the candidates are now coming from. Be sure to choose carefully. But getting it right will most definitely speed up your IT hiring process.
This is the most crucial part. You need to be able to react quickly to a CV. Don’t want until you have 5-6 CVs to sift through. Doing this will mean that you are likely to lose your element of choice. If you receive a CV from someone who has the skills and experience you need, interview them ASAP! And by ASAP, we really do mean 24 hours if possible. Now that 98% of 1st and 2nd stage interviews are held via Teams or Zoom, it easier than ever to be quick.
Then, should you like the candidate after the 1st interview, get them booked in for the next stage within 2-3 days. Again, this can be remote if it makes things easier. If after that stage, you are wanting to make an offer. Invite the candidate into the office. Again, do this within 24 hours if possible. If this isn’t possible then we strongly advise to get the offer out with 24 hours to start the ball rolling.
We are not ‘yes men or women’. We are here to make sure that you get to meet the best possible IT candidates for your role. We will advise you on the things you need to do to achieve this. We want you to be successful when it comes to hiring in IT and we will do everything possible to help you. Wouldn’t you want to work with an agency like that? Get in touch with our expert team today and experience the difference of working with a true specialist.
The current era of Artificial Intelligence, particularly the pervasive rise of Generative AI (GenAI), presents both unparalleled opportunities and complex challenges for businesses. While the drive to integrate AI for efficiency and innovation is strong, many organisations are discovering that without a dedicated strategic link, their significant AI investments may not yield the intended returns. This isn’t merely a technical hurdle; it’s a fundamental business challenge that demands a specialised response.
To bridge these critical gaps and ensure AI genuinely serves as a catalyst for growth, organisations must strategically integrate a dedicated AI Business Partner. This pivotal role acts as the essential interface, translating complex business needs into actionable AI strategies and ensuring every AI investment is meticulously aligned for maximum value.
A highly effective AI Business Partner will:
Investing in an AI Business Partner is a forward-thinking decision that protects and maximises your AI portfolio. For this critical, strategic role in Central London, organisations should anticipate competitive remuneration, reflecting its specialised nature and significant impact (as of mid-2025):
Companies frequently encounter several critical strategic gaps when adopting AI, impacting both financial prudence and competitive agility:
The requisite skillset for an AI Business Partner is often found within existing talent pools, albeit with a need for targeted development in AI fluency. Organisations can identify strong candidates by seeking professionals with highly transferable skills from roles such as:
Identifying and securing professionals who embody this unique blend of business acumen, AI market foresight, and negotiation expertise presents a significant recruitment challenge. This is precisely where Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment can provide invaluable partnership.
With over two decades of specialised experience, we possess a profound understanding of the technology landscape and an extensive network of strategic talent. We are uniquely positioned to assist your organisation in identifying and securing the AI Business Partner who will optimise your AI investments, safeguard your interests, and significantly enhance your competitive posture.
To discuss how Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment can support your organisation in resourcing this pivotal strategic role, we invite you to connect with us.
The AI revolution is here, and it’s exhilarating. Yet, for many businesses, the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence, particularly powerful Generative AI (GenAI) tools, has unwittingly opened a Pandora’s Box of unforeseen and potentially catastrophic risks. While the promise of efficiency and insight is compelling, the truth is, your company’s future could be in serious jeopardy if you lack robust AI & Data Governance.
Without dedicated AI & Data Governance personnel, your organisation is exposed to critical vulnerabilities already causing immense pain across industries:
These are not risks your existing IT, Legal, or Compliance teams can shoulder effectively on their own. You need dedicated AI & Data Governance Specialists and Managers. This isn’t an overhead; it’s a strategic imperative and a direct investment in your company’s future resilience and responsible innovation.
These individuals will:
For these highly specialised and critical roles in Central London, expect competitive remuneration packages (as of mid-2025):
The right individual might not have “AI Governance” on their CV yet. Many professionals possess highly transferable skills that make them perfect for this pivotal role with some targeted AI knowledge acquisition. We look for candidates from backgrounds like:
Finding this unique blend of skills – someone who understands both the technical nuances of AI and the critical legal, ethical, and business implications – is challenging. This is where Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment excels.
