Top 10 tips for making recruitment work for you
WHAT’S THE PLAN?
Recruitment is like getting married. Remember the saying “Marry in haste;
repent at leisure”. Don’t let this happen to you.
Plan your recruitment campaign, allowing realistic time for the various steps
so that you will have the new person joining when you want them. Take account
of holiday seasons when it will be difficult to attract candidates and arrange
interviews.
What steps will you have in the selection process? Don’t decide right
now! Read the other 9 tips first – these will help you decide on what
to do.
DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?
Take stock and decide who will be best to do the job in the future. Don’t
just go for more of the same.
Draw up a clear description (person specification) of the person you are looking
for. Use your competencies or other corporate criteria to help with this.
Make sure the specification is realistic – not a wish list.
Does your ideal person exist? How far will you compromise from this?
WHERE WILL YOU FIND YOUR IDEAL PERSON?
What is the best source of strong candidates for the job?
If you are going to advertise - where is the best place? Think about the cost
of advertising against the likely response. It might be good for the ego to
advertise in the highest profile media but a more targeted medium may be more
cost effective.
Don’t forget recruitment consultancies and executive search. The ideal
person may not be looking for a job so will not see your advert or be on a
consultancy’s books.
HOW WILL YOU PICK OUT YOUR IDEAL PERSON?
Can you be sure your ideal person will rise to the top of your selection process?
Will your initial screening of the applications pick out the best people?
How will you know you have really found the ideal person, not just someone
who interviews well?
Think about using more than the interview to find the real person and how
they will perform in the job. Use assessment centres or psychometric tests.
They will help you be more certain that you have found your ideal person.
DO YOU HAVE THE SKILLS?
Many people think selection is easy. It is a lot easier if you have the skills
to do it well. It is also easy to make many slips if you do not have these
skills.
Make sure you and everyone else involved in the selection process have the
skills to see the ideal person when they find them.
HAVE YOU MINIMISED ALL THE RISKS?
The worst thing you can do is recruit someone who is wrong for the job, or
exclude/ reject your ideal person without realising it. Do everything you
can to ensure you do not make either of these mistakes.
It is difficult to undo a wrong decision and can be damaging and costly for
your organisation.
Above all don’t do anything that runs the risk of being unfair or discriminatory.
ARE YOU MARKETING YOURSELF WELL?
Recruitment is a two way street. You must sell the job and your organisation
to the candidates as much as they are selling themselves to you. Treat everyone
the way you would like to be treated. Respond promptly and courteously and
keep applicants informed. Preserve and build your good reputation.
Give all applicants an attractive informative information pack. This is the
job’s “shop window”. Remember, your ideal person is probably
content in their current job and may need to be convinced that you offer them
more. Make it easy for them to apply or get their questions answered. Don’t
put them off with laborious form filling but get enough to help you screen
the applications effectively.
ARE YOU MANAGING YOUR RECRUITMENT?
The slicker and quicker the process, the less chance of loosing your ideal
person. If things drag on, candidates will loose interest or accept another
offer. Stick to your timetable but don’t cut corners.
WHAT ABOUT AFTERWARDS?
Recruitment doesn’t stop after the offer has been made and the administration
completed. Make sure the honeymoon doesn’t turn into an induction crisis.
Ensure your ideal person settles in quickly and gets used to how things work
in your organisation. Get the most from the assessment process and pick up
and develop any weak areas you have found. Your real person will then become
your ideal person.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE?
You may do a lot of recruitment or you may only recruit once in a while. Whichever,
once the dust has settled, look back at what worked well and what could have
been better. Learn from your experience and it will be even better next time
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