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Jump has become an Associate of implement a team of business professionals who offer consulting and training services in Strategy, Organisational Development, Human Resources, Recruiting, Quality and Compliance, Management Development, Customer Service, Public Relations and Communication.

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How do I Recruit the Best Staff?

Assess your Recruitment Processes

Why is Recruitment Important?

The performance of your business will ultimately depend upon the quality of performance of your staff. Businesses need to select and recruit employees who are motivated and empowered.

Also the costs of staff turnover can be anything up to 50% of the employee's salary, some of the costs are:

• Recruitment costs - Allow 10% to 15% of the employee's annual salary. These costs include agency and advertising costs, staff costs for the process and all the other hidden costs in the process.
• Training costs - A new person costs money in training before they actually contribute. The costs include both on-the-job and off-job training.
• Efficiency costs - It takes many months for any new employee to become fully productive and effective.

It is worthwhile making sure that you don't have to do recruit too often!

How do I Ensure my Recruitment is Effective?

Reassess the Job

If a vacancy has occurred this is the ideal opportunity to consider whether the job has changed. Take the time to answer the following questions:

• What is the impact of the job on your plans and objectives?
• Has the function changed?
• Have work patterns, new technology or products altered the job?
• Are there any changes anticipated which will require different, more flexible skills from the job holder?

Write a Job Description and Person Specification

If after reassessing the job, you find that changes are required, you will need to write a job description. If no change to the role is required, you should at the very least review your existing job description. The job description should contain the following information:

• Job Title
• Purpose of the job ? two or three bullet points giving an overview of the job purpose and how it fits with business objectives
• Relationships, Authorities and Responsibilities
• Vision and Values
• Key Tasks and Results

Avoid making the job description too long and/or too detailed as it will become incomprehensible to external applicants and reduce later flexibility.

The person specification should identify and describe the following information:

• Relevant skills and abilities needed for the role
• Any specialist qualifications required within the role
• Relevant experience required
• The personal qualities you are looking for
• Competencies and attributes required for the position

Contact Jump on 0800 JUMP4BIZ (0800 586 742) or email info@jump4biz.com we can help you with writing your job description and person specifications.

Choose your Selection Methods

It is good practice, in addition to an interview, to use other selection methods to supplement the outcomes of the interview, and provide further evidence before reaching a decision. Interview are notoriously inaccurate method on their own. Make sure that you don't rely solely on the interview. There are a whole range of different selection methods available. These are listed below:

Presentations

Presentations are often used to assess the qualities of applicants applying for jobs which require a complex set of skills, together with specific professional/academic knowledge. By asking applicants to prepare and deliver a presentation on a given subject, and in some cases to participate in a discussion afterwards, you can see an example of the individual's skills of written or oral presentation, analysis and reasoning, as well as gaining some evidence of their professional/academic knowledge and of their attitudes.

Written Reports

Asking applicants to produce a piece of written work on a given subject in advance of the interview can be used to check written skills, ability to structure an argument and research subject knowledge.

Case Studies

This can be a valuable way of assessing a applicant's knowledge of a particular subject area, and their likely approach to handling a particular situation. This selection method is sometimes used for applicants for managerial posts, or for posts requiring knowledge of specific procedures, regulations or legislation.

Skills Tests

This is where you ask the applicant to demonstrate a task that is essential to the position, e.g. computing skills; lifting, presentation, etc. Other examples may include:

• Asking applicants to read a document and discussing it at the interview - tests ability to foster thoughts clearly and quickly.
• A written test (e.g. correspondence drafting) - tests ability to work under pressure and produce quality written work to deadlines.
• An in-tray exercise - assesses ability to prioritize and plan workload.

Group Selection Methods

This method is most frequently used to assess applicants' leadership qualities and their ability to express themselves clearly and get on with and influence colleagues. The types of exercise which are used include:

• Leaderless group discussions.
• Command or executive exercises (e.g. outward bound)
• Group problem solving

Group exercises are time consuming and, therefore, costly. However, they may be particularly useful for appointments requiring good leadership and communication skills.

Assessment Centres

An assessment centre combining various exercises, tests and interviews. An assessment centre may also require applicants to engage in a group exercise during which assessors observe their interpersonal skills.

