Recruiting? An employer’s guide to getting it right

Your staff can be the most important asset in building a successful business. Therefore it is important to recruit good people who are right for the job and your company.

To create a good team, you need to recruit carefully. Define the role you are recruiting for precisely; take a systematic approach to finding the right person; construct an attractive package with a fair yet tight contract; and offer structured induction and training.

Prepare a full job description

A job description is not only a selling document to candidates but it should also encourage self-selection by potential candidates – you don't want people applying who are unsuitable for the job as this wastes both your time and theirs.

The job description is also a useful checklist for you to ensure that the role you are recruiting for will fit in with, and meet, your business needs.

Details to include in a job description:

• What is the position on offer? Is it permanent, full, or part-time? Is flexible working an option?
• Describe core responsibilities.
• What other duties does the position involve?
• Define what experience and skills are absolute requirements.
• Don't assume that all the skills possessed by the previous jobholder are essential. Technology, for example, may have moved on, and you need someone to do the job, not a clone.
• Outline what other experience or skills would be useful.
• What equipment/machinery/software will they use daily? Do you expect them to know how to operate these or will you give in-house or off-site training?
• Define the required personal attributes.
• Describe the office location and environment. Is it in the centre of town, on an industrial estate or in your home, for instance? Is the office open plan? What is the dress code?
• Give an idea of the salary band associated with the job.
• Describe the levels of responsibility, autonomy, self-development and training opportunities which will be important to good senior staff. 
• Whether you are going to use a recruitment agency or advertise the position yourself, include a short paragraph describing the nature of your business, its ethos, size and scope. This helps the agency select suitable candidates and enables candidates responding to the advert to assess whether they might be suitable.  
• Also outline the benefits of joining your business. This helps sell the position to prospective candidates.

How to find your candidate

There are different ways to find your candidate:

• Grapevine Tell everyone in your network what you're looking for.
• The local Jobcentre Send your job description to all Jobcentres in your area. Their services are free. Specify how you want people to respond. Do you want people to phone, for example, or send a copy of their CV with a covering letter?
• The Learning and Skills Council If you’re looking for trainees, visit the Learning and Skills Council website at www.lsc.gov.uk and find out how apprenticeships could help your business.
• Press advertisements Make your advert attractive – sell the opportunities of the job and the benefits of working for you – but ensure that your advert is not potentially discriminatory on grounds of race, gender or disability, for example. Also, be prepared to spend a lot of time filtering responses.
• Recruitment agencies Don’t be put off by their high placement fees. Many agencies' fees are open to negotiation. Also, think of the fee in the context of the cost of advertising plus your time saved in filtering responses. Which is more valuable to you? 
• Use a human resources consultant or head-hunter There are many independent advisers whom you can hire on a project basis to help you identify suitable people to fill a position.

Using an agency

There are several benefits in using an agency. First, with their experience, they can help you define what you are looking for and prepare your job description. Second, they do a lot of the initial work in managing responses, leaving you to run your business. Also, many have extensive lists of people on their books, some of whom may be available to start quickly.

If you decide to use an agency, discuss your job specification with a couple of them. Consultants in agencies can often prove to be helpful because they will quickly tell you if the job specification is attractive, inconsistent or unrealistic.

They are also experienced at the next stage: selecting candidates for interview. Some agencies put their candidates through an initiative test before deciding whether they are suitable for working in a smaller business. Ask what testing they carry out, what it shows about the candidates, and how they use the results to determine suitable interviewees.

Once an agency is confident that it has found a handful of candidates with the skills and the personality you are looking for, it will present you with copies of their CVs. A good consultant will have a reasonable amount of background on each candidate that they recommend to you for an interview. So while you will decide who to interview, listen to the consultant’s views, particularly when they have put forward a candidate who may not be obviously suitable at first glance.

Shortlist for interview

First, select only good candidates for interview – a maximum of five if possible. Be ruthless. Review CVs and reject anyone who doesn't meet your full list of necessary skills and attributes exactly, whatever their other qualities. Do not select or reject candidates in a manner which may be directly or indirectly discriminatory on grounds of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religion. If in doubt, consult a solicitor or a qualified HR consultant.

Sometimes it can be helpful to hold an initial screening interview (perhaps over the telephone) to eliminate anyone who might be overqualified, overpriced or not really committed to making a change.

Interview objectives

The key to successful recruitment is having clear objectives and a consistent technique for assessing candidates. A vital part of this process is the interview.

When face to face with candidates, you need to:

• Promote the business to attract the best candidate for the job.
• Assess how far their qualifications match the job.
• Find out more about the candidates in terms of their education, work history, career goals, aspirations, and hobbies, and how all these show they are suitable for the role.
• Discover as much as you can about their personality, attitudes and how they will fit into the organisation. 

An outline of the interview

Whatever the format, a good interview should be structured. There are six stages:

1. Introduction
   Welcome the interviewee with a warm handshake and initiate some small talk to put them at ease. Offer them a drink.
2. Share information about the company
   Give general information about the company and its aims, and outline the particular position on offer. Keep it short – you can expand later if you feel the candidate is suitable. 
3. Assess the candidate
   Using their CV as a prompt, find out more about the candidate’s background. Ask leading questions, listen carefully without interrupting, and let them sell (or hang) themselves. Find out why they want to leave their current job if they have one.
4. Describe the job
   If impressed so far, explain the job in more detail; how it fits in with the objectives of the company, the responsibilities involved, the development potential, the pay package and other benefits.
5. Hand the initiative to them
   Ask candidates if they have any questions. Ask for their reactions to your proposal. Find out whether they can start within your ideal timeframe or, if not, when. 
6. Close the interview
   Summarise what’s been said and clarify any grey areas. Ask if they still want to be considered. Explain how the next contact will be made.

