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The overriding aim of recruitment for a employer is to:
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Develop internal recruitment procedures which identify the best candidates for the most suitable jobs within the business.
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Develop external recruitment procedures which by using a variety of methods, ensure the business attains the most suitable employees.
All modern businesses today need to engage in an equal opportunities policy. In simple terms an equal opportunities policy is about not discriminating in the workplace, regardless of a persons sex, race, religion, disability.
An equal opportunities policy needs to be expressed like a mission statement (corporate strategy). Ideally you would issue all employees with a booklet which explains the policy.
The whole concept of an equal opportunities policy is to ensure the business recruits employees which are representative of the local community. The benefits of the policy is that it shows your business is a fair environment, it is a good promotional tool.
During the 1980's and 1990's a lot of emphasis was placed on displaying the message 'We are an equal opportunities employer' on all business literature. There has recently, been more of a trend to displaying the message on job advertisements with quality awards such ISO14001 being shown on all literature.
The job description in very simple terms sets out what is expected from the employee and employer. You would firstly need to generate the job description to use an information tool in the recruitment procedure.
Areas covered in a job description according to Beardshaw & Palfreman are described as:
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Major responsibilities and results expected.
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Routine and non-routine duties under these headings.
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Working conditions.
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Equipment and materials used.
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Contact with other people.
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Performance standards.
Job application forms provide for a standard basis by which employers can assess potential candidates. Application forms usually involve a standard question and response type analysis. The application form method does produce greater paperwork, but when analyzing potential recruits it is a valuable tool.
You do not have to produce your own application from scratch instead you could write to local companies and tell them you wish to see their application forms, this will prove very helpful in designing a form for your own business, you will be surprised how helpful people can be.
Care must be taken when wording a potential job vacancy advertisement. Consideration must be placed upon all potential applicants. No discriminatory wording suggesting sex, age, race or disability should be used.
If the job involves a lot of manual work, please stress this in the actual job advertisement. Never state that the job requires a male or female, always use the word 'person'.
If your business operates an equal opportunities policy, please state this in your job advertisement, that your business is an equal opportunities employer. Also if your business has achieved an investors in people or a quality/environment management award, state this in your advertisement. All these factors will attract a higher caliber respondents to you advertisement
There is no specific layout rules for job advertisement vacancies, the following principles should be observed:
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Company name displayed.
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'Has a vacancy for/requires'.
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Job title.
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Very brief version of the job description.
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Remuneration/Salary (may state negotiable if it is to be discussed in the job interview).
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Company contact details.
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Whether the company accepts written applications with C.V's or uses it's own application forms.
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Any statement that suitable candidates may be given full training for a job.
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Application closing dates.
Put quite simply you would advertise the position within the business.
The logical steps are that a job advertisement is generated and then placed on the company job vacancy board, internal publications.
Once an internal vacancy has been advertised, replies would be received internally either from company application forms or from CV's. The role of the personnel section would be to select the most suitable candidates using the interview process.
External recruitment occurs when suitable candidates cannot be found from within the business. Some companies have a policy of using the external recruitment procedure for certain positions, but recruiting internally does offer a good motivational tool for all employees as they can see career progression occurring.
External recruitment is very simple, apply the same logic as internal recruitment, in the sense a job description and advertisement is generated.
The next step is to decide upon the medium for placing the job advertisement, this is very important as the medium used needs to be reflective of the position on offer. For example if the job on offer is a low skilled position then it could be filled successfully by using either the local job centre or through local newspapers (paid for and free press). If the position on offer is for a quite highly skilled individual then of course regional and national newspapers may have to be used, including specific trade publications.
The logical steps would then be to filter through all the applicants, decide upon suitable candidates for interview, and then carry out either one or two interviews to get the best candidates.
The level and depth of the selection process depends on how much the company is prepared to pay on both advertising and on how soon they would like the potential recruit to start. We could go into great strides and discuss panel interviews, psychometric testing, group interviews, first and secondary interviews, we will only explain a model for a simple job advertisement with a single interview.
A typical recruitment procedure once a vacancy has arisen can take between 2 weeks (if it is internal) through to 6-8 weeks if it is external.
