One of the most difficult tasks facing businesses today is employee recruitment and retention, the vast majority of companies make the mistake of not following an appropriate recruitment procedure and a lot of the time end up hiring and subsequently firing the wrong candidates. Your recruitment drive should be methodical, strategically planned, and easy to follow, ensuring your efforts professional at best. 

Groundwork

Before you decide to advertise a position in your company, organise a meeting with key employees who will be involved in the process. Schedule a meeting between the department manager, supervisors, key employees and human resource representatives, so you can discuss the opening and agree on what kind of employee you are searching for. Make a list of all the important characteristics needed to fill the role, this could include areas such as:

• Personality
• Qualifications
• Experience
• Temperament

Develop a list of key requirements that must be met for the position, this will help you create a list of questions which can be used during the interview process. You can also decide on the type of job advertisement you wish to display and who you aim to attract.

Job Description

How you design and advertise your position is important, because if done correctly, it will attract the right type of candidates, you do not want to waste your time reading through multiple resumes which are clearly not qualified to take up the position. Determine exactly what you require and present an offer that interests the kind of people you are looking for.

Answer questions such as:

• What experience and qualifications are desirable for this position?
• How much experience is necessary?
• What skills are needed?
• What key characteristics are you looking for?
• What will be their responsibilities and who will they be working with?

Who Will Interview the Candidates?

This is an important decision and is often overlooked by many companies, this process should be conducted by an interviewer who is knowledgeable about the position which is on offer. You cannot hire the right candidate if you are not entirely sure what their job will entail. The panel or individual must understand the opening and have access to a list of questions which are designed to find the most appropriate person for the job.

Screen Candidates

It is vital that you screen potential candidates and one of the most effective ways of doing so is to use a professional pre-employment screening service. Any business can use a background screening company to check possible applicants, simply send their details to the business and monitor the progress of your request using the online DBS tracking system. The will present you with a detailed report on areas such as qualifications and employment history.

There are several other areas to consider when setting up procedures to try and find the most suitable client for your business.

• Remember to consider in-house employees.
• Explain each interviewer’s task.
• Carry out appropriate testing.

There are several different components involved in recruiting and retaining suitable staff members, it is advisable to carefully plan and assess your objectives to help deliver your goals.