Recruitment Smarts: Tips for modern recruitment

By Lars Kommer

In this book, Lars Kommer, People & Culture professional and entrepreneur, humorously shares over 30 years of experience in global recruitment. As a successful HR consultant, he inspires companies to attract, retain and motivate employees with heart and mind. Practical tips and innovative approaches make the book an entertaining read for anyone who wants to improve their company's recruitment performance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Mar 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9783758399046

Lars Kommer

Lars Kommer, born in Stuttgart, started out in the HR sector and rose from HR consultant to successful entrepreneur. After founding the largest HR services company in Stuttgart, he supported start-ups and helped build one of the world's largest global HR consultancies. As a permanent HR consultant to the Saudi Arabian royal family and other renowned companies, he has over 30 years of experience in global HR topics such as employer branding and recruitment strategies.His expertise lies in "out of the box" thinking, which produces innovative approaches to recruitment and helps companies to attract, retain and motivate talented employees in a unique way. To this day, he has remained loyal to recruitment and works as an entrepreneur and interim manager in Switzerland. In a not too serious way, he tries to get companies to improve their performance with heart and humanity.

Book preview

01 - Prolog

Vision and Mission

Retention rates, predictive recruiting, active sourcing, fill rates - crucial tools for selecting the best talent. Despite technological advances, HR decision-makers are lagging behind. After almost 30 years of HR consulting, it is clear that recruiting is increasingly based on fact-based wishful thinking instead of real human needs. Now is the time for change - for a balanced combination of advanced tools and human empathy in recruiting. It's time to motivate HR decision-makers to evolve just as dynamically as the tools to make recruiting more human-centred again!

Successful recruitment is based on respect for people!

02 - Who did it?

Lars Kommer

Dipl. Eco, MBA, Personnel officer

Lars Entrepeneur Kommer, born in Stuttgart, started out in the HR sector and rose from HR consultant to successful entrepreneur. After founding the largest HR services company in Stuttgart, he supported startups and helped build one of the world's largest global HR consultancies. As a permanent HR consultant to the Saudi Arabian royal family and other renowned companies, he has over 30 years of experience in global HR topics such as employer branding and recruitment strategies.

His expertise lies in out of the box thinking, which produces innovative approaches to recruitment and helps companies to attract, retain and motivate talented employees in a unique way. To this day, he has remained loyal to recruitment and works as an entrepreneur and interim manager in Switzerland. In a not too serious way, he tries to get companies to improve their performance with heart and humanity.

03 - Speed in the recruitment process

Sleeping Companies

In an increasingly globalized world where people are driven by productivity, market dynamics, and key performance indicators (KPIs), companies must continuously adapt to ever greater changes. In this dynamic environment, one crucial factor plays a central role: time.

Especially in the context of recruiting and hiring employees, it is surprising that some companies still require more than three months to successfully complete an onboarding process.

Giving time is showing respect

Each passing day deprives the potential candidate of the feeling of being valued, to the point of frustrating resignation. Under these conditions, it may still be possible to employ the candidate, but the premise holds: If it doesn't go smoothly from the start, it won't get better.

A dynamic, organized, and valued recruitment process is, therefore, the best way to present your organization. After all, time is not only synonymous with money but also with respect.

4 Weeks!

It is advisable to limit your own recruitment processes to a maximum of four weeks. This is not only feasible from an organizational point of view, but also makes sense and is appreciated by applicants. Speed in the recruitment process is therefore not only a competitive advantage but also an expression of appreciation towards potential employees. Companies that can recruit quickly and efficiently not only position themselves as attractive employers but also send out a clear signal in favor of a modern and appreciative corporate culture.

be fast, be smart

03 - Speed in the recruitment process II

After a position is advertised, the number of applications received is high in the first 14-21 days, but then drops sharply.

The following steps are recommended for an optimised process and respectful applicant communication:

Transparent timescales in the job post: Communicate in the job post that the selection process can take around 4 weeks to avoid enquiries and give applicants clarity.

Sort applications immediately: Evaluate applications immediately upon receipt to ensure structured and clear processing.

Avoid immediate rejections: Avoid quick rejections to avoid rudeness and give applicants the time they need.

Considered job advertisement: Rethink the job advertisement if there are no suitable candidates and adapt it accordingly.

Reference to unsolicited applications: Include a reference to the possibility of unsolicited applications to