With over two decades of experience, we specialise in identifying and attracting the precise talent needed to navigate the complexities of modern technology. We understand the specific demands of AI and Data Governance roles and have an extensive network of professionals ready to help your company build its AI shield.
Don’t wait for a costly breach or a regulatory fine to make this hire. Protect your innovation, safeguard your data, and ensure your AI journey is one of responsible growth.
Contact Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment today to discuss how we can find your next AI & Data Governance champion.
n in resourcing this pivotal strategic role, we invite you to connect with us.
In an era defined by rapid technological evolution and unprecedented economic shifts, organisations face a perpetual mandate to innovate and adapt. The velocity of advancements in IT and AI, coupled with prevailing market uncertainties, can make long-term commitments to permanent hires appear daunting or even strategically inflexible.
This is precisely where engaging IT, Tech, and AI contractors transcends a mere stop-gap measure; it emerges as a highly astute and strategic solution. These highly specialised professionals offer a unique blend of expertise and flexibility, enabling businesses to acquire critical skills precisely when and for how long they are needed, without incurring the extensive long-term overheads of permanent employment.
One of the most compelling arguments for leveraging IT, Tech, and AI contractors lies in the unparalleled access to deep, specialised skill sets. The technology domain evolves at an extraordinary pace, with new programming paradigms, sophisticated AI models, and complex cybersecurity threats emerging constantly. It’s simply not practical for every organisation to cultivate and maintain exhaustive in-house expertise across every emerging niche.
Contractors, by their very nature, are specialists who cultivate their expertise through diverse engagements. They typically provide:
While the hourly or daily rates for contractors might initially appear higher at first glance compared to a permanent employee’s basic salary, a comprehensive financial analysis often reveals significant long-term cost efficiencies:
In an economic climate characterised by rapid technological disruption and fluctuating market conditions, the capacity to dynamically scale your workforce becomes an invaluable strategic asset.
In today’s competitive and uncertain landscape, the strategic advantage lies in agility and access to specialised expertise. Do not allow concerns over long-term commitments or perceived upfront costs to deter your organisation from securing the IT, Tech, and AI proficiency essential for innovation and sustained growth. Contractors offer a dynamic, fiscally prudent, and highly skilled pathway to achieving your critical objectives.
As specialist partners in the technology recruitment landscape for over two decades, Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment possesses an in-depth understanding of the nuances within the contracting market. We are uniquely positioned to connect your organisation with the elite IT, Tech, and AI contractors who can accelerate your projects, mitigate risks, and enhance your competitive agility.
We invite you to engage in a confidential discussion with Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment today to explore how top-tier IT, Tech, and AI contractors can strategically benefit your specific business requirements.
The summer period frequently sees a deceleration in recruitment activity. Many organisations instinctively pause hiring efforts, anticipating widespread holidays and a perceived scarcity of engaged talent. However, for businesses intent on seamlessly onboarding new professionals for critical September starts, now – specifically July – represents the absolute prime time for proactive talent acquisition.
Delaying your talent search until August or September significantly risks limiting your access to top-tier candidates and could ultimately present considerable operational challenges. Let’s delve into why July offers a distinct strategic advantage.
To underscore the urgency, let’s consider the typical recruitment lifecycle:
Total Elapsed Time:
If your organisation is reading this in mid-July (e.g., July 15th), even a standard one-month notice period pushes your target September start date right to the wire. For candidates with longer notice periods, commencing your recruitment in July may already be essential to meet a September 1st start, unless you identify someone immediately available.
Beyond mere arithmetic, July presents several compelling strategic advantages:
If your strategic plans necessitate strengthening your team for the autumn, July is not a month for hesitation; it is a critical period for decisive action. The most sought-after candidates will not remain available indefinitely. By initiating your recruitment process now, you strategically position your organisation to secure the exceptional talent required for a robust and productive September start.
As specialist partners in IT, Tech & AI recruitment, Langley James possesses the market insight and operational agility to navigate these critical timelines effectively. We are poised to ensure your talent acquisition strategy is aligned with your September objectives.
