The Recruiting Process Part I Look around your office, production line or work floor. Observe the equipment -- computers, printers, etc. Then look closely at the employees working at that equipment. Now, walk around your office after everyone has gone home. You will notice an eerie silence. There are thousands of dollars worth of equipment, but without employees, much of your equipment is a collection of idle assets, worth only their price at auction. People are the heart of a business. Without people, there is no activity, no life and normally, no revenue. The cliché holds true - a business is only as good as its employees. Workforce management is an important task. It is vital to be sure you have the right people - and the right number of people - to keep the company running smoothly, the equipment working properly and delivering the quality products or services to your customers. This is why hiring the right employees is such an important part of a business, and one that should be approached with careful thought, planning and execution. Assess If you have come to the decision to hire additional staff, there are two places to consider: internal and external. Internally, the right person may already be working for the company. By promoting staff from within, a company can save recruiting time and money as well as realize the benefits of an employee with a shorter learning curve on the job. If no one currently working at the company has the minimum qualifications to perform the job functions, the next step would be to look outside the company. Recruitment ads, personal referrals, recruiting firms, etc. - there are many ways to find candidates. The most important thing to remember during the assessment process is that a good hire usually takes time. You want the best person for the job, not simply someone to fill a seat. Importance of Job Descriptions After the assessment phase, determine the type of skills that this position requires. Then, draft a concise and accurate job description that allows you to identify the job responsibilities in order to look for a match between the job and your candidates. The job description can also serve as a template for print and online ads or as a guide for a recruiting agency. A clear job description should include: The major and minor related duties, responsibilities and tasks the employee must perform. The expected standards of job performance. The reporting relationships - the people or job title to whom the employee will report and who, if anyone, will report to the new hire. The financial and fiscal responsibilities of the position. The standards of acceptable behavior. The working conditions. The physical requirements of the job. Aside from being the tool you will use to hire an employee, the job description is also the document that will serve as a basis for evaluating an employee's performance. If the job description is too general, non-specific, or doesn't adequately reflect what the employee actually does on the job, then it is of little use and value to you or the employee. Finding Candidates So, you have decided to recruit an external candidate. You have a job description. You know you need to either place a print ad, or call a recruiting agency, or talk to your friends, etc. But where to start? First, print advertising can be an overwhelming and expensive option. With print advertising, you need to be sure you are picking the right paper and location to advertise and that you have posted an advertisement that attracts qualified candidates. Unfortunately, with the qualified, you also will get the unqualified. And there is little that you can do to keep them from applying and cluttering your desk with piles of resumes. Online advertising is increasingly popular, but it brings the same level of qualified and unqualified candidates. To narrow your responses to those from more qualified candidates consider using a trade publication, industry specific publication or website or job board. To find these types of resources, an online search using your industry as the keyword will help. If saving time and effort is important to you, then you may also want to consider using a recruiting agency. Recruiting agencies are a great way to effectively outsource a large chunk of the hiring process (advertising, resume searches, screening, testing, interviewing, etc.). And, as an alternative to hiring a full-time employee, you may want to consider using temporary employees as a way to fill gaps or try out a new employee before hiring on a full-time basis. Summary Once you have chosen your candidates, you will move on to the interview process - an essential part of hiring. Productive interviewing requires time and preparation and is more than simply assessing the abilities of potential employees. In the next issue of Workplace Watch, we will cover the basics of interviewing and offer helpful hints to help you identify and hire the right person for the job.