If you're looking for great staff you need to be a great employer - and convince them that you're just the company they are looking for.
So - what can you do to ensure your recruitment process attracts the perfect employee?
Step One
Firstly, you need to be crystal clear about what you're looking for. In order to help you get your focus right you'll need to be clear about:
• What are we offering the employee?
• How does our company compare with others who offer candidates similar roles?
• How can we make it stand out from our competitors?
Then you need some tools. These should include:
• An up-to-date job description or role profile detailing the purpose of the job you're recruiting for, the outcomes expected of the role and the responsibilities it entails.
• An outline of the essential characteristics of the ideal candidate - and also any desirable skills that would be an added bonus.
You'll need to use these as a means of writing your brief for the agency (or ad for a newspaper).
You'll also use these criteria as a screening mechanism to ensure you only invite suitable candidates for interview.
Finally, you will use the criteria as the basis for your interviewing process.
Step Two
Creating a brief for an agency is important. Often this is done by telephone and is the result of a conversation. However, it would be great to have a written brief so that details can be checked.
The brief should have a number of elements included.
• A brief outline of your company
• A short description of the job
• A short description of the ideal candidate
• An outline of what you want the agency to do - e.g. shortlist and submit for interview; send all CV's for consideration; book interviews to a given schedule; etc.
If you're writing an ad for a newspaper or journal the same elements need to be included - obviously, if space/cost are an issue some of these will need to be short and might simply be:
'Our organisation specialises in providing cleaning contract services to office buildings.'
You don't need to tell them much more than that - not the year the company was formed, how many employees etc. That will all come during induction!
The job description is important - you need to create an attractive picture of the role to attract good candidates. But stick to reality!
'We're looking for a contract office administrator who is self-motivated and well-organised.'
Yes, this does the job - but what about...
'If you're an administrative genius, a lively self-starter who can get our service teams flying in formation we'd like to hear from you!'
The difference may be a flood of applications from anyone who has ever done some filing, from the first ad - whilst you'll get some much higher quality candidates from the second one.
Additionally you also need to include the key skills - what is essential, or everyone will apply. You'll still get unsuitable candidates applying, but if you specify
'Must be experienced with Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, and Access; be able to demonstrate good time management and personal organisation, and excellent communication skills.'
There's a much better chance of getting candidates who can show or relate how they would demonstrate these skills and their past experience.
For the agency the brief will specify what they want doing - for an ad you must tell the candidate what to do next, e.g. send your CV to / ring 01234 567890 for an application form / attend our open day on...
Step Three
Screening applications - you must ensure that each application matches your list of essential skills as far as possible. If you've detailed these in the brief or advertisement there is no excuse for any application not mentioning them somewhere!
If they can't be bothered to ensure they meet all your criteria, you may want to question whether they will pay as much attention to detail once on the job.
Anyone who meets or exceeds your key skills list can be invited for interview.
Step Four
Interviewing - a much maligned skill! Lots of interviewers talk and talk, then make a decision based on whether they like the look of the candidate - not very scientific!
Of course, you will need to break the ice and that's simply courtesy, friendliness and body language. Invite them to sit down, make eye contact as soon as they come through the door (don't sit looking at your papers) and smile!
To be a good interviewer you need to have a plan - and to do your homework. This means having a list of questions you ask ALL the candidates such as:
• What do you know about our company?
• Why do you want to do this job?
• What are your aspirations for your future career - in 3 or 5 years?
• Ask about previous employers and why they moved on?
• Ask them what they think their key strengths and weaknesses are? (ideally as separate questions, or they'll answer the one they feel comfortable with and not the other).
• How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
• Ask for the referees you would most like to approach - not only the ones they are willing to give you.
There should also be a list of questions you ask individual candidates relating to their particular application form or CV, to clarify points and check information, like:
• There is a gap of three months between jobs here - what were you doing during that time?
• Why did you leave college without completing that course/qualification?
• You list your position as 'general assistant' at Acme Bearings - what sort of work did you do there?
If you need to find out how a candidate would respond in a certain situation you can ask 'scenario' questions. These are something like:
If a service team was operating 2 people short, what might you do to improve the situation?
These make the candidate demonstrate their expertise and will get more than a simple yes or no answer.
Remember interviews are an opportunity for both of you to find out if you like each other. It's not just for you to decide if this person can fulfil the role and fit in with the rest of the team, it's also for them to find out if they want to work for you. If the interview is an uncomfortable experience for the candidate it can affect their assessment of the organisation. If they think that this is an example of the organisation you may find the best candidate turns the job offer down.
Finally, good luck!