How Do You Work Out Who You Need in Your Business?

How to Define What & Who You Need – planning your business and the job roles you need.

“Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”

Jim Collins, Good to Great

Over the years I have worked with a number of businesses to assist with recruitment. What many of them have in common is that they were not clear about what kind of person they were looking for. Can you say that you know exactly what you are looking for? If not, how can you be confident that you are taking on the right person for the job?

How often have you gone through a lengthy recruitment process and then ended up with the wrong person? Have you been frustrated with the time, money and resources that have been wasted in making the wrong decision? Or have they not stayed with you because after a while they realised you have no foundations in place, or they don’t share your values?

You need to establish a policy for recruitment. The recruitment and selection decision is one of the most important decisions you will make, and getting it right will contribute significantly towards your effectiveness as a business. The recruitment and selection process will set out how you want your business to recruit people and will ensure that you select new recruits who share your values and understand your culture.

The recruitment policy ensures your recruitment and selection process will:

• be fair and consistent
• be non-discriminatory
• conform to statutory regulations and agreed best practice
• be compliant with the Equality Act 2010
• be designed to attract the best possible applicants for vacancies
• ensure  that  all  applicants  are  treated  fairly  and  without discrimination

The procedures set out in your recruitment and selection policy will become your business guidelines on what to do each and every time a new team member is recruited at any level, from a receptionist or administrator to an office manager or company director. It is important that as your business grows, you are able to delegate tasks such as the recruitment process to team members. The policy outlines your expectations as well as compliance with employment law.

The recruitment and selection policy should clearly set out procedures for:

• the recruitment process as a whole
• advertising of vacancies
• recruitment materials
• the candidate application process
• short-listing
• interview procedures
• offer/rejection process
• referencing

The policy should include your policy on equal opportunities – a statement declaring that you will hire employees based on their ability to do the job and not discriminate in any way. Outline your recruitment process. List your job descriptions, person specifications and any other job information. Consider your advertising policy – where you will advertise? Ensure you comply with your equal opportunities statement. What is your selection process?

How will you make your decisions and what information will you collect? Application forms, CVs, psychometric tests, references, interviews, work based assessments?

Carry out exit interviews – follow up with leavers, get feedback to help you identify issues and further improve the workplace.

SAMPLE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICY

POLICY

The purpose of this recruitment policy is to enable the selection of the best person for the job, using a structured approach to the recruitment  process.  It  ensures  that  consistency  and  fairness  is achieved and complies with our own equal opportunities policy and with current employment legislation. All job applicants will be treated equally, irrespective of their sex, marital status, race, ethnic origin, disability, religion, creed, sexual orientation, age or political views.

The recruitment and selection decision is one of the most important, and getting it right will contribute significantly towards our effectiveness as a business. The recruitment and selection procedure will help us to ensure that we select new recruits who share our values and show a willingness to learn, adapt and work as part of a team.

This policy ensures our recruitment and selection process will

• be fair and consistent
• be non-discriminatory
• conform to all statutory regulations and agreed best practice

Equal Opportunities

The company seeks to recruit employees on the basis of their ability and the requirements of the post.

We will ensure that no applicant receives less favourable treatment than another on the grounds of disability, gender, race, religion or belief, age, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, caring responsibilities or hours of work.

To ensure that these policy aims are achieved, all managers will receive training in effective recruitment and selection.

The Recruitment Process

The following procedure will be used when a post is to be filled:

Define the job. Draw up a job description and consider the salary and benefits you will offer.

Prepare a person specification.  Describe the type of person you are looking for to fill this post.

Collate information appropriate for the post, ready for emailing out to potential candidates. This should include:

• job description and if appropriate, the person specification
• information on the company
• terms  and  conditions  of  employment,  including  salary (if agreed)  and benefits

It is important that this pack (information) is carefully put together in order to present a professional image of the company.

Choose an option for selecting suitable permanent candidates:

• internal advert within the business
• check through previous applications
• external advert within the job centre
• external advert in the local press
• external advert in the national press
• external advert in the appropriate technical/professional journal
• recruitment agency
• external advert on relevant job sites
• social media (eg Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook)

Design the advert.  All adverts must contain as much information as possible to ensure the correct recruitment group is targeted and reduce unsuitable applications, while remaining cost-effective.

The Selection Process. Appropriate selection procedures must be used for each post. Procedures may vary. At its simplest, this may involve a straightforward interview and skills testing. For more senior posts, psychometric testing, presentations to the interview panel on a chosen topic and/or a series of individual interviews on various topics may be included.

The application forms received by the closing date must be shortlisted against the person specification. Design a screening matrix to assist with this process which will provide a record of the reasons why an applicant is, or is not, shortlisted, as well as making it easier to select the right candidates to be shortlisted.

Invite the shortlisted candidates for an interview; candidates who have not been shortlisted should also be informed.

At least two people should be involved on the interview panel. Prior to the interview, each panellist will receive an interview pack containing:

• copies of application forms / cv's
• blank interview questionnaires
• a copy of the job advertisement
• a copy of the job description
• a copy of the person specification

At the interview, the appointing manager will:

• Decide on the interview format
• Determine which areas to concentrate on with the questioning
• Decide who will chair the interview panel
• Ensure that the interview questionnaire is completed as fully as possible
• Ensure that equal opportunities legislation is strictly adhered to, with no discrimination shown on any grounds.

