How to Hire Employees in 6 Steps

The US may have narrowly escaped a recession, but 2023 was still a rollercoaster for many people, with over 200,000 tech layoffs and some of the toughest labor disputes in recent history. Now, shifting workforces and ongoing labor shortages present a host of new hiring and retention challenges for HR in 2024.

If the scramble to attract and retain top talent has reached your company, you're not alone. BambooHR surveyed 1,200 professionals to dig a little deeper into what lies ahead. Here's a brief overview of the pain points influencing HR strategy today:

• Talent acquisition is the biggest dilemma for HR teams (44% of responders)
• Labor shortages make it harder to attract qualified people (48%)
• Onboarding, offboarding, and training are the most common workplace obstacles (63%)
• Managing employee data is a struggle, making it harder to find impactful solutions (52%)

The good news is a host of recruiting potential is still out there, which is why evolving your hiring process to meet new challenges is so important. In our 2023 Hiring Survey, we found out what most job candidates want to know, what's driving employee turnover, and what influences people to stay long-term—all things you can use to your advantage.

BambooHR® is the complete HR platform that helps you move from recruiting to onboarding seamlessly. Learn the essential steps for hiring new employees in 2024 and how to develop a recruiting strategy that tips the scales in your favor.

Realizing your obligations as an employer today can help you avoid costly penalties later. If you're hiring for the first time, gather the necessary paperwork and ensure your business is ready to comply with the legal requirements for hiring and recordkeeping. If this isn't your first rodeo, simply update your documentation to meet the most current state and federal hiring standards.

Your new-hire paperwork should include:

• Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
• Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate
• State withholding form
• Direct deposit form
• Benefits enrollment paperwork
• Internal employee forms (e.g., confidentiality agreement)

Don't forget to report new employees to your state registry and comply with laws unique to your company. For instance, you may also be required to run pre-employment drug tests and background checks for each new employee.

Hiring remote employees requires a little extra care in the tax department. Federal payroll taxes apply no matter where your employees live in the US, but remote employees in other jurisdictions are generally subject to their state tax withholding laws. Work with a tax professional to create a payroll process that complies with the regulations in your state and wherever your remote workers are located.

Also, consider adding a salary range for the position. Even if you're in a state without pay transparency laws, disclosing a competitive salary range upfront helps job seekers learn if the role is a good financial fit before applying.

To get started, use a job description template. You may not find one for the exact job opening at your company, but a general framework can help make this step easier.

Here are some popular job posting sites for employers:

• Glassdoor
• FlexJobs
• Indeed
• Ladders
• LinkedIn
• Snagajob
• ZipRecruiter

Don't forget to feature new positions on the careers page on your website. Not only is it a good way to attract job seekers already interested in your company, but they'll be able to gauge whether an online job ad truly comes from you or is part of a recruitment fraud scheme.

Start with a Phone Screening

A phone screening is when a recruiter or HR manager calls an initial group of selected candidates to narrow this talent pool down to the most qualified, relevant people. That way hiring managers don’t have to spend time interviewing every single applicant, and they can focus on the most promising job candidates.

Top priorities during a phone screening should include:

• Checking whether a candidate has the requisite experience or skills
• Getting a sense of their soft skills (e.g., how well they communicate and listen)
• Helping the candidate better understand the position and gauge whether or not they’re suited for the role
• Asking for the candidate’s preferred salary range

Use Video Interviewing Tools

Technology can help you hire more efficiently, especially during the interviewing stage. Video interviews are often standard for remote or hybrid positions. But even if your organization only hires onsite workers, video interviews can help you recruit from a wider geographic area or reduce the commuting burden on local candidates.

If you don’t have a dedicated recruiter to make screening calls, you can also lean on pre-recorded video screenings to help speed things up. By sending the same screening questions to several applicants, you don’t have to schedule a specific time to call candidates. They can simply record their answers whenever it’s most convenient for them.

Standardize Candidate Assessments

Getting everyone in the interview process on the same page helps reduce personal bias and ensures all candidates are treated equally. Instead of going with a subjective “gut feeling,” hiring managers and other interviewers rely on a more structured approach, and HR keeps everyone aligned and accountable for their decisions.

