Recruiting the right people and retaining them for the long term is the goal for every business, big or small, no matter what sector of industry you operate in.  If you recruit the wrong people you could pay the price not only in terms of business success but also in costly and often difficult employment disputes.  So ask yourself “How thorough is our recruitment process?”

Here are some key steps to great recruitment that can help:

1. Preparation, Preparation, Preparation.  Conduct a job analysis to establish what roles you need to fill.  Put together a job description detailing exactly what each candidate needs to be able to do in conjunction with a person specification listing both essential and desirable attributes.  Finally, ensure you benchmark the salary for each role correctly, both in terms of the market and internally to ensure you attract the right calibre of individual.
2. Attracting the Right Candidate.  There are many options available to you including advertising (internally and externally), word of mouth, web, agencies and head hunters, job centres, graduate programmes, review of previous applicants etc.  Ensure you are using the right method or combination of methods for each job and for the specification of candidate you wish to attract.
3. CV vs Application form.  Both are great tools for ensuring you select the right candidates for interview but both only paint part of the picture.  A CV tells you what the individual wishes you to know, but an application form asks information you wish to know.  Use them in combination to get the most out of your early selection process.
4. Selection Process.  Once you have narrowed down your candidates there are a number of further activities you can undertake to ensure you choose the right one, these include psychometric testing, and practical exercises to identify key skills sets and personality traits
5. Legal Compliance.  Once you have selected the right person you must ensure you are meeting your legal requirements before any offer of a job can be made.  As a guide you must pay attention to discrimination, medical needs, references, eligibility to work in the UK and data protection
6. Making the Offer.  You have ticked all the boxes, dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s and now you are in a position to make an offer.  Ensure that any offer in subject to satisfactory completion of the following:  reference, CRB checks, medical screening, right to work in UK confirmation and completion of a suitable probationary period.

Happy recruiting!!