Recruitment & Selection - It's worth taking the time to do it right

16-11-11

Recruitment has been a concept of the past for most organisations over the last 2-3 years with our focus shifting to retaining as many staff as possible rather than recruiting more. 2011 seems to have seen a slow change to this trend, albeit in peaks and troughs, but unfortunately some organisations don’t seem to be applying the lessons learned from the recession with knee jerk reactions to new business needs despite all statements about ensuring all future roles are clearly defined and filled with highly competent staff leaving no room for inefficiencies.

Taking the time to implement a structured recruitment process and training hiring Managers in its use will ensure that organisations can estimate future needs by looking at the organisations plans and forecasts of future activity levels, overcome skills shortages, make successful placements where staff are more likely to stay and issues are less likely to occur.

The Employment Equality Act 1998 – 2008 prohibits discrimination on the nine grounds of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, membership of the traveller community, marital status, family status, sex, and disability. Strong consideration needs to be given to this in all stages of the recruitment and selection process. Discrimination can be direct, indirect or by association. Employers should ensure that all hiring managers and receptionist/administration staff are knowledgeable of and compliant with the equality legislation when dealing with applications/enquiries of employment and recruitment and selection procedures.

STAGES IN THE RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PROCEDURE

1.    Job analysis

This is the first step and should be drawn up by the hiring Manager in conjunction with Human Resources. The job profile can then be used for benchmarking purposes to determine appropriate remuneration levels and/or in seeking role approval from senior management. It should include 4 sections as follows;
a.  Job description – purpose, scope, duties and responsibilities of a role to include title, reporting Manager, relationships with other departments
b.   Job specification – skills required
c.   Person specification – types of person required i.e. qualifications (university degree, leaving certificate or equivalent, professional qualification), aptitudes, experience (in terms of level and depth rather than years) and personality factors (ability to work with other people, temperament to cope with dull routine work)
d.  Terms & conditions – pay, holidays, benefits, physical demands i.e. travel, working hours, overtime

2.    Advertisement

Employers must consider both how/where to advertise and the contents of the advertisement.

It is generally advisable to advertise the position internally to all staff before extending the search externally. Providing opportunities for development and career progression increases employee engagement and retention and supports succession planning. Consideration also needs to be given to attracting a diverse workforce; therefore on occasion it is good practice to seek external applications also. Current staff on leave from the Company must also be made aware of new vacancies for which they may wish to apply i.e. sick leave, maternity leave, parental leave etc…

Where possible, avoid using terms that could give the impression the Company is being discriminatory e.g. jobs that in the past were associated with a particular gender i.e. secretary, foreman. Also avoid reference to years experience as this could discriminate against young people - the experience and qualifications specified must be necessary for the candidate to be able to perform the job competently.

 

3.    Applications & screening

Application forms are becoming less common in favour of CV’s, social media sites etc…. However, if an employer uses them care must be taken to ensure no discriminatory question are asked or implied.

When assessing a CV it is important to look out for any inconsistencies in facts provided, the role on offer is a logical career move for the applicant, the length of time the applicant has spent in previous roles, gaps in the chronology, design and layout of the CV indicates a well organised candidate, validity of qualifications may need to be checked out.

Applications should be screened against the job profile created in step 1 to ascertain a short list for interview. Some organisations also used psychometric tests or questionnaires as part of their selection process. These methods should be used in conjunction with an interview, related to the job requirements and should measure an individual’s actual or inherent ability to do or train for the particular duties involved. The tests should be reviewed regularly to make sure they remain relevant, free from bias in content or scoring mechanism and validated i.e. test marks actually reflect the candidates ability to do the job in question.

4.    Interview

The interview process should be structured in advance to ensure that all participants are clear on their roles in the process, the job profile and exactly what the organisation is looking for in the candidates. Interviewers should have general knowledge of the Company, its ethos and culture and the predefined questions to be asked.  Care should be taken to avoid any potential discriminatory questions or reactions during the interview process.

Openers: Help the individual to settle down by establishing a good rapport with the candidate. The interviewers should greet each candidate by name and shake hands. A short discussion of a generic topic can help to break the ice. The purpose and structure of the interviews should be explained along with what the position is, how it came about and a general background to the Company. The candidates should be told that they will be invited to ask questions at the end.

Settlers: The objective of this stage is to gather information and evaluate it against the selection criteria. As the individual becomes more relaxed and at ease, move into the body of the interview and focus on the predefined questions starting with relatively simple questions. Each candidate should be asked the same questions in the same order. These can be followed up by supplementary questions relevant to each candidate that seek to probe or expand on the information provided by the candidate to the main question. Emphasise the demands of the job, working hours etc…

Closure: The candidate is then encouraged to ask questions and these should be answered as completely and correctly as possible. Give the candidate an opportunity to express any information that did not come to light during the interview. Explain the next steps in the selection process and the timeframes involved. Thank the candidate for attending with the usual pleasantries.

Scoring: At the end of the interview each member of the panel should compare the attributes of the candidate against the criteria laid down in the person specification. Marks should be awarded first and their outcome discussed afterwards. It is essential that comprehensive records of the interview should be kept on file for at least 12 months after the interview has taken place. An individual can bring a claim alleging discrimination up to six months after the interview but this can be extended to 12 months with good cause.

5.    Verification

Once the candidates have been scored in order of preference the final 2/3 candidates should be asked to complete a medical assessment, provide 2 satisfactory referees (from most recent Managers) and proof of their eligibility to work in the country. These should all be completed before a formal offer is made.

In the event that a candidate notifies the Company of a disability, a referral to the Company doctor should be organised, providing them with the detailed job profile and advising them of any special features or environment conditions of the job. The medical practitioner will then establish whether or not the individual is medically fit to do the job and/or if any accommodation is required by the employer to enable the individual to be fit. The Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2008 requires an employer to provide such reasonable accommodation as it necessary such that it does not give rise to more than a nominal cost.

References should be collected ideally by phone on a standard reference form.  If the employer receives a negative reference it is advisable to collect a third reference before making a decision. This will give a broader perspective on the individual and clarify where there may have been a personality clash or other factors for the bad reference. If however, a common trend is emerging the candidate may need to be rejected. As this area is very sensitive the feedback given should be general.

Proof of identity should be provided regardless of nationality by provision of a Passport or Drivers Licence. Some organisations require proof of address, proof of PPS numbers, garda vetting etc...Foreign nationals may need to provide additional information such as a GNIB card, work permit and visa entry stamp in their passports. Applications for work permits/green cards may need to be processed before an offer can be extended.

A successful candidate should then be chosen and a formal offer of employment will be made, generally verbally at first. A start date can then be agreed and a written offer or full contract of employment issued for signature.

6.    Induction

Upon commencement a thorough induction should be given. This will help the new employee to; adjust to the Company, clarify the job requirements/performance expectations, make a contribution in the shortest time, create a positive impression of the Company in the mind of the employee, integrate into the culture, interest the employee in the job and the Company, reduce any misunderstandings and promote good employee relations. This stage completes the recruitment & selection process.

It is good practice for the Manager to monitor and review progress after the first few weeks of employment and discuss any problems the employee may have. This should be continued through to mid and end of probation reviews and regular appraisals thereafter.

For further assistance with your recruitment strategies or clarification on any of the above points please contact your HR experts at HRP on 01 676 0006. 

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