The Recruitment Strategy Toolkit is intended for all hiring managers to be able to develop a recruitment strategy tailored to their specific needs for all positions (in-scope and out-of-scope). Using the toolkit, hiring managers can take steps to improve the attraction of qualified candidates and recruitment outcomes in a competitive labour market. The toolkit can also help remove barriers and broaden candidate pools to reflect the diversity of the citizens of Saskatchewan.
What is a Recruitment Strategy?
A recruitment strategy is a documented plan to support hiring managers to identify and take action to meet their recruitment needs.
Recruitment is the process of identifying positions needed, posting, attracting, interviewing, selecting, hiring/staffing and onboarding.
The recruitment steps include:
- Preparation: Areas to explore as you prepare for the recruitment process.
- Candidate Outreach: Build and use networks to identify potential qualified candidates.
- Advertising: Determine job advertisement content and where to advertise to maximize exposure.
- Screening: Determine which candidates will be assessed further.
- Assessing: Determine how candidates will be assessed.
- Selecting: Determine which candidate(s) will be selected for the position.
- Offering: Determine which candidate(s) will be offered the position(s) and how to make the offer(s) (once the CRC and salary are approved).
- Onboarding: Determine how the new employee(s) will be welcomed and oriented to their work and position, your team, ministry and Government of Saskatchewan.
How to use the Toolkit
The toolkit includes three sections designed to support the development of a recruitment strategy.
- The preparation section focuses on reflecting on your current recruitment needs and information to assist with determining areas of focus.
- The identify actions section focuses on exploring potential recruitment actions, available recruitment tools/templates to support actions and additional information.
- The document and implement section provides a template to document your recruitment strategy.
The toolkit is intended to be used alongside existing available corporate or ministry-specific tools, training and support to develop and implement a recruitment strategy to meet your specific needs.
It is recommended to start with the preparation section, then use as much or as little as you choose depending on what you can commit to.
New to the recruitment process? Reviewing the identify actions section will help you become more familiar with the recruitment process.
Where to go for Support?
To request additional information, guidance or support, contact your HR Business Partner.
1. Preparation for Recruitment
Use reflection questions to identify areas of focus. Reflection is a valuable planning step as it can guide decisions on which recruitment steps(s) to focus on.
Reflect on current recruitment need:
- Are there specific recruitment steps you would like to focus on?
- Are there any developments or upcoming changes to structure and/or program delivery within your ministry that could impact your recruitment planning? Have the position responsibilities changed since you last recruited for this position?
- If yes, please contact your HR Business Partner to discuss.
- Can adjustments be made to improve accessibility and/or inclusivity for all candidates (e.g., responsibilities, office arrangements)?
- Is a posting required or are other options available (e.g., temporary assignment of work, non-posted term/non-permanent appointment)?
- What additional information would be helpful to reference at this stage (e.g., turnover, previous posting information)?
- Are there similar positions within the Government of Saskatchewan?
- If yes, please contact your HR Business Partner to explore if previous posting information is available (e.g., job advertisement, external advertising).
Reflect on previous recruitments:
- When was this position last filled?
- How did the previous recruitment go?
- What worked well last time? What would you change this time?
- Do you foresee any challenges filling this position?
- If yes, which recruitment step(s) would help address them?
Candidate Outreach
- Were known internal and external candidates encouraged to apply? Was this effective? (e.g., current term/non-permanent employees, previous employees, students, previously interviewed candidates)
- Were any professional relationships used to identify candidates to reach out to? Was this effective?
- Were there any professional networks, alumni groups, or community organizations that were helpful in attracting qualified candidates?
- Were LinkedIn Talent Pools used? Were they effective?
Advertising
- Did you attract qualified candidates?
- Where were the successful candidates recruited from?
- Did it take a long time to fill it? Why did it take a long time (lack of qualified candidates, compensation, work location, other reasons)?
- Which advertising options were used (e.g., external advertising, peer recruitment)? How effective were they? Are any adjustments needed?
- Were social media and/or professional networks used? Were they effective? Are any adjustments needed?
- Was the job advertisement language clear, free of jargon/acronyms, accurate and welcoming to both external and internal candidates? Are any adjustments needed?
- Were the necessary competencies and responsibilities included?
Screening
- How many competencies were used to screen candidates? How effective were the screening competencies? Are any adjustments needed?
- How many candidates met the screening criteria?
- Did any of the previous screening criteria unintentionally narrow the pool (e.g., require government experience)?
Selecting
- How many candidates were successful in the assessment (i.e., met all competencies)?
Offering
- Have any qualified candidates declined offers in the past? If so, how many? What reasons did they provide?
Onboarding
- What approach was used for onboarding? Was it successful? Are any adjustments needed?
- Was the onboarding experience welcoming and supportive, regardless of the employees’ background and/or previous experience?
2. Identify Recruitment Actions
Use the recruitment actions tool to identify recruitment actions to have success in your recruitment and explore available tools/templates, reminders and tips and areas of focus for common recruitment challenges.
3. Document and Implement
Use the recruitment strategy template to record the areas of focus, recruitment actions and next steps.
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