In three blog posts I’m going to cover some of the basics of getting recruitment right – especially if you’re taking on your first member of staff. Last time we looked at how to find the best person (click here if you missed that post or would like to read it again.) In Part Two we’ll look at what to do when your new recruits start working for you and in the third blog, I’ll talk about what to do at the end of their probation. This three stage process will help you find and keep hold of the best people for your business – and avoid some costly pitfalls!

Part Two – How do you make sure they get off to the best start?

Recruitment can be a long, expensive and time consuming process. After all the effort of finding the right person to join your team, you want to help them settled in as quickly and smoothly as possible. Some new staff have been known not to show up after the first weekend, or even on their second day and you don’t want that!

Particularly if you’re taking on your first member of staff, take the time to plan their induction. Make sure they have somewhere to sit and a computer to work at – if that’s part of their job!

Induction training must include the following elements:

• General training relating to your business, including values and philosophy as well as structure and history
• Mandatory training relating to health and safety and other essential or legal areas
• Job training relating to the role that they will be performing
• Training evaluation, including confirmation of understanding and feedback about the quality and response to the training.

You will also need to take up the references that they provided you with, check the qualifications they say they have and confirm they have the right to work in the UK. (The law about foreign workers has changed recently – there are more details here.)

Acas has produced a very useful Induction Checklist which will give you more ideas on what to cover during induction. You can download it here.

In Part Three of this series we’ll talk about what you need to do once your new recruit (who really is the right person and has started off well) reaches the end of their probation period.