Once you have decided on your "employee avatars" where will you find them?

Recruitment – How to recruit your new employees

“At the end of the day, you bet on people not strategies.” Lawrence Bossidy, General Electric.

If you have been following my articles and implementing the strategies, you will now have clarity on who you need to bring into your business the next challenge is where will you find them? Where do you advertise?

Any advert that you post will essentially be the first impression that the applicant has of your business, and you need this to be positive in order to ensure that you are not creating barriers for potential applicants.

You must ensure that the advert contains sufficient and accurate information relating to the role by following the guidelines for the job description and person specification, and ensure that the advert is visually appealing by following some simple processes.

Once the advert is complete, proof read it and get someone else to read it too – they’ll be able to tell you if it’s appealing or if it doesn’t hold their attention.

It goes without saying that you need to ensure your adverts are consistent in terms of their format and branding so that applicants become familiar with your business as you recruit over the years.

You should therefore have developed a corporate template which incorporates the company logo, colours, typeface and so on. You can do this in-house on a decent word processor, or have it designed professionally by an agency.

Once you have a look you are happy with, all you need is the content!

Where do you advertise?

• Professional journals?
• What social media will they interact with?
• What online sites will they use?
• What agencies could you use?

There are a number of forums in which you can advertise your vacancy, but the key is finding the ones that work best for you and have a better chance of reaching the applicants that you are trying to attract.

There are many ways to advertise free of charge, and it is always essential to advertise your vacancies internally to existing staff and to advertise on your own website.

Contact any previous applicants that have given you their permission to keep their details on file.

Some membership websites offer a forum to advertise vacancies online too – make full use of this service and get the most out of your membership!

When paying to advertise your vacancy, be mindful of your budget – you want to ensure that you will be getting the right applicants through. Keep a record of the applicants that come through from each area, and the relevance of each application, so that you can monitor if these means are cost effective for future recruitment campaigns.

About your company

Come up with a headline to attract attention to your advert. The job title itself is surprisingly important, and you should think carefully about what you call the job. Studies have shown that the job title is more important than salary to potential applicants! The top of the advert should contain the job title and the location of the vacancy.

This is your opportunity to really sell your business to prospective applicants. Focus on the successes your business has had, and your vision for the future. Highlight what makes you unique and potentially attractive to applicants. How do you differentiate yourself from your competition? Really sell your business!

Describe the details of the job so potential applicants know what they would be applying for. Communicate your unique selling point. What is it that makes this job better, or different from other similar jobs, to attract to potential applicants.

Take a look at your competitors’ adverts – what stands out? What can you say to make yours stand out more?

What are you offering?

What is the package? This is not just about money. What will they experience during their time with you? What are you like to work for? What is your culture, your values? Job seekers are interviewing you! They will research your business, and they will ask people who know you what you are like. How will you stand out from similar types of businesses so that the applicant chooses you?

Always indicate the salary range and other benefits on offer. Where salaries are competitive, additional benefits can make or break an applicant’s decision. Include as much information as possible, but don’t promise anything that you are unable to deliver.

If you want to wait and see who applies before committing to a salary level, then you need to ensure that an appropriate message about the benefits package is given out. For example, the salary is highly competitive and will depend on experience and qualifications.

How do you want them to apply?

Consider how you want the individual to apply, whether it’s a standard application form (which is great for the comparison of a large number of applicants) or a CV (which is good for more senior jobs as it gives the applicant a better chance to express themselves).

Provide your phone number so that prospective applicants can contact you to discuss the detail of the job if necessary.

It is also good practice to put a closing date in your advert, with realistic timescales for responding.

Job adverts don’t just reach potential applicants. A job advert is a message to your competitors and the wider business community that you’re hiring, so always bear this in mind when constructing the advert.

Contact me for an advert template and an example application form.

Interview & Selection

“Hiring people is an art, not a science, and CVs can’t tell you if someone will fit into your company’s culture.” Howard Shultz, founder of Starbucks.

When you are inundated with applications, you need a way of screening out the best candidates to interview, see who is the best fit, on paper – that’s when you need a standardised screening process.