We invite you to contact Langley James IT, Tech & AI Recruitment today to discuss your specific September hiring needs and ensure your organisation gains a decisive advantage in securing top talent.
Remember all the fuss about a specific type of AI role that focused on how we talked to machines? Turns out, it was just that: a lot of fuss. While many predicted it would be the hottest career in tech, the reality is that generative AI has become so intuitive, it practically prompts itself.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the idea of a dedicated role simply for “prompting” AI is “basically obsolete.” Instead of hiring individuals solely to “translate” for AI, companies are shifting their focus to other critical AI specialisations and, more importantly, training their entire workforce to effectively leverage AI tools.
The initial rush to automate and reduce headcounts, driven by the promise of AI, appears to be levelling off. A new report from Orgvue sheds light on a significant shift in business leaders’ perspectives. While 39% of companies initially laid off staff due to automation, a striking 55% of those now regret the decision.
Confidence in AI’s ability to completely replace human workers is also waning. Only 48% of leaders now expect job displacement, a notable drop from 54% just last year. This suggests a growing understanding that AI is more of a tool for augmentation than outright substitution.
The findings in Orgvue’s report reflect a broader shift happening across industries, with some high-profile examples learning the hard way. Financial technology company Klarna, for instance, famously replaced around 700 customer service employees with AI tools starting in 2022, driven by a push to cut costs.
However, the company has since admitted that this automation-first approach didn’t deliver the customer experience it had hoped. Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, told Bloomberg: “From a brand perspective, a company perspective, I just think it’s so critical that you are clear to your customer that there will always be a human if you want.” He acknowledged that using AI agents without human support is no longer the right fit for Klarna.
This shift in perspective from major players like Klarna underscores a crucial point: while AI offers immense efficiencies, the irreplaceable value of human connection, strategic oversight, and nuanced problem-solving remains paramount. Companies are learning that successful AI adoption is about empowering their workforce, not replacing it, fostering a blended approach where technology enhances human capabilities.
Is your organisation balancing AI adoption with strategic workforce planning?
Looking to recruit top-tier AI, Tech, or IT talent who can integrate seamlessly into your evolving business? Contact Langley James today to find the perfect fit for your organisation..
Remember all the fuss about a specific type of AI role that focused on how we talked to machines? Turns out, it was just that: a lot of fuss. While many predicted it would be the hottest career in tech, the reality is that generative AI has become so intuitive, it practically prompts itself.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the idea of a dedicated role simply for “prompting” AI is “basically obsolete.” Instead of hiring individuals solely to “translate” for AI, companies are shifting their focus to other critical AI specialisations and, more importantly, training their entire workforce to effectively leverage AI tools.
Just a couple of years ago, there was significant buzz around a role expected to be the next big thing in tech. Courses promising high-paying jobs in this area popped up everywhere, suggesting these individuals would be the essential link, deeply understanding generative AI and unlocking its revolutionary potential. Even NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang suggested in March 2024 that all programmers could effectively perform this task. However, the concept of relying on individuals to coax specific outputs from AI has shown its limitations in 2025.
Skeptics were always present, pointing out that the tech industry has a history of hyping “next big things” that often fizzle out, from crypto to quantum computing. While some technologies find niche applications, many simply shift lives laterally rather than vastly improving them.
Generative AI, however, has managed to maintain a strong foothold in the mainstream. Companies, educators, and individuals now frequently use AI as a default tool, much like a search engine, and they don’t need a dedicated “AI communicator” to facilitate that interaction.
The Wall Street Journal and Microsoft confirm that the need for simple AI interaction roles has faded because generative AI is increasingly self-sufficient. Jared Spataro, chief marketing officer of AI at Work at Microsoft, notes that AI can now ask follow-up questions and seek feedback. This, coupled with the economically cautious hiring environment of 2025, has further reduced the demand for these singular roles.
So, if simply “talking to AI” isn’t a standalone job anymore, what AI roles are in? Based on research from Microsoft and insights from The Wall Street Journal, here are the AI job titles companies are actively seeking:
Other highly sought-after AI positions, identified through a review of 2024 AI job openings and growth trends, include:
And, of course, AI engineering remains a consistently hot field, with strong demand reported by CNBC from data gathered by Indeed and ZipRecruiter.
Looking to recruit top-tier AI, Tech, or IT talent for your team? Contact Langley James today to find the perfect fit for your organisation.
by Grace Lewis
You’ve spent the past two months sourcing and interviewing suitable candidates, shelled out on average £1,500 in in-house resourcing time, advertising costs, agency or search fees, and you’ve finally bagged yourself a new hire, who on the surface seems eager and willing to hit the ground running come their start date. But, says Jamie Kohn, senior research director in the human resources practice at Gartner, “just because they said yes, doesn’t mean they’re not still interviewing you as a company. They’re still going to get phone calls from other companies in this period and they may start to wonder, did I make the right choice? If you have two, three or four weeks between saying yes and starting the job, there’s a lot of room for doubt to creep in.”
That is also true of Dan Kaplan’s experience as senior client partner for Korn Ferry’s CHRO practice: “Some companies have noticed that some new starters won’t update their LinkedIn profile for the first month just in case,” he says. “It means that the person is still quietly listening.”
That’s certainly the picture the stats present. According to Gartner research from 2022, 44 per cent of candidates have accepted an offer but then decided not to start the position, and the Work Institute’s 2019 retention report suggests as many as 43 per cent of new employees leave organisations within the first 90 days of starting.
Job acceptance
It’s clear then that first – and lasting – impressions count for any organisation, and that’s why the period from acceptance to official start date is vital to start the process of building engagement and trust with a new employee. Gallup analysis suggests that actively disengaged employees are 2.6 times as likely as engaged employees to be watching for or actively seeking a new job.
Kaplan says there has been a “fraying of the relationship between employer and employee” in recent years, while Gartner analysis shows that just 54 per cent of candidates trust organisations to be honest with them during the hiring process. Successful onboarding becomes about “making sure [new starters] feel really committed to the culture” from the get go.
It can begin with a simple introduction to the company email from HR, Savhannah Deans, founder of Women in Learning & Development and author of People Development in a Week, says. As well as the general need-to-know information – start time, dress code, who will be meeting them on their first day – give the new employee a glimpse into what the organisation is like from the inside, she advises: “That tends to be in the form of literature, blogs or a video induction like a vlog from the CEO.” Deans says it is nothing too hard, but starts the engagement process early doors.
Laura Ibbotson, people and culture manager for EMEA at health technology company Magentus, says in its revamped onboarding process the company now sends an email “before the new employee starts with us, confirming things like address to our sites, lunch options, dress code and start time on their first day. We also include a map to the building with photos and info.
“We also call our new employees before they start with us to check if they need anything or have any questions.”
These check-in calls before the person’s official start date are growing in interest, especially for those companies using virtual or hybrid onboarding techniques. As Kohn describes it, some companies are investing in an almost “concierge position” whereby someone will call the new starter the week before to run through the technology, check the email connectivity, try a test Zoom call, etc. “It can relieve some of the anxiety that people have,” Kohn says.
Equipping managers
The manager’s role also becomes critical at this point. “It’s like everything else in HR: there’s very little that HR should do themselves. What HR should do is bring out the ideas and then provide the tools for [others] to execute,” Kaplan explains.
“Managers have so many responsibilities, and we know the vast majority of them are not trained,” says Daisy Hooper, head of policy and innovation at the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), so onboarding is as much about preparing managers as it is supporting new starters. This could be in the form of a checklist or standardised templates for managers to follow. Bosses at Ciphr now have access to “everything they need – recruitment templates, libraries of FAQs and how-tos” – after the software company transformed its onboarding process. Lucy O’Callaghan, people experience manager, explains that the L&D team also designed a bespoke onboarding training platform that is mandatory for every manager to undergo, and they now have a dedicated onboarding person in the people team to monitor the first 12 months of new starters’ roles.
Hooper says managers are “absolutely central to employee engagement and satisfaction and productivity” and, more often than not, are the main point of contact for a new starter. According to CMI research, just a quarter (27 per cent) of workers describe their manager as ‘highly effective’ and, of those who rate their manager as ‘ineffective’, half (50 per cent) plan to leave their company in the next year.