Techniques to open up interview candidates
A good interviewer is a good listener and observer, not just a salesperson. The best candidate is not always the most relaxed or outspoken, confident or extrovert. The skill is to draw out the shy, modest or scared ones.

• Use a ‘lead-in’ to move to each major segment of the interview. For example, ‘I see you were with Aka Inc for three years. Tell me about the sort of work you did there.’
• Probe for specific answers. These questions usually start with who, why, when, how, what. ‘What happened when you reported the incident to your boss?’ ‘Why did you leave your last job?’ etc.
• When a candidate seems to be skirting around a topic, use follow-up questions to fill in the blanks. ‘How about you?’ ‘How do you organise your day?’ ‘What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses?’  
• Keep your tone mild and non-judgemental, particularly when asking difficult questions. ‘Can you give an example of the sorts of problems you faced in technical support?’ ‘Tell me a little more about what you could bring to this role' etc.
• Get the candidate to expand on their skills and demonstrate how these relate to your job requirements. 
• Finally, get them to sell themselves to you with questions such as ‘Why should I hire you?’ and ‘Why do you want to work here?’

You may not ask candidates questions of a potentially discriminatory, personal nature, such as whether they are married, single, have children or belong to a religious group.

Do not rely on your memory; keep notes of all their replies so you have something to refer to later. Be sure to ask the same basic questions of each candidate so you have a consistent basis for comparison.

Supplementary information

• Don't hesitate to give practical tests to confirm IT, book-keeping and other verifiable essential skills.
• Test knowledge where possible. For example, if the candidate claims specialist knowledge, check it. If they say they have good computer skills, you need to know if they used them in their day-to-day job or if they’ve just gone on a two-day course. 
• Consider psychometric tests for senior positions.
• Check the reasons behind any long gaps in their work record. 
• Before you offer any position, obtain and follow up references. 
• If possible, it can be helpful to bring your candidate into your office for a day, or better still a week, to get a broader picture of them in action. However, this may be difficult if they are in a job already.

Sell the job

Remember that an interview is a two-way process – it is important to sell yourself to the applicant. A good candidate will undoubtedly have other opportunities, so be careful not to presume they will jump at your offer.

People with a past

Candidates do not necessarily have to tell you about a criminal record in an interview and failure to do so is not usually a proper ground for subsequently dismissing someone. If a convicted person successfully completes a rehabilitation period – the time varies according to the sentence – prior convictions are deemed ‘spent’ and you cannot take them into consideration when deciding whether to employ someone.

There are exceptions to this where people following certain occupations and professions must disclose spent convictions. These include doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, barristers, solicitors, accountants, teachers or any positions dealing with the care or supervision of minors or other ‘at risk’ people.

If you would like further information on this subject, consult a solicitor or a qualified HR consultant.

Final selection

Be aware of the main reasons for bias when making your final choice and try to avoid them:

• Prejudice – not selecting someone because you believe they will not be suitable for the job based on their race, gender, physical disability, sexual orientation, religion or marital status is discriminatory.
• The ‘halo’ effect – this is attributing strengths to people that don’t apply, for example she must be a good candidate because she comes from Essex and the last person I employed from Essex was brilliant.
• Cloning – choosing someone who is similar to the person currently doing that job.

While you can be flexible on non-core abilities, reject any candidate who does not have what you have identified as essential skills and experience.

Don't hire someone just because you like them or have a lot in common. While you need to get on with them, they should complement, not mimic, you and your team.

Follow up references

It is vital to follow up references before making an offer to avoid embarrassment or worse. Do not make an offer conditional on references. Problems can sometimes occur, however, when asking for a reference on someone who has not yet given their notice. Discuss this with all candidates in the interview.

When you check a reference, have the candidate’s CV in front of you to confirm that information on it tallies with information from referees. People feel easier referring to strengths rather than weaknesses but omissions can speak volumes.

Some referees feel easier about talking on the phone than in writing. However, remember that they can be sued by the candidate for giving an unfair reference, even over the phone. On the other hand, you can sue the previous employer if their reference, having mentioned something, then fails to give a true, accurate and fair impression, and if you can show you have suffered loss as a result.

Questions to ask of referees

• What was the job title and exact role of the candidate when they left?
• How long did they work for you?
• What were their areas of responsibility?
• How good was their admin/time management? How good were their interpersonal and managerial or supervision skills?
• Do you remember any particular incidents, achievements or projects that stood out while they worked for you?
• Is there anything else you feel I should know?
• Would you hire them again?

The legal side of hiring people

If you employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK, you may be fined. There are various types of documents you should ask to see. For further information, call the Home Office’s Employer’s Helpline on 0845 010 6677. 

• Many aspects of employment are covered by various employment acts and regulations. These set out the basic rules which must be adhered to and the defaults that apply if there is no overriding contract.
• To protect yourself, always draw up a contract of employment and have it checked by a solicitor. Have it in place from day one – even if the person is on probation.