As an org builder at Sahaj, there are one too many days like this — you talk to a candidate for over a period of time, watch them sail through one interview round after another, and finally hand out an offer, only to see them decline it!
If you are in a similar role, you know the pain.
As the org builders at Sahaj Software, we are committed to understand an individual and their interests rather than finding a “candidate” just to fill up an open position. Some of the best people we have hired didn’t necessarily bring in all the skills on day one — they underwent a process of transformation over a period of time. Most often, we don’t bring people onboard for who they are but for who they could be. This is why our role isn’t merely that of recruiting, it is far more richer and deeper, it is why we consider it to be fundamental in organization building.
Those of us who have been involved in the hiring process know that a 100% success rate is not possible but we definitely stand to make things better if we approach people with a genuine interest in them as opposed to seeking a match based on a job description.
Here are some of the ways in which we engage with people we wish to hire:
1.Our initial conversation can be with an active job seeker or a passive one. We believe it is important to reach out to people by talking to them, understanding their interests and discussing what we do. Getting people into our interview process need not be the only outcome of our discussion. Sometimes, it so happens that we speak to a passive job seeker who in turn might refer us to someone who may be interested. So, we are more than happy to discuss our work, culture and about the challenging problems we solve even if it means that the candidate may not be ready now but with the hope that we can make an impact and connect with the person sometime in the future!
2. When we engage in conversations, only much later in our discussion do we talk about the job description or role.
* Primarily, we need to understand why the person is looking for a change?
* What are they passionate about?
* What are their career plans?
*Are they willing to learn new things about technology stack, domain knowledge or even explore different roles?
We don’t get the answers to these questions in a single conversation. Sometimes, it takes several interactions over days, weeks or even months! But we believe it is necessary to invest that kind of time and interest to seek the most suitable people who can be part of Sahaj.
3. Do you as a recruiter feel at times that you do all the talking and the person on the other side seems to be only listening? Most often than not, these conversations don’t usually go any further. It is very important that the person is as interested in the opportunity as we are in them.
* Do they know about us?
* Have they read through our websites/blogs/articles?
* Do they have any questions to ask when we start talking about the. opportunity?
These are points that we consider when we engage in discussions. If someone is making a decision to join us, they should be curious to find out about the way we work.
4. Being effective in our communication and providing prompt feedback across several rounds of discussion is very important. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, we need to respect the time and effort somebody has put in to be involved in our process and the interest they have shown to be part of our team. This speaks volumes about the culture of a company.
If the goal of hiring is mere numbers i.e., the sole objective is to meet the target of hiring “X” number of people within a stipulated time, then the likelihood of losing the humane touch becomes high. At Sahaj, our focus is on the quality rather than the quantity. I was once asked by a job seeker why our headcount was “just 150” when we have been in the industry since 2014. The answer to that question is that we are in no hurry to increase our headcount. For us, growth does not mean increasing our size in terms of numbers. Growth is the impact we can make with our clients/partners and the learning we get from solving complex problems for them.
What is more important is that we shouldn’t hire someone who does not fit into the organization. Sometimes, even if a person’s skill sets and technical expertise match our requirements, they may not be culturally aligned with Sahaj.
At Sahaj, we take pride in our culture. Openness and trust is the glue that holds us together and enables us in our pursuit of crafting purpose-built solutions. Each one of us believes in leading from the front, our voices and opinions never stifled by complex levels of hierarchy and bosses. Sahaj is a company that cares about its people, and values trust, respect, curiosity and craftsmanship above all else — as org builders, we honor this value system in our process.