When all candidates have been interviewed, the panel will score them appropriately using a Candidate Assessment form and based on this decide on the most suitable person for the post The unsuccessful candidates should also be informed of the panel’s decision. It may be appropriate to wait until the successful candidate has accepted the position before doing this. The appointing manager will:

• arrange to inform the successful candidate as soon as possible, agree on a start date and starting salary, subject to satisfactory references
• write to the appointee, offering the post (providing satisfactory references and pre-employment checks have been received)
• contact all unsuccessful candidates with outcome of interview
• initiate a personnel file and computer entry for the new team member
• deal with any requirements for relocation expenses or the finding of temporary accommodation for the appointee
• obtain references
• arrange pre-employment checks as appropriate
• arrange an individual programme of induction for the new start’s first week of employment

Exit Interviews

All employees who leave the employment of the company voluntarily will have an exit interview with their manager before their last day of employment.

Exit interviews provide the opportunity for departing employees to discuss their reasons for leaving. The information provided is useful in identifying trends, learning and development, and evaluating the effectiveness of HR policies and practices.

The appropriate line manager should receive all appropriate information, such as recommendations made for change, or significant issues  raised  in  the  questionnaire,  whilst  bearing  in  mind confidentiality issues. The exit interview questionnaire will be retained on the employee’s personal file.

Job Description

Before you advertise for a position, review the job description and ensure it is relevant to the job and completely up to date.

As any business evolves, so do the day to day duties and responsibilities involved within roles. Take the time to ensure that if you are replacing someone, the job description is correct and fully up to date. This will save you time, resources and money in the future by helping to ensure that you are recruiting the right person for the right role. If the job description isn’t accurate, and you take on a new person, you will be risking a high turnover rate as their expectations may well differ to the realities of the day-to-day aspects of the role.

Developing a job description for each role is essential to the success of your business. They create clarity for both the employee and you as their manager. According to Gallup, one of the biggest motivating factors for employees is clarity within their role. That is, they know what they’re supposed to do and how to do it. Your expectations of them are clearly laid out so there is no dispute over what they should or shouldn’t be doing.

A job description is a written statement explaining:

• job title, hours of work, place of work, who to report to
• why the role exists
• what roles and responsibilities the job holder will have
• what specific tasks they are required to do

Why have job descriptions?

Job descriptions will improve your ability to manage your team. They will:

• clarify expectations
• enable you to measure performance
• provide a clear description of the job
• help with structuring fair pay and grading systems
• provide a reference tool in case of a dispute or for discipline issues
• highlight areas for training and development
• provide an objective reference point for performance reviews

The job description should be used during the recruitment process so the applicants understand the role and what is required of them, ensuring the person you select can fully commit to the job.

Roles & Responsibilities

The first paragraph of any job description is perhaps the most important part – it is where you capture the attention of the applicant and hopefully make them want to read on and submit an application.

This is very much a summary of the position. When defining the main duties and responsibilities within a role, make sure you are presenting the day-to-day duties, expectations and results, in a clear and concise manner.

• What areas of the business will they be responsible for?
• What will they do on a day-to-day basis?

Use bullet points and list all aspects of the role, not just the desirable tasks; also include the more mundane, although it is always a clever idea to mix these up to keep the role interesting. As a rule, the first and last bullet points are the ones you really want to be noticed, so the more mundane tasks can be inserted in the middle.

Consider your applicants; junior or apprentice posts will need very specific descriptions of the day-to-day tasks. For more senior managerial or technical positions, also include what key performance indicators you want to measure.

In my experience, employers often don’t consider what experience and/or qualifications they are looking for in their new recruit. You MUST decide this from the offset and make it very clear in the job description, it will mean only suitable applicants will apply.

How much previous experience do you require them to have, and why? What qualifications do they need to have in order to do the job? You should also bear in mind that you may have to demonstrate the necessity of any experience or qualifications you specify, otherwise you may fall foul of age discrimination legislation. For example, if you specify 3 years’ experience in a particular role, you are excluding applicants under a certain age. Think about why you think the role requires this level of experience. Equally, you may see a role as requiring somebody who is willing to train and take qualifications to go further in your company; however, you should not specify “recent graduate” or “school leaver” as this would be discriminatory.

You want team members who have a flexible attitude and approach to the workplace, employees who will embrace change. In the early days, your business will experience lots of change as you grow and develop into your vision.

Contact www.lodestonelounge.com for a job description template.

Next work out WHO You Need

The Person Specification

It doesn’t need to be said that recruitment is all about finding the right person for the job. So, do you know exactly what you are looking for in that person?

A person specification is crucial, as it describes exactly that. Employers will use the person specification to define exactly what they are looking for.

It is important to consider your requirements in all areas, including qualifications, professional experience, skills and knowledge, and perhaps most importantly, personal qualities – you want to ensure that any new recruit will fit in with your existing team.

Be realistic in what you are looking for. Carefully consider what are your absolute minimum requirements for the role? What skills would purely be an added bonus. You don’t want to rule people out before they’ve even applied based on a lack of skills that are not essential for them to do a good job, or a lack of skills that you can easily teach them if they were to be successful. After all, you’ll be hoping that all applicants demonstrate a desire to further develop their skills.

Be clear about WHO you are looking for

What type of person are you looking for? What type and level of experience do you want them to have? What skills and behaviours do you want them to have?

Skills

• what’s essential
• what’s desirable

Qualifications

• what’s essential
• what’s desirable

Behaviours

• what’s essential
• what’s desirable

Contact www.lodestonelounge.com for a template person specification.