12 Top Tips To Recruiting Your Next Employee!
Recruiting the right employee can have a significant impact on the success of your business. A good hire can improve productivity, strengthen your team and support future growth. A poor hire can be costly, time-consuming and disruptive.
Many of the recruitment problems I help clients resolve can be traced back to a rushed or poorly planned recruitment process. Taking time to define the role, assess candidates consistently and carry out appropriate checks can significantly reduce the risk of making the wrong hiring decision.
Whether you are recruiting your first employee or expanding an established team, following a simple and consistent recruitment process can help you recruit with greater confidence.
When I’m talking about recruitment, I always recommend a little planning and a simple consistent process that can be followed each and every time you recruit.
13 Top Tips to Recruiting New Employees in a Small Business
1: Consider All Your Options
Recruitment may not always be the most appropriate course of action. Take some time to review the status quo and consider your range of options. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Consider your business structure and the staff you already have: is that right?
- Can you re-organise the work and/ or the team?
- Can you use overtime?
- Would staggering working hours get more done?
- Can you sub-contract the work?
- Can you use an agency in the short term?
If there is a hole to fill your next job is decide what shape and size it is and how much you can afford to pay.
2: Job Description and Person Specification
This really must be the very first task you do when recruiting. If you don’t have a clear idea of what you are looking for you will be looking for the needle in the haystack! The job description should cover the main tasks and responsibilities of the role. Whilst the person specification outlines the experience, know how, qualifications, skills and attributes necessary for the role. They don’t need to be complex forms, 2 hand written lists are fine.
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Learn About Job Descriptions |
3: Sourcing Applicants
The first place to search is through your network of contacts! If you know someone who would be ideal for the position send them the job description and person specification and ask them if they are interested or if they know someone with a similar background and experience you could approach.
If you are looking for technical or academic qualifications then get in touch with your local college and university careers offices.
Don’t forget to notify existing employees of your plans – someone might be interested in applying or may know your perfect candidate.
Advertising
Be creative and make people interested in your company. This is no different than your marketing campaign, your target audience is your perfect employee and you need to reach out to them. When describing the position be honest, emphasise the skills needed, and talk about your culture. If you exaggerate here you will limit your pool of candidates and if you are too vague you will end up searching through many hundreds of irrelevant CV’s!!!
Where you place the advert will depend on the sort of person you need, give careful consideration to which publications and recruitment websites will reach the best audience.
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Learn About Our Recruitment Advertising Package |
4: Reviewing the Applications
As soon as you have collated all the applications you will need to match the candidate’s skills and experience to the essential and desirable criteria on the person specification form/list. I find it helpful to attach a form to each application which lists the key requirements and then to rate each candidate against them. For example for possession of a mandatory qualification you may give two points where they have successfully completed the qualification, one point if they are working towards the qualification and zero if there is no mention of the qualification.
Those applicants with the highest scores will form your initial shortlist. If you are left with a large shortlist revisit your job description and person specification and consider what other requirements you can add which will help you narrow the shortlist down to a manageable number (I always aim for a maximum of six candidates).
In addition to your essential and desirable criteria look out for the following:-
- Layout: is it tidy and accurate?
- Spelling and Grammar: whilst occasional errors can occur, spelling and grammar mistakes may indicate a lack of attention to detail, particularly where written communication forms an important part of the role. Consider the significance of any errors in the context of the position being recruited.
- Dates: are there any gaps in employment?
- Achievements: do they describe the role or the result?
- Inconsistencies: do the job titles match the descriptions?
- Interests: what do they say about the personality?
Don’t disregard an applicant because they haven’t worked in your industry before, they may have some very transferable skills that you can use. Instead look at their accomplishments and skills.
5: Telephone Interviews
Telephone interviews are a great way to determine if your short-listed candidates meet the basic requirements of the position and if they will fit in with your team. They don’t have to be long, when I am doing telephone interviews for candidates, I schedule 15 – 30 minutes per candidate depeding on the complexities of the role.
The questions you ask will be more about the essentials a person must have, these are the items you consider non-negotiable.
As part of my fully managed recruitment package I now use Teams, Zoom or Google Meet instead of the telephone in this first stage. Virtual interviews help provide a practical alternative and make it easier to assess communication skills and engagement.
6: Interview Questions
Look at your job description and person specification and pick out the questions you want to ask to gauge how each candidate matches your requirements. These will be the minimum questions you ask each candidate you interview and, since everyone is answering the same questions, will allow you to compare apples with apples.
Do not ask candidates any questions about their personal circumstances or make assumptions about their personal circumstances as doing so could lead to claims of discrimination.
Here are some factors to consider when you are interviewing candidates:
- Skills: do they have the basic skills required to carry out the job functions. What soft skills, such as negotiating, persuading or emotional intelligence, do they have?
- Job experience: what is their job experience? How has what they’ve done in the past going to benefit your business in the future? Can they hit the ground running or will they need some training?
- Qualifications: do they have the qualifications that are necessary to perform the duties or are they working towards them?
- Team relationship: can they work alongside others, if needed, to reach a common goal? How will they fit in with the current team?
Topics you may want to consider covering in the interview process:
- Adaptability: how they resolve a tough situation or how they handle change.
- Customer service: how do they handle difficult customers?
- Dependability: are they committed with a sense of responsibility.
- Initiative: are they willing to take an opportunity when it’s presented?