In order to set up interviews and select the right person for the job, you need to get a few things organised. So, you have placed your advert and have had a number of CVs and application forms through. Have a transparent process for deciding whom to put through to interview and objective reasons for not putting through the rest. Applicants can challenge you if they believe you have been discriminatory in any way, even at this stage of the recruitment process.

Screening Applications

After your agreed closing date, gather up your CVs and/or applications forms. Design an applicant screening matrix to record that you have gone through each applicant, looking for the same criteria.

Make a list of the qualifications, skills and experience that you mentioned in your job advert so you can tick off what they do or don’t have. Depending on the position, you may also have some essential criteria to include from your person specification list.

Go through each application and tick off from your list what qualifications, skills and experience they have mentioned. Have they provided the information you asked for in their covering letter? I would disregard any application where the applicant hasn’t bothered to take the time to introduce him or herself, or explain what would make them a great candidate for the job.

If attention to detail is important to the job, how has their CV and application form been presented? Are there spelling errors or inconsistencies?

Contact me for an example of an applicant screening form.

Selecting applicants to interview

You have screened your applications, so each applicant will now have a score. The applicants you put forward for interview should be the best fit, on paper; now you need to meet them and find out if they are the right fit for your culture. There may be times when an applicant doesn’t score highly enough to warrant an interview on your matrix, but there is something about their application that has grabbed your attention, and you think they’re worth meeting. Don’t ignore your gut feeling. Invite them for an interview anyway. Remember, you are looking for someone to become part of your team, and you want to see what he or she is really like. Plan an interview that will help you see the candidates at their very best.

Preparing for interviews

What is your plan for the interviews? How are you going to discover if the applicants whose CVs suggested they were a good match, actually are? What are your options?

• Telephone interviews
• Face to face interviews
• Video/Skype interviews
• Panel interviews (presentations)
• Work trials/placement

Telephone interviews: Set up a mutually convenient time, advise the candidate how much time you expect to take and ask them to take the call somewhere they won’t be interrupted. Prepare the candidate to answer a mixture of competency based questions and behavioural questions by phone. This is great if you are interviewing for a receptionist or a call centre position where telephone manner is very important. Have a checklist ready to ensure you cover everything.

Face to face interviews: Hold the interviews onsite if you can; it always helps if the candidates can see where they will be working. Find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. Make the candidate feel as relaxed as possible and keep the conversation informal. Generally, I offer them a cup of tea, and I will talk initially about the business and the team. This gives them a chance to relax and calm down. I will then ask them to tell me about themselves and what brought them here today. Once everyone is more comfortable I will start on the more thought provoking and experiential questions, as well as questions that will take more consideration.

It is useful to help prepare the candidate for the interview. Write to them with at least one weeks’ notice and explain how the interview will run, what you expect from them and what will happen afterwards. Advise them that they will be asked a mixture of competency based questions and behavioural questions – these will help you to see how they handle and react in different situations.

Ask them to consider a time when they were in a situation; what was it like, how did they behave, what did they do, what did they learn? By talking about something they have experienced, you will get a sense of their emotional response and relate that to how they might deal with similar situations in the future.

For example:

Traditional question: “Have you had experience training new supervisors?”

Improved question: “Tell me about a time when you had to hire and train a new supervisor. How did you go about it? Would you do anything differently?”

There should ideally be two of you in on the interview with one person to record answers and notes, since this helps with the decision making process and reduces bias.

Video interviews: Modern technology means you can interview people anywhere. This is ideal if your candidate doesn’t live locally and will save on interview expenses. I would use it as an initial getting to know you meeting, and you can use your telephone interview checklist. If they are suitable, then arrange a face–to-face meeting, perhaps alongside a work trial, or spending a day at your office.

Panel interviews: These are often used as a second interview and may include a presentation. These are generally for more senior positions within a business. Give plenty of notice and guidelines if you are asking them to prepare a presentation and advise them who they will be presenting to.

Work trials: A must if you want to see how candidates fit in with your team. Have them spend a day interacting with the team. Ask other team members to get to know the candidates and assess their use of initiative. This can be quite time consuming so I’d perhaps use this when you have whittled down your numbers to two or three applicants. Use an evaluation form and give this to whoever will be supervising your candidates on the day. You could also give a form to anyone else who will interact with your candidates so you are getting a wide range of feedback. I use a “First Impressions” form to gather opinions.

