Get Your Recruitment Process Right

The greatest asset of any organisation is its staff. Without the right people in your team, you can’t provide your customers with the high-quality service they come to you for. So it is essential that you hire the right people for your company – and, perhaps more importantly, that you do it fairly, accurately and legally.

Getting recruitment wrong is not only time-consuming but can also be very expensive. But getting it right is one of the keys to business success. So, how do you get it right?

First, do your preparation. There are a lot of things to take into account when hiring a new member of staff. Once you’ve identified a vacancy, you need to ensure that the job description is right and then develop a person specification to match the right characteristics and experience to the role.

Next, consider how to word the job advertisement; how best to approach the interview; how to make the right decision; and ultimately, how to induct the new employee into your company.

Not only do you need to make sure the individual has the right skills and abilities for the job but you need to demonstrate that you have made your selection fairly and without discrimination. That’s why it is vital you have a robust recruitment process in place for finding and employing the right people.

There are many parts of the recruitment process to consider. You must have a robust job description and person specification; know where, when and how to attract the best candidates; and be aware of what you can ask (and often as importantly, what not to ask) in the interview. You then need to measure the effectiveness of this process.

Also, keeping in-line with the recent Equality Act, it is more important than ever that you avoid complaints of unlawful discrimination. It is here where problems can often arise.

Recruiting the wrong person can lead to long-term issues for you and your business. It can lead to problems with customer relations; impact upon team morale; increase absence levels and stress-related illness; and post recruitment, result in you spending more of your time coaching and managing the selected individual.