- Interpersonal skills: how they handle conflict with others and their work demeanour.
- Judgement: how they make difficult decisions.
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7: Interview a Selection of Candidates
Sometimes I come across a client who has been so desperate to fill a role they offer the job to the first person who walks through the door. No matter how desperate you are I always recommend arranging interviews with at least two candidates, so you’ve got a comparison. Keep notes! Again, nothing formal is needed but if you are interviewing several people over a week, it’s easy to forget what someone told you or even looked like.
8: Don’t Discriminate
Recruitment decisions should be based on a candidate’s ability to perform the role and meet the requirements of the person specification. Decisions influenced by protected characteristics could expose the business to discrimination claims.
It is good practice to show some flexibility around interview times i.e. avoiding significant religious times such as Friday afternoons. Care should also be taken were the recruitment process includes a social gathering, as these may disadvantage anyone to whom association with alcohol is prohibited on the grounds of religion or belief. If food will be served at some point during the recruitment process consideration should be given to the menu, you do not have to provide specific food such as Halal or Kosher but it would be good practice to offer a vegetarian option.
Whilst you should be sensitive to the needs of the applicants, the individuals invited to attend a selection process should ensure that they make their needs known to you in good time so that you have the opportunity to take them into account. The invite to interview letter should therefore invite each applicant to make their special needs known. See the appendices within this section for an example letter.
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Learn About Avoiding Discrimination In The Workplace |
9: Keep Candidates Informed
One of the hardest things about being a candidate for a position is not knowing where you stand. If someone is not right for the position, call or write to them. If the process is going to be delayed for whatever reason, tell them. This communication will not only reassure candidates, it will eliminate the calls to you checking in on their application and it will work as PR for your company as they will speak positively about you. This doesn’t have to be an expensive and time-consuming task. If you advertised your vacancy on-line there will probably be a facility to bulk respond to candidates. If not send an email to all those who have included an email on their CV, remember if you send a bulk email to protect everyone’s identities by putting your own email address in the ‘To’ box and adding all the candidates email addresses to the ‘BCC’ box.
10: Making the Offer
Where most people fall short here is not following up with a letter to confirm the offer. Too many times there is a misunderstanding about the hours, pay, start date or benefits. Put it in writing and send it to them straight away, it’s a lot easier to correct any misunderstands before they start working for you. This is the time to be clear about any conditions associated with the offer such as proof of qualifications, receipt of satisfactory references etc. Your offer letter should include the following:
- The time limit for acceptance
- Whether acceptance should be in writing
- That the offer is subject to the candidate providing the following information:
- Proof of permission to work in the UK
- Satisfactory references – you should ask the candidates to give their permission for you to approach their referees when they confirm their acceptance of the job.
- Any other factors relevant to the job (for example proof of relevant qualifications, criminal records bureau check, etc).
- You may also wish to remind the candidate not to resign from their existing job until the requirements for accepting the job have been satisfied.
- Details of any probationary period relevant to the job.
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Read: Making An Offer Of Employment |
When the offer has been accepted follow up with a full contract of employment – remember some candidates will be reluctant to hand in their notice until they receive this so if you want to speed the process up send the contract with the offer letter – not instead of it.
11: Request references from previous employer(s)
Regardless of how much you like someone and want to offer the position – check their references. This is important if only to confirm that what they have told you in the recruitment process is true in terms of when, where and what. But what you really want are comments relating to the skills and attitude you are interested in.
Read More About Pre Employment Checks In The UK |
12: Successful Recruitment Doesn’t End When the Offer Is Accepted
Many employers focus heavily on attracting and selecting the right candidate but give less attention to what happens after the offer has been accepted. In reality, successful recruitment continues well beyond the hiring decision.
A structured onboarding process helps new employees settle into their role more quickly, understand what is expected of them and become productive members of the team. This should typically include a planned induction, appropriate training, clear performance objectives and a well-managed probation period.
The first few weeks of employment are often when employees form their strongest impressions of an organisation. Providing support, guidance and regular communication during this period can improve engagement, reduce the risk of early turnover and help identify any concerns before they become more significant problems.
Recruitment is only the first stage of the employee lifecycle. A successful onboarding process helps ensure that the time and effort invested in recruiting the right person translates into long-term success for both the employee and the business.
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Learn About Setting Objectives |
13: Settling In Your New Employee
Once the employee has accepted your offer agree with them a start date and confirm what time, where and to whom they should report on their first day. ask them to provide any payroll information required, such as a P45 where available. When your new employee starts work you will need to spend some time with them to ensure they understand your business for instance your business goals, objectives and rules. They also need to know how you expect them to conduct themselves, the standards you expect them to attain and the ‘rules’ of your business. The employee handbook provides a perfect format to communicate this and act as an on-going reference. The sooner your new employee picks up “this is how things are done around here” the quicker your culture will become second nature to them.
If the employee will serve a probationary period explain how their performance will be assessed and how their position will be confirmed if they are successful. Explain when the probationary period may be extended and set a meeting in your diary to review the employee’s performance at the end of the probationary period. During the first few weeks of the employee’s employment, ensure that they receive all the relevant training, are aware of any performance objectives and are given full details of any policies and procedures which apply to them.
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Learn About Probationary Periods |
Final Thoughts
Recruitment is only the first stage of the employee lifecycle. Clear objectives, effective onboarding and a well-managed probation period help ensure that the employee you recruit develops into a successful long-term member of the team.
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