Recruiting new members of staff is a serious business.
Wage costs are the single biggest monthly cost for many companies, but, the financial implications of contracting a new employee can be much bigger than you might expect.
When buying a business, invariably you will buy the existing staff as part of the package. You may find that you need additional staff at the time of takeover, or further down the line.
Under current employment law, you are liable for sickness and maternity pay, as well as having to make provision for holidays. You are also partly responsible for your new employee’s health and safety in the workplace.
Do you really need to recruit?
So, before you begin looking for new staff, it is definitely worth checking whether you really need to expand. Many companies assume that their need or desire for expansion translates into a need for extra staff; but that is not always the case.
Reorganising the company structure, sharing work among staff, promoting existing staff, asking part-timers if they will go full-time, or adopting flexible working environments can often be better options than recruitment.
It remains absolutely vital that you regularly look at your business objectives and check whether your staff are sufficient both in number and skills to achieve them.
Questions
According to Business Link, the Government-backed service dedicated to helping new and small businesses, there are several questions you should ask yourself if you are thinking of recruiting.
It says: “If you are running a business and want to expand, you will need to consider the best options for meeting your new needs – these could include outsourcing, training or upskilling existing staff as well as taking on new staff.”
“Taking on people will always mean some form of investment for your business. But it’s equally important to remember that taking your investment seriously can make it more valuable.”
Often, recruitment will be a response to the departure of an existing employee. In this case, you have to decide why he or she left and analyse what the company has lost as a result.
It is important to verify whether your business needs new skills if it is to achieve its objectives. This could be because your targets have changed; or it might be because new technologies or systems have emerged that your business must master in order to compete.
Still more commonplace, however, is recruitment in response to an increase in workload. In this case, you need to seriously consider whether this situation is temporary or permanent – if it is the latter, the best routes may be asking your existing staff to work overtime or using temporary staff rather than taking on a new, full-time employee.
Examining whether you can afford to increase your staff is, perhaps, the most crucial part of the whole process. You must remember that costs are not just restricted to wages, perks, tax and national insurance. It may also involve buying a new desk, computer or other equipment – or providing training courses.
Job description
If recruitment turns out to be the best solution to your problem, this process will hopefully have given you an idea of what sort of person you want to employ. Going through this whole evaluation process will also help form the basis for a job description, and that should be the starting point for any serious recruitment.
The final document should indicate the objectives of the job, together with the employee’s responsibilities. If it is a managerial position, it should explain who he/she will be responsible for; if not, it should state who the new employee will report to.
A description will not only help you find the ideal candidate through drawing up a 'person specification' covering the qualifications, skills and experience required for the post. It will also help you monitor their work during their first few months of employment.
Salary and benefits
Salary is always the most difficult part of a job description. Of course, your budget will ultimately decide how much you can pay, but market research – checking job adverts for similar jobs, or using contacts in other organisations – can help decide what level you should set remuneration at.
Of course, other, additional benefits – such as pension schemes, health insurance, sick pay, and more general incentives such as gym membership – can help sweeten the package for the prospective employee.
How?
Once your requirements and the job conditions have been finalised, the next step is to consider how to find your ideal candidate.
Adverts remain the single most common method, and, if targeted, can be the most effective. National newspapers are very expensive and can be counter-productive – you could end up with hundreds of CVs piled up on your desk.
Local and trade publications often offer better routes to finding the right person, as their readership will be more limited by geography or profession. But advertising even in smaller papers can still be pricey.
There are an increasing number of websites that allow you to advertise free or at much lower costs than in the print media. They are increasingly catering for all types of recruiters and candidates.
If highly-skilled staff are not on the agenda, job centres or other advertising boards – such as community centres – can be a reasonable alternative (of course none of these methods are mutually exclusive!)
Last but not least, recruitment consultants offer a highly effective way to find candidates who meet your criteria. Most specialise in particular areas, meaning they have knowledge of the area and ready contacts with people in the sector in question. However, they do charge high rates, often asking for 30% of the individual’s annual salary as a fee.
Recruitment agencies excel in distilling a large number of interested candidates into a shortlist; this can be useful, as comparing a candidate with your person specification over a large number of CVs can be an arduous task.
Often companies will choose to structure the interviewing process as two 'rounds' – shorter appointments followed by more in-depth interviews with a smaller pool of candidates.
Once you have decided on the right person, an offer can be made and hopefully, verbally accepted.
You then have to think about how to welcome the newcomer to your team and get them working towards the company’s objectives as quickly and as effectively as possible.
