The Benefits of Employer Transparency During the Hiring Process

An employer expects a job applicant’s resume to provide a clear and factual listing of the candidate’s work history, achievements and skills.

Similarly, a job seeker wants a potential employer to provide a thorough and honest description of the advertised position – the duties, the challenges, the requirements – as well as straight answers for questions of salary, benefits and expectations.   

This openness and honesty is known as transparency. It establishes the integrity of both the employer and employee, as well as a level of trust between the two.

Employer transparency during the hiring process is vital in establishing employee engagement with the new hire.

Employee engagement solidifies the connection among employee, manager and the organization’s vision, mission, values, strategies and goals, says Villanova University instructor Kimberly Nash, MBA, SHRM-SCP, SPHR-SCP, in the Human Resource Management course, a required course in the Certificate in Human Resource Management program.

Employee engagement strengthens the organization, and in turn boosts recruitment and retention efforts, Nash says. Further, engaged employees have a personal investment in their work, which leads to more positive outcomes both for the organization and for the individual employee.

Establishing Transparency

An organization can begin to establish transparency at the earliest stage by posting clear and accurate specifications for job openings.

In a report titled “Talent Acquisition” published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in its 2019 Learning System, organizations are encouraged to keep job descriptions clear, simple and straightforward. Among the suggestions:

• List the minimum qualifications needed to perform the job
• Include job requirements in all relevant areas (experience, education, training, licenses and certification, mental abilities and physical skills, and level or organizational responsibilities)
• List skills needed for satisfactory performance, rather than what the ideal candidate should have
• Jobs should have realistic and descriptive titles
• Write a short (four or five sentence) summary
• Ensure the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) are job-related
• Include any appropriate disclaimers

Hiring qualified new talent is a big step, but it’s followed by another that’s just as important: retaining that talent for the organization.

Villanova HR instructor Angela Francesco explains why employees stay with an organization and offered pointers for organizations hoping to retain its users in a six-part lecture titled “Learning and Development” in the Human Resource Management course.

Retaining talented employees is a worthwhile goal, and not just for continuity’s sake, Francesco says. Losing an employee has consequences:

• Loss of financial investments
• Loss of training time
• Negative impact on employee morale 
• May not be able to sustain a diverse workforce
• Additional time to rehire and retrain

Most employee turnover occurs within five years of hiring, Francesco says, and new employees usually form their opinion of the organization within the first few months.

The best performers stay with an organization when the work is meaningful, when the organization’s standards and expectations are made clear and when appealing incentives and perks are offered, Francesco says.

Francesco suggests these steps for keeping employees happy, challenged and part of the team:

• Treat retention of key employees as a strategic part of talent management’s agenda
• Know what motivates each segment of the workforce
• Monitor motivation and workforce trends
• Develop a deeper understanding of the reasons that employees want to stay or leave
• Link the ability to retain and develop high-value talent to a managers’ performance evaluations; reward appropriately
• Keep employees informed about the organization
• Monitor retention and turnover rates
• Work to align systems, departments, processes and procedures to improve retention

HR professionals are vital to an organization’s success and progress. They work with potential employees and help guide new hires as they become acclimated to their new surroundings.

A significant portion of a company’s worth is tied to its employees. Villanova’s Certificate in Human Resource Management program is designed to help HR professionals and other managers develop knowledge and skills to execute effective employee relations techniques that can strengthen internal initiatives. Students in the program will also receive 18 months of access to the complete 2021 SHRM Learning System digital materials, which includes detailed information on HR best practices, competency connection scenarios and practice questions to test your knowledge of HR core competencies and prepare for SHRM certification.