Whether you use internal or external recruitment be impartial in your selection criteria, always try to go for the candidates that exemplify the best skills and qualities suitable for the position on offer.
The whole point of the interview process is to determine the most suitable candidate for the business. The ideal interviewer will be trained to look at personality traits, be someone who probes interviewees, and try's to identify the best candidates who will benefit the business the most.
The interview plans are traditional systems which are used as a basis for interviewing:
FRASER FIVE POINT PLAN - John Monroe Fraser's five point plan is a simple interview plan based on the following points:
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IMPACT ON OTHERS - Appearance, speech, manner.
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QUALIFICATIONS - Training, experience, and of course education.
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INNATE ABILITIES - Intellectual capacity and aptitude for particular skills.
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MOTIVATION - Goals, how does the person feel about them and aim to achieve them.
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ADJUSTMENT - How does the person deal with pressure, responsibility, leadership, etc.
SEVEN POINT PLAN - Essentially this is an extension and update of the Fraser model:
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PHYSIQUE - First impression, appearance, health.
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EDUCATION AND TRAINING - Academic qualifications, professional training.
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SPECIAL APTITUDES - Numerical skills, social skills, etc.
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OUTSIDE INTERESTS - Physical, intellectual, social.
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DISPOSITION - Reliability, responsibility, ability to lead-convince-influence.
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DOMESTIC CIRCUMSTANCES - Marital status, any dependants, the ability to work irregular hours.
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OTHERS - Points relating to the job.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS TO ASK AT INTERVIEWS
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Tell me about yourself
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Do you feel confident that you know everything about the job you are applying for?
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Why do you want this job?
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What do you have to contribute?
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Why should we give you the job?
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What are your strengths/weaknesses?
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If people were talking about you, what weaknesses would they feel you have?
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Why do you want to come here?
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What is your most treasured achievement to date?
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What is your health like?
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What do you think your references will say about you?
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Which decisions are difficult for you to make?
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What is the most important thing about becoming a (job title)?
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What do you find the most difficulty in doing?
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Where do you see yourself five years from now?
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What do you do in your spare time?
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Does the idea of talking to strangers appeal to you?
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Do you get bored quickly?
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Do you find you worry over small matters?
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How would you organise a major work project?
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What equipment are you familiar with?
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Can you use any computer software packages?
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Which computer software packages can you use?
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Why do you want to leave your current job?
Outsourcing is becoming more and more used as a means to fulfill recruitment needs in terms that employment agencies can be hired to find suitable clients and filter out the best candidates to be interviewed personally by the clients.
Temporary recruitment is an extension of outsourcing. Temporary recruitment is evident in larger business organisations as they realise that they can pay external agencies to provide employees on a short term basis to fulfill any skills shortages. It can act as a good tool for recruitment as temporary employee who excels at their jobs could be offered a permanent position. Unfortunately most businesses will see outsourcing as means of reducing costs such as pension and national insurance payments.
Outsourcing can prove valuable, but your business will experience high temporary staff turnover, unless you offer good wages and a potential to be permanently recruited.
PRE-INTERVIEW - Generate a job description, place a job advertisement and assess the initial candidates. Select the candidates with the most relevant skills or potential to be trained.
INTERVIEW - Ensure the interviewer is impartial, and fair in the actual interview. Try to have a standard question set for them to use and with marks for answers. A lot weight is placed traditionally on the appearance of an interviewee, but bear in mind what the person has to offer rather than their appearnce.
POST INTERVIEW - Check all references given by the most suitable candidates. Probe the referees of the interview candidates as much as possible. This will build up an accurate picture of the candidates true personality, and working abilities.
If the interviewers cannot ascertain one suitable candidate to fulfill a job vacancy, you may wish to call the candidates for a second interview where there could be more probing taking place.
You should now be in a position if the wages and terms of employment are agreeable to both sides, then you would want the candidate to sign a contract of employment. Arrange suitable time frames for commencement of employment, you have recruited a suitable candidate!.
Use outsourcing if you feel it will benefit your business, but bear in mind it is only good for low skilled roles, do not fall into the trap of using it for medium skilled job roles as you will see high staff turnover figures.
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