Recruiting the right person for your business

Hiring employees for your business or charity, perhaps for the first time, is an important step.   Get it right and you will have a productive ambassador for your business or charity, get it wrong and you could be spending valuable time and money on ending an unsuccessful employment relationship. The wrong employee not only alienates customers but can also alienate key, valued team members.   Don't fall into the trap of simply hiring someone just like you, you don't need a 'mini-me', you need skills and experience which work well alongside your own. 

So how do I get it right?

There are a few simple steps to making sure you have the right person in the right job at the right time.

Start with a clear idea of what you need in the role, then document it in a clear job description. Job descriptions do not need to detail every aspect of daily, weekly and monthly duties but should include the purpose of the role, how it aligns to the overall strategy of the organisation, reporting lines and main duties.  

Decide on hours and pay. Pay needs to be fair and not decided on any protected characteristic.   Even the smallest micro-entity can access online job sites like Indeed or Reed to check 3-5 similar roles in your region and nationally and make an informed judgement about what would be fair pay for a given role. Do not be tempted to lower pay for part-time work; this is an example of a pay decision that could be considered indirect discrimination as it is likely more women than men would apply for a part-time role and there are further protections for part-time and temporary workers.   Instead set a fair salary and pro-rate it for the reduced hours.

Affordability will play a part but in general, if you want a good calibre candidate, you must be prepared to pay a fair and competitive rate.  

Decide on the skills, qualifications and experience your ideal candidate will have

Essential and desirable criteria serve two useful purposes; one is to ensure you are really thinking about what you need in the role and the second is to allow you to shortlist effectively.  Do an initial shortlist of everyone who meets your essential criteria, then reduce the list by working through desirable criteria.   This is especially useful when advertising for a role that is likely to have a high number of applicants. The more you tailor your desirables the more you can filter your list.   Be aware that shortlisting for criteria not laid out in your job description adds risk to the process as subjective reasons could be considered discriminatory. An example is deciding that someone is too young, or too old – that is direct age discrimination.   Best practice is to offer an interview to all those who meet both your essential and desirable criteria. You will further filter your applicants based on your interview questions.  

Essential and desirable criteria should both be clear items that you can measure at the shortlisting stage. This protects you from making subjective decisions which could be potentially discriminatory. Qualifications, experience and exposure to specific environments are all things which can be determined by reading a cv. ‘Great communication skills’ for example would be better suited to determining at interview.  

Recruitment advertising

Recruitment advertising should be concise and give all the key information candidates are looking for, including a description of your business including your mission, vision and values;  plus the job title, main purpose of the role hours, pay, benefits and any development opportunities.  Include your branding and make sure you are selling yourself as an employer of choice. Free coffee, working from home, bringing your dog to work – these are all things which will help someone decide to apply, make sure you've mentioned it. 

Attract the right person by sharing your values

Numerous studies have highlighted that millennials are attracted by agile and flexible, innovative workplaces with values which align to their own. It is not just millennials however; many gen X and even baby boomers will choose one workplace over another based on what the organisation stands for.  

This is especially important in sectors where vacancy rates are low, and you need something which differentiates you from other employers in the market. By attracting employees who share and can demonstrate that they share your values you can be sure that they are putting the best face of your business forward.

Shortlisting and interview

A simple shortlisting form and process will keep you on track.

Put the names of candidates down one side with the essential and desirable criteria across the top and simply place a tick under each one each candidate can demonstrate on their cv, cover letter or application form.   At the end of this process you will find you have a clear list of candidates to interview.         

If it’s you on your own and this is your first employee, we can help you, or you can find a trusted friend or family member who can help you look through the applications objectively.   Remember your obligations under GDPR when involving third parties and ensure you are keeping data secure – recruitment agents will provide you with their privacy policy and notice. With friends and family,  if you must involve them, ensure they understand your process around keeping data secure and only share with them the data that is relevant. 

The purpose of the interview is to give the candidates the opportunity to demonstrate the skills and experience outlined in the application and how they align to your company’s values. How you help them to do this is to ask competency, evidence-based questions.

Designing a competency question

If you are trying to determine whether a candidate is good with customers and aligned to your values of excellent customer service, you could ask them to describe a time when they provided excellent customer service, what made it excellent and how they would do the same when faced with a difficult customer.   This creates a scenario where the candidate has the opportunity to explain their actions and thinking and, ideally, how it related to the values of the employer.  Ask them further questions - this will break down any rehearsed answers and get to the substance of how they would handle a particular situation. 

Talking about external interests

As well as competency questions, ask your candidates about themselves. What do they like to do in their spare time? What do they enjoy most about it?   What personal goals have they set for themselves in the last year? Encouraging candidates to speak freely about what they are passionate about can give you valuable insight and can help them demonstrate some of your core values.

Give candidates opportunity to answer your questions and avoid the temptation to answer questions for them.

Offer and induction

Offer letters do not need to be sent separately to the contract. This is old-fashioned and creates more work for you!   Instead ensure your new employee receives his or her contract ahead of their start date wherever possible, and on their first day as part of their induction if not.  A quick email to tell them they have been successful and when they can expect their contract is ideal - this is also a great opportunity to start building your employment relationship and offer to answer any questions they may have. Be aware that employees have the right to receive their main terms and conditions within 8 weeks of starting employment so it’s best practice to do it as soon as reasonably possible.

Peopleclever are here to help you with your recruitment and retention, no matter how small the role. We offer a flat-fee service either for a one-off recruitment or for ongoing support. Get in touch to find out how affordable great HR support can be!

Next time -  Effective inductions for new employees