“One of the most helpful roles the HR team can play is around creating standardised processes that they update in line with best practice, because then at least the managers have a framework to work from,” says Kohn. She explains that this helps to create a consistent approach, so that every new starter is given the same messaging and equally HR is supporting managers in a consistent way. “For scalability, most onboarding – at least in terms of the items on the checklist – will be the same,” says Kohn. “Where you get the tailored experience is in helping managers to have these conversations in a way that connects more with the employee in their specific needs and role or duties.”
Some businesses have already cottoned on to this technique. When researchers from London, Harvard and Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler business schools analysed different organisations’ onboarding processes, they found that shaping onboarding processes around individual identity, via the process of ‘personal-identity socialisation’, increased work engagement and job satisfaction, led to lower quit rates and resulted in greater levels of performance. They used examples such as “a consultant with artistic talents [who] could design eye-catching templates for presentations and develop more powerful ways to present data. [Or] a salesperson who enjoys teaching others might share that enthusiasm with new hires, becoming a mentor.”
One of the most common ways organisations fall down during the onboarding process according to Kohn is by overwhelming new employees with “floods of information” early in the process. Instead, “where we’ve seen organisations be successful is by saying: ‘What’s the bare minimum that you need to know? Let’s start out with something that will make you feel successful,’” she says. Deans echoes this, stressing that “there’s no rush to be competent”.
L&D offering and building networks
The first few days should cover a facility tour, including an explanation of technology and systems, introduction to the team, one-to-one chats with the manager and basic mandatory training, says Deans, but this is also an opportunity to show new starters the development opportunities on offer – or at least where to go for that information. Lucy Shutt-Vine, head of talent development at Captify Technologies, explains: “Our L&D team puts content on the LMS platform around getting to know your leadership team, the heads of department and the ecosystem of the business, as well as team introductions. We have that ready for somebody to access from their first day.”
Captify also offers new starters group training to initiate those early networking opportunities. “We find that when new starters learn and network together, there’s a sense of ‘we’re in it together’. They can ask each other these questions, if they feel silly asking other people,” Shutt-Vine says.
Kaplan stresses HR’s role in helping to forge personal connections. The first few weeks are a great time to “give the person the early stages of developing the internal support network”, he says. “Make sure that their peers are able to take them out for lunch; do things that build community and get the person tethered in. Ultimately, people stay [with an organisation] because they have relationships in an environment that inspires them to get up in the morning, get dressed and go to work.”
And while the compliance side of onboarding obviously doesn’t go away, says Kohn, HR is really the central hub for identifying the right connection points and ensuring that those connections happen: “That’s what we’ve seen HR functions take on more directly, because they have that broader view into the organisation. They are responsible for building that connection marketplace as a way of matching people based not on the direct work they’re doing every day, but maybe on some aspect of their background.”
Ibbotson says her team is now looking at introducing a buddy system to help better integrate new starters into the company. In Kohn’s experience, onboarding buddies tend to come in two forms: a peer in your team who has either done your role before or is someone you will be working closely with to help with day-to-day aspects of your work. “Whereas a wider organisation buddy may help you build a broader view of what success looks like at the company,” Kohn explains.
An employee’s first month with a company is a milestone for both them and the organisation. They would in the most part have completed the compliance training, so this is when L&D becomes more role specific, according to Deans: “This is probably when you need to start discussing metrics and what they look like as well. What are your KPIs? What are the objectives of the business? And where do you fit in that? I’d say that’s where the learning starts to become more than surface level.”
Deans also uses the first month mark as a review point, sending out an induction questionnaire to see how the new starters are settling in and if there are any areas that need improvement. Similarly, at Ciphr the people team uses a review system for new employees. “Every month, we monitor it to make sure managers are having sit-down conversations with new starters, and to identify any pain points,” O’Callaghan explains. “This way we can nip any issues in the bud as soon as possible if we notice any problems, because sometimes it’s just teething problems that can be resolved just from communication.”