Psychometric Tests

There are three general types of psychometric test:

• Tests of ability, aptitude or intelligence;
• Questionnaires to measure "personality";
• Questionnaires to establish interests and preferences.

Contact Jump on 0800 JUMP4BIZ (0800 586 742) or email info@jump4biz.com for further advice.

Design your Advertisement

Whether on a website or in print, the advertisement should deliver the maximum amount of information in the minimum number of words that enables people to decide whether or not to apply. It should also include:

• How to apply
• Application closure date
• Salary scale
• Location
• Whether the role can be filled through a job-share or part-time

As a general rule your advertisement should no more than 150 words excluding the standard paragraphs.

Prepare an Application Pack

The application pack should include:

• Job description
• Person specification
• General information about your business
• Main benefits of employment
• Dates of interviews if known, details of selection panel membership and of any assessment tests that will be used as part of the selection process.

Short-list Your Applicants

Short-listing should take place as soon as possible after the closing date. Short-listing involves matching evidence from the application against the requirements set out in the person specification. It is important not to discriminate against applicants on any of the following grounds:

• Gender
• Marital status
• Religion
• Disability
• Age
• Race or ethnic origin

Adopt a scoring system to identify to what extent each applicant has presented evidence that they meet the short-listing criteria. Take each application in turn and work systematically through your requirements, in order of importance, awarding relevant marks for each.

Plan for the Interview

In preparation for the interview:

• Select the panel
• Agree on the role and area of questioning of each panel member
• Develop the structure of the interview
• Develop the questions streams questioning necessary to ensure you fully test the applicant's depth of knowledge and understanding against the person specifications
• Agree on the procedure by which a decision will be made
• The procedure for requesting documents to check eligibility for the individual to work in NZ
• Agree on what notes will be taken and by whom

Send out Invitation to Short-Listed Applicants

Contact the applicants and invite them to be interviewed. The letter inviting the applicants for interview should allow time to make any special arrangements that might be necessary. It should include:

• A request for details of any particular needs/adjustments e.g. parking, access
• Date/time, location/maps
• Starting and finishing times (including time to complete any selection exercises)
• Details of selection methods
• Names and job roles of panel members
• Instruction to bring qualification certificates, if required
• Request proof of eligibility to work in NZ, if applicable

Conduct Interviews

The interview falls into four phases

• Setting the Scene - Greet and meet
• Acquire information - the applicant should be talking for 70-80% of the time
• Supply information
• Conclude - Thank them and let them know how long the decision is likely to take

Make sure:

• Everyone involved in the interview is well prepared
• Do not make a judgement based on your first impression
• Treat each applicant consistently
• Test more than their self-presentation, which may be irrelevant or form only a minor part of the skills needed for the job

Not everyone is trained to interview skilfully and systematically and very few of us do it all the time anyway, so it is a skill that can easily lapse. Contact Jump on 0800 JUMP4BIZ (0800 586 742) or email info@jump4biz.com for further advice.

Conduct Reference Checks

Everyone should be able to come up with 3 people who are going to support them. Check with other people in the industry who have worked with the applicant. You will need to obtain written permission first.

Notify Applicants of the Results

For the successful applicant make letter of offer and include with it a copy of the employment agreement and job description. Don't make the common mistake of using a letter of offer as the starting point for negotiation. This is very risky because you don't know what the applicant's reaction is going to be. A letter of offer confirms what everyone has agreed upon. It is the last step in negotiations, not the first one.

Advise all unsuccessful applicants - this is important as it builds your reputation as a good employer. It is also important to return any CVs under the privacy laws or obtain written permission to retain them.

Analyse the Recruitment Process

As with any process you should be review each appointment you do to establish if there are things which can be improved. Challenge yourself about each aspect of the recruitment and selection process and ask yourself:

• What worked well?
• What was not effective?
• Were the objectives achieved?
• Was the planning appropriate?
• What was the balance of the talking time?
• How much information was obtained?
• What should be improved next time?

Remember, effective recruitment leading to the right mix of staff can save you a great deal of grief, time and money.

Get in Touch with Jump

If you need help, or you answered no or unsure to any of the questions in the assessment tool, then Jump Business Solutions can help you. Phone us on +64 6 754 8987 or +64 27 450 5271 or email info@jump4biz.com and Jump will come to you, discover your needs, and develop a solution that will create real, long-term and positive change for you and your business.