Recruiting staff in the New Year?
by Claire Stewart on 15/12/08 at 9:43 am
1 comment
Most people find it really stressful recruiting new staff. It often seems so hit and miss, and if your golden candidate turns out to be a bad apple it’s hard to rectify the mistake.
However, there are some strategies that will take an element of risk out of the process:
- Before you start the recruitment process, think very carefully about what skills, qualifications and qualities the position really needs, i.e. the inherent requirements of the job. If you are replacing a position ask the person who is leaving for their input. In addition ask relevant managers and colleagues who’s roles intertwine with that position. When you have all the information that you need, write a concise summary.
- Before you interview any candidates ask them for your CV’s and references and then CHECK THE REFERENCES AND PAST EMPLOYERS THOROUGHLY. This step is often omitted and it is probably the most vital one.
- Prepare relevant questions for the interview so you are comparing like with like. Keep notes of candidates responses so you can compare and consider once you have met everyone. Have one or two other people who’s opinions you trust conduct the interviews with you.
- For a key position consider psychometric testing to ensure that the candidate fits the role. Tests to consider could measure intellectual potential, personality profiles, work role preferences and perhaps specific aptitude tests e.g. book keeper must have a strong aptitude for numbers.
- And finally, give yourself an escape clause. Ensure that you include a three month probationary period in your employment contract. This clause doesn’t mean you can just go ahead and fire someone if they’re not working out. You do still have to undertake counselling, written warnings etc but the process is much quicker and less strenuous.
The holidays are an ideal opportunity to consider your business practices and ensure that you’re addressing strategic business needs proactively. For a more indepth look at essential HR Practices within your organisation check out my article in this month’s Your Business magazine.
Have a wonderful Christmas break!
Until next year…
Claire
Claire Stewart is the founder of PeopleWise, an HR and Employment consulting service. Like Neo in the Matrix, Claire sees through the convoluted mess of SA employment law and makes sense of it for you, loyal Ideate reader. View more articles by Claire Stewart.
Tags: HR, recruitment
Neil
Dec 19th, 2008
Psychometric testing for the win!
Basic personality type test:
http://www.kisa.ca/personality/
but the one you’d want to do is a DISC assessment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment