Recruitment
A recruitment process identifies the needs of an organisation and matches them with the abilities of candidates, ultimately selecting one or individuals who will fulfil those needs.
There can be several steps involved in a recruitment process. Once completed the recruitment process triggers the start of the on boarding process. The offboarding process can be a trigger of the recruitment process.
A recruitment process includes identifying needs, defining roles, creating job descriptions, person specifications, searching for candidates, processing applications, shortlisting, interview rounds and job offer. Some of these steps may not need to be completed for every vacancy, the job description is an obvious candidate for reuse although must be kept up to date.
Identifying the need for recruitment may come from a variety of sources. An organisation may be awarded a new contract, an employee may resign or a lack of capacity or skill shortage can be identified. Processes such as competency management, performance management, human resource planning and succession planning can all trigger the start of the recruitment process.
Roles must be defined based on the needs that have been identified. Role analysis requires defining the necessary skills and tasks that will be carried out. It should also establish the amount of time the required work will take as it may be that multiple individuals are required. Each role should combine a set of related skills and have some focussed and well defined purposed as this makes finding candidates to fill the role more practical. A poorly defined role risks bringing together unlikely skillsets such as accountancy and metal work; whilst their may be a requirement for both within an organisation a single role is an unlikely solution. That does not prevent a part time accountant could not also be a part time metal worker, individuals will possess a selection of abilities that may allow them hold multiple roles.
Job descriptions primarily define the quantifiable elements of a role. That includes the hours of work, salary range and specific duties which the role will cover. The job description may need input from a variety of stake holders to get right including potential line managers and the finance department.
A person specification is intended to provide the organisation with the metrics it will use to compare and contrast applicants later on in the process. A person specification will include elements such as necessary qualifications and desirable skills. It should also seek to highlight soft skills such as team working or other elements that may be of high importance to the organisations culture. Some care must be taken when creating a person specification to prevent it becoming overwhelming to job seekers. Care must also be taken to identify skills that are essential initially and skills that can be developed during employment. This makes it possible for more candidates to meet the basic requirement providing more options later in the process.
Vacancies can be advertised in multiple ways. Internal intranets can be used to attract internal candidates, external web sites or recruitment agencies can also be used to publish the vacancy. It is not always desirable to advertise a vacancy internally as filling one position in this way simply leaves another vacant. Staff development and succession planning processes should be consulted when considering if a vacancy is suitable to recruit for internally.
Once a vacancy has been advertised applications and C.V.’s will be submitted either directly to a Human Resources department or through a recruitment agency. An online recruitment tool or human resource management system will be able to supply or a part of a candidate’s application in the form of structured data which can be easily analysed to aid shortlisting. Each application and C.V. should be reviewed with care and a rating assigned to the candidate.
Shortlists are made to reduce the number of candidates that need to be interviewed. By assigning a rating to each candidate based on their application in comparison with the role and person specification a shortlist can be produced by a human resource management system. Shortlists should be reviewed by the necessary stakeholders the check that the potential candidates are of suitable quality. It may be necessary to review the job or person specification and re-advertise if the quality of applicant has not met expectations.
Interview rounds provide an opportunity to learn more about the person behind the application. Each round of interviews aims to reduce the shortlist to produce a final set of candidates. Depending on the type of position candidates may be asked to complete a brief technical test at this stage in an effort to further reduce the shortlist prior to interview. Initial interviews may take the form of relatively brief telephone calls which may be held by a member of human resources alone or include the appropriate line manager. Subsequent interviews will either be in person or over a video conference. As these types of interviews are more time consuming and may involve members of the human resource department, direct line mangers and department heads as well as the candidate these can be difficult to schedule. As candidates can find the interview process stressful it can be beneficial to make use of a brief tour of the facility or informal conversation over a coffee to put the candidate at ease. A variety of interview techniques may also allow candidates to shows strengths and potential weakness.
It may appropriate to begin the reference checking process during interview rounds although many candidates may not expect this to be done unless an offer will be made. The appropriateness of this will depend on the role and organisations requirements. If a candidate has not provided suitable references, such as providing on personal references then it is best to establish this as early as possible in order that the candidate can be given the opportunity to provide alternatives or remove themselves from the process.
A job offer is made to the successful applicant usually by phone, email or letter. A candidate must accept the offer which they may not do immediately. For this reason, the unsuccessful candidates should not be informed until the offer is accepted. Offers can be made conditional on the checking of references, qualifications and regulatory checks such as a criminal records check. A contingency plan should be in place should these checks fail. Since the recruitment process is costly it is not desirable to repeat the whole process in such a circumstance.
Once the offer has been made and accepted the recruitment process is completed and the onboarding process begins.