Here are a few ways to create a fairer, more objective interview experience:

• Educate your hiring team on unconscious bias. By recognizing that everyone has unconscious bias, you can work together to avoid decisions based on hunches.
• Train interviewers on what not to ask. Hiring managers shouldn't ask questions about protected characteristics, including race, gender, sexual orientation, and others.
• Ask all candidates the same questions. Be sure to leave room to dig into specific answers or ask follow-ups, but standard interview questions help ensure each candidate is treated fairly.
• Create an interview scorecard with the most critical job skills. That way each interviewer understands what’s essential to the position and it's easier to compare candidates.

Make a Longer List of Final Candidates

This is another important way to increase the diversity in your candidate selection. In a study on gender bias, extending the final list from just three candidates to six pushed people to go beyond their impulse to list candidates of a single gender and consider a broader range of possibilities.

However, countering bias doesn’t stop with making a longer list. Using this strategy alongside other initiatives driving workplace equity can help you successfully welcome more diverse voices and experiences into your company.

Keep Every Candidate Up to Date

To create the best candidate experience, communicate throughout the interview process. The prospective employees on your list should know when they'll hear from your company and who will be reaching out about next steps.

As for the job candidates you've vetoed, don’t ghost them—let them know what you’ve decided and leave things on a cordial note. Treating your candidates well (even if they weren't hired) helps maintain a positive employer brand and build valuable relationships.

Keep these best practices for reference checks in mind:

• Talk to people with first-hand experience. They may be past managers, professors, colleagues, or mentors.
• References should speak to the candidate’s work-related skills. This holds true even if they know the candidate from a setting outside of work, like a volunteering program.
• Ask the same questions to each set of references. Just like interviews, sticking to the same set of questions ensures fairness.
• Listen for patterns as the references share their comments. This helps you get a sense of any hidden skills or work habits not discussed in the interview.
• Take glowing reviews with a grain of salt. Most candidates only provide a list of references they expect will say good things.
• Never contact a candidate’s current employer without permission. Their boss may not know they’re thinking about leaving, and you don't want to put them in a tough spot.

Here are some tips for making a formal job offer:

• Call the job candidate. A quick conversation can help you gauge their level of enthusiasm, confirm their interest, and start the employer-employee relationship on the right foot.
• Give total rewards information. Compensation, benefits, recognition, and other perks are among candidates’ top considerations when deciding whether or not to accept an offer, so be ready with that information.
• Get a commitment over the phone, if possible. Some candidates—especially those with high-demand skills—want to take time to consider the offer. If that's the case, it's fair to ask them for their initial thoughts.
• Put everything in writing. Email the candidate to make sure they understand the full scope of your job offer before committing.

Every offer letter should include the official job title, supervisor's name, start date, base salary, and any additional items discussed during the interview phase.

Here are some things you can do to streamline the onboarding process:

Prioritize Administrative Tasks

A lot happens during those first few days. Make things easier on everyone by automating the more routine (though crucial) onboarding tasks before your new hire starts, like gathering payroll information, signing tax forms, and communicating company policies.

Set an Onboarding Timeline

There’s no one-size-fits-all timeline for onboarding. It should be appropriate for the role and your organization. Work with your team to decide how long to spend getting your new hire acclimated. New employees should get up to speed within the first six months, but extending it longer can help boost employee retention. To figure out your onboarding timeline, ask yourself:

• What's the level of support we have for onboarding?
• Do we have buy-in from our senior leadership and management teams?
• How can other teams enrich the process?

Also, find ways to integrate self-onboarding methods. Your new hires are free to learn the ropes on their own through tutorials, videos, and other tools, and you're free to focus on supporting their new career path in other impactful ways.

Build Personal Connections

Integrating new hires is crucial for retention. People with a best friend at work are more likely to feel satisfied with their jobs compared to people without a work buddy, which means they’re less likely to go looking for another job.

Employee onboarding is your opportunity to facilitate meaningful meet-and-greets, put your best foot forward as a company, and solidify their decision to stay with you long-term.