Kaplan says that, for the most part, recruiting and onboarding new starters is a “sales process” and it’s important for companies to keep momentum going and “keep the promises they made during recruitment”.
The petering out of those initial onboarding initiatives, and disillusionment with the realities of a role, are common downfalls for organisations – just 59 per cent of new hires in Gartner’s 2022 candidate survey said they would repeat their decision to join their organisation, compared to 83 per cent in 2021. For the new employee at the two to three-month mark, the orientation honeymoon period is over, the excitement has worn off; they aren’t quite into the daily rhythm of the company, but are not totally new – so what’s next?
Kohn says this is where HR – and primarily managers – can use those connection points and networks “to check in with people about their role, how they are feeling, what they have learned, what they are looking forward to next. We think of them as early performance conversations, but they are really early career conversations and are critical to helping people to think not just about the next couple of months, but about the next few years.”
Again, HR’s role at this point is overseeing and prompting these check-ins, especially if early feedback and monitoring has thrown up any issues but, as Deans puts it, ultimately “let managers be managers. I would normally do my check-ins with managers, rather than the new starter directly.” Kaplan agrees, saying that it’s “not practical” for HR to be involved in every new starter’s every step of the onboarding journey – as much as many people professionals would love to be.
Shutt-Vine says that, from an L&D point of view, at Captify they “train the managers to be empowered; to help create a 30-60-90-day plan for the new starters so that they have goals that they can be measured on, and that they know they are progressing at the rate that we need them to”.
After the first three months, many new starters would have completed their probation period and have undergone an official review, which can then inform the next stage of career development, according to Deans. Crucially, learning should no longer be spoon fed as it perhaps was previously, she adds: “New starters should take the lead, so it becomes a more CPD-led approach.” This also doesn’t mean the input from HR and L&D ends here, says Hooper. “Onboarding should absolutely not be a ‘one and done’ thing. It shouldn’t be a tick-box exercise. You’ve spent a lot of time and money recruiting this person – you want them to succeed in the role and to get the best out of them. It’s in your interest to support them into the organisation. But it’s not like after 100 days suddenly they don’t need any more support,” she says.
Kohn emphasises the importance of regular reminders for new starters about the benefits on offer, the wellbeing initiatives and the “periodic reminders of the broader employee value proposition”. And later, as new starters approach their one-year anniversary, HR and managers can prepare them for their annual appraisal: ask them to start reflecting on their achievements to date and where they would like to develop further. Deans adds: “Once we know that someone is committed within the first 12 months, once we can see that there is a continuous climb, that’s when the more structured succession planning starts to be implemented. There’s much more of a greater focus on not just making someone competent, but making them excel.”
For Kaplan, the “missing piece” in most failed onboarding processes is the long-term mindset. Rather than striving to get an employee past their first day, first month, first quarter, “companies should be thinking: how do we successfully get them to day 365? You’re there to get them to succeed long term,” he says, and, with that in mind, the rewards will be reaped tenfold.
We’d love to discuss your HR recruitment needs and help you find your next superstar. Please call us on 0207 788 6600 or email us at langleyjames@langleyjames.com and one of our consultants will be happy to advise you. You can also follow us on Facebook.
Identifying the right IT person requires going beyond technical expertise. You need to assess their decision-making, problem-solving, and leadership skills within the dynamic realm of IT. Thankfully, scenario and recall interview questions provide powerful tools to unlock these qualities. Here is how to tailor them for insightful IT interviews:
Scenario-Based Questions: Predicting Performance Under Pressure
Recall-Based Questions: Learning from Past Victories (and Lessons)
The Synergistic Blend: Unlocking a Comprehensive View
Remember, both approaches offer valuable insights:
By mastering these techniques, you can move beyond technical knowledge and identify IT Managers who possess the strategic thinking, communication, and leadership skills to navigate the ever-evolving technological landscape of your organization.
We’d love to discuss your IT recruitment needs and help you find your next superstar. Please call us on 0207 788 6600 or email us at langleyjames@langleyjames.com and one of our consultants will be happy to advise you. You can also follow us on Facebook.
Recent Comments