SOLUTION 14
RECRUITING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
‘The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. ’ Stanley J. Randall
Finding and hiring the right people for the job is one of the manager’s most important day-to-day tasks. There has to be a happy medium between finding the best person to advance the interests of the company and to be a positive fit in the group. So how do you find the best people for the job?
FINDING THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
Many managers overlook the most highly qualified candidates – current employees. Is the perfect candidate for your job someone in another job in the company whose shoes would be hard to fill? Discuss transitional measures with the other manager. Sometimes passing over an employee for a new position because she is exceptionally good at her current job is just the reason she needs to take her talents to the competition. If there isn’t a suitable home-grown candidate, consider:
• Personal referrals.
• Employment agencies.
• Local or national newspaper ads.
• Social networking internet sites.
Studies suggest that hiring and promoting from within is more successful than bringing in outside candidates. Yet companies are twice as likely to look beyond their current employees when new jobs become available.
THE JOB DESCRIPTION
A written job description defines the basic expectations that you and your company have for employee performance. This message runs consistently through advertising, interviews and performance evaluations. A job’s specifications should be reasonable and realistic, yet they should also allow for expansion and growth as circumstances change within your company and the industry.
When written correctly, the job description is the platform for the job’s measurable standards. The more effectively you establish this in the job interview, the greater clarity new employees will have about your expectations.
Most jobs actually have two sets of requirements: those related to expertise and experience, and those related to personality and work style. Requirements related to skill sets appear to be fairly clear-cut and easy to establish. When recruiting someone to operate a punch press in the production department, it’s easy enough to determine whether an applicant has the knowledge and skill to do this. If hiring to fill a position in the sales department, the situation is far more subjective. Because the job involves forming short-lived relationships, work style and personality are significant factors.
QUICK FIX: SELECTING APPLICANTS TO INTERVIEW
If the response to a job ad is overwhelming, get the personnel department to review the applications, forwarding on to you only those that meet the job’s technical qualifications and the company’s basic requirements.