Claire’s Top Tips for Recruiting the Best Employees

The Gaffer shares her top tips for recruiting the best employees for your organisation.

By Claire Morley-Jones

Know exactly what you need

This might sound simple, but many employers hire a ‘jack of all trades’ when they actually need a specialist to do the job effectively. Create a job description and be selective and focussed to get the candidates you really want for the role.

Think ‘in-house’ first

Make sure you’re succession planning. This allows you to see who the shining stars are in your business who could maybe step up and take on a different role.

Plan to ‘attract

Think about where you’ll attract the most suitable candidates, i.e. free jobs papers, websites, supermarket notice boards, doctors’ surgeries etc! If you are going to use a recruitment agency, make sure you choose a reputable one that’s used to servicing your industry sector or that type of role.

Be a good employer

It sounds obvious, but get your employees selling your business for you! Make sure that people actuallywant to work for you – it’s not all about money! Look at your retention, motivation, reward, recognition and promotion methods. Even something as easy as having a weekly bowl of fruit in the office can be a big selling point!

Screen candidates

Taking 15 minutes to telephone interview a candidate for a sales role will save you 45 minutes when they turn up and are painfully shy! Get the agency to set tests (typing, spelling, grammar, and computer) and use these to reduce your pool.

Don’t be rude

No-one wants to be left waiting in reception for half an hour! Even if you don’t employ someone, they’ll tell others about their experience – What would you want them to say?

Plan your questions

Don’t put words in their mouth! Ask open questions, get them to give you examples of past behaviour relevant to the job, and really listen to their answers! There are only so many times someone can answer the question “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” before dying of boredom!

Hire smart

Think about the qualities a candidate has to come with and which extra skills can be gained through training. You can teach someone about the product or industry but you can’t make the person an extrovert, or a finisher, or methodical, or organised! Hire for competencies and train the rest if necessary – don’t waste time putting in what was left out.

Make a decision

A good candidate will always stand out from the crowd. If they are available to you, they are available to others, so if you like them don’t hang about in making an offer. 5 minutes now is several hours saved in e-interviewing!

Improve!

If you have problems with the process, change them quickly. ‘Bad hires’ cost you a lot of time, effort and money, but ‘good hires’ sustain your business and help it to grow!

If you’d like any more information on how to streamline your recruitment process, just get in touch!