Recruitment
The focus in recent years has changed from “The War for Talent” to a more strategic emphasis not only attracting and appointing the “best” people but the “right” people. Talent, skills and competencies are certainly critical when looking for employees, it would be corporate suicide to ignore them, but attention to attitude and cultural fit are attracting as much attention.
With the current full employment environment in Australia (around 5% and some Economists predicting 4%) we not only have to attract the right people but keep them with us so we need good working conditions, good policies and an attractive working environment and you don’t have to spend too much money. Some organisations call it a “Worker Friendly” environment. More about that later.
Most organisations have some form of business plan where we focus on our finances, customers, competitors, sustainability and future growth and maybe we find a small place to consider our need for Human Resources. So the first step in Effective Recruitment and Selection is to look at what talents, skills and competencies you need in the following year, three years or five years, its an individual decision in regard to how far ahead you want to plan and forecast. One of the problems we encounter with organisations is that the focus is on the number of employees not the quality of employees. So some analysis and planning can be a big help in this whole process.
The next step and one often neglected is what we call Job Analysis, fancy term for making sure you hire the people you want not the people you get. If we are replacing an existing employee we suggest that you ask the question “Do we really need to replace this position?”, taking out the personality of replacing Bob or Sue. I still hear employers saying we will need to replace Jane with two people she was so efficient. This can be a fallacy. “Jane” may not have been able to delegate or may have been doing things the long way so we need to look at work processes.
So when we have reflected on what we need we should review the Position Description or what we are now calling Role Clarity. Here we record what the role’s purpose is in terms of the overall strategy of the business. We include relationships and most importantly the core values and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), this is the time to signal to employees what is expected of them. Next we write a Person Specification, “who do we want working in our organisation”? We include education, experience, attitudes, behaviours and anything that will help us or others identify the right person. When we buy a car we don’t blindly go out and take the first vehicle we see, well in recruitment we need to at least give the process the same attention as buying a car. We need to consider discrimination issues here.
OK now you know what you want you need to decide how you will attract the greatest pool of candidates, and after all that is what recruitment is about, attracting candidates not appointing employees. Do you advertise, use the Internet, ask existing employees, use noticeboards, ask customers you need a strategy, what you have always done may not apply now. One transport company advertises on the back of its trucks and how appropriate, the people following trucks are other truck drivers. So lets think outside the square.
We now process the applications either resumes, application forms or others recruitment formats. We call this culling.
The next step is Selection.
Selection
In the last article we discussed Recruitment which is the beginning of the process of attracting and appointing the “right” people. In this article we will reflect on the next stage in the process – Selection. These two activities are what we call foundation activities in management of people simply because if we get them wrong we will pay in terms of direct costs, training, supervision and poor performance and also indirectly in terms of lost time by the immediate manager and peers supporting the “wrong” person. So let’s try to get this right.
Selection is basically about choosing; choosing the right person from the candidates applying for the position. With a record low unemployment rate in Australia just now the temptation is to “choose” the first candidate making application but this short term vision may result in long term pain for the organisation.
One of the first decisions we need to make when a vacancy occurs (from the creation of a new position or a replacement position) is whether we will consider internal candidates or go outside the organisation or a combination of both strategies. With our current labour shortages many organisations are growing their own employees and even though this strategy comes at a cost it will pay dividends in the future. However, it is still important to undertake a thorough recruitment and selection process even with internal appointments. This is where good learning and development and succession planning programs are vital to our future success.
The next step in the process is matching the applicants with the role clarity and person description we discussed in the last article. It is important to be very clear about what skills, talents, experience and attitudes we need in each position and to promote our corporate culture. When the resumes or applications have been received we need to compare each applicant with the requirements of the position, we call this culling or eliminating unsuitable applicants. Depending on the number of applicants you might consider phone interviewing to expedite this process. It is important to notify unsuccessful applicants as soon as possible as your company’s reputation is influenced by how you treat outsiders, they are all possible customers or future employees.
When the culling is completed we need to organise face to face interviews, although with technology we may look at alternatives in the near future. Interviewing is a flawed process so training in this skill can impact on the results but there are few alternatives and unfortunately this skill is sadly lacking in many managers. Interviews should be conducted in as much privacy and free of interruption (phones etc) as possible, remember it is in our best interests to get this right. Asking appropriate questions is the key, focussing on the position and the applicant’s background. Apart from the obvious questions we can also ask theoretical and experiential questions to identify the analytical and thinking skills of applicants. We don’t want to “trick” applicants but we do want to check if the individual can fulfil the position requirements.
How many interviews do we need to achieve the best results? This will depend on the position, perhaps one for entry level positions and maybe three for senior positions. You can conduct one on one or panel interviews where the applicants are interviewed by two or more employees, a sensible number is two or three and if more you might consider an additional interview. One tactic that has worked in some organisations is to include a peer on the panel or a even employees from another company doing a similar job but obviously not a rival company. However it should always be remembered that we know the requirements best!
Next when we have a short list of applicants, usually three, we can start the checking process which includes reference and credential checks and as appropriate security checks.
The next step is to make an offer to the most preferred applicant and to commence the orientation process with a formal letter of offer.
The final step is to notify the remaining unsuccessful applicants.
Remember each step is vital to improve your chances of choosing the right person, time is often the enemy but some times the long way is the shortest route.
For further information on employment issues please contact Bill Morrissey or David Bray on 9635 8266.