Remember…

Whatever you decide to do, ensure that the candidate is fully aware of the process and the timescales, and anyone else involved in the process is kept informed. How you manage your recruitment and selection process says a lot about you as a business. A poorly managed recruitment campaign will put off candidates and will work against you, especially if they have a few offers to choose from. Put some time aside at the beginning of the process to plan how you are going to interview and select.

Standardise Your Interview Questions

You should always keep any interview notes in a secure manner, as unsuccessful candidates do have the right to request any paperwork relating to their application; the notes should be part of your defence against any claim of discrimination. When taking notes, you should always bear in mind that they will be kept. One HR person was horrified to discover that the only note written down by the interviewer after seeing a candidate was “single mother.”

Plan your interview process with consideration.

Contact me for examples of in-person and telephone interview questionnaires.

What type of interviews will you hold? Write down some notes about what you need to do to get the best out of candidates.

Get them started!

The Best Start, starts with the right decision. Use all the evidence you have gathered and map it to your requirements. If there are gaps, make a plan to fill them, review progress, deal with problems.

The Right Decision

“Many managers make poor staffing decisions. By all accounts their batting average is no better than 0.333. At most, one-third of such decisions turn out right; one-third minimally effective; and one-third outright failures. In no other area of management would we put up with such miserable performance.” – Peter Drucker, management icon!

How are you going to make your decision on who is the right person for the role?

Consider your evidence

Hold a meeting with the people involved in the interviews and/or the managers they will work for. Review all your evidence.

• CV
• Application form
• Interview form +/- notes
• Work trial feedback
• References

Your decision must be based on the evidence. If someone doesn’t feel right after all this time and effort, find evidence to back up your feeling. Feelings won’t stand up in court if you are challenged on your procedure.

If you are not sure about any of your finalists – start again! Do not take on someone unless you are 100% positive they are right for your business!

References

Most references aren’t worth the paper they are written on. Be aware that if you do get a poor reference, it might be sour grapes because they left, or there may have been a personality clash. If you get a similar response from other referees, then you should take them into account when making your decision.

Ask for a reference from their two most recent employers and a character reference. You may have to make the job offer subject to satisfactory references if they don’t want you to contact their current employer beforehand.

Contact me for a reference request template.

How to put together a compelling offer

Two to three months are likely to have passed since you first made the decision to hire someone. You have gone through the processes and you are at the final hurdle ‒ the offer.

Remember, while you are putting your candidates through a rigorous selection procedure, they will also be putting you and your business through the same thorough procedure. They must consider whether they really want to work with you or not after all they have witnessed. Start your offer letter by expressing how excited you are to be making this offer. Outline the benefits and salary and make sure that you are offering compensation that reflects the experience and the qualifications of the individual, and also meets their expectations.

What benefits do you offer? Pension? Healthcare? Discounts? Childcare vouchers? Extra holidays? What do your competitors offer? If you can, offer more than they do, such as better shift patterns, opening hours, support network, etc.

Include details of your induction plan so that the applicant is aware of how much thought you have put into their employment, and how much support you are going to provide to ensure they settle in quickly. Finally, it is paramount to make them feel welcome and get them excited enough to accept your offer.

Dealing with rejection

If you are unlucky enough to have your amazing, compelling offer rejected, what are you going to do? Get some feedback on why the candidate said no and revisit each part of the process to see if you could have done anything differently, or improve it for next time.

Would any of the other candidates that you took through the whole process be contenders? It’s important not to reject the other candidates until you have had an acceptance from your chosen candidate. If none of the other candidates are suitable, it’s back to the drawing board!

Choose the right candidate

How do you choose the right candidate? What evidence will you have gathered?

Respond to all interviewees

What will you offer to your preferred candidate? Write down what’s in your package ‒ salary, holidays, healthcare, pension, etc. How exciting is your offering?

How daunting does all this sound? especially going through it for the first time! If there is one thing I've learned in business it's stop trying to do everything! Focus on your strengths and outsource for the skills that you don